Derby Museum and Art Gallery
Encyclopedia
Derby Museum and Art Gallery was established in 1879, along with Derby Central Library
, in a new building designed by Richard Knill Freeman
and given to Derby by Michael Thomas Bass. The collection includes a whole gallery displaying the paintings of Joseph Wright of Derby
; there is also a large display of Royal Crown Derby
and other porcelain from Derby and the surrounding area. Further displays include archaeology, natural history, geology and military collections. The Art Gallery has been open since 1882.
The museum uses QRpedia
to allow visitors to read Wikipedia articles about objects in the collection, translated into their preferred language.
. The patron of the Museum Society was William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire
, and the President was Sir George Crewe
who was a keen naturalist. Col. George Gawler
contributed a collection of minerals and exotic stuffed birds which included an albatross from his time as governor in South Australia. In 1839 there was a major exhibition at the Mechanics' Institute which contained many items including those from Joseph Strutt
's collection. Many of these made their way into Derby Museum's collection. The society moved in 1840 to the Athenaeum in Victoria Street. The society's collections grew in 1856 and they were first offered for incorporation into the town by William Mundy
, but the offer was rejected.
In 1857, Llewellyn Jewitt
became secretary and the museum was opened to the general public on Saturday mornings. In 1858 the Derby Philosophical Society
moved to a house on the Wardwick in Derby as it merged with what was called the Derby Town and County Museum and the Natural History Society. This move included the society's library of 4,000 volumes, mathematical and scientific apparatus and its collection of fossils. In 1863 the botanist Alexander Croall was appointed the first Librarian and Curator and the following year the museum and library were joined together. Croall left in 1875 to become the curator of the Smith Institute in Stirling
.
The Derby Town and County Museum was finally transferred into the ownership of Derby Corporation in 1870, but there were difficulties in finding space to display the collections. After placing all the artefacts into storage for three years, the museum was finally opened to the public on 28 June 1879. The Art Gallery opened in 1882 and in 1883 the museum had electricity supplied for new lighting.
In 1936 the museum was given a substantial collection of paintings by Alfred E. Goodey
who had been collecting art for 50 years. At his death in 1945 he left £13,000 to build an extension to the museum. The extension, which now houses the museum, was completed in 1964. Refurbishment to parts of both the new and old buildings were undertaken in 2010–2011.
Derby was significant in the eighteenth century for its role in the Enlightenment
, a period in which science and philosophy challenged the divine right of kings
to rule. The enlightenment has many strands, including the largely philosophical "Scottish enlightenment" centred around the philosopher David Hume
, and political changes that culminated in the French revolution
, but the English Midlands was an area where many key figures of industry and science came together. The famous Lunar Society included Erasmus Darwin
, Matthew Boulton
, Joseph Priestley
and Josiah Wedgwood
with Benjamin Franklin
corresponding from America. Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles Darwin
, started the Derby Philosophical Society
when he moved to Derby in 1783. It was this society which helped to found the first library in Derby.
Some of the paintings by Joseph Wright of Derby, which are notable for their use of light and shade, are of Lunar Society members. Derby museum has over 300 of Wright's sketches, 34 oil paintings, and documents. One is entitled The Alchymist in Search of the Philosopher's Stone (1771) and it depicts the discovery of the element phosphorus
by German alchemist Hennig Brand
in 1669. A flask in which a large quantity of urine
has been boiled down is seen bursting into light as the phosphorus, which is abundant in urine, ignites spontaneously in air.
A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery
shows an early mechanism for demonstrating the movement of the planets around the sun, and an actual orrery
is on display in the centre of the gallery in front of the painting. The Scottish scientist, astronomer and lecturer James Ferguson undertook a series of lectures in Derby in July 1762. They were based on his book Lectures on Select Subjects in Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, Optics &c., published in 1760. In order to illustrate his lectures he used various machines, models and instruments. Wright possibly attended Ferguson’s lecture, especially as tickets for the event were available from John Whitehurst
, his close neighbour, the clockmaker and scientist. The artist could also have drawn on Whitehurst's practical knowledge to find out more about the orrery and its operation.
would flee Britain after his laboratory in Birmingham was smashed and his house burned down in the Birmingham riots
of 1791, by a mob objecting to his outspoken support for the French Revolution; and his colleague Lavoisier in France would be executed at the guillotine
. The politician and philosopher Edmund Burke
, in his famous Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), tied natural philosophers, and specifically Priestley, to the French Revolution, writing that radicals who supported science in Britain "considered man in their experiments no more than they do mice in an air pump". In the light of this comment, Wright's painting of the bird in the air pump, completed over twenty years earlier, seems particularly prescient.
