Collection: Salford Museum and Art Gallery

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  Salford was, in 1850, one of the first local authorities to establish a museum service. The collections developed across a wide range of subject areas – archaeology, ethnology, geology, zoology, botany, fine art, decorative art, etc. The acquisition of Buile Hill Mansion in 1901 allowed for a rationalisation of displays and collections and a museum of natural history and science opened in 1906.

  In the 1950’s large parts of the city were fast disappearing due to demolition and Salford began to actively collect social history material. Such collecting at that time was virtually unknown and one result was the creation of Lark Hill Place, Salford Museum’s Victorian Street.

  Although the first Lowry work was acquired in 1936 the collection was considerably expanded between 1950 and 1976.

  Towards the end of the 1960’s co-operation with Manchester Museum resulted in a joint rationalisation whereby social history material was transferred to Salford and ethnographical material transferred to Manchester.

  The Borough of Eccles established Monks Hall Museum in 1960. A small but diverse collection was developed to reflect local history and to furnish temporary exhibitions.

  The late 1960’s also saw the development of Buile Hill into a coal-mining museum. The large and foreign natural history specimens were dispersed to a variety of museums throughout the North West together with much of the science collection.

  Ordsall Hall was bought by Salford Corporation in 1959 and opened to the public as a period house and local history museum in 1972. Inheriting an unfurnished property allowed the museum service to display much of its period furniture it had acquired over the years. Between 2009-11 the hall underwent a massive £6.5 million restoration which not only secured the long term stability of the building but also made more rooms accessible to the public and the surrounding grounds to be re-landscaped.

  In 1974 the local government re-organisation in 1974 not only brought the collection of Monks Hall Museum into the new City of Salford ownership but also an important assemblage of paintings and drawings from Swinton and Pendlebury with additions from Irlam and Cadishead, and Worsley.

  The complete collection of Lowry’s paintings, drawings and archive was leased to the Lowry in 2000 but remain under the ownership of Salford City Council.

  The Lancashire Mining Museum at Buile Hill closed in 2000 and the collections, with the exception of the Mining Art, transferred to Museum of Science & Industry in Manchester.

  In May 2010 the operational staff and management of Salford Museums & Heritage Service was transferred to a charitable trust, Salford Community Leisure Ltd. The ownership of the museum collections remains with Salford City Council.

  The present museum sites are as follows:

  • Salford Museum & Art Gallery – established 1850. Displays relate to fine and decorative art, period rooms, temporary exhibitions and local and social history.
  • Ordsall Hall Museum – established 1972, refurbished 2010. Displays feature period rooms, local and social history and a changing temporary exhibitions gallery.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: Not known

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The service, with its focus on community heritage, has a large and comprehensive collection with which to tell the story of the City. There are items relating to past trades and industry, street and community life and examples of personal items belonging to people who have lived and worked in the city over the last two hundred years.

  Highlights of the collection include:

  • Royal Lancastrian Pottery – a collection of regional and national importance made locally at Pilkingtons, Clifton. The largest representative collection in the country containing examples of almost every artist and designer. This is complimented by the drawings and designs from one of the artists, William Salter Mycock, stored in Salford City Archive.
  • Nasmyth steam hammer – Nasmyth was a pioneering engineer and is best known for this locally made stream hammer.
  • “Nasmyth steam hammer” mantel clock – uncommon French movement with hammer action pendulum. Inscribed on anvil as once belonging to Edward VII.
  • Orchestral Roepke music box – very rare Salford made music box by Carl Albert Roepke (1894-5).
  • Stanhope Press – one of the earliest printing presses, very rare (1804-5).
  • Samuel Coulthurst glass slides – important images of Salford and Manchester in the 1890’s taken by Samuel Coulthurst.
  • John Morris & Son fire equipment – a number of manufactured items belonging to this company who supplied fire brigades nationwide.
  • Objects, photographs and oral histories relating to Salford docks and Manchester Ship Canal
  • Salford Glass – Made by John Derbyshire at the Regent Road Flint Glassworks. The company gained a national reputation in pressed glass. The collection includes a number of rare pieces.

