Collection: Haworth Art Gallery

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  Most of the collections we have at Haworth Art Gallery are made up of gifts and bequests by local people the most notable ones are the Haworth Bequest of Haworth Art Gallery and a collection of mainly Victorian paintings and ceramics, 1921, the Nuttall Bequest of mainly Victorian oil and watercolour paintings, 1924-5, and the Hitchon gift of mainly Victorian oil and watercolour paintings, 1946. Significant works have been added over the years including works by Accrington born artists Gerard de Rose, Leslie Duxbury and John Virtue.

  During World War Two 42 Tiffany vases were transferred to Haworth Art Gallery for safekeeping. In 1951 Oakhill Museum in Accrington closed and the vases transferred to Haworth Art Gallery’s collection. At the same time a collection of social history items were transferred from Oakhill Museum to Haworth Art Gallery. During the early 1970s two crates of Tiffany glass were discovered in Accrington Town Hall’s basement. They were then transferred up to Haworth Art Gallery and the original collection became whole once more. The collection has been added to since the 1970s and acquisitions include a library lamp, three flower form vases, a salt cellar, two ink well inserts, a bronze bust of Joseph Briggs stamped Tiffany Studios and an oil painting of Joseph Briggs by O’ Segall.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2022

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  1 Decorative Art Collections

  1.1 The Joseph Briggs collection of Tiffany glass

  The Tiffany glass collection was gifted to Accrington Corporation, now Hyndburn Borough Council, for the people of Accrington between 1932 and 1933 by Accrington born Joseph Briggs. The collection was housed at first in Accrington’s Museum at Oakhill Park. Around 43 of the vases were transferred to Haworth Art Gallery during World War Two for safe keeping and the rest of the collection was transferred to Accrington Town Hall’s basement when Accrington Museum closed in 1951. In the 1970s the rest of the collection was rediscovered in Accrington’s Town Hall and the collection came together to form one of the core collections at Haworth Art Gallery.

  Briggs trained as an engraver gaining a first class pass in Art from the local Mechanics Institute then went to New York in 1891. He began working for Louis Comfort Tiffany in 1893 as an errand boy. By 1919 Briggs was the Managing Director of Tiffany Studios and in 1937 the company Tiffany Studios closed upon Briggs’ death. It is the largest such collection in public hands in Europe. Tiffany glass was made between 1893 and 1932 in the New York studios of Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848 – 1933) whose companies traded under a number of names. This collection is of special significance in the history of world glass, in the history of the American Arts and Crafts movement and as a summing-up of the spectacular achievements in the Art Glass of Tiffany Studios.

  Tiffany glass was copyrighted as Favrile glass in 1894 after Louis Comfort Tiffany started making his own glass in 1893. The collection contains 149 objects of which 140 represent the original collection and the remainder are gifts, bequests or purchases. 69 objects are handmade, blown pieces of art glass also known as hollow ware or vases, the majority of which is marked as Favrile glass and signed with model numbers. This part of the collection represents every type of hollow ware ever made by the Tiffany glass companies and includes aquamarine, lava, paperweight, carved, peacock, Cypriote, flower form, agate, Byzantine and brown ware vases. Some of the pieces are monumental in size.

  One of the most relevant parts of the collection is the mosaic section where Briggs specialised in making monumental mosaics. There is a mosaic panel attributed to Joseph Briggs, six mosaic samplers, eight designs for mosaics extant in the USA, one lamp and one hand made blown piece of glass which was decorated and flattened to be used in a monumental mosaic such as the Dream Garden at The Curtis Building, Philadelphia, USA, which Briggs supervised.

  There are 48 pieces of pressed glass tiles, jewels and inkwell inserts.

  Biographical materials include one bronze bust of Joseph Briggs stamped Tiffany Studios and one portrait of Joseph Briggs by little known American artist O’ Segall painted in 1924.

  The remainder of the collection comprises of two pieces of tableware, three pieces of desk ware and five ceramics, one of which is signed by Joseph Briggs.