It was against this background that Charles Darwin, grandson of the Derby man and lunar society member, Erasmus, would re-awaken the conflict between science and religious belief once again half a century later, with the publication of his book The Origin of Species
in 1859.
Because of this web of connections related to science, and the tensions it created which were so subtly illustrated by the art of the painter Joseph Wright of Derby; Derby Museum and Art Gallery, far from being just a collection of fine paintings as the casual visitor might imagine, is significant for being in a place that some would see as having a very significant role in the birth of modern science and industry worldwide. Birmingham
, with its science and industry, has been described as the 'silicon valley' of the eighteenth century.
Erasmus Darwin has only a small display. Herbert Spencer
, friend of Charles Darwin, and originator of the phase "the survival of the fittest", who was born in Derby, and has been described as the founder of sociology
does not appear to be mentioned at all.
(MLA) announced that it had awarded Designated status to Derby Museum and Art Gallery for its nationally significant holdings of paintings and drawings by Joseph Wright.
where Bonnie Prince Charlie
held his "council of war
" in 1745, whilst on his way south to seize the British crown. The paneling is from the original Exeter House
, which was demolished 1854. At the time of demolition, the panels were bought to the museum, which then received related objects as donations. Even Queen Victoria sent an original letter of Bonnie Prince Charlie from her own collection.
, E.E. Clark
, Harold Gresley
, Alfred John Keene
, Georg Holtzendorff
, David Payne
, George
and William Lakin Turner
, William Wood, Ernest Townsend
, Samuel
and Louise Rayner
.
to allow visitors to read Wikipedia articles about objects in their collection, translated into their preferred language. The translations were created by Wikipedians throughout the world in the Spring and Summer of 2011. In some cases the articles are shorter but in other cases the best article may be available in Finnish or Indonesian. The system allows visitors to use their Smart phones to read about all the main artefacts in languages like French, Spanish, Portrugese, Japanese, Russian, Belarusian, Indonesian, Czech, Esperanto, Finnish and Catalan as well as some support for languages such as more unusual offerings like Anglo Saxon, Latin and Cossack. This list is not exhaustive. The Derby museum specific artefacts are described in over sixty languages; objects like minerals - such as the local matlockite
, of which the museum has a sizeable piece - that appear in many museums would be supported in over 100 languages.
Derby Central Library
Derby Central Library was established in 1879 with Derby Museum and Art Gallery, in a red brick building designed in the Domestic Flemish Gothic style by Richard Knill Freeman and given to Derby by Michael Thomas Bass...
, in a new building designed by Richard Knill Freeman
Richard Knill Freeman
Richard Knill Freeman was a British architect who began his career at Derby and moved to Bolton, Lancashire in the late 1860s. His work, in Victorian Gothic style and typically recalling the Decorated Period of later medieval architecture, can be seen in several cities and towns across the north...
and given to Derby by Michael Thomas Bass. The collection includes a whole gallery displaying the paintings of Joseph Wright of Derby
Joseph Wright of Derby
Joseph Wright , styled Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution"....
; there is also a large display of Royal Crown Derby
Royal Crown Derby
The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company is a porcelain manufacturer, based in Derby, England. The company, particularly known for its high-quality bone china, has produced tableware and ornamental items since approximately 1750...
and other porcelain from Derby and the surrounding area. Further displays include archaeology, natural history, geology and military collections. The Art Gallery has been open since 1882.
The museum uses QRpedia
QRpedia
QRpedia is a mobile Web based system which uses QR codes to deliver Wikipedia articles to users, in their preferred language. QR codes can easily be generated to link directly to any Uniform Resource Identifier , but the QRpedia system adds further functionality.QRpedia was conceived by Roger...
to allow visitors to read Wikipedia articles about objects in the collection, translated into their preferred language.
