Leeds Museums & Galleries Collections Development Policy

Prehistoric Collections The prehistoric collections include stone axe heads, flint arrowheads and other stone tools from the Yorkshire region and beyond, numerous bronze artefacts and local Bronze Age hoards, and objects from ‘Lake Dwelling’ sites on the Continent. The Philosophical and Literary Society acquired a collection of Palaeolithic stone tools from the northern French gravel deposits, which during the 19th century helped make the case for the antiquity of human beings. This is supplemented by well-documented stone tools from Kent and southern counties. The bulk of the collection is composed of lithic material, a good proportion of which remains unprovenanced.

Roman artefacts are very well represented by the excavated finds from the Dalton Parlours Roman villa excavations, material from the Roman town of Aldborough, finds from Adel in north Leeds and a scattering of finds from other parts of the UK. These are supplemented by substantial local excavation archives from Wattle Syke and Rothwell Haigh. A large part of the collection is unprovenanced.

Material representative of the Anglo-Saxon and Viking periods is not numerous but it is highly significant. Fragments of the Leeds Parish Church crosses (9th- 10th century), and The West Yorkshire Hoard (7th-11th century), are of national significance as well as exquisite craftsmanship. Other objects from the period include a number of unprovenanced Anglian cinerary urns and iron weapons, a high status brooch from a Jutish burial in Kent, and a group of carved gravestones found at Adel Church.

Finds from excavations at Kirkstall Abbey, the Cistercian monastery in west Leeds form the bulk of our holdings from the Middle Ages. However, we have material from a number of moated sites in the region and kiln firing experiments at Bodington Hall in Leeds from excavations in the 1960s. Much of the material is ceramic and fragmentary.

The most important exhibit is the mummy of the ancient Egyptian priest Nesyamun dating from about 1100 BC. This is supported by a more miscellaneous collection of about 1,000 Egyptian artefacts representing both daily life and funerary practices. The collection is strongest in the Predynastic period (before 3100 BC) because of the Society’s subscription to Mr Randall-Maclver’s excavations at El -Amrah for the Egypt Exploration Society early in the 20th century.

A group of very high quality sculpture collected by people on the Grand Tour is the highlight of a more miscellaneous collection of ancient Greek artefacts which consists mostly of pottery. There is also a significant quantity of Cypriot ceramics and related material in the collection.

This service has also been fortunate to acquire a share of the finds from Lord Savile’s excavations at Lanuvium in Italy, which includes fragmentary material from an important Etruscan and Roman temple, Hellenistic style pottery and some fine fragments from an important statue group depicting cavalrymen and horses. This is supported by a more miscellaneous collection of Roman small finds from Ventimiglia and other sites collected in the 19th century.

There is a significant collection of material from the Near East (particularly from excavations at Jericho), North America and India, as well as a small number of objects from other countries outside Europe, collected during the 19th century.

The end-date for archaeological collecting is the closure of Kirkstall Abbey in 1539, after which material is the responsibility of the Social History department. However, in cases where later material has been acquired by archaeological methods, i.e. by excavation, field walking or metal detecting, it will usually still become part of the archaeology collection.

There is archaeological material within the World Cultures collection, notably ancient Chinese, South America (particularly Peruvian), and Native American material.

We have amongst the finest collections of British Furniture in the country. The core of the collection dates between c.1550 to 1900. There are also a few items of modern craft furniture. Superb examples of major makers are represented in the collection, including Thomas Chippendale the elder and younger, Linnel, Marsh and Tatham, Vile and Cobb, and Gillows. Another important area of the collection is the vernacular furniture. The chairs in this area are of particular importance and include the oldest known Windsor chair, bequeathed by Roger Warner in 2008. Part of this collection includes items of servants’ and backstairs furniture.

Included within the furniture collection are important and rare items of country house lighting, comprising chandeliers and electroliers, sconces and various kinds of lamps. Again these are considered vital for the understanding of the domestic interiors and decorative arts in general but are useful objects and are in use within Temple Newsam and Lotherton.

