KS1 KS2 KS3 KS4 SENDKS5

Art & Design experience in evaluating art, thinking about and applying design, and structuring their own creative inspiration. Due to the nature of our collections and CREATE the stories our galleries tell, activities also promote learning about Nottingham’s rich artistic heritage and create opportunities to investigate the @ Nottingham Castle lives of local people, explore the history and social impact of craft, and analyse Supporting Key This Teachers’ Toolkit has been designed how fashion has changed over time. Stage 1-3 Art & to support self-guided visits to the Create These are areas you can expand on in the Design curriculum galleries at Nottingham Castle Museum galleries and continue to explore back in with activities to and Art Gallery. It provides practical the classroom. do on-gallery at information for planning your visit, Nottingham factsheets on each of the galleries, Our art collections have inspired Castle. activities for your students, and ideas for creativity and supported the follow-up work back in the classroom. development of artistic skills in Let us help you Content and activities have been shaped Nottingham since 1878. This toolkit has have your best by the National Curriculum for KS1-3, been developed to help you inspire the visit! aligning closely to learning objectives for next generation! Art & Design, as well as supporting aims for Literacy, Citizenship and History. Activities have a Key Stage recommendation, but the pack has been designed so that you can select material and adapt activities according to the specific interests and needs of your students, including those with Special Educational Needs.

Activities take an active approach to learning. They encourage the development and application of skills, as well as knowledge, so that students learn with and from art, not just about it. In different ways activities enable students to explore and share their ideas, record their experiences, make comparisons, reflect, think critically and express their own creativity. They will also gain KS1 KS2 KS3 KS4 SENDKS5

Art & Design Masters of Alabaster Salt-Glazy Days From the 14th century to the early 16th James Morley began the production of century, long before there were ‘salt-glazed’ pottery in Nottingham in the museums, Nottingham was a major late 17th century. By the early 18th Gallery Overview centre for the carving, painting, and century, kitchens, parlours and taverns gilding of alabaster panels and figures. were filled with this distinctive locally produced pottery. Early Nottingham Craft They were produced to decorate churches, chapels and abbeys, as the Ale mugs, for the many ale houses in the These Gallery focus for contemplation and prayer, to region, were the most commonly Nottingham was renowned for the bring religious stories to life, and to make produced items, along with everyday Overview fact sheets creativity, resourcefulness and ingenuity saints seem more real. household wares such as bowls, jugs, have been developed to of its artisans and craftspeople long teapots, inkwells, pen rests and tiles. provide contextual before the industrial age. At the time, very few people were able to information on the read and a lot more people went to Every stage of the pot’s production is tied gallery and its key Alabaster carving and salt-glaze pottery church, so these carvings provided an to Nottingham – from the local iron-rich are two important craft traditions that important and impactful means of clays to fueling the kiln with local coal. messages. It will help brought wealth and international storytelling. you to plan for your recognition to the region between the Throwing and turning the pots on a visit, support students 14th and 18th century. Alabaster is a naturally occurring mineral wheel enabled the maker to create and as they engage with composed of gypsum, which was mined refine the shape. activities, review their Both crafts involved finding creative ways from quarries in Derbyshire. to use local materials, the development Techniques for decorating the pots answers, and assess of innovative artistic techniques, and the Alabaster is soft, translucent, easy to include incising, piercing, carving, their creative outcomes. adaptation of new ideas from Europe. carve and when exposed to the air, its rouletting and stamping designs. surface gradually hardens, so it can be Popular locally and nationally, alabaster polished to resemble marble. Its smooth Applying ‘grog’ (fragments of once fired carvings and salt-glaze pottery from hard surface is non-absorbent, making it clay) created a textured finish, which was Nottingham were exported throughout ideal for painting or guiding. used for the fur on novelty ornamental Europe and North America. bears. It is possible to touch a sample of The skills required to create these alabaster at the gallery’s central making The distinctive, shiny glaze was formed ‘artworks’ were highly prized, but at the table. by throwing common salt into the time of their creation they played a pottery kiln at the height of the firing (at practical role in daily life and were not around 900 degrees Celsius!) seen to be ‘art’, as we think of it today. The sodium from the salt reacts with You can explore the highly skilled silica in the clay to form a glassy coating Artwork images courtesy techniques of alabaster carving and salt- of sodium silicate, resulting in strong, of Nottingham City glaze pottery at the ‘making table’ in the relatively light weight, durable pots with Museums and Galleries © centre of the gallery. a unique lustrous chocolate colour. KS1 KS2 KS3 KS4 SENDKS5