  Historically the collections have been divided into three main areas; Social History, Fine Art and Decorative Art.

  Social History Collections

  Archaeology

  Small representative collections of:

  • European and British Pre-historic
  • Roman (including Mithriac stones from Manchester)
  • Medieval and post-medieval (inc. Ordsall Hall excavations)
  • Egyptian
  • Greek (inc. reproduction of finds at Mycenae

  Agriculture

  Small collection reflecting Salford’s agricultural past and acknowledging that over half of Salford’s land space is still rural. Implements relate to cultivating, harvesting, dairying and livestock. Horticulture is a minor section mainly comprising of medals from local and regional shows.

  Costume

  A substantial collection; especially Victorian and Edwardian women’s and children’s dress and accessories.

  Other Social History Collections

  Communications

  • Canals – Local documents, commemorative wares, Illustrations, items of uniform, models.
  • Rail- Adverts, models, local signs, plaques and makers plate, documents and ephemera.
  • Road – Boundary posts, milestones, traffic signs (including telecommunications).
  • Transport – Ephemera relating to public transport, carts, bicycles, carriages, licences, and licence plates.
  • Travel – Luggage labels, bags, trunks, etc.
  • Post – Material relating to postal services, philately, National Savings, telephones, radios, crystal sets, TV’s, accumulators and head sets.

  Crafts & Industries

  • Misc. – Small group of material inc. pay checks and examples from Trade & Industry exhibitions.
  • Blacksmith – Farrier – reasonably comprehensive collection of tools and equipment.
  • Brewing – Bottles, catalogues, certificates and ephemera. Small quantity of fixtures fittings and equipment from a local brewery.
  • Builder – Sparse collection of tools.
  • Carpenter – Joiners tools, moulding planes, gauges, braces, chisels, tool chests and books.
  • Footwear manufacture – Substantial collection of clogs and clogger’s equipment. Also shoe-making and repairing tools.
  • Cooper – Small collection of tools.
  • Engineering – Tools, equipment, catalogues, promotional material and a few examples of products by local firms e.g. Nasmyth, , etc.
  • Glass – Examples of flint glass and stained glass panels, including catalogues and designs by George Wragge.
  • Printing – printing presses, blocks and plates, sample work and booklets.
  • Shipwrights & Boat Building – Very small collection of tools.
  • Textiles – Printing equipment, fabric samples, yarns, patterns and books. Small collection of tools and machinery.
  • Wheelwright – Small collection of tools, cart shafts, wheels and catalogues and patterns.

  Domestic

  • Admin – Account books, mortgage, rent books.
  • Cleaning – Household appliances and accessories. Cleaning preparation e.g. donkey stones, polish, household, soap, etc. Cleaning utensils, knife boards, cleaners, pot scrapers.
  • Food & Drink – Recipe books, cooking utensils and containers. Appliances e.g. bottle jacks, food warmers, ovens, toasters, stoves. Cutlery, drinking vessels, crockery and kitchen implements. Packed foods and drink. Cold storage equipment. Table accessories.
  • Furnishing – Books, surface finishes, e.g. tiles, varnish, wallpaper, rag rugs, carpets, linoleum sample books. Ornaments, pictures, and small house fittings, soft-furnishings.
  • Furniture – Chairs, tables, etc. primarily of Victorian and Edwardian period.
  • Heating – Solid fuel fireplaces, grates and accessories, electric and gas heaters and other appliances.
  • House structure – Doors, flooring, roofing materials. Mains services e.g. gas, sewage and water. Stairs, bricks, carved wood panels, wattle and daub panel, windows.
  • Kindling – Matches, lighters, tapers, spillboxes, tinderboxes.
  • Laundry – Reasonably comprehensive collection of irons, clothes dryers, airers, pegs, wringers, washing tubs, dollies, washboards, washing machines, washing soaps and soap powders.
  • Lighting – Candles, sticks, wick-trimmers/snuffers, rush-light holders. Oil lamps, gas lamps, electric light fittings.
  • Water & Sanitation – Domestic appliances, e.g. baths, sinks, chamber pots, toilet services, washstands, water closets.

