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Collections Management Policy: Ipswich 1. Introduction Collections management embraces the strategies, policies, procedures and plans relating to a museum collection’s documentation, development, access and care. This Collections Management Policy forms part of the Ipswich borough museums and galleries Collections Information Framework, which defines how the museum service manages its collection to deliver its mission for the public benefit. It has been approved by the Executive of Ipswich Borough Council. Ipswich Borough Council is committed to the development of the collections, and the development of the use of the collections, as defined in its mission statement and forward plan.

2. Ipswich borough museums and galleries collections

2.1 The collections Ipswich is widely recognised as holding pre-eminent collections of national and international importance. None of the collections are currently Designated under the Arts Council England scheme, but it is intended that an application will be submitted when the Designation Scheme is reopened during 2014. The fine art collection is of international importance and includes works by artists who were born or worked in the county of Suffolk from the 16th century to the present day. In total there are over 1,000 works on canvas and 15,000 works on paper. Pre-eminent amongst the collection are Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), who lived in Ipswich at the beginning of his career as a portrait painter, and John Constable (1776-1837), whose works at Ipswich form the largest collection outside London. Ipswich has the largest public collection of twentieth-century Suffolk artists’ work and includes works from the Benton End Group (East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing) founded in 1937 at Dedham. The modern collections also include artists associated with the Ipswich Art School, including Maggi Hambling. The decorative art collection is especially strong in furniture, ceramics and glass. The furniture collection is the largest and most important in the East of England, being particularly rich in pieces from the period before 1700. The ceramic and glass collection includes several regionally important groups of objects from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Amongst these are early English delftware ceramics of the 17th century; Lowestoft Porcelain; Staffordshire figures of various subjects and Martinware Victorian art pottery. The costume collection covers a broad spectrum of social classes and occupations. It includes a rare Regency riding habit, and a few more recent items such as the spectacular dress worn by Violet, the wife of the painter Sir Alfred Munnings, at the Chelsea Arts Ball in 1933. Military uniforms include the only surviving trooper’s uniform from the Battle of Waterloo, 1815.

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The archaeology collection is particularly outstanding in three areas: prehistoric stone tools from Suffolk, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia and ancient Egypt. Ipswich and its hinterland is an internationally important location for the study of early human communities, and the collection includes artefacts collected by J. Reid Moir, a former President of the Museum, who helped establish The Prehistoric Society of East Anglia now The Prehistoric Society. Ipswich and Suffolk are amongst the most significant places in the country for the study of Anglo Saxons and Ipswich has a strong claim to be the earliest English town. The first finds excavated in 1938 at the internationally important site at Sutton Hoo by Basil Brown, then Ipswich Museum assistant, are in the collection, as well as items found in Ipswich by Nina Layard, one of the first female archaeologists. The collection of Egyptian antiquities held at Ipswich Museum is one of the few collections of Egyptology held in regional museums that can demonstrate real archaeological significance and international interest. Alongside objects donated by celebrated private collectors such as Gayer Anderson the collection includes items from the excavations of William Flinders Petrie, a pioneer in Egyptian archaeology. There is a wide ranging community history collection. The most significant element is the Tudor and Stuart decorative and structural woodwork from old buildings in Ipswich town centre, many of which are no longer standing. This is thought to be the largest collection from a single town anywhere in Britain. There is also a particularly strong collection of mercantile, pleasure and naval model craft in the collection, representing the significant maritime heritage of Ipswich as a port town, and home to both Admiral Broke and Lord Nelson. The study of natural sciences was central to the purpose of Ipswich Museum from its very beginning. The collections were established by eminent individuals, such as Reverend Professor John Stevens Henslow who was Charles Darwin’s tutor at Cambridge. They are rich and varied, constituting one of the most significant local museum collections in the country. All of the collections are important with some more outstanding collections of both scientific and historical interest. Internationally significant collections of fossils from the marine ‘Crag’ deposits are present, including the Coralline Crag which is unique to Suffolk and found nowhere else in the world. Some of the stages of the Ice Age in Britain are named after East Anglian sites, including the Ipswichian, which is named after the important site at Bobbits Hole in Ipswich and material from this site is included in the collection. The natural history collection at Ipswich Museum was established in the 19th century to illustrate the revolutionary new ideas about evolution. It is rich in original Victorian taxidermy mounts, the best of which are displayed in the Victorian Natural History Gallery. Ipswich is exceptional in having extensive collections of most British insect types and includes over 250,000 specimens, being particularly strong in British Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). Over 17,000 specimens of flowering plants from Suffolk and Britain are included in the collection. Amongst these are several very important early collections with specimens dating back to 1790 as well as from the Victorian period. These collections remain of relevance as they can be used to track changes in the biodiversity of Suffolk over time. The world cultures, or ethnography, collection is outstanding because of its geographical range and for the early date when many of the items were collected. The collection was largely donated by local men and women such as colonial officer

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Charles Partridge or the missionaries Mr and Mrs Salmon whose careers had taken them around the world. It is one of the largest within the country, with individual specimens of international significance and important cultural and aesthetic relevance. It is particularly strong in West African, Polynesian and North-West Coast American material. 2.2 The ownership of Ipswich Museum collections

Ipswich Borough Council establishes, develops and maintains its collections under Section 206 of the Local Government Act 1972 under which museums became a concurrent function exercised by both counties and districts.

2.3 Compliance with legal requirements and ethical codes

Ipswich Borough Council is committed to compliance with the following legal requirements and ethical codes in the management of its collection: Data Protection Act 1998 Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 Freedom of Information Act 2002 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 Treasure Act 1996 Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003 Convention on International Trade in Endangered species of Wild Fauna and Flora,

CITES 1973 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and

Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, UNESCO 1970 Code of Ethics for Museums, Museums Association 2008 Guidance for the care of human remains in museums, Department for Culture, Media

and Sport 2005 Spoilation of Works of Art during the Nazi, Holocaust and World War II period,

Museums and Galleries Commission 1999 Standards in Public Life: the First Report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, 1995 2.4 Commitment to due diligence

Ipswich Borough Council is committed to observing due diligence in the

management of its collections.

3. Review and Improvement of the Collections Information Framework

Ipswich Borough Council is committed to continual review and improvement of the objectives, policies, and programmes of work which make up the Collections Information Framework. The Framework is reviewed [INSERT DATE] by the Executive of Ipswich Borough Council.

Ipswich Borough Council is committed to open review of this Framework, and will communicate with all interested parties during review. In particular the Council will consult with the staff of Colchester and Ipswich Museums Service, the Friends of the

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Ipswich Museums and the Ipswich Heritage Forum as well as other stakeholders and users of the collections.

3. The elements of the Collections Management Policy

This policy consists of four components which are:

• A Documentation Policy

• A Collections Development Policy (Acquisition and Disposal Policy)

• A Collections Access Policy

• A Collections Care Policy

Approval Date: Pending

Review Date: To be added

This Collections Management Policy follows PAS 197: Code of Practice for cultural collections management.