History
The museum can trace its start to the formation of the Derby Town and County Museum and Natural History Society on 10 February 1836. The society was housed by Full Street Public Baths but it was a private society funded by its members' subscriptions. Its collections were created by donations initially from Dr Forrester who had been a President of Derby Philosophical SocietyDerby Philosophical Society
The Derby Philosophical Society was a club for gentleman in Derby founded in 1783 by Erasmus Darwin. The club had many notable members and also offered the first institutional library in Derby that was available to some section of the public.-History:...
. The patron of the Museum Society was William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire
William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire
William George Spencer Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire KG, PC , styled Marquess of Hartington until 1811, was a British peer, courtier and Whig politician...
, and the President was Sir George Crewe
Sir George Harpur Crewe, 8th Baronet
Sir George Harpur Crewe, 8th Baronet was an English Tory politician who represented the constituency of South Derbyshire.-Biography:...
who was a keen naturalist. Col. George Gawler
George Gawler
-External links: – Memorials and Monuments in Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK...
contributed a collection of minerals and exotic stuffed birds which included an albatross from his time as governor in South Australia. In 1839 there was a major exhibition at the Mechanics' Institute which contained many items including those from Joseph Strutt
Joseph Strutt (philanthropist)
Joseph Strutt was an English philanthropist. He got his wealth from family textile business. The Strutt brothers were radical social reformers who gave significant donations and founded several important institutions in their native Derby area....
's collection. Many of these made their way into Derby Museum's collection. The society moved in 1840 to the Athenaeum in Victoria Street. The society's collections grew in 1856 and they were first offered for incorporation into the town by William Mundy
William Mundy (Markeaton)
William Mundy was the son of Francis Mundy, a member of parliament for Derby. He was a Justice of the Peace, MP and, in 1844, High Sheriff of Derbyshire.-Biography:...
, but the offer was rejected.
In 1857, Llewellyn Jewitt
Llewellyn Jewitt
Llewellynn Frederick William Jewitt was a noted illustrator, engraver, natural scientist and author of The Ceramic Art of Great Britain...
became secretary and the museum was opened to the general public on Saturday mornings. In 1858 the Derby Philosophical Society
Derby Philosophical Society
The Derby Philosophical Society was a club for gentleman in Derby founded in 1783 by Erasmus Darwin. The club had many notable members and also offered the first institutional library in Derby that was available to some section of the public.-History:...
moved to a house on the Wardwick in Derby as it merged with what was called the Derby Town and County Museum and the Natural History Society. This move included the society's library of 4,000 volumes, mathematical and scientific apparatus and its collection of fossils. In 1863 the botanist Alexander Croall was appointed the first Librarian and Curator and the following year the museum and library were joined together. Croall left in 1875 to become the curator of the Smith Institute in Stirling
Stirling Smith Museum and Art Gallery
Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum is an institution based in Stirling, Central Scotland, dedicated to the promotion of cultural and historical heritage and the arts, from a local scale to nationally and beyond. It is also known locally by its original name of "The Smith Institute"...
.
The Derby Town and County Museum was finally transferred into the ownership of Derby Corporation in 1870, but there were difficulties in finding space to display the collections. After placing all the artefacts into storage for three years, the museum was finally opened to the public on 28 June 1879. The Art Gallery opened in 1882 and in 1883 the museum had electricity supplied for new lighting.
In 1936 the museum was given a substantial collection of paintings by Alfred E. Goodey
Alfred E. Goodey
Alfred E. Goodey was a collector of paintings, prints and photographs, especially those connected with the English Midlands town of Derby.-Biography:...
who had been collecting art for 50 years. At his death in 1945 he left £13,000 to build an extension to the museum. The extension, which now houses the museum, was completed in 1964. Refurbishment to parts of both the new and old buildings were undertaken in 2010–2011.