The ceramics collection is numerically the largest within our collection comprising approx. 5000 items. The collection of English Pottery which ranges in date from 1650 to 1900 is of particular importance. It contains the largest holdings of creamwares in the country. There are also exceptionally rare and unique items of stoneware, pearlware and earthenwares.

The English porcelain collection though numerically smaller than the pottery nonetheless contains important items of early Worcester and mid 1700s Derby.

We have a small collection of continental ceramics. This is an area which has never been actively collected. Within this there are items of exceptional rarity including Delftware pottery, Sevres and Meissen.

Oriental pottery and porcelain form a numerically large area of the collection. Of particular note is the Savery bequest of Chinese Ceramics.

Our collections of metalwork, especially silver, are remarkable. Unlike other collections which have been gathered by means of gift or bequest, the collection of silver is a comparatively small but choice assemblage of objects largely built up by curators. This means that Leeds is able to survey English silver not only in terms of style and maker but also in the way that it illustrates material culture. There are numerous outstanding pieces in the collection of international importance, notably the Raby Cistern by Philip Rollos, the Tea Equipage by Paul de Lamerie and the Kirkleatham Centrepiece by David and Anne Tanqueray.

Leeds has a small collection of English glass. It forms an important and complementary collection to our holdings of silver and ceramics. It is of particular importance to give a fuller picture of the understanding of the material culture of the domestic interior.

We are one of only three institutions that actively collect wallpapers in the country alongside the V&A and the Whitworth Gallery in Manchester. Of particular note is the Roger Warner collection of wallpapers. This includes not only salvaged items from English houses but also items relating to the prominent firm of Jeffrey & Co with example of papers designed by artists and designers such as Walter Crane, and Lewis F. Day. The collection also includes an archive of the papers found at Temple Newsam and Lotherton. An interesting aspect of the collection is reproductions of papers from institutions such as the Palace of Westminster.

There are miscellaneous items of decorative art within the collection that have been given and bequeathed. Although these have never been the focus of active collecting, they are interesting collections in their own right. Some deserve particular mention:

The Cliff bequest of Ivories, the Oxley gift and bequest of ivories and miscellaneous objets de vertu, the Frank Fulford collection of Oriental hardstones and etuis and the Dorothy Una Ratcliffe collection of fans and miniatures.

There are important archives relating to the decorative arts within the collections. These include the archive of the Leeds furniture maker; Hummerston Bros and the exceptionally important collection of Country House sale catalogues.

There is also a small collection of ornament prints, designs and trade cards.

Recently there has been a strong drive to collect works on paper illustrating interiors and social history leading to notable acquisitions by William Redmore Bigg and Thomas Rowlandson.

Our collection of British modern applied arts can be broadly divided into five main areas: jewellery, ceramics, metalwork, furniture and textiles. Collecting of contemporary craft began in earnest in 1968 when Lotherton opened to the public. It was decided that Lotherton should be a showcase for British applied arts from the nineteenth century until the present day. Major artists are represented in all areas of the collection. The ceramics collection is particularly strong surveying major artists from the 1930s until the present day.

The dress collection is predominantly British and consists of clothes and accessories for men, women and children. Although there are a few accessories which date from the 17th century, the majority of the collection dates from the 18th century onwards.

A large part of the collection has a unique regional significance in that the items have been worn, bought or made in Leeds and the surrounding Yorkshire region.

However, the collection also represents the wider history of British fashion as it contains items which have been collected for their excellence of cut and construction or for their aesthetic beauty. Of note is the Kenneth Sanderson collection which contains a large quantity of mainly 18th century male and female fashionable clothes and accessories. There are also many items representing high end couture fashion from the end of the 19th century to the 21st century. Outstanding garments include an 1881 dress by Charles Worth, worn by the daughter of a Yorkshire mill owner and a particularly strong collection of garments dating from the 1960s by some of the best known British fashion designers, such as Jean Muir, Bill Gibb, Zandra Rhodes, Vivienne Westwood, Bruce Oldfield, and Philip Treacy.

