Collection: Torre Abbey

Collection-level records:

• Collection overview (Cornucopia)

  Social History Collection

  There is a domestic collection including Victorian and Edwardian toys and games, and a dolls house. Civic memorabilia is represented by mayoral chains from Torquay and Paignton, and time charts showing the names of mayors, other civic leaders and significant local events.

  Subjects

  Social History

  Fine Art Collection

  This impressive collection of oils and watercolours range in date from the mid 18th century to the mid 20th century. The finest pieces are Holman Hunt’s ‘The Children’s Holiday’; an imposing series of Burne-Jones drawings; and watercolours by William Henry Hunt and Thomas Miles Richardson. Other works include some 19th and 20th century copies of Turner paintings. There are also two collections of miniatures; and a modest collection of prints and drawings. Some of the works are by local artists, but most are associated with Torbay by virtue of being donated or bequeathed by local people.

  Subjects

  Fine Art

  Decorative and Applied Art Collection

  Collections of 18th and 19th century English glass, silver and pewter, including communion plate from local churches are good, though modest in size. The Brian Reade collection of Torquay and Watcombe terracottas has been supplemented by donations from the Torquay Pottery Collectors Society, which keeps its archive at the Abbey. There is a nationally-important collection of sculpture by Frederick Thrupp (1812-95). Among the sculptures by other artists is an attractive bust of Othello by Calvi. There is a collection of furniture dating from the 17th to the 20th centuries, some on loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum. The most notable pieces are some 17th century oak pieces and an inlaid and mirrored early 18th century Dutch bureau. Frederick Thrupp (1812-95) was an eminent Victorian sculptor best known for his commissions for the House of Lords, the Mansion House and that to produce the statue of Wordsworth for Westminster Abbey. He spent the last years of his life in Torquay and in 1911, his widow presented to the town his remaining works of art and the contents of his studio. There is a large collection of paster relief mouldings, marble statues, bronzes, bronze relief panels and screens from throughout the sculptor’s life.

  Subjects

  Metalwork; Sculpture; Decorative and Applied Arts

  Archaeology Collection

  A large collection of moulded and sculptured stone from the medieval Abbey is stored in the undercrofts. It includes parts of several full sized effigies of knights and abbots.

  Subjects

  Archaeology

  Personalia Collection

  There are portraits and some personal effects of the crime-writer Agatha Christie, on loan from the author’s daughter. Included in the collection are photographs of Christie and her family, her typewriter and many of her books.

  Subjects

  Personalia

  Archives Collection

  Amongst the archive material, there is a small collection of manuscripts relating to Agatha Christie on loan to the museum from the author’s daughter.

  Subjects

  Archives

  Source: Cornucopia

  Date: Not known, but before 2015

  Licence: CC BY-NC