  Personal Use

  • General – Card cases, key rings, shopping discs, trinket boxes, bookmarks.
  • Savings – Money boxes.
  • Admin – Books, diaries, letters, postcards, visiting cards.
  • Infantalia – Small collection of perambulators, cooling powders, feeding bottles, rattles, teething rings.
  • Medical – Hearing aids, sight aids.
  • Reading – Adult and children’s fiction and non-fiction, magazines and newspapers.
  • Souvenirs – Ornaments, crested ware, greeting cards, etc.
  • Tobacco – Adverts, ashtrays, cigar and cigarette boxes, holders, pipes and accessories, snuff boxes.
  • Toilet – Dressing cases and table sets, hair treatments, styling equipment, dryers. Mirrors, cosmetics, manicure, oral hygiene, perfume, shaving brushes and soap, razors and straps.
  • Writing – Stationery, inkwells and stands, letter racks and paper knives, penknives, paperweights, pens, pencils, slates, wafer boxes, writing boxes.

  Recreation

  • Entertainment – Cinema and theatre bills and posters.
  • Games – Board and card games, jigsaw puzzles.
  • Hobbies – Including gardening and holidays.
  • Music – Ephemera relating to musical events, sheet music. Small collection of instruments. Recorded music, cylinder and disk. Phonographs, gramophones and record players. Musical boxes, barrel organs, pianolas.
  • Photography – Equipment for taking, developing, printing and storing photographs. Lantern slides, negatives and prints, projectors. Albums, cased photos, personal photographs and carte de visite.
  • Sport – Sparse collection of equipment and clothing. Also trophies, medals and ephemera.
  • Toys – Substantial collection including dolls and doll parts, dolls’ houses, dolls’ house furniture. Mechanical toys, toy theatres, soft toys, musical optical toys.

  Society

  • Adverts – A small collection of advertising material, including posters and enamel signs, novelty advertisements and trade gifts, examples of postal shopping and gift catalogues.
  • Amenities – Ephemera and memorabilia relating to local facilities e.g. markets, open spaces etc.
  • Currency – English and British coins from the late Saxon to the present day; 17^th-19^th century tokens. Foreign coins and tokens, Eccles coin hoard (Henry III).
  • Customs & Calendar – Mainly cards, ephemera and novelties re. Christmas, Easter etc.
  • Life, Marriage & Death – Birthday cards, love tokens, wedding invitations, memorial cards, etc.
  • Education – Representative collection of school equipment including copy and exercise books, slates, text books, certificates, attendance medals, reports, samplers, test pieces, etc. Photographs of local schools, class groups and activities. Limited amount of school furniture.
  • Events – Commemorative ephemera, medals, etc. relating to local and national events, exhibitions, etc.
  • Fire – Photographs, fire-fighting equipment, fire marks, hydrant location plates, helmets and other items of uniform. Morris & Sons Fire Engineers collection includes wooden patterns for fire appliances, print blocks for illustrations of catalogues and drawings of fire appliances.
  • Health – Very sparse collection of material relating to dentists, doctors and hospitals including apparatus and manuals.
  • Law – Reasonable collection of material including posters, helmets, uniforms, truncheons, rattles and whistles. Doors from Cow Lane Lock Up. Broadsheets, scold’s bridle, manacles and thumbscrews. Also prints relating to New Bailey Street Prison, Salford.
  • Local Government – Illustrations of local town halls, plaques and posters, freedom of the borough. Medals, badges, commemorative pottery, coat of arms, seals, civic regalia, portraits of past mayors and councillors, illuminated addresses.
  • Monarchy – Photographs, medals, commemorative ware etc. relating to local and national events.
  • Organisations – Medallions, ceremonial clothing, certificates, ephemera and miscellaneous material relating to local trade unions, friendly and learned societies, temperance movement and voluntary organisations.
  • Religion – Bibles, prayer and hymn books, communion set, candlesticks, communion tokens, casts of Pilgrims tokens, alms dishes and crucifixes. Sunday school medals and books, postcards and illustrations of local churches. Banners, weathercock, wood carvings and pew ends.
  • Welfare – Very small collection including chairs belonging to Poor Law Guardians, soup kitchen token and items from Salford Union Workhouse.
  • Weights & Measures – Measures and tallies, counter scales, bean balance, letter scales, coin scales, weighing machine, spring balances, weights.