A significant and unique area of the dress and textiles collection is the large quantity of material relating to the production, finished product, promotion and selling of the nationally important tailoring manufacturing industry in Leeds. There are a few items dating from the start of the rise of the industry in the late 19th to early 20th century but the majority of the objects date to the height of the industry in the 1930s to its decline in the 1980s. The collection includes items such as tools and equipment, suits, photographic archive and promotional material.

Although a number of the Leeds tailors are represented in the collection, the two Leeds’ manufacturers best represented are Burton and Hepworths.

The textile collection, of all the areas in the costume and textiles collection, is the widest ranging in terms of date and it includes some extremely rare fragments dating back to the 15th century. The collection contains fragments and also complete items highlighting the wide variety of techniques used in the production of textiles for dress, furnishings and interiors.

Like the dress, the textile collection has many items with a unique local significance, which illustrate the use or manufacture of textiles in the home, for practical or decorative use, in the Leeds and surrounding area. This includes a large and extensive collection of needlework samplers dating largely from the 18th and 19th century and also many patchwork and quilted bedcovers.

An important sub-group of the textiles collection is the collection of country house floor coverings including carpets and other coverings. Rare items include early 1800s linoleum and Venetian carpets. These are considered important for understanding the country house interior and have informed restoration projects at Temple Newsam and elsewhere.

Of particular note in the textiles collection are the exceptional Henry Ginsberg and Roger Warner collections: The Ginsburg Collection consists of European embroideries, silks, linens, lace and printed cottons dating between 1450 and 1900. The core of the collection is printed cottons and contains examples of well-known designs from the best French and English manufacturers of the 1700s, such as Oberkampf from France and Bromley Hall in England. The collection of silks is extremely comprehensive in that it can illustrate the major developments in style and design between 1450 and 1800. It includes examples of dress and furnishing silks from Florence, Lyons and the British manufacturing centre of Spitalfields.

The Warner collection comprises a significant collection of mainly upholstery fabrics from English country houses, dating from the 1650s to the first quarter of the 1900s.

We have collected Victorian pictures since the Art Gallery opened in 1888. Whilst not comprehensive, our collection holds some remarkable works. Of particular note are the landscapes, characterised by Sogne Fjord by Adelsteen Normann, Pre-Raphalite romantic pictures like Waterhouse’s The Lady of Shalott, ‘modern moral subjects’ of everyday life like Holl’s The Village Funeral and Tissot’s the Bridemaid), as well as paintings depicting contemporary events like the war in Afghanistan by The Drums of the Fore and Aft by Edward Hale.

We are probably most associated with the Leeds artist John Atkinson Grimshaw, the holdings of whose works has grown to encompass the largest of any public collection.

We hold a major collection of French art of the Barbizon school, including important works by Courbet and Corot. We are able to demonstrate the changes since the Renaissance, in particular with the development of realism and impressionism. Andre Derain’s Barges on the Thames, acquired later is a key work in the post-impressionist canon.

The work of Walter Sickert and the grouping around him of young artists known as the Camden Town Group, (Ginner, Gilman and Gore) who were influenced by new European developments are well represented in our collection. Mark Gertler, David Bomberg, Stanley Spencer and Leeds’ own Jacob Kramer were part of this fresh approach, and are all represented with significant, and often multiple works in the collection. We also have major works from the Vorticists painters Nevinson and Wyndham Lewis. The First World War period is also well represented by artists such as Paul Nash.

The Leeds woollen manufacturer, Sam Wilson formed a modern and progressive collection, which was subsequently bequeathed to the city in 1918. Focusing on ‘English Impressionists’ like Mark Senior, Wilson built up a collection of over three hundred paintings, sculptures, oriental porcelain and Gillow furniture. Collecting artists of his own times – notably Frank Brangwyn, Georg Sauter, George Clausen, William Orpen and John Buxton Knight, Wilson’s collection also included several sculptures by Olsen and Alfred Gilbert.

