Art collections

Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery has large and important fine and decorative art collections. Amongst the art collections, though held and displayed separately is the Cottonian Collection.

Fine art

A substantial collection of some 750 paintings, 3000 watercolours and drawings, over 5000 prints and small collections of sculpture and miniatures. The works span the 16th to 20th centuries and include examples from a wide range of European schools. The vast majority are English and date from the 19th and 20th centuries.

The South West has a rich artistic heritage and this is reflected in the content of the collections. There are many works by prominent local artists such as Sir Joshua Reynolds, James Northcote, Samuel Prout, Charles Locke Eastlake and Benjamin Robert Haydon.

With its geographical connection to Cornwall there are many views of the region as a whole and of Cornwall, Plymouth and its environs in particular. This includes a large representation of work by artists of the 19th century Newlyn School as well as good 20th century collections including works by the St Ives and Camden Town Groups. Works by the St Ives School will be displayed when we re-open in 2008. Visit our permanent galleries page for details.

Cottonian Collection

This 18th century collection contains small groups of ceramics, bronzes and paintings, several hundred Old Master and English drawings and watercolours, and a substantial body of several thousand fine and rare prints. Together with a sizeable library of some two thousand volumes, this outstanding collection has designated status, which recognises its national and international importance. For more information visit the Cottonian Collection website.

Decorative art

The decorative art collection contains ceramics, glass, furniture, costumes, textiles and silver, particularly Plymouth silversmiths. It also includes one of the most extensive collections of the historically important Plymouth and Bristol porcelain and a wide selection from other British and European factories, including the work of Dorothy Doughty, Bernard Moore and the Martin Brothers. A selection of items from the decorative art collections are displayed in our refurbished Atrium Gallery and The China Connection.

Port Eliot

In early 2007 the Museum also acquired an important collection of Sir Joshua Reynolds paintings from the Earl of St Germans under the Acceptance in Lieu Scheme.

The collection featured a series of 23 portraits from the Port Eliot estate in St Germans, Cornwall - 14 of which were painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds and 9 of which were painted by some of his main contemporaries.

Due to the conditions associated with the Acceptance in Lieu, the portraits will remain in situ at Port Eliot. An initial 25-year in situ loan agreement has been signed with the estate to guarantee a minimum of 100 days public access to the paintings each year.

Port Eliot house and gardens will open from March to June 2009. Check back here later in the year for confirmed dates and times or visit the Port Eliot website.

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