Collection: Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  Sunderland Museum was the first local authority museum outside London to open following the Museums Act of 1846. The collections of the Sunderland Natural History and Antiquarian Society were taken over by Sunderland Corporation. This collection had itself been founded by the Sunderland Subscription Museum in 1810 and the Society had only taken on its care probably shortly after it was itself founded in 1836. The collection grew slowly at first, until the opening of the new purpose built Library Museum and Winter Gardens in 1879 which stimulated their growth.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2022

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  Archaeology

  There is a large prehistoric collection from Wearside from the early fieldwork of Dr Trechmann and Dr Edward Backhouse. There is further Bronze Age, Roman and medieval material, with excavation material from Anglo-Saxon Monkwearmouth and medieval pottery from Finchale Priory. In addition there is some Danish, Swiss and Egyptian material.

  Art: Fine Art

  Sunderland Museums have a wide-ranging collection spanning 17th to 21st century fine art. The collection mainly consists of oils and works on paper, with a few sculptures. A large number of works have a strong local/regionalconnection.
  The Victorian paintings are a particular strength, which was greatly enhanced by the John Dickinson bequest in 1908. Important early acquisitions include: The Opening of the Sunderland Docks’ by Mark Thompson, 1854, which may be the first example of a town council commissioning an artist in the United Kingdom; and Rossetti’s donation of two drawings in 1879 to mark the opening of the new building.
  The contemporary art works are an extremely important aspect of the collection. They include the largest regional collection of paintings and drawings by LS Lowry outside Salford and Manchester. Other notable works include pictures by Edward Burra, Michael Ayrton, Sheila Fell, Prunella Clough, Allen Jones and Ged Quinn. More recent acquisitions have included less traditional materials such as Brian McCann’s photography and mixed media work

  Art: Decorative Art

  There are excellent collections of Sunderland-made glass and pottery, and a small collection of silver.

  The collection of 18th and 19th century locally-manufactured pottery is the largest in the world. Comprising over 750 pieces, it represents all aspects of the production of Sunderland pottery, from traditional slipware to transfer-printed creamware and earthenware, including the famous pink lustre wares. Major donations include those from the pottery manufacturers Messrs Scott & Sons of Southwick in 1897 and the Roland Burdon collection in 1946-7.

  Highlights of Sunderland’s glass collection are: friggers; 19th century engraved glass, including Sunderland’s famous Wear Bridge rummers; the early 19th century Londonderry and Darnell services; Victorian pressed glass and 1930s Jobling’s art glass. There is a large collection of items made by PYREX, dating from the start of PYREX production in this country in the 1920s to the closure in 2007. Hartley Woods, the stained glass manufacturer, is represented by glass samples, pressed ‘jewels’ and hand-blown decorative pieces.

  The silver collection dates from the 16th to the 19th centuries. It contains a wide range of domestic items, including a large collection of 17th century spoons, and a collection of local church silver. Many of the items were bequeathed to the Museum in 1947 by James Wilson.

  Since the late 1970s the Museum has developed a small collection of contemporary glass by glassmakers working in, or closely connected with Sunderland, particularly makers associated with the University of Sunderland.

  Recent acquisitions of contemporary glass/ceramics have reflected a blurring of the ‘fine’ and `decorative art’ boundaries to include work by Katharine Dowson and Jeffrey Sarmiento

  History:

  Elements of the history collections date back to the very early days of museums in Sunderland. For example, the boots that are claimed to have been owned by the sixteenth century radical thinker Colonel John Lilburne (also known as Freeborn Jack) appear in the Subscription Museum catalogue of 1825. In the later nineteenth century local shipbuilders donated some model ships. During the First World War there was some collecting of material relating to the War including weapons and helmets.

  Collecting continued in a piecemeal way in the following years up to the end of the 1960s. In the 1970s there was much more proactive collecting of social history material as that discipline became more popular as well as in land transport material (principally railway, tram and bus related material) as Sunderland Council developed and opened Monkwearmouth Station Museum (1973). During the Tyne and Wear years history as a discipline had more resources in terms of staff and storage allocated to it around the whole service and this enabled more material to be collected and processed. New galleries were opened highlighting the social and industrial history of Sunderland. Sunderland Museum, unique among the museums of Tyne and Wear, kept the paper ephemera and photographic archive that in the other sites had been placed with the relevant local studies libraries and the Museum catalogued and continued to develop these parts of the collection

  Today the history collection is broken down into four distinct areas:

  Local History — Community Life. Strengths and highlights of the collection include a large and rich collection of photographs, ephemera and maps documenting the development of Sunderland and covering many aspects of the lives of Sunderland people including community life, and working life.

