Ceramics and Glass

Venetian Glass
Nineteenth century Venetian glass by Salviati and Co. of Murano
Copyright McLean Museum and Art Gallery, Greenock

The Decorative Arts Collection contains of Scottish, British and European ceramic pieces made from fired clay. This includes earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The collection contains tiles, drinking and serving vessels, bowls, dishes, storage jars and decorative items. The most important items in the ceramics collection are from the Clyde Pottery. There is also a porcelain punch bowl by Philip Christian of Liverpool, a Liverpool-printed creamware jug (both these items bear inscriptions of Inverclyde significance) and a nineteenth century gilded and glazed ceramic plate decorated with scene from the Poussin painting 'Shepherds in Arcadia'.

The Decorative Arts Collection also contains items made from glass which have decorative or design element in their construction and stained glass works of an architectural or decorative type. The major part of this collection consists of 66 pieces of Venetian glass made by Salviati Company in the 1870s during the Venetian glass revival period. It contains a variety of dishes, bowls, jugs and flagons. The stained glass windows are derived from the former Balrossie School, Kilmacolm and there are two pieces designed and made by the mid twentieth century Inverclyde artist Nancy Peaston.