Derby and the Enlightenment connection
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
, a period in which science and philosophy challenged the divine right of kings
Divine Right of Kings
The divine right of kings or divine-right theory of kingship is a political and religious doctrine of royal and political legitimacy. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God...
to rule. The enlightenment has many strands, including the largely philosophical "Scottish enlightenment" centred around the philosopher David Hume
David Hume
David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment...
, and political changes that culminated in the French revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, but the English Midlands was an area where many key figures of industry and science came together. The famous Lunar Society included Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin was an English physician who turned down George III's invitation to be a physician to the King. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave trade abolitionist,inventor and poet...
, Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton, FRS was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engines, which were a great advance on the state of the art, making possible the...
, Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley, FRS was an 18th-century English theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, chemist, educator, and political theorist who published over 150 works...
and Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood was an English potter, founder of the Wedgwood company, credited with the industrialization of the manufacture of pottery. A prominent abolitionist, Wedgwood is remembered for his "Am I Not A Man And A Brother?" anti-slavery medallion. He was a member of the Darwin–Wedgwood family...
with Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
corresponding from America. Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
, started the Derby Philosophical Society
Derby Philosophical Society
The Derby Philosophical Society was a club for gentleman in Derby founded in 1783 by Erasmus Darwin. The club had many notable members and also offered the first institutional library in Derby that was available to some section of the public.-History:...
when he moved to Derby in 1783. It was this society which helped to found the first library in Derby.
Some of the paintings by Joseph Wright of Derby, which are notable for their use of light and shade, are of Lunar Society members. Derby museum has over 300 of Wright's sketches, 34 oil paintings, and documents. One is entitled The Alchymist in Search of the Philosopher's Stone (1771) and it depicts the discovery of the element phosphorus
Phosphorus
Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus as a mineral is almost always present in its maximally oxidized state, as inorganic phosphate rocks...
by German alchemist Hennig Brand
Hennig Brand
Hennig Brand was a merchant and alchemist in Hamburg, Germany. He discovered phosphorus around 1669.-Early life:The circumstances of Brand's birth are unknown. Some sources describe his origins as humble and indicate that he had been an apprentice glass-maker as a young man...
in 1669. A flask in which a large quantity of urine
Urine
Urine is a typically sterile liquid by-product of the body that is secreted by the kidneys through a process called urination and excreted through the urethra. Cellular metabolism generates numerous by-products, many rich in nitrogen, that require elimination from the bloodstream...
has been boiled down is seen bursting into light as the phosphorus, which is abundant in urine, ignites spontaneously in air.
A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery
A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery
A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery, or the full title, A Philosopher giving a Lecture on the Orrery in which a lamp is put in place of the Sun, is a painting by Joseph Wright of Derby depicting a lecturer giving a demonstration of an orrery to a small audience...
shows an early mechanism for demonstrating the movement of the planets around the sun, and an actual orrery
Orrery
An orrery is a mechanical device that illustrates the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons in the Solar System in a heliocentric model. Though the Greeks had working planetaria, the first orrery that was a planetarium of the modern era was produced in 1704, and one was presented...
is on display in the centre of the gallery in front of the painting. The Scottish scientist, astronomer and lecturer James Ferguson undertook a series of lectures in Derby in July 1762. They were based on his book Lectures on Select Subjects in Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, Optics &c., published in 1760. In order to illustrate his lectures he used various machines, models and instruments. Wright possibly attended Ferguson’s lecture, especially as tickets for the event were available from John Whitehurst
John Whitehurst
John Whitehurst FRS , of Cheshire, England, was a clockmaker and scientist, and made significant early contributions to geology. He was an influential member of the Lunar Society.- Life and work :...
, his close neighbour, the clockmaker and scientist. The artist could also have drawn on Whitehurst's practical knowledge to find out more about the orrery and its operation.
