Collection: The Harris

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  The Harris’ collections originate in the libraries and collections developed by local institutions and individuals and bought by Preston Corporation during the 18th and early 19th centuries. These included the Literary and Philosophical Institution, ‘on the express condition and understanding that they should be utilised for public purposes’ and the Mechanics Institute, or Institute for the Diffusion of Knowledge, established in 1828.

  Preston’s first public museum opened in the Literary and Philosophical Institution building in Cross Street in 1880, sharing the building with the free library and Shepherd collection of rare books. The museum displayed pictures, local archaeology, natural history specimens, numismatics, ethnology and historical curiosities.

  In 1883 Richard Newsham bequeathed his collection of oils, watercolours and bronzes by mid-19th century British artists, which formed the basis of the Museum’s fine art collection.

  These collections were transferred to the Harris Free Library, Museum & Art Gallery, which opened in 1893 following the bequest of local lawyer, Edmund Robert Harris, who died in 1877. The Museum commissioned artworks for the building, including paintings of ancient Egyptian landmarks for the upper balcony by John Somerscales, and a stained-glass window on an ancient Greek theme by Henry Holiday.

  The Harris Endowment Fund bought geological and natural history specimens, local archaeology, numismatics, reference books, examples of the industrial arts, and reproductions of what were regarded as the finest examples of the art of the past. Further additions were made through grants from the South Kensington (Victoria & Albert) Museum and by private donation.

  In the 1890s and early 1900s Preston Corporation actively collected contemporary art and ceramics, including annual purchases from the Royal Academy which continued until 1971 and two tapestries from Morris & Co from Burne-Jones designs. In 1911 Cedric Houghton left his important collection of British ceramics and enamels to the Museum with the express wish that it form the basis for later acquisitions.

  Sidney Paviere was Curator and Art Director from 1926 to 1959 and he embarked on a deliberately controversial acquisitions policy to create a profile for the Harris and capture the attention of the people of Preston. His first acquisition was Nude by George Spencer Watson from the Royal Academy in 1927, and his wartime addition in 1944, Pauline in the Yellow Dress, remains the Harris’ most popular painting.

  Paviere also began the systematic collection of costume and textiles, which had previously developed with small random donations. This collection has continued to grow through gifts and contains groups of interesting material relating to the Preston Guilds, local families and an unusual collection of local farm workers’ clothing. Horrockses Fashions items, made by a major local textile company, continue to be actively collected from individuals and by purchase.

  The fine art collection has received works from the Contemporary Art Society since the 1920s, and has been added to by several notable bequests, such as the Haslam bequest of 19th and early 20th century watercolours in 1949.

  The glass collection is based on the Dr Taylor bequest of 18th century drinking glasses in 1946, and added to by the acquisition of a large collection of scent bottles in 1964, and the purchase of the Seddon collection of coloured glassware in 1980.

  The Library, Museum & Art Gallery continued as a single service until local government reorganisation in 1974, when Lancashire County Council took over the running of the Library. The original special library collections are still housed in the Harris under the care of Lancashire Archives, along with other books relating to, or originally part of, the museum collections.

  The social history collection is based on the 1950s folk life collection of local and domestic bygones. From the 1960s the collection was developed to collect items associated with the cotton industry which was in rapid decline. History collecting was largely focused on the themes of the original museum, with additions of social and local history, stamps and photographs, built up through acquisitions from individuals and local clubs and societies, until the late 1990s. From the 1980s to early 2000s targeted ‘collecting exhibitions’, such as Preston Asia, brought items relating to Preston’s recent past into the collection.

  From 1985 until the mid-1990s the gallery acquired works by contemporary British artists through a scheme funded by Preston Borough Council, the Contemporary Art Society and the Arts Council, with support from the V&A Museum.

  In the late 1980s and 1990s, some rationalisation of the collections took place. In 1989, the Harris transferred its natural history and geology collections to Lancashire County Museums Service, where specialist curatorship was available. In 1992, military uniforms with no links to Preston were transferred to the specialist military collections at LCMS.

  More recent collecting has included targeted activity, such as for the development of the Discover Preston gallery and representation of the 2012 Preston Guild. Grant-aided purchases include Richard Dadd’s Puck and the joint purchase with the National Portrait Gallery of Richard Arkwright by Joseph Wright, and funded projects, such as Collecting Cultures to develop the ceramics collection, and Current and Testing Media to acquire new media contemporary art.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2016

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  Paintings, photography and new media (800 items)

  The Harris is recognised as having one of the strongest art collections in regional England. Mainly British in origin it includes works from the 18th century to the present day. 18th century work includes a George Romney, a portrait of Richard Arkwright by Joseph Wright, and a significant collection of works by the Devis family. This includes ‘conversation pieces’ by Preston-born artist Arthur Devis, portraits by Arthur William Devis, and landscapes by Anthony Devis.