  The collection includes almost every type of art glass made across the production history of Tiffany Studios. It is therefore a unique study tool for art and design historians, academics and glassmakers alike in Accrington, England. Several items in the collection can be said to be of world-class importance in the history of glassmaking.

  1.2 Art Glass contemporary to Tiffany glass

  There is one piece of Loetz glass which was originally thought to be a piece of Tiffany glass but was ascribed to Loetz latterly. Louis Comfort Tiffany took inspiration from Loetz in his work which can be seen in the Tiffany collection through the carved glass section.

  1.3 Modern and Contemporary Studio Glass and Ceramics

  Modern and Contemporary Studio Glass and Ceramics is a small supporting collection of contemporary studio glass and ceramics which was started in the 1980s. Consisting of 42 examples, it includes some key figures in the studio movement such as Bernard Leach and Sam Herman.

  1.4 British, East Asian and European Ceramics

  The nucleus of this group is from the Haworth Bequest of 1921 and includes a group of ten late 19th century continental and oriental examples. Haworth Art Gallery also has larger groups of lustre ware, commemorative pottery and china, the whole collection amounting to approximately 300 items.

  1.5 Sculpture, Metalwork and Furniture

  This group includes the original light-fittings at Haworth Art Gallery and other items which could also be classified as part of the Local Collection. There are also a group of 39 Electrotypes, commemorative keys and trowels and two examples of furniture in the style of Thomas Chippendale.

  2 Fine Art Collections

  2.1 Oil Paintings

  Some of the paintings in this group of 112, were originally part of the Haworth Bequest and they are similar in style and feeling to the watercolours collection, also dating mainly from the 19th and early 20th centuries the earliest painting dates back to the Eighteenth Century. A total of 22 originate from the Haworth bequest and 14 come from the Hitchon gift. Genre subjects are strongly represented in the group but there are also some fine landscapes and ‘gems’ like ‘Storm off the French Coast’ by Joseph Vernet, 1754 and ‘Faith’ by Frederic Lord Leighton. There are examples of local artists work by Gerard de Rose, RBA, 1918 to 1987 and John Virtue, 1947 to present both of whom are important in contemporary art.

  2.2 Works on Paper

  This group, numbering 627 examples, consists mainly of acquisitions from the Haworth and Nuttall Bequests in 1921 and 1925 respectively and from the Hitchon Gift of 1946. There are fine examples from the early period of English watercolour drawing but the bulk are mid to late 19th century, with artists such as John Varley, Peter De Wint and David Cox represented. There is a predominance of animals and children as subject matter and a collection of marine subjects.

  The prints in this collection are varied and include a range of examples from 18th century etchings by Piranesi, to high quality chromolithographs of Italian Renaissance Frescos. There are also some book illustrations, notably of views taken on tours of the Lake District and a small poster collection.

  Archival materials in the form of books are included in this collection.

  3 Social History Collections

  3.1 Local and Community Collection

  The Local Collection consists of approximately 90 objects, groups of objects and photographs of local interest and 70 watercolours of local buildings made by art students in the 1920s. The provenance of much of this collection is unrecorded but it can be assumed that it was transferred either from Accrington Museum after it closed in 1950, or from Mercer House Museum after local government re-organisation in 1974. In addition, some items in the collection are recorded on a list of transfers from Accrington Library made in 1974. This collection includes material relating to the Accrington Pals, a regiment renowned for the large amount of losses on the Somme in 1916 during World War One.

  4 Money and Medal Collection

  The coins, medals and tokens in the care of Haworth Art Gallery number approximately 2304. The trade tokens are unusual and have a strong local connection while the medals, many in sets, and showing portraits of famous men through history, are particularly fine. Some of the collection was probably housed at Oak Hill Park Museum until 1951, and probably belonged to local antiquarian, William Ashworth.

  5 Antiquities

  The antiquities collection is tiny and consists mainly of Greek, Egyptian and Roman objects.

  6 Haworth Art Gallery Archive Collection

  Recently it has been noted that objects connected to the house have not been accessioned yet have an important place in the history of the house, its owner s and the architect. This collection contains mainly maps, plans and photographs and will be accessioned in line with the documentation plan.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2022

  Licence: CC BY-NC