Other London Collections: Forty Hall Museum

Forty Hall Museum

17th- to 19th century tin-glazed ware, English stoneware and pearlware from Forty Hall Museum

The museum collections focus on the local and social history of the pre-1965 London Boroughs of Edmonton, Southgate and Enfield (now the London Borough of Enfield), with a strong emphasis on everyday, household ceramics and glass of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Some of these are on display, with a larger proportion of the collection in store, including numerous complete tea, coffee and dinner services in different styles by well known potters. There are also representative ceramics, including several vases and other ornamental pieces from the major factories in the London area and beyond, as well as a few good examples of Studio Glass.

Seventeenth- and 18th-century pottery is represented by complete vessels in English tin-glazed ware and stoneware, German stoneware, and various factory-made finewares. In addition, the museum holds some of the finds from excavations carried out by the Enfield Archaeological Society, mostly Roman in date, and including both pottery and glass. Excavations on the site of Elsyng Palace produced finds dating from the 15th to mid 17th centuries, some of which are on display.

Highlights of the collection:

• Roman pottery and glass from excavations in the London Borough of Enfield, including a very fine, complete, brown glass flagon and two mortaria
• Excavated pottery, glass and polychrome, tin-glazed ware tiles from Elsyng Palace
• A collection of fine 18th-century and later wine glasses, glass flasks and decanters, as well as phials and bottles
• Seventeenth- and 18th century ceramic finewares, including tin-glazed ware, creamware, pearlware, black basalt ware, Chinese and English porcelain, as well as English and German stonewares
• Nineteenth- and 20th-century English stonewares, including numerous bottles of various kinds
• A large collection of everyday 'china' typical of 20th-century suburban households within the borough, including tea and coffee services by Clarice Cliff, and Susie Cooper and jugs and vases by Charlotte Rhead and Keith Murray
• Decorative wares by Royal Doulton, Moorcroft, Wedgwood, Minton, the Poole Pottery and other major 19th- and 20th century factories

Table glass dating to the 18th and 19th centuries.

Address: Forty Hill, Enfield EN2 9HA

Tel: 020 8363 8196/4046; Fax: 020 8367 9098

Email: jan.metcalfe@enfield.gov.uk

Website: http://www.enfield.gov.uk/museum

Opening times: Wed to Sun, 11.00am to 4.00pm.

Admission: Free.

Access: Parking nearby; access for disabled visitors to ground floor only; café; sales point; park. Access to reserve collections by appointment.

Links to Museum of London Ceramics and Glass website:

• Roman fineware
• Roman coarseware
• Roman glass
• Post-medieval earthenware
• Stoneware
• Tin-glazed ware
• Decorative tiles
• Porcelain
• Eighteenth-century table glass
• Miscellaneous glassware
• Mass produced ceramics
• Studio/art pottery