  The collection is particularly strong in 18th and 19th century landscapes, and paintings by Royal Academy exhibitors from the late 1890s to the early 1970s. There are also a number of paintings from the 1890s to the 1930s by artists of the Newlyn and St Ives schools, such as Julius Olsson, Laura and Harold Knight and Alfred Munnings, and important works by 20th century artists including Stanley Spencer, Lucian Freud and LS Lowry.

  Works by contemporary British artists include Bruce McLean, Ian Mckeever, Maggi Hambling, and Ana Maria Pacheco. The modest but notable collection of mostly British contemporary photography and lens-based art includes Andy Goldsworthy and Helen Chadwick. Recent acquisitions include a collection of mixed media works by Mel Brimfield, and a major film commission, Ourhouse, Ep.-1: Time, 2016 by Nathaniel Mellors.

  Works on Paper (6300 items)

  Works on paper include 18th and 19th century landscape watercolours by British artists such as Samuel Palmer, JMW Turner, David Cox and William Holman Hunt plus animal studies by Charles Tunnicliffe and William Woodhouse. The collection is also rich in local landscapes and townscapes by Preston-based artists such as Edwin Beattie, and life and nature studies, classical, literary and religious themes. The most recent addition is a collection of drawings by 20th century artist and textile designer Alastair Morton.

  Drawings include works by British and European artists from around 1400 to the present, and Old Master drawings from the 16th and 17th centuries. Themes include classical or religious subjects, fantasy, political or social comment, preparatory drawings for sculpture or architecture, portraits, genre and landscape or topographical subjects.

  The print collection represents artists working in printmaking from the 16th century to the present day. This collection also includes satirical cartoons and Japanese wood-blocks. There is a small collection of printed books and artists’ sketchbooks, miniatures and silhouettes, and two examples of medieval manuscript illumination.

  Sculpture (110 items)

  The strength of the collection is the ‘New Sculpture’ bronzes dating from the 1880s to the 1920s, including works by Thornycroft and Gilbert, plus a bronze self-portrait bust by Jacob Epstein. There are also marble portrait busts by significant local sculptor, Thomas Duckett.

  Themes include classical, literary, mythological and allegorical subjects, portrait busts of local dignitaries, copies of friezes from the Antique and Renaissance periods and memorial plaques (both integrated into the building).

  Costume and Textiles (5,500 items)

  The Harris has a strong collection of women’s clothing and accessories from the 1800s to 1950s. Highlights include a Spitalfields silk dress from the 1740s and the dress in the painting Pauline in the Yellow Dress. Other strengths include fashion plates, a small collection of designer wear from the 1960s to modern day, including Vivienne Westwood and David Fielden, men’s clothing and accessories including waistcoats from the 1790s to the 1880s, and rare examples of gentlemen’s clothing and servants’ livery from the early 1800s donated by the Hulton Family.

  The collection also has examples of farming and working dress from 1880s-1950s, CC41 utility clothing and underwear, Quaker clothing and a quirky collection of fuzzy felt fashions associated with paintings in the collection.

  Many garments have strong connections with Preston and were made or worn by local people. A significant collection of Horrockses Fashions dresses from the 1940s to the 1970s is complemented by material from the company’s design archive. There are also 1990s clothing and accessories from the South Asian community, and clothes associated with the Preston Guild.

  The textile collection includes flat works such as embroidery, lace, quilts and printed cottons. Local firms are represented, but much of the collection reflects textile’s status as a popular personal and creative activity, as well as developments in recent textile art. Highlights include a fragment of Coptic textile from around 600, 17th century embroidery and samplers from the 1700s to 1800s. Quilts range from a military example from 1890s to the ‘Harris Quilt’ commissioned from Josephine Ratcliff in 1998. There are also 18 volumes of historic South Asian fabrics in The Textile Manufactures of India. An interesting collection of post 1950s artist-designed fabrics includes William Gear, Shirley Craven, Althea McNish and Hans J Holzer. Textile art includes examples by Ann Sutton, Junichi Arai and Liz Nilsson.