Significance of Joseph Wright's paintings
These factual paintings are considered to have metaphorical meaning too, the bursting into light of the phosphorus in front of a praying figure signifying the problematic transition from faith to scientific understanding and enlightenment, and the various expressions on the figures around the bird in the airpump indicating concern over the possible inhumanity of the coming age of science. These paintings represent a high point in scientific enquiry which began the undermining of the power of religion in Western societies. Some ten years later scientists worldwide would find themselves persecuted, or even put to death in the backlash to the French Revolution of 1789, itself the culmination of enlightenment thinking. Joseph Priestley, member of the Lunar Society and discoverer of oxygenOxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
would flee Britain after his laboratory in Birmingham was smashed and his house burned down in the Birmingham riots
Priestley Riots
The Priestley Riots took place from 14 July to 17 July 1791 in Birmingham, England; the rioters' main targets were religious Dissenters, most notably the politically and theologically controversial Joseph Priestley...
of 1791, by a mob objecting to his outspoken support for the French Revolution; and his colleague Lavoisier in France would be executed at the guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
. The politician and philosopher Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
, in his famous Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), tied natural philosophers, and specifically Priestley, to the French Revolution, writing that radicals who supported science in Britain "considered man in their experiments no more than they do mice in an air pump". In the light of this comment, Wright's painting of the bird in the air pump, completed over twenty years earlier, seems particularly prescient.
It was against this background that Charles Darwin, grandson of the Derby man and lunar society member, Erasmus, would re-awaken the conflict between science and religious belief once again half a century later, with the publication of his book The Origin of Species
The Origin of Species
Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, published on 24 November 1859, is a work of scientific literature which is considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology. Its full title was On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the...
in 1859.
Because of this web of connections related to science, and the tensions it created which were so subtly illustrated by the art of the painter Joseph Wright of Derby; Derby Museum and Art Gallery, far from being just a collection of fine paintings as the casual visitor might imagine, is significant for being in a place that some would see as having a very significant role in the birth of modern science and industry worldwide. Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, with its science and industry, has been described as the 'silicon valley' of the eighteenth century.
Erasmus Darwin has only a small display. Herbert Spencer
Herbert Spencer
Herbert Spencer was an English philosopher, biologist, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist of the Victorian era....
, friend of Charles Darwin, and originator of the phase "the survival of the fittest", who was born in Derby, and has been described as the founder of sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
does not appear to be mentioned at all.
Wright of Derby
In 2011, Derby City Council announced that it was to use Joseph Wright of Derby to brand the city of Derby. At the same time, the Museum announced that it was "joining forces" with Wikipedia to improve the quality of its information. In February 2011 the Museums, Libraries and Archives CouncilMuseums, Libraries and Archives Council
The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council is a non-departmental public body in England and a registered charity with a remit to promote improvement and innovation in the area of museums, libraries and archives...
(MLA) announced that it had awarded Designated status to Derby Museum and Art Gallery for its nationally significant holdings of paintings and drawings by Joseph Wright.
Bonnie Prince Charlie Room
A replica of the room in DerbyDerby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
where Bonnie Prince Charlie
Charles Edward Stuart
Prince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...
held his "council of war
Council of war
A council of war is a term in military science that describes a meeting held to decide on a course of action, usually in the midst of a battle. Under normal circumstances, decisions are made by a commanding officer, optionally communicated and coordinated by staff officers, and then implemented by...
" in 1745, whilst on his way south to seize the British crown. The paneling is from the original Exeter House
Exeter House
Exeter House was an early 17th century brick-built mansion, which stood in Full Street, Derby until demolished in 1854. Named for the Earls of Exeter, whose family owned the property until 1757, the house was notable for the stay of Charles Edward Stuart during the Jacobite Rising of 1745...
, which was demolished 1854. At the time of demolition, the panels were bought to the museum, which then received related objects as donations. Even Queen Victoria sent an original letter of Bonnie Prince Charlie from her own collection.
Other artists
Besides the Wright collection there are also works by Benjamin WestBenjamin West
Benjamin West, RA was an Anglo-American painter of historical scenes around and after the time of the American War of Independence...
, E.E. Clark
Ernest Ellis Clark
Ernest Ellis Clark was a Derby born artist who became an artist for Crown Derby. Three of his paintings are in Derby Museum and Art Gallery.-Biography:...
, Harold Gresley
Harold Gresley
Harold Gresley was a British artist, following his father and grandfather. He was a painter of landscapes and portraits in watercolour and oil. He served in the Royal Fusiliers in the First World War and was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal...
