25 years | 25 objects | 25 artists

wo Watchers on a Staircase, c.1960s   Cement fondu and metal   Given by Sarah Hosking, 2019   Alma Ramsey-Hosking studied at the Royal College of Art in London during the 1920s and later moved to Warwickshire where she and her husband, the artist Richard ‘Dick’ Hosking, contributed to the creative boom that blossomed in the county during the post-war years.  In this sculpture Ramsey-Hosking convey...

The Temptation of St Anthony, c.1640-1660   Oil on panel   Bequeathed by Mr. George Watson through the Art Fund, 2015   This painting was bequeathed, along with other Dutch Golden Age works, by George Watson (1927-2013) who was a Professor of English at Cambridge University. The story of the temptation of St Anthony has its roots in the medieval period. It tells of how the hermit St Anthony withst...

Old Grey Mare with her Foal, date unknown   Oil on card   Purchased, 2009   Kemp-Welch is known for her paintings of animals, especially horses. As an illustrator she brought to life Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty – the Autobiography of a Horse and her skill and commitment to her subject resulted in her being elected the first president of the Society of Animal Painters in 1914. This small and quiet s...

Sketch for Leamingtonian Life, c. 1940   Gouache on hardboard    Given by Sebastian Tennant, 2021   Leamington Spa was one of the main bases for camouflage research during the Second World War and during the 1990s Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum began acquiring items relating to the work of camouflage staff.   During the Second World War, communal feeding stations, renamed British Restaura...

Untitled, 2003     Painted steel   Given by the Friends of Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum (FLAG), 2019   When Terry Frost died, he was working on a commission for a large-scale sculpture for the new University Hospital of Coventry & Warwickshire, due to open in 2006. The financial implications were complicated and unfortunately this commission did not happen. The rights to the maquett...

Manipulator, c.1950   Bronze   Given by Jane Bridgeman and M.A. Michael,  2024   The sculptor John Bridgeman studied at the Colchester School of Art and the Royal College of Art. His studies were interrupted by the Second World War. A conscientious objector, Bridgeman worked for the Civil Defence Service rescuing people bombed during the Blitz.   Bridgeman created figures with distorted heads some...

Made about 1991   Given by Janet Alty in 1999   This is one of nine protest banners acquired in January 1999 as the Art Gallery & Museum team were preparing the new displays at the Royal Pump Rooms. It was made by children in protest to the Gulf War (1990-91). Due to its size, it is difficult to display often. It is still important to have it in the collection as an example of the strong anti-...

Given by Christine Daly in 2010   The year before this photograph was taken Christine Daly contracted Polio. She spent several weeks in Warwick Hospital and also received hydrotherapy treatment at the Royal Pump Rooms. Christine shared her experience of being ill and the treatment she received with us in a recorded oral history interview. She also donated an arm support, which you can see in the M...

Made by Josiah Williams & Co., 1925   Purchased in 2002   Jennifer Chimes won the Miss Great Britain beauty contest in 1955, when she was aged 22. She went on to be a runner up in the Miss World competition and returned to Leamington a celebrity. Today, beauty pageants are considered by some to be sexist and an outdated form of entertainment. How can we explain objects like this in a way that...

Made by Automotive Products about 1990   Given by John Hughes in 2007   This item was collected in the lead up to an exhibition about local working life, which ran in 2008. Temporary exhibitions often provide a focus for collecting activities and enable us to fill gaps in the collection. A big gap that we’re aware of is material relating to the lives of people who came to Leamington from Ireland a...

Made in the mid-20th century   Given by Christopher Southorn in 2009   These are part of a group of 101 shoes, tools and accessories from Southorn’s shoemakers. The shop on the Parade was a mainstay of Leamington’s retail offer for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. During this time, the offer evolved, from providing handmade riding boots, to selling ready-to-wear shoes such as these. The storie...

Made in the late 20th century   Given by Mr and Mrs Mokrzycki in 2000   This is one of just a small number of objects we have in the collection representing the local Polish community. Jan and Magdelena Mokrzycki came to England after being displaced due to the Nazi and Soviet invasions of Poland. They met and married in London before settling in Kenilworth. Both were active members of the Leaming...