  Ceramics (2,500 items)

  The majority of the collection is British but there are sizeable groups of European, Japanese and Chinese ceramics, including stoneware and porcelain from the 900s to 1300s. The collection largely shows the development of British ceramics from the 1600s to the mid-1900s. Highlights include Wedgwood jasperware, Staffordshire figures and early English porcelain as well as examples of loving cups, posset pots, punch bowls, tea sets and dinner services. Commemorative pots have strong connections to Preston and include temperance ceramics and Preston Guild ceramics from 1822 to 2012. Collecting has recently focused on post-1900s studio and commercial ceramics with purchases of Bernard Leach, Katharine Pleydell-Bouverie and Clarice Cliff. Contemporary works include James Wood, Carol McNichol, Halima Cassell, Shigekazu Nagae and Natasha Daintry.

  Glass (860 items)

  This is largely made up of two large personal collections – 18th century drinking glasses donated by Dr Harry Taylor and coloured glassware acquired from Mrs Laura Seddon. The former includes Jacobite firing glasses and examples showing developments in design and rare multi coloured twist stems. The novelty ‘friggers’ – glass boats, shoes, ties, hats, rolling pins – are a fun part of the collection. Contemporary pieces include an important collection of Kalim Afzal’s work, and pieces by Angela Jarman and Ana Rosa Hopkins.

  Mrs French Collection (7,915 items)

  The Harris holds the largest public collection of scent bottles in Britain – the result of a lifetime’s collecting by Mrs Idonea French. The collection dates from the 1670s to the 1930s and its strength lies in its scale and range. Mrs French also collected visiting card cases, gaming counters, and shaped mineral samples.

  Miscellaneous Decorative Art (604 items)

  The Harris holds smaller miscellaneous collections such as a small clock and pocket watch collection that includes Preston makers. Chinese and Japanese items include theatrical masks and netsuke. There are also enamels, metalware and ivories.

  Archaeology (2,953 items)

  The Harris holds important local finds that provide a context for the development of Preston and wider human history, including the 13,500 year old Poulton elk skeleton and associated bone weapons that are the earliest evidence for human habitation in Lancashire. Other highlights include material from the Bronze Age Bleasdale timber circle, part of the Cuerdale Hoard, and human and animal skulls from the Preston Dock excavations. There are also international objects from local collectors, such as the John Weld collection of prehistoric stone and bronze tools from the North West, Ireland and Europe. Greek and Egyptian material was acquired as a result of the Harris’ contribution to the Egyptian Research Account.

  Ethnography (253 items)

  These are items from local collectors and explorers that include objects from North America, Oceania, Africa and Australasia. The largest donations are collections put together by the collectors John Weld and John Hyde, editor of National Geographic Magazine 1888-1900.

  Social history (50,000 items)

  This diverse collection contains objects and ephemera illustrating changes in life and work in Preston and Britain, and specialist collections of sheet music, greetings cards, cigarette and trading cards, dolls, toys and games and philately. Local industries with a national relevance include objects and ephemera from cotton manufacturer Horrockses, Crewdson & Company 1791-1960, the Stephen Simpson Gold Thread works, and Foster/Goss printers. Other items relate to the Guild and civic history of Preston. The Harris also undertook fieldwork to collect material relating to housing clearances and urban redevelopment.

  Photograph collection (25,000 items)

  The photograph collection contains historic prints of various types, film and glass negatives, slides and photograph albums. It is supported by related photographic equipment in the social history collection and postcards and is a significant regional collection. The earliest photographs date from 1846. Highlights include Charles Wilson’s photographs of Preston from 1850 to 1853 and Robert Pateson’s original albumen prints from the 1860s to the 1880s. Other photographs include cotton industry photographs commissioned by Horrockses, Crewdson & Company, photographs from the Preston Guilds from 1862 onwards, and Roger Fenton’s photographs of the Crimean War. The collection covers the work of Preston photographers, life and work in Preston and beyond, and the travel and interests of local people.

  Numismatics collection (12,200 items)

  The numismatic collection is a regionally important collection and significant to the overall history of the Harris and its development. It contains Roman and British coin hoards, individual coins from around the world, medals, tokens and paper money. Highlights include Roman coin hoards from Brindle, Worden, and parts of the Hackensall and Rossall hoards as well as part of the Cuerdale hoard of Viking, Anglo-Saxon and Frankish coins. The Prestwich hoard contains early English coins 871-926, the St Anne’s and Whittingham hoards, Tudor and Stuart coins and a large collection of Preston Guild medals.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2016

  Licence: CC BY-NC