, Alfred John Keene
Alfred John Keene
Alfred John Keene was a British watercolour artist working in Derby.-Biography:Keene was the fourth son of photographer Richard Keene who published the Derby Telegraph and brother of watercolourist William Caxton Keene and photographer Charles Barrow Keene...
, Georg Holtzendorff
Georg Holtzendorff
Count Georg Holtzendorff was a painter of Saxony, specialist in landscapes, figure subjects and cherubs, who sought refuge in England in consequence of the Franco-Prussian War.- Works :...
, David Payne
David Payne (artist)
David Payne was a Scottish landscape painter.-Biography:Payne was born in Annan in the old county of Dumfriesshire, the son of a Mason. He was educated at Annan Academy . He initially made his living as a house painter before becoming an artist...
, George
George Turner (artist)
George Turner was an English landscape artist and farmer who has been dubbed "Derbyshire's John Constable".-Life and work:Turner was born in Cromford, Derbyshire in England, but then moved to Derby with his family...
and William Lakin Turner
William Lakin Turner
William Lakin Turner was an English landscape artist.-Life and work:William Lakin Turner was born to George Turner and his wife, Eliza Turner in 1867 in Barrow upon Trent. He was educated locally before he boarded at Trent College. He was the eldest of four children and his talent for art...
, William Wood, Ernest Townsend
Ernest Townsend
Ernest Townsend was a portrait artist from Derby in England.Townsend studied at Derby College of Art, Heatherleys in Chelsea and the Royal Academy. Among his notable works were a 1915 portrait of the Right Hon. Winston Churchill when he was First Lord of the Admiralty...
, Samuel
Samuel Rayner
Samuel Rayner was an English landscape artist, known for his paintings of buildings and their interiors, including abbeys, churches and old mansions. He achieved the distinction of having a work accepted for exhibition at the Royal Academy at only 15 years of age...
and Louise Rayner
Louise Rayner
Louise Ingram Rayner was a British watercolor artist.-Artistic family background:...
.
Language support
The museum uses QRpediaQRpedia
QRpedia is a mobile Web based system which uses QR codes to deliver Wikipedia articles to users, in their preferred language. QR codes can easily be generated to link directly to any Uniform Resource Identifier , but the QRpedia system adds further functionality.QRpedia was conceived by Roger...
to allow visitors to read Wikipedia articles about objects in their collection, translated into their preferred language. The translations were created by Wikipedians throughout the world in the Spring and Summer of 2011. In some cases the articles are shorter but in other cases the best article may be available in Finnish or Indonesian. The system allows visitors to use their Smart phones to read about all the main artefacts in languages like French, Spanish, Portrugese, Japanese, Russian, Belarusian, Indonesian, Czech, Esperanto, Finnish and Catalan as well as some support for languages such as more unusual offerings like Anglo Saxon, Latin and Cossack. This list is not exhaustive. The Derby museum specific artefacts are described in over sixty languages; objects like minerals - such as the local matlockite
Matlockite
Matlockite is a rare lead halide mineral, named after the town of Matlock in Derbyshire, England, where it was first discovered in a nearby mine...
, of which the museum has a sizeable piece - that appear in many museums would be supported in over 100 languages.
See also
Collections of Derby Museum and Art Gallery- Derby Industrial MuseumDerby Industrial MuseumDerby Silk Mill, formerly known as Derby Industrial Museum, is a museum of industry and history in Derby, England. The museum is housed in Lombe's Mill, a historic former silk mill which marks the southern end of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. Between 1717 and 1721 George Sorocold...
- Derby QUAD Arts centreDerby QUADDerby QUAD also referred to as QUAD Derby is an arts centre in Derby, United Kingdom, first opened on 26 September 2008. It has a steel and glass design by Bath architects Feilden Clegg Bradley. When it was chosen over competing designs by Derby council cabinet in 2004 it was considered...
- Derwent Valley MillsDerwent Valley MillsDerwent Valley Mills is a World Heritage Site along the River Derwent in Derbyshire, England, designated in December 2001. It is administered by the Derwent Valley Mills Partnership. The modern factory, or 'mill', system was born here in the 18th century to accommodate the new technology for...
- List of museums in Derbyshire