This period is dominated by the artists such as Spencer, Sickert and Matthew Smith and Wadsworth the acquisition of which was driven by gallery director Philip Hendy. Work by most other leading British artists of the period were bought and during the Second World War a pioneering series of exhibitions was held at Temple Newsam, Leeds, featuring emerging ‘new’ artists such as Henry Moore, Paul Nash, Ben Nicholson and Augustus John, thus establishing Leeds’ reputation as a centre for contemporary art.

Significant acquisitions have added some major works from this period; these include significant loans from the Leeds Art (Collections) Fund. One of the most celebrated being Francis Bacon’s Painting 1950. Other artists represented from this period include the Gregory Fellows – a series of artist residencies at Leeds University who included Terry Frost, Alan Davie, Hubert Dalwood, Reg Butler, Kenneth Armitage, Austin Wright, Norman Stevens, John Walker and Keith Milow.

Painting is still the dominant medium in Leeds Art Gallery’s collection, and acquisitions continue to be made by artists who still use paint in new ways, such as Terry Atkinson and notably by women artists, including Gillian Ayres and Paula Rego.

More recently, however, we have collected in the expanded arenas of art production, from Stephen Willat’s ‘collagist’ approach in Doppelganger, to Susan Hiller’s Monument, which incorporates audio-tape.

We have embarked on a new direction, acquiring new works by artists working with the moving image and sound, including works by Mark Wallinger, Rosalind Nashashibi, and Tacita Dean. This also involved the Gallery in commissioning artists to make work specifically for the collection. Bill Fontana, Georgina Starr and Mariele Neudecker each produced new work and this direction of travel has continued with a recent commission from Bob & Roberta Smith.

The Leeds sculpture collections comprise over 800 objects, 400 works on paper and the Henry Moore Institute Archive of over 270 collections of papers relating to sculptors. These include personal papers, diaries, casting ledgers, photographs and sketch books. The collections are principally British from c.1875 to the present day, although they include works from earlier centuries and other parts of Europe. The Leeds sculpture collections are managed in partnership with the Henry Moore Institute, a specialist centre for the study of sculpture.

The core of the present collection was established in the mid-twentieth century when Leeds Art Gallery gained a reputation for the perceptive collecting of early modern and contemporary sculpture. The introduction of support from The Henry Moore Foundation, beginning in 1982, and the establishment of the Henry Moore Institute in 1993 confirmed Leeds as an international centre for the study and appreciation of sculpture. Since then, the collection has more than doubled in size and expanded in depth, as well as scope, through the acquisition of historic and contemporary works, sculpture and works on paper, preparatory and finished material.

The collections seek to narrate the development of sculpture being made in Britain over the last century as broadly as possible by representing neglected practitioners as well as established ones, by incorporating monumental and architectural sculpture by means of drawings, maquettes and archival material, and by using the works on paper collection to represent the scope of contemporary practice alongside acquisitions of three-dimensional work. In recent years there has been a particular focus on conceptual, performance, photographic and other expanded sculptural forms and definitions from the 1960s and 1970s, which traditionally have been considered difficult to collect and as a result are underrepresented in museum collections of sculpture.

Today, Leeds boasts one of the finest collections of prints and drawings in Britain, which is predominantly strong in the area of English watercolour. It includes around 3,000 drawings and watercolours of national importance, and a fine collection of around 2,000 English prints with small but high quality collections of European and Japanese prints.

The story of collecting prints and drawings at Leeds Art Gallery began in 1925 when Robert Hawthorn Kitson, an amateur watercolour artist and member of the Gallery’s sub-committee, set out to create ‘a first rate general collection of watercolours’, in the following inter-war years the acquisition of watercolours became the Gallery’s main focus of collection, when several key purchases including The Ploughed Field by John Sell Cotman and Lake Albano and Castle Gandulfo by John Robert Cozens.