Made by 2005   Given by Jason Cadden in 2014   Jason Cadden was manager of Leamington FC from 2000 to 2009. His first signing was Josh Blake, who would become the club’s leading goal-scorer. Together the pair contributed to a period of great success for the Brakes, which saw them achieve five promotions and four league titles. During the 2005/06 season the town celebrated when the club reached the...

Carved marble, made in the 19th century   Purchased in 2016   The Aylesford Well basin is one of the few items we have from the early days of the spa. It is only by chance that it survived. Local man Pavel Hodac noticed the basin sitting on top of the rubble pile when the Aylesford well house was demolished in 1960. He asked the demolition workers what would happen to it, and when told it would be...

Baden Baden: Bewegungsbad N135a, 1998   Photographic transparency and lightbox   Purchased, 2000    Yass was born in London and studied at the Slade School of Art, Goldsmiths College and in Berlin. Her distinctive hyper-real photographic style evolved accidentally when a colour film loaded incorrectly and was processed as a negative. In combining a positive image with a negative and installing the...

Drawing R1001, 1971   Gouache and pencil on paper and hardboard   Given by the Contemporary Art Society, 2000, in memory of Nancy Balfour, OBE   Bridget Riley was an icon of British art in the 1960s. She was a key member of the Op Art movement, which was concerned with evoking sensations of movement and had roots in the earlier twentieth century artistic groups Dada and the Bauhaus. Riley’s work c...

Compiled by Gertrude Hawkes, 1914-18   Given by Angela Azis in 2023   Most objects in our collection were donated by people with a link to the local area. Gertrude Hawkes was a volunteer nurse at the Warren VAD Hospital, Leamington, during the First World War. She bought this album at Burgis & Colbourne, a department store on the Parade, and her patients and colleagues filled it with personal...

Made about 1939    Given by Brenda Tai Layton in 2008   The doll was a gift to Brenda Tai Layton from Claire Aston, a family friend. Her mother, Enid Ferris, had seen the film Gone With the Wind on its release and loved it. It is thought that the doll is modelled on the character Prissy, the maid, who was played by Butterfly McQueen. Brenda had the doll for over 20 years before donating it to us....

Photograph of Miss Cox in male costume Early 20th century   Untraced find   This photograph features Miss Cox, who donated items of costume in 1964. It was with our archived paperwork for many years but had never been accessioned itself. Young people on our recent Queertopia project explored Miss Cox’s interest in costume and male impersonation. This image of her dressed as an Albanian or Greek so...

Made in 2022   Given by Alison Chantrey in 2022   Alison Chantrey was a volunteer at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, when Warwick District hosted the road cycling and bowls competitions. This hand, used to high-five spectators, was part of the uniform she wore. Collecting items like this will enable us to tell future generations of visitors about Leamington’s part in this significant event...

Made by AG Spalding & Bros, 1951   Purchased in 2017   Leamington has a rich sporting history and one of its most famous sports stars is the boxer Randolph Turpin. Over the years we have built a strong collection that tells the story of his career. Because boxing and Randolph Turpin are popular with collectors, items tend to be sold at auction. Because our budgets are small, we are often outbi...

Made in 2015   Given by Ashley Woolley-Khan in 2023   Our collection represents Leamington’s present as well as its past. The video games sector is one of the town’s largest employers, with more than 50 companies active locally, from independent developers to multinationals. Ashley Woolley-Khan was given this controller when he was working on the development of Guitar Hero Live at local studio Fre...

Made about 1814    Purchased in 2018    This medallion was worn by Leamington’s Master of Ceremonies, also known as the Arbiter Elegantiarum (judge of elegance). Their role was to manage the social calendar of balls and concerts in the town. The history of the medallion tells us more about Leamington as a spa resort. We applied to external bodies to help us to raise the funds to buy it. It was pur...

Made by Brenda Barnes, 2020   Given by Judith Watkin, Croft Medical Centre in 2021   We collect objects that represent the local impact of major events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, Brenda Barnes made and distributed about 130 masks to local residents in 2020. In the future, museum staff will use

Sketches Taken in Warwickshire During Holiday Trip, 1867 Pencil and ink on paper   Purchased in 2008   The drawings were made by William Colliss, an amateur artist, when he was staying in Royal Leamington Spa during a holiday in August 1867. Made at a time before photography was widely accessible, they offer a rare personal record of excursions in mid-Victorian Warwickshire. Colleting objects that...