Frost, chosen by the Potteries' Lorraine Burton. Courtesy Potteries Museum.

Roslyn Tappenden sought out some Objects of Desire in the Potteries.

Staff at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent have been choosing some of their favourite pieces from the museum’s collections.

The result is a new exhibition, ‘Objects of Desire’, which is part of Museums and Galleries Month and is on display around the Potteries Museum until May 25.

But the show hasn’t been put together by the usual curatorial staff. Instead, visitor services workers and front-of-house staff have had their chance to put their favourite objects on display.

Lorraine Burton, a visitor services officer at the museum, chose three paintings from the art collection including ‘Firefly Summer’ (1991) by Fred Pollock. “I thought I was very traditional in my tastes,” said Lorraine. “I liked paintings that I could identify and I’ve not been into contemporary paintings before.”

The Pollock painting is a riot of vibrant colour and is a departure from Lorraine’s other choices. “I just think it’s absolutely raw emotion on canvas,” she explained, “the artist has totally let loose. I like it because it’s not trying to be anything and it makes me feel happy because of the colour.” Operations manager, Roger Wright, also chose a painting from the collection as his favourite exhibit.

A photograph of a Potteries electric tram, chosen by Shaun Pegg. Courtesy Potteries Museum.

The painting, ‘The Family’ by Bernard Fleetwood-Walker, depicts a father, mother and two children having a picnic and it brought back fond memories for Roger.

“It took me back to my childhood when we did the same,” he explained. “We used to get a plastic shopping bag and put jam sandwiches in it and a bottle of water from the tap and go up to Erutria Woods. It overlooked Shelton Bar steel works where my Dad used to work and we’d watch the steam trains going in.”

Roger looks at the painting every day at work. “Nowadays I do the same with my children and grandchildren, although not at Erutria woods.”

Not all the objects in the exhibition are from the art collection. Neil Hargreaves, a visitor services assistant, picked out a collection of Stoke City Football Club memorabilia, while collections development officer, Phillipa Tinsley, chose a tray of butterflies and a large slab of coal.

Shaun Pegg, a visitor services assistant, probably chose the most unlikely of objects as his favourite. He picked out a piece of tram track which is displayed with three photographs of the old Potteries trams.

The Family by Bernard Fleetwood-Walker, chosen by Roger Wright. Courtesy Potteries Museum.

“I was on reception some time ago when some workmen came in who were digging up the roads,” Shaun explained. “They had a piece of tram track and asked if the museum wanted it.”

At one stage the tram system stretched from one side of Stoke to the other and in the 1880s the horse-drawn trams were switched to electric powered ones run by the Potteries Electric Traction Company.

The piece of track on display was saved when the tracks were finally torn up in the 1980s. Shaun admitted that he wanted to choose something a bit different but would love to see trams reintroduced in Stoke.

“It would be nice to have the trams back,” said Shaun, “it would probably ease some of the traffic problems around here.”

Gallery assistant, Carol Welford, chose her objects from the decorative arts collection. “We’ve got such a variety of costume and accessories,” said Carol, “but the decorative arts gallery is quite small and a lot of things in the stores rarely come out for the public.”

Carol chose two dresses and a far eastern embroidery sampler. One of the costumes, an eighteenth century red damask dress captured her imagination.

A 1920s beaded dress chosen by Carol Welford. Courtesy Potteries Museum.

“It makes me wonder about the person who wore it,” said Carol. “It’s very opulent. I wonder if it was for a special occasion and was only worn once and forgotten because, it’s in very good condition.”

The other outfit Carol chose is a 1920s beaded dress. “I’ve always liked 1920s beaded costumes,” explained Carol, “and I can imagine the frivolous girls wearing something like this. I also like the craftsmanship; all the beads are hand-sewn.”

The exhibition is dotted around the museum and covers every collection from natural history to ceramics. Objects include everything from a stuffed ferret to a penny farthing bicycle.

Roslyn Tappenden is the 24 Hour Museum Renaissance student journalist for the West Midlands region. Renaissance is the groundbreaking initiative to transform England's regional museums, led by MLA, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.

Roslyn is participating in the 24 Hour Museum/ MGM Arts Writing Prize 2005.