Spitfire Progress- Peeling back the Paint
Late in 2018 I took a trip to visit the Medway Aircraft Preservation Society at Rochester Airport. The team have been busy on the restoration of Spitfire RW388 and work will continue in 2019. One of the big jobs has been to strip away layers of paint from the wings and fuselage in order to […]
A Nurse’s Autograph Book
I only re-joined the team here at The Potteries Museum a few months ago. It’s been a pleasure reacquainting myself with the collections and exhibitions. One of the best bits of being a new curator is getting to know the many objects in your care and the thrill of discovery as you do so. Taking […]
Spitfire Progress – Wings
Progress continues on the restoration of Spitfire RW388 by the Medway Aircraft Preservation Society Limited (MAPSL). This week it’s time to really get things off the ground* with one of the Spitfire’s most recognisable features – its wings. (*Pun very much intended) RW388’s wings were detached in order to remove it from the building in […]
Spitfire Progress – Fuselage
Progress continues on the restoration of Spitfire RW388 by the Medway Aircraft Preservation Society Limited (MAPSL). This week we look at progress to the main body of the aircraft – the fuselage. This section is made from curving panels attached to a supporting structure of horizontal longerons and vertical frames, forming the core of the […]
Spitfire Progress – The Engine
Progress continues on the restoration of Spitfire RW388 by the Medway Aircraft Preservation Society Limited (MAPSL). Much of the focus early on has been on the aircraft’s Merlin engine – arguably almost as much of a Second World War icon as the Spitfire itself. Progress Report The Merlin 266 has been fully cleaned and painted, […]
This path one time long time ago
This exhibition comes from a collaboration between myself, the Natural History department of the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery and AirSpace Gallery. It comes from a long term project that AirSpace has undertaken regarding the brownfield sites in and around Stoke-on-Trent. So the invitation was to think about the brownfield sites and the Natural History […]
Rafaelle Monti ‘The Mother’
In the 1840s a number of leading factories in Stoke-on-Trent were experimenting with a fine, unglazed porcelain body of brilliant whiteness. The marble-like texture of the porcelain surface was seen as ideal for reproducing both antique and modern sculptures. In 1845 the firm of Copeland & Garrett was able to exhibit its ‘Statuary Porcelain’ which […]
Mad March Hares
Spring is a good time to see Brown hares in the countryside. Although normally nocturnal and cautious of daytime predators, the warmer weather makes them more active and they can be seen chasing each other in fields and meadows alongside the edges of woods and hedgerows. The famous ‘boxing’ activity is between a male and […]
Phillip Connard, The Lilac Dress
This rather enigmatic portrait of a lady, known as The Lilac Dress, is one of the earliest paintings purchased for the museum’s fine art collection in 1926. The Lancashire-born artist Phillip Connard RA (1875-1958), first worked as a house painter and studied art part-time until he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art. […]
Museum Treasures: Roman Sarcophagus
The precise origins of this stone sarcophagus or coffin (currently held in our museum stores) are unknown. It is likely to have been produced in mainland Europe, perhaps in Rome itself, but had found its way into the collections now held by The Potteries Museum by the late 19th century. The sarcophagus is decorated along […]