Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
Encyclopedia
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery is in Hanley, one of the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent
in Staffordshire
. Admission is free.
One of the four local authority museums in the City, the other three being Gladstone Pottery Museum
, Ford Green Hall and Etruria Industrial Museum, The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery houses collections that bring together the identities that went into forming the area known as the Potteries. Most notably, the Museum holds one of the finest and most extensive collections of Staffordshire ceramics.
All the collections at this Museum are categorized as Designated Collections. Galleries display fine and decorative arts, costume, local history, archaeology and natural history collections. There is a second world war aircraft on permanent display, a Supermarine Spitfire
designed by R. J. Mitchell
who came from nearby Butt Lane
.
Since February 2010, The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery has been the home of a number of artefacts from the Staffordshire Hoard
. 52,500 visitors viewed 118 items at the Potteries Museum during a 23-day exhibition from 13 February.http://www.esci.keele.ac.uk/nsgga/bulletin/bulletin093.pdf
It is still not too late to get a glimpse of the Hoard. Since Birmingham Museum and Stoke-on-Trent Museums have purchased the Hoard, items have been on permanent display at both venues. Over 80 pieces can be seen in The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery's archaeology gallery. Redevelopment of the Saxon part to this gallery in the latter half of 2010 has set the Hoard within a more tangible context, using existing pieces from the Museum's collection of Staffordshire archaeology.
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
in Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
. Admission is free.
One of the four local authority museums in the City, the other three being Gladstone Pottery Museum
Gladstone Pottery Museum
The Gladstone Pottery Museum is a working museum of a medium sized pottery, typical of those once common in the North Staffordshire area of England from the time of the industrial revolution in the 18th century to the mid 20th century....
, Ford Green Hall and Etruria Industrial Museum, The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery houses collections that bring together the identities that went into forming the area known as the Potteries. Most notably, the Museum holds one of the finest and most extensive collections of Staffordshire ceramics.
All the collections at this Museum are categorized as Designated Collections. Galleries display fine and decorative arts, costume, local history, archaeology and natural history collections. There is a second world war aircraft on permanent display, a Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
designed by R. J. Mitchell
R. J. Mitchell
Reginald Joseph Mitchell CBE, FRAeS, was an aeronautical engineer, best known for his design of the Supermarine Spitfire.-Early years:...
who came from nearby Butt Lane
Butt Lane
Butt Lane is a suburb of Kidsgrove in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, North Staffordshire.It is also the birthplace of Reginald Mitchell designer of the RAF's WW2 fighter the Spitfire....
.
Since February 2010, The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery has been the home of a number of artefacts from the Staffordshire Hoard
Staffordshire Hoard
The Staffordshire Hoard is the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork . Discovered in a field near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, in Staffordshire, England on 5 July 2009, it consists of some 3,500 items that are nearly all martial in character...
. 52,500 visitors viewed 118 items at the Potteries Museum during a 23-day exhibition from 13 February.http://www.esci.keele.ac.uk/nsgga/bulletin/bulletin093.pdf
It is still not too late to get a glimpse of the Hoard. Since Birmingham Museum and Stoke-on-Trent Museums have purchased the Hoard, items have been on permanent display at both venues. Over 80 pieces can be seen in The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery's archaeology gallery. Redevelopment of the Saxon part to this gallery in the latter half of 2010 has set the Hoard within a more tangible context, using existing pieces from the Museum's collection of Staffordshire archaeology.