Towneley from A to Z
Towneley from A to Z
This list of entries cover the museum's collections as a whole and individual object highlights. Other specific information about individual objects, such as when and how they were acquired, can be browsed with the Towneley collections browser.
Fine Arts - oil paintings, sculpture, works on paper (book illustrations, prints, watercolours). Portraits of the Towneley family are an important part of the oil and watercolour collections. The fireplaces at Towneley are recorded as fixtures of the building but two of them can also be considered as part of the sculpture collection.
Decorative Arts - ceramics, glass, ivories, silver (including regimental silver)
Furniture (together with animal heads and horns, metal ware, horology, rugs)
Towneley Altarpiece - although recorded as part of the furniture collection, it is valued separately from the rest of that collection. It was made in Antwerp around 1525 and is of national importance.
Whalley Abbey vestments - although recorded as part of the textile collection, these two vestments are valued separately from the rest of that collection. They were made around 1425 and are of national importance.
Founding collections - Egyptology, Ethnography and the Wright collection consist mainly of objects given in the first ten years of the museum's existence and these collections are now closed.
Archives (Books, Commemorative medallions, Documents and manuscripts, Numismatics, Photographs, Postcards)
Military (Arms and armour, East Lancashire Regiment Collection, General Scarlett Collection, Military medals)
Natural History (Bird eggs, Entomology, Geology (Fossils, Minerals, Rocks) , Shells, Taxidermy)
Textiles, Widdows collection of costume dolls
Local crafts, industrial and social history - with an accession register distinct from that of the main museum collections.
Although not considered part of the Permanent Collection, display cases have always been a vital part of the museum.