  Social History — Personal and Domestic Life. Strengths and highlights of the collection include a large and rich collection of objects and artefacts covering many aspects of the lives of Sunderland people including personal life, home and family life, and working life.

  Maritime History — Shipbuilding, Ship Repair, Marine Engineering, Life at Sea, Shipping Companies Collecting of maritime artefacts began in the nineteenth century with significant guidance and support from local shipbuilders, ship owners and industrialists. The collapse of shipbuilding in the 1970s and 80s led to a round of collecting to secure the future of important items of the regional maritime heritage. The collection is weak with regards to material relating to life at sea. The collection includes ship models, tools and equipment used in the various maritime trades. Ship Repair, Marine Engineering, Life at Sea, Shipping Companies

  Science and Industry — Scientific Research and Development, Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mining and Manufacturing other than Maritime The collection has been built up over many years but especially over the last 40 years during a period of decline in the traditional heavy and light industries associated with the North East and Wearside in particular. It contains important artefacts relating to persons, events and industries associated with Wearside and is well represented in terms of coal-mining, marine engineering and automotive industries.

  In the time of Tyne and Wear Museums the Textile and Costume Collection and the Transport Collection were treated as separate collections. From this time onwards neither Textile and Costume nor Transport material will not be considered as separate subjects for collection policy purposes and will be linked with the four above areas when material from these subjects is being considered for the collection. For example, a Sunderland operated motor bus could be considered under local history whilst a christening gown could be considered under social history. However, the items relating to Transport or items of Costume and Textile themselves may be managed together in purpose designed storage facilities if deemed appropriate to do so. This is for the benefit, long term sustainability and accessibility of the individual items in those collections.

  Natural Science: Biology

  Natural Science collections at Sunderland originated with the Sunderland Subscription Museum, founded in 1810. The collections grew little until Sunderland Corporation took over the running of the museum in 1846, and there was a great period of expansion and acquisition between 1850 and 1900. Natural Science dominated the displays at Sunderland Museum until the 1960s, and a major gallery is still devoted to wildlife.
  Major donations to Sunderland have included the collections of Edward Backhouse and Charles T. Trechmann. Backhouse supported the museum by donation during his lifetime, and in 1907 his collection was given to the museum by Mrs Backhouse. The extent of the donation can be measured by the fact that the cabinets, when laid end-to-end, extended to 85 metres. Natural Science was a major element in his collection, and included fine quality minerals and fossils, butterflies and moths, birds’ eggs and mounted birds. Trechmann’s collection, donated in the 1960s, included objects of scientific importance as well as display material.

  Natural Sciences: Mammals and birds

  Principal collections include material prepared by South Shields taxidermist William Yellowley (1823-1893), the collection of wealthy Sunderland banker Edward Backhouse (1808-1879) and Lord Ravensworth’s (1869-1932) birds. The collections provide comprehensive coverage of the British fauna, and also include some rare exotic species such as Lion, Tiger and Leopard, many specimens of birds of prey, and a pair of the now-extinct Passenger Pigeon.

  Natural Sciences: Osteology

  The osteological collection includes bone material from most British species, exotic skulls and a part-skeleton of a leopard. There is also a small but significant collection of cetacean material. Notable items include the skull of a Baird’s Beaked Whale and a partially mounted Common Dolphin skeleton.

  Natural Sciences: Fish Reptiles and Amphibians

  A small collection of historic casts and mounts was supplemented in the 1970s by the acquisition of a comprehensive series of locally caught fish preserved in spirit.

  Natural Sciences: Insects

  The Backhouse collection of exotic butterflies includes specimens collected in the mid- 19th Century. Other collections of British butterflies and moths provide a comprehensive coverage of the British species. Coverage of other groups is patchy, although some groups of Diptera (especially, hoverflies) are well represented, and a good series of Coleoptera has been built up in the course of recent fieldwork.

  Natural Sciences: Molluscs

  The shell collections include two major elements. The Backhouse collection comprises mainly exotic species and includes some material acquired through major early collectors such as Reeve and Cumming. Woodward’s collection, donated in 1977, includes a number of type, figured and cited specimens and is supported by a library of books and offprints.

  Natural Sciences: Birds’ eggs

  Several collections of birds’ eggs have been donated over the years to all of the constituent museums of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums. Most have been held in store since their donation, but both South Shields Museum and Saltwell Towers Museum once had eggs on display. The collections provide comprehensive coverage of the British fauna, and there are some exotic species also present. There is also a small collection of British birds’ nests.