Art & Design Believe in the Weave Until the 1760s, lace was made by hand. The ‘Lace Market’ in the town centre This was an intricate, highly skilled, time- (which keeps its name) was the consuming process, which meant that for commercial hub for selling machine- Gallery Overview over 200 years lace was a high-cost, made lace to buyers worldwide. luxury fabric and commodity. The lace industry and all it enabled Nottingham Lace By 1769, Thomas Hammond and Robert attracted people from the UK and abroad Frost had found a way to make lace net to work in Nottingham, from factory These Gallery by machine, here in Nottingham, by workers and designers to merchants, A Base for Lace adapting machinery used in the local town planners and architects. Overview fact sheets Nottingham changed the way the world framework knitting industry. have been developed to makes lace. The first ever machine to Multistory stone-trimmed brick provide contextual make lace was invented here in the Being able to make lace by machine mansions, warehouses and showrooms information on the 1760s and today, lace is made by transformed it from a luxury commodity were built by wealthy lace merchants, gallery and its key machines all over the world, thanks to to being within reach of everyday people. replacing older buildings. The grand the innovation, creativity and skills of Innovation continued and design premises for Thomas Adams Ltd (built in messages. It will help Nottingham people. By the late expertise grew in Nottingham the Lace Market in 1855), featured you to plan for your 19th century, Nottingham was the throughout the 19th century. facilities for the workers, such as a visit, support students international centre of machine-made library, school-room, tea-room and as they engage with lace, the quality of which rivalled high The market developed and curtain lace chapel! activities, review their cost, luxury lace made by hand. and dresses become possible and more accessible. Many buildings, houses and place names answers, and assess Machine made lace production started in in the city today, even Nottingham Castle their creative outcomes. Nottingham in the 1760s. Nottingham became the centre of the being a museum and art gallery, are a international lace trade, renowned for direct result of the lace industry. The lace industry had a physical, producing the finest, most delicate and economic, social and cultural impact that intricately-patterned machine-made lace The rich history and legacy of lace in has shaped the city. in the world. Lace making machinery was Nottingham continues to inspire artists, also manufactured in Nottingham and designers and creative practices today. The legacy of the lace industry is exported all over the world. embedded in contemporary Nottingham. Industrial-scale lace-making transformed The Lace Gallery tells a local story of Nottingham into an economic national and international significance. powerhouse. By the mid-19th century, lace production had expanded and the new, large lace machines required more space. Lace production moved to the Artwork images courtesy areas around Nottingham. The lace of Nottingham City industry was employing 25,000 people by Museums and Galleries © the early 20th century. KS1 KS2 KS3 KS4 SENDKS5

Art & Design Take a Look… The room in which the Art as Inspiration is situated is the ‘Long Gallery’, which was the highlight of the Castle when it Gallery Overview reopened as the Art Museum in 1878.

As it strove to in 1878, the Art as The Art Gallery Inspiration gallery brings the best art and craft of the day together with great art from the past. These Gallery A Place to Dream Overview fact sheets The art collection was started to inspire have been developed to designers in the Nottingham lace The Power of Art & Making provide contextual industry. The museum’s art collections span over information on the 2000 years of creativity, from ancient gallery and its key The Midland Counties Art Museum Rome to the contemporary fine and opened here in the Ducal Palace, on the decorative arts of today. messages. It will help site of Nottingham Castle to showcase you to plan for your the collection in 1878. Materials and media represented in the visit, support students collections include oil paint, watercolour, as they engage with As they are today, the collections were marble, earthenware, porcelain, glass, activities, review their developed to celebrate the art and craft gold, fishing wire and textiles. traditions of the past; inspiring the city’s answers, and assess contemporary creative industries. As well as celebrating the craft and their creative outcomes. creativity of Nottingham, the collection Art as Inspiration is a display of some of has always brought art from other places the collection’s greatest treasures to inspire artists and creative showcasing a broad range of materials, practitioners. styles and techniques. The displays are thematic, exploring Being creative is an experience – it subjects that have inspired artists for requires us to feel as well as think, it centuries – such as Faces, Myth and engages all or our senses, and connects Beauty, Scenic Landscapes, Nature Up us with our emotions, dreams, and prior Close, Form and Colour and Art of experiences. Leisure.

