Art Collections - Ceramics, Pottery and Glass

A beautiful display of ceramics, including 'Chelmsford Sissies' by the world renowned Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry, fine Georgian glass, English pottery and contemporary pots from local artists.

Ceramics and Pottery

Ceramics on display include 17th-18th century tin glaze pottery ("English delft") and the unusual Victorian "Essex Art Pottery" made by Edward Bingham and his family at Castle Hedingham in North Essex. A contemporary decorative and narrative pot by the Chelmsford-born Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry is "The Chelmsford Sissies". He imagined a Civil War incident and created a modern cross-dressing illustration on the pot.

This contrasts with the modern austerity of work by Joanna Constantinidis (1927-2000), a potter of international reputation who taught in Chelmsford from 1951 to 1989. Items on display include a large group of pieces she kept, acquired from her estate after her death.

Glass

An impressive number of 18th century English drinking-glasses were bequeathed to the Museum in 1957 by Frederick Tunstill. His collection of Georgian stemmed wine and ale glasses includes scarce baluster stems and many other unusual pieces. Special items include a "Jacobite" glass engraved with roses and "fiat", and Dutch-engraved glasses including one attributed to Jacob Sang. A small selection from this collection is also displayed at Hylands House.