  Textile Crafts

  Representative collection, which is strong in embroidery, particularly samplers and Berlin wool work. Examples of beadwork, crochet, knitting and macramé. Needlework tools and accessories including patterns, trimmings and buttons. Rag rugs and rug-making equipment

  Timekeepers and Barometers

  Wall, mantel and long-case clocks. Watches – some by local makers. Watch furniture e.g. cases, chains, holders, keys and stands

  Trades & Professions

  • General – Shop fixtures, fittings and furniture.
  • Barber – Pole, chair, clippers, combs, mirrors and razors.
  • Butcher – Adverts, chopper, door, knives and pole axe, pulley and rib-breaker from local slaughterhouse.
  • Chemist – Large collection of appliances, dispensing equipment, medicines, sundries and furnishings.
  • Dairy – Cream jars, milk bottle, tokens.
  • Co-op – Books, commemorative ware, trade checks, tokens, stamp books, adverts and photographs.
  • Grocer – Large collection of groceries, also furnishings, labels, adverts and tokens.
  • Herbalist – Books, herb beer barrels, flagons, packets of herbs, handbills.
  • Office – Adding machines, calculators, books, Dictaphone, duplicators, embossing presses, rubber stamps, staplers, typewriters.
  • Publican – Strong collection of barrels, beer cans, bottles, tokens, fittings and furnishings, adverts.
  • Sweetshop – Sweet tins and boxes, adverts.
  • Tobacconist – Adverts, mirror, snuff bags, sign, tobacco tins, cutters, scales, vending machine.
  • Undertakers – Small collection which includes coffin, carriage lamps, signs, hearse.
  • Vet – Docking fork, drenching horns, fleams, veterinary surgeons’ instruments.

  Warfare

  • Awards – Medals, plaques, etc.
  • World War I – Badges, postcards, rolls of honour, memorials, etc.
  • World War II – Gas masks, helmets, civil defence and home front material. Armour, uniforms and weapons.

  Decorative Art Collection

  The Decorative Art collection is most notable for its collection of Pilkington’s, but it also has a rich collection of material from potteries not only in Staffordshire but other parts of the country. Examples include Wedgewood, Spode, Rockingham, Coalport, , Derby and Royal Worcester.

  The collection also incorporates glassware most noticeably Derbyshire Glass from the local glassworks formerly on , . Other categories represented are commemoratives, oriental ware, Peruvian ware, ivory and pewter.

  Fine Art Collection

  Salford Museum & Art Gallery holds one of the largest collections of artwork in the Manchester area. The collection is dominated by British Victorian art, many of which have been donated to the gallery by local philanthropists such as Oliver Heywood and Edward Langworthy. There is also a small but significant collection of British Modern Art. These collections are underpinned with works of local landmarks and views which are of enormous local and social historic value.

  The first works were acquired in 1850. One of the early donors was Thomas Agnew of the famous art dealing firm. The collections have grown steadily and today can boast works by George Frederick Watts, Sidney Percy, George Dunlop Leslie, Sir George Clausen, Edward William Cooke and John Frederick Herring (senior).

  Works continued to be donated in the 20^th Century with some acquired by the assistance of grant aid bodies. The modern works include artists such as Prunella Clough, Vanessa Bell, Ivon Hitches, Duncan Grant and David Bomberg. Just as it did in the mid 20^th century with the acquisition of L.S. Lowry paintings (now all transferred to The Lowry) has maintained its practise of acquiring works from living artists and has material by Harold Riley, Geoffrey Key and Liam Spencer.

  Today the Salford collection comprises over 2,000 oil paintings, watercolours, drawings and prints.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date:

  Licence: CC BY-NC