The Gallery’s expansion in to the field of English watercolours began to attract notable private collectors, which led to important bequests. In 1937 the collector and biographer of John Sell Cotman, Sydney Decimus Kitson, bequeathed a significant share of his Cotman collection. This included major works by Cotman including: Barnard Castle from Towler Hill and nearly 600 Cotman studies.

In 1952 we received the Lupton collection, which totalled some 500 watercolours and around 400 prints. Not only did it include major works by leading English watercolour artists of the late 18th century but also a sequence from Turner’s prints for the ‘Liber Studiorum’ and 64 etchings by Rembrandt.

We have a small, but significant, collection of early European intaglio and relief prints dating from c. 1450. We also have a large number of popular prints with subjects ranging from topography, portraiture to satires. The last century saw us actively collecting other works on paper by living artists including many important names. Most notably: Laura Knight, Paul Nash, William Roberts, Henry Moore, Eric Ravlious, Graham Sutherland and Edward Burra. In recent years the most notable purchased Leeds has made is The Valley of the Washburn by J M W Turner.

There are approximately 8,000 coins from the ancient world in the numismatic collections, including a variety of Iron Age, ancient Greek, Republican and Imperial Roman, Byzantine, Viking, Medieval, and post-Medieval coinage. This also includes local coin hoards and coins from archaeological archives. There is also a large collection of ancient coin casts and coin moulds. The most significant collection of ancient coins is George Baron’s generous bequest of 2,000 gold, silver and bronze coins acquired by Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society in 1854.

We hold an extensive collection of British, European and International coinage from the 17th century up to the present day. Part of the collection reflects national changes in currency and spending practices in the UK, for example decimalisation, early cheques, credit cards, etc. Other highlights of the collection include coins and banknotes from across the world, and alternative world currencies, both ancient and modern.

There are about 1,000 military medals and decorations in the collection relating to campaigns and individuals worldwide, but many with a local connection. This is augmented by substantial collections of regimental badges and military buttons. There is also a variety of local commemorative coins and medals, British historical medals and royal commemorative medals in the collection, as well as a more miscellaneous selection of medal series’ mainly acquired in the 19th century (for example, papal medals donated by George Baron and R.L.P Jowitt in the mid-1800s).

Other collections of note include British and Yorkshire tokens, casts of Medieval and post-Medieval seals (royal, monastic, and heraldic), and historical ephemera relating to the collection. There is also a variety of miscellaneous material which ranges from Royal Maundy money to 1970s chocolate coins!

We aim to source works by significant artists not already represented in the collection, and to acquire works from periods and movements which are inadequately represented.

Our aim is to collect work by significant contemporary practitioners through employing a ‘commissioning to collect’ model, with particular interest in creating new dialogues between new work and our existing collection, where appropriate. As Leeds is also the home of the Northern Art Prize, we also seek opportunities to recognise the achievements of the shortlisted artists through our collections. We aim to exploit opportunities to acquire works through partnerships with nationally-recognised collecting schemes, for example with the Contemporary Arts Society – where in 2012 it is Leeds turn to work with the CAS in the new Acquisition Scheme and Art Fund Collect.

We seek to develop our first-rate collection for the study, display and interpretation of prints and drawings, with a particular emphasis on English watercolours where our collection is strongest. We aim to acquire works that build in depth, expand and complement the collection, seeking works by artists and amateurs that are not well represented in the collection and from periods which are inadequately covered.

In order to best reflect practice of sculpture, we aim to collect as broadly as possible across an expanded field that includes conceptual, performance and other new sculptural forms.

We aim to collect works which complement and expand the scope of the sculpture collection, with a particular focus on contemporary practice.

We aim to build significant collections and resources for research, education, interpretation and display, documenting the full practice of sculpture from commissioning through to realisation.