Collection: Christchurch Mansion

Collection-level records:

• Collection overview (Cornucopia)

  Fine Art

  Collection of works by Suffolk artists from the 16th century to the present day. Over 1,000 canvas and 15,000 works on paper, comprehensive collection of work on Suffolk subjects or by Suffolk Artists. Several of the Suffolk artists are of national and international importance. At the core of the collection are the holdings of paintings by Suffolk born Thomas Gainsborough and John Constable. Other artists represented in the collection include Lucien Pissarro, Camille Pisarro, John Nash, Cedric Morris, Barbara Hepworth, Elizabeth Frink, Michael Ayrtonn, Peggy Somerville, Colin Self, John Piper, Victor Pasmore, Edward and Thomas Smythe, Thomas Churchyard, F G Cotman, Sir Alfred Munnings, Arnesby Brown, Maggie Hambling and Henry Bright. Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), born in Sudbury, but first came to prominence when he lived in Foundation Street, Ipswich 1752-9, prior to moving to Bath. He made a living by painting portraits of local professional people and occasionally landed gentry. Ipswich Museum has 13 oils and many drawings and prints. Keys works by Gainsborough in the collection include:’William Wollaston’ ‘Hollywells Park, Ipswich’ ‘Cottage Door with Girl and Pigs’. Ipswich is an acknowledged local and national centre for the study of John Constable’s early work. The museum has 8 oils, eleven drawings, plus sixty-five mezzotints by Constable and Lucas. Keys works: ‘Golding Constable’s Flower Garden’ and ‘Golding Constable’s Kitchen Garden’. The Painted Closet above the porch of Christchurch Mansion is composed of panels originally from Hawstead Place near Bury St Edmunds, the home of Sir Robert and Lady Drury. The closet was created for Lady Drury, who probably painted the panels herself. She was the niece of the court painter Nathaniel Bacon. Ipswich Museums hold 389 works by George Frost (1745-1821) who was Gainsborough’s keen disciple. Frost collected & copies Gainsborough’s Ipswich work. The museum holds a large collection of works by nationally and regionally known Suffolk artists and those who chose to work in Suffolk, including members of the Ipswich Art Club, Harry Becker, Colin Moss, Anna Airy, Valerie Thornton, Bernard Reynolds, Samuel Read, Frederic George Cotman, Cor Visser, Valerie Thornton, Leonard Squirrell as well as working artists i.e. Malcolm Moseley, Judith Foster and Pris Forest. There is a fine collection of 16th and 17th Century portraits, mainly Ipswich Merchants and Suffolk Gentry. The West Collection of works by Philip Wilson Steer (24), a member of the Walberswick artists’ colony. Works by Philip Wilson Steer include ‘Knucklebones, Walberswick’, ‘Girl on a Sofa (Rose Pettigrew)’ and Girl and St Bernard Dog’.

  Decorative Art

  British pottery and porcelain on display include tin-glazed earthenware (delftware), salt glazed stoneware, creamware and pearlware and Lowestoft porcelain. The furniture collection includes chests, classic examples of simple and ornate tables, chairs, stools and cupboards. There is a large collection of Mendlesham chairs traditionally supposed to have been made in the Suffolk village of that name. Christchurch Mansion also contains a number of overmantels, panels, painted plaster and other architectural features saved from the destruction of timber framed houses in Ipswich in the 1920s and 30s. The decorative art collection also includes metalwork, glass, treen and horology; Collection of musical instruments.

  Source: Cornucopia

  Date: Not known, but before 2015

  Licence: CC BY-NC