Sheffield’s glorious heritage includes 750,000 treasures in museums

The city has 750,000 historical artefacts in several collections, which have been catalogued by the council as part of its annual statement of accounts.

Museums Sheffield, which cares for the items, said displays across museums and galleries celebrated the city’s collections of art, human history and natural science.

Kirstie Hamilton, director of programmes at Museums Sheffield, said: “An important part of our work is researching the collections to understand what they tell us about where we’ve come from and the world we live in, and also conserving and safeguarding them to ensure they can continue to be enjoyed for generations to come.

“We’re very much looking forward to reuniting the city’s museums collections next year, when we join together with Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust to form a new museums Trust to tell Sheffield’s remarkable story.”

The Metalwork Collection includes 13,000 items and the most extensive grouping of finished Sheffield made cutlery, flatware and hollowware in existence.

The Decorative Art Collection includes 3,000 examples of art, craft and design, British ceramics, glass, horology and an outstanding collection of Chinese carved ivories.

And the Visual Art Collection comprises over 6,000 items of British and European Art dating from the 1500s to the present.

The most significant area is the Modern British collection which includes key acquisitions by artists including Marc Quinn and Sam Taylor-Johnson.

Family and communities are at the heart of the Social History Collection with 25,000 objects including costume, domestic items, furniture, and 1,500 watercolours, drawings, prints and oil paintings documenting the changing city.

The Coins, Medals and Token Collection numbers around 8,000 items and owe their origin to the Sheffield Literary and Philosophical Society. It dates from Roman and Greek pieces to 20th century coins from all over the world.

Japanese and Indo-Iranian swords, shields and helmets alongside 200 European military, practical and sporting guns from the late 1600s onwards are part of the Arms and Armour Collection.

And the Archaeology Collection is of regional and national importance with material dating from prehistory to the 20th century and includes the Anglo Saxon Benty Grange Helmet.

Another collection of major regional significance is the Natural Sciences which has extensive data relating to collectors, field recording and meteorology with over 60,000 biological and geological records.

The World Cultures Collection was acquired by 19th century Sheffield travellers and contains 2,000 items from across the globe.

At Sheffield Town Hall items in the Civic Collection, include commemorative items and gifts of silverware and paintings given to the city.

Kelham Island Museum holds about 6,000 items relating to products made from steel and other metals.

A collection with 550 items represents Sheffield’s other manufacturing industries, including, button making, bookbinding and printing.

Over at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet there is a collection of edge tools consisting of some 450 scythes, sickles, saws – some finished and some work in progress.

Other material includes 600 items of furniture, textiles, ceramics, cutlery and other social history items plus 550 plans and photographs.

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