I got a phone call from Ian Danby, Director of the Burton Art Gallery and Museum (Burton at Bideford) in November 2020. He explained that the Burton wish to create a new display in the museum telling the stories of the relationship between Bideford and America, in particular the pottery and tobacco trade.
Inspired by a talk I gave for the Burton in the summer, as part of their ‘Good Afternoons’ in the park series, Ian invited me to contribute by sharing my research and findings from the last 9 years together with some of my 17th century sherd collection that I have built up from finds at the beach.
Of course, I leapt at the chance, eager to share my research. It also enabled me to spend time refining my notes and to ultimately produce a coherent set of information for both the physical display, associated page on the website and a deeper and more detailed downloadable document for visitors to access should they choose to learn more. This was also an opportunity for me to re-visit my photos and to make some editing decisions about which of these best helps to tell this exciting and fascinating story.
I also agreed to be recorded/filmed by Burton staff, talking about my sherding on the beach, my sherd collection and its importance as it provides tangible evidence of Bideford’s pottery production and trade. This will be screened in the museum alongside the display.
……….And so the new display about ceramics, tobacco, Bideford and the Americas – the ‘Relationship between Bideford and America through the exportation of ceramics to the colonies’ was born!
During November and December I exchanged ideas and had a couple of meetings with Nicole. Museum Assistant, as she was tasked to co-ordinate the creation of the new display cabinet. We managed one physical meet up and then England was put under another lockdown so Nicole and I had a virtual meeting and exchanged a few emails!
We adapted the original brief to reflect our evolving ideas for content and scope. We soon realised that this is such a massive theme and there is a wealth of information that can be included, that it would be better to initially have a smaller display as a starting point. This will be smaller, focussing on an introduction to:
- why Bideford was an important centre for pottery production
- who were the potters
- why pottery was exported and where
- the relationship with the tobacco trade
- evidence of pottery found in American collections
The aspiration then to produce a much bigger display in the museum in the future to include broader and deeper information. Sir Richard Grenville will have to wait until later!