  Natural Sciences: Invertebrates

  A collection of 900 microscope slides, mainly of diatoms, has never been thoroughly researched. Originating in the mid-19th century, the collection includes material from various local and national scientists. The Backhouse bequest included a collection of display-quality corals.

  Natural Sciences: Botany

  The collections form an important herbarium with an extensive local flora, concentrating on County Durham (Vice-County 66). Pre-eminent elements include the 18th century collection of Stephen Robson, and material collected by Rev. G.G. Graham in County Durham in the late 20th century.

  Natural Sciences: Geology

  Natural Science collections at Sunderland originated with the Sunderland Subscription Museum, founded in 1810. The collections grew little until Sunderland Corporation took over the running of the museum in 1846, and there was a great period of expansion and acquisition between 1850 and 1900. Natural Science dominated the displays at Sunderland Museum until the 1960s, and a major gallery is still devoted to wildlife.

  Major donations to Sunderland have included the collections of Edward Backhouse and Charles T. Trechmann. Backhouse supported the museum by donation during his lifetime, and in 1907 his collection was given to the museum by Mrs Backhouse. The extent of the donation can be measured by the fact that the cabinets, when laid end-to-end, extended to 85 metres. Geology was a major element of his collection and included fine quality minerals and fossils. Trechmann’s collection, donated in the 1960’s, included objects of scientific importance as well as display material, and was rich in rocks, fossils and minerals. Other collectors of note include J.W. Kirkby, D.B. Smith, W. Hutton, D. Woolacott and John Bell.

  Natural Sciences: Palaeontology and Petrology

  The largest part of the collection consists of Permian vertebrate and invertebrate fossils and rocks from the Zechstein strata of North East England. Important specimens include the only British example of a Permian Gliding Reptile (Coelurosauravus ), one of only two British specimens of an early lizard-like reptile ( Protorosaurus), the Holotypes of a Permian plant (Durhamia belli ) and fish (Platysomus parvus, the oldest recorded specimen in Sunderland Museum dating back to 1815), together with numerous specimens which have been cited or figured in literature. Other fossil collections include numerous Carboniferous plants (including a fossil tree trunk), vertebrates from the Coal Measures strata of Northumberland and County Durham, including a rare Carboniferous amphibian from Usworth Colliery, and considerable invertebrate collections. There are also holdings of Jurassic vertebrates and invertebrates from Cleveland, North Yorkshire and southern England, and considerable lower Palaeozoic, Cretaceous, Tertiary and Quaternary collections from localities throughout the UK and indeed the world.

  Natural Sciences: Mineralogy

  Mineral collections consist of specimens collected principally from the North Pennine Orefield, but also include material from throughout the UK, Europe and other continents. This collection is particularly noteworthy for the quantity and quality of North Pennine ‘Spar’ minerals, many of which have been collected from localities which no longer yield quality specimens, as well as rare minerals such as alstonite. There are also considerable rock collections held at the museum, including a series of important cores collected from the North Sea during exploration for hidden coal reserves. The Sunderland University Gem Collection has been acquired from the geology department of Sunderland University, which has now closed. This collection includes raw and cut specimens from around the world and was originally assembled as a teaching collection.

  World Cultures/Ethnography

  Ethnographic material has existed in Sunderland Museum collections since 1846, when Sunderland Subscription Museum collections were taken over by the council. During the late 19th century there was a major period of acquisition when Edward Backhouse contributed items to improve the displays, and finally bequeathed his collection to Sunderland. There are 1,200 artefacts held in the ethnography collection. Although not large, the collection is representative of the major cultural groups, and potentially useful for display and educational purposes. They include 350 items from Africa, 220 from Asia, 200 from Oceania and 100 from the New World. Among the more significant items are: an ivory oliphant collected by John Petherick in the southern Sudan; an early Maori paddle; a Marquesas Islands stilt step and u’u club; a fine quality 19th century Nootka tobacco pipe in the form of a mosquito pupa; a mask from the Papuan Gulf and a Mandist banner taken at the battle of Omdurman. Edward Backhouse was a leading member of the Quaker community and his collection includes some items brought from the Pacific by Quaker missionaries. There is also a collection of shoes, spears, Oceanic weapons, Peruvian (Chimu) pottery, paddles and a scoop from the Austral islands, oriental armour and ivories and North American quillwork

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2022

  Licence: CC BY-NC