Delhom Gallery at Mint Museum Randolph to remain closed until May 2 for curatorial research
The Mint Museum, in collaboration with D. Giles Limited of London, is producing an illustrated catalogue showcasing its renowned collection of eighteenth-century British ceramics. And to facilitate research for the catalogue, the museum is closing its historic Delhom Gallery at Mint Museum Randolph through May 2 to enable curatorial research of ceramics items from the gallery, many of which have not been removed from their glass-enclosed cases in more than 30 years.
The catalogue is being generously funded by the Delhom Service League, the Mint’s affiliate group supporting the ceramics collections of the museum. Additional photography for the project is made possible through a digitization grant that the museum received from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2013.
The catalogue will be released in fall 2015, timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the museum’s purchase of the Delhom Collection of British and European ceramics. The catalogue will feature 200 objects, selected because of their rarity, craftsmanship, or as important examples of particular methods of production or decoration. It will include contributions by Brian Gallagher and Barbara Perry, the Mint’s current and former curators of Decorative Arts, as well as noted ceramics scholars Diana Edwards, Patricia Halfpenny, Maurice Hillis, and Letitia Roberts.
The Delhom Gallery at Mint Museum Randolph closed to the public and most museum staff effective March 31 to enable de-installation of British ceramics. Many of those objects were put in place with the construction of that portion of the museum, which was added on to the original Mint building in 1983. The detailed study of these objects will later contribute to a plan to re-install the gallery and add more recent acquisitions from the Mint’s permanent collection.
The Mint’s collection of British pottery and ceramics numbers over 2,000 items, and includes one of the most in-depth collections of Staffordshire pottery to be found in the United States. It also holds representative examples of ceramics from most of the major eighteenth-century porcelain factories, including Chelsea, Bow, Longton Hall, Bristol, and others.
For questions about the closure of the Delhom Gallery, please contact Leigh Dyer at 704.337.2009 or leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org.
Above image: Pear-Shaped Sugar Bowl and Teapot, circa 1760, lead-glazed earthenware. Staffordshire, England. Delhom Collection.
ADDITIONAL MINT MUSEUM OPERATIONAL NOTE
In response to strong shopper demand for merchandise associated with two special exhibitions on view at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street, the Mint Museum Uptown Shop is expanding its hours of operation. Effective April 1, the shop has now added Tuesdays from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. to its normal Wednesday-Sunday hours of operation. (The museum galleries remain closed on Mondays, Tuesdays, and major holidays). Mint Museum Uptown Shop hours are now 11 a.m.-6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays-Saturdays; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesdays; and 1-5 p.m. Sundays. For more information or recommendations of merchandise for Mother’s Day or other seasonal stories, please contact Shop Manager Sandy Fisher at sandy.fisher@mintmuseum.org or 704.337.2038.
The change was prompted by the opening of two special exhibitions at Mint Museum Uptown: Allure of Flowers: Botanical Motifs in Craft, Design, & Fashion, on view through August 10, 2014; and Women of Vision: National Geographic Photographers on Assignment, on view through July 20, 2014. A variety of merchandise related to both exhibitions, as well as other temporary exhibitions and permanent collections, is available in the shop. More information available at mintmuseum.org/visit/shop.