Engaging with art is the same! This Materials such as paper, textiles and gallery has been developed to encourage plastics can be damaged by daylight and Artwork images courtesy active experiences with artworks that so in this gallery they are protected in of Nottingham City inspire discussion, expression, drawers, which you can explore when Museums and Galleries © imagination and creativity. you’re in the gallery with us. KS1 KS2 KS3 KS4 SENDKS5

Art & Design Posset Pot James Morley, 1700 This is a very rare early example of a Collection Highlights ‘double wall’ salt-glaze pot. It was made by James Morley for the Early Nottingham Craft Mayor of Nottingham in 1700. If you look carefully you can see the two These Collections layers of clay - one which holds the liquid The Holy Church and an outer ‘wall’ for intricate Highlights fact sheets alabaster panel, 1450-1500 decoration. have been developed to The Holy Church panel is an alabaster provide information on relief carving. It is from a larger It is called a ‘posset pot’. Posset was a important artworks altarpiece produced in the mid to late drink made of hot milk curdled with wine th within the gallery. This 15 century. Flawford Virgin and Child or ale, a popular British remedy for colds alabaster, c1380. at the time. can be used to support This part of the story shows the figures Alabaster was also used for deeper relief students’ activities in of a pope, cardinal, archbishop and the sculptures like this one, which appear to We have other examples of ornately the gallery as well for King, Edward the Confessor, standing on present individual figures or figurative decorative stoneware in the collection, follow-up activities in green ground decorated with daisies. groups. If you stand to the side of the made to celebrate important occasions, the classroom. sculpture, you will see that it is not as inscribed with dates, names, and places. You can see that the top of the panel has deep as it looks! been broken away but, incredibly, much Learning of the paint and gilding has survived. This This depiction of the Virgin Mary holding Objectives shows us how alabaster sculptures were the baby Jesus was created in around 1. Introduces originally decorated - with paint in some 1380, making it one of our oldest important objects areas and gold leaf in others, and some examples of an alabaster figure. parts left to reveal the polished alabaster from the galleries surface. It is called the Flawford Virgin because in that activities are 1779 it was found under the floor of the focused on. demolished Church of St Peter in 2. Provides contextual Flawford, just south of Nottingham. information needed At the time of the Reformation, in the to support students’ 16th century, many church properties learning. were seized by the state. It is likely that she was hidden at this time, away from Artwork images courtesy harm, under the floor, where she of Nottingham City remained for over 200 years! She was Museums and Galleries © donated to the museum in 1908. KS1 KS2 KS3 KS4 SENDKS5

Art & Design The Battle of Britain Lace Witchcraft Evening Dress 1943 1951 This long ivory dress and jacket is made from machine-embroidered ‘Witchcraft’ Collection Highlights or Schiffli lace.

It was made for and worn by Lady Alice Nottingham Lace Bragg, the wife of Sir Lawrence Bragg, who in 1915 was awarded the Nobel These Collections Prize for physics for his work on X-rays Reticella Lace Sample and crystal structures. Highlights fact sheets ‘Reticella’ is an Italian word meaning a have been developed to small net. Handmade lace like this was The lace pattern was based on the crystal provide information on worn as a clear display of wealth, taste, structure of the gemstone beryl. important artworks status and power. within the gallery. This The dress was display at The Festival of As well as being highly intricate and Britain in 1951 as part of the Festival can be used to support expensive to produce, the nature of Pattern Group exhibition of textiles students’ activities in white lace also indicated that the wearer inspired by X-ray crystallography. the gallery as well for could afford skilled servants to launder follow-up activities in and care for such a fragile adornment. The Festival aimed to capture a spirit of the classroom. recovery and optimism after the Second During World War II, the lace industry World War, whilst promoting British adapted for wartime production, making science, technology, industrial design, Learning items such as mosquito and camouflage architecture and the arts. Objectives nets. Lace was also used to 1. Introduces commemorate significant wartime important objects events. This curtain lace commemorated The Battle of Britain in 1940. from the galleries that activities are It was designed by Harry Cross and focused on. manufactured by Nottingham based 2. Provides contextual There is a portrait of the Countess of Dobson, Browne & Co. At over 4.5 information needed Nottingham in the gallery, painted metres tall, it is the largest ever curtain between 1600-1605. Be sure to look at lace made in England. to support students’ the beautifully painted lace trim on her learning. ruff (collar). It has a ‘reticella’ lace The Jacquard cards containing the design border, an intricate form of needle lace have since been destroyed, but you can Artwork images courtesy work that was popular in the Elizabethan see the photographs of London during of Nottingham City Period. the blitz that inspired Harry Cross Museums and Galleries © displayed alongside the panel. KS1 KS2 KS3 KS4 SENDKS5

Art & Design met Granny Smith. They reminded her of the Romany gypsies she had met as a young girl at Goose Fair in Nottingham. Collection Highlights Her paintings, like this one, depict the joy, freedom, and hardship of a traveller’s life. She was interested in and inspired by The Art Gallery marginalised communities and individuals, Knight’s portraits also These Collections included actors, dancers and circus Dame Laