Northampton Museum and Art Gallery

Northampton Museum and Art Gallery

The main entrance to Northampton Museum

The main entrance to Northampton Museum
Location Guildhall Road, Northampton, England
Coordinates 52°14′12″N 0°53′41″W / 52.2366°N 0.8946°W / 52.2366; -0.8946Coordinates: 52°14′12″N 0°53′41″W / 52.2366°N 0.8946°W / 52.2366; -0.8946
Website www.northampton.gov.uk/museums

Northampton Museum and Art Gallery is a public museum owned and run by Northampton Borough Council in the Cultural Quarter of Northampton, England.

1970s women's boot

The museum has the largest collection of historical footwear in the world, designated as being of international importance. The ground floor is given over to the display of some of the museum's 12,000 shoes, spanning the period from the Ancient Egyptians to the present day.[1] There are also two galleries dedicated to footwear: Life & Sole focuses on the history of shoemaking and contains a re-creation of an old shoe factory; Followers of Fashion concentrates on the history of fashions in footwear throughout the centuries.[2] Some of the paintings on display reflect the museum's focus on footwear, such as the 17th-19th century Dutch and Flemish works by Jan Miel and Hendrik van Oort featuring cobblers, shoemakers and shoeshiners.[3] As long-time Keeper of the Boot and Shoe Collection, curator June Swann played a significant role in its development. She began in 1950, and worked there for 38 years.[4]

The second and third floors of the museum house displays of Oriental ceramics and Italian art from the 15th to the 18th century.[2]

Sekhemka statue controversy

The museum conducted a controversial sale of an Ancient Egyptian statue of Sekhemka in July 2014, with questions relating to the ownership and the ethics of selling the statue being raised by various organizations. The statue was sold to an unknown buyer for £15.76m, which broke the existing world record for Ancient Egyptian artwork at auction. On 1 August 2014, Northampton Museums had its accreditation removed by the Arts Council England, which ruled that the sale broke the required standards for how museums manage their collections; loss of accreditation includes ineligibility for a range of arts grants and funding, and is in effect until at the earliest, August 2019.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Museums and galleries, Northampton Borough Council, retrieved 15 December 2012
  2. 1 2 Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, Culture24, retrieved 15 December 2012
  3. ↑ Paintings at Northampton Museum & Art Gallery, Northampton Borough Council, BBC, retrieved 15 December 2012
  4. ↑ Weideger, Paula (24 August 1992). "You are what you wear on your feet: For June Swann, a boot is a clue to personality as well as social history. Paula Weideger talked to her". The Independent. Retrieved 2 February 2015. (WebCite archive)
  5. ↑ "Sekhemka statue: Northampton Museum loses Art Council accreditation". BBC News. 1 August 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2015.


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