Collections
Oil paintings and watercolours
Frederic Leighton's 'Cherries' is probably the most popular painting in the Museum, but is only one of an exceptional collection of classical Victorian paintings which also includes Edwin Long's 'Diana or Christ?' and Albert Moore's 'The Loves of the Winds and the Seasons'.
Animal painters such as JF Herring, Thomas Sidney 'Cow' Cooper, and Richard Ansdell are very well represented, and there is a large group of paintings by Archibald Thorburn, the well-known bird painter. All the great names of Victorian watercolour painting are represented, with eight works by JMW Turner and good examples by Samuel Palmer, David Cox, William 'bird's nest' Hunt, and Thomas Girtin.
Cottontown-Oil paintings & Watercolours
Japanese prints
Hokusai's woodblock print, 'The Waves at Kanagawa', is just one of a thousand Japanese prints in Blackburn's collection. These Ukiyo-e prints (literally images of the floating world) include portraits of actors, landscapes, pictures of famous courtesans, scenes of everyday life, and illustrations of myth and legend. As well as Hokusai, all the masters of the Ukiyo-e school are represented. There are fashionable women by Utamaro, landscapes by Hiroshige, actor prints by Shunsho, and erotica by Harunobu.
Illuminated Manuscripts, printed books, and rare coins
In 1946 Edward Hart, the son of a local manufacturer, left the town his personal collection of 500 fine books and manuscripts and more than 6000 rare coins: a large selection of these artefacts is on permanent display in the Hart Gallery. The illuminated manuscripts date from the mid-13th century to the early 16th century. There is also a small group of finely illuminated manuscripts from Persia and Arabia. Hart's interests extended to all forms of the written word and he acquired Egyptian hieroglyphs, a single leaf from the Gutenberg Bible, rare books printed by William Caxton, early copies of Shakespeare plays, and a copy of the Kelmscott Chaucer.
Icons
Blackburn Museum houses one of the finest collections of Christian icons outside the British Museum. The bulk of the collection was gathered by Thomas Boys Lewis, a Blackburn cotton manufacturer, while other works have been bought with the help of the National Art Collections Fund and there are key works on loan from the Strang collection. The icons date from the 15th to the late 19th century and are mostly Greek or Russian in origin.
Ethnography
The Museum has a fascinating collection of artefacts from around the world. Many were brought back to Blackburn by local missionaries who went to work in Africa, China and Oceania. The collection is very broad ranging and includes Maori artefacts, African masks and carvings, Chinese court costume, pre-Inca ceramics and native American artefacts
Local History Collections
By far the largest collection in the Museum, the local history collection contains almost 40,000 items ranging from larger architectural pieces and mill machinery to children’s toys, an extensive photographic archive and the contents of several local shops.
The Kathleen Ferrier Archive
Kathleen Ferrier was one of the most important operatic talents to emerge from Britain during the 20th century. She was an international celebrity whose recorded music still attracts an enthusiastic following almost 50 years after her tragically early death. Kathleen lived and worked in Blackburn and her sister, Winifred, has left the town a fascinating archive relating to her remarkable career. A selection of objects are generally on display and the archive can be viewed by appointment.
South Asian Gallery
The Museum has an award-winning South Asian Gallery representing the history, culture and heritage of Blackburn’s South Asian population. The gallery focuses on a number of specific regions, specifically the Gujarat, Punjab and Bangladesh. At the moment many of the objects on show are from the British Museum but Blackburn Museum staff have been developing a local collection over the last 10 years which will form a larger part of the displays in the future. This collection includes an impressive group of Bollywood film posters which will be displayed periodically.
More treasures
Blackburn Museum has an enormous collection of material relating to the history of the cotton industry, including working models of spinning and weaving machinery.
The ceramic collection includes Lancaster pottery decorated by Walter Crane, plus Chinese and Japanese ceramics.
Visitors can also see our small Egyptology collection, which includes a mummy with its original encaustic portrait, as well as a small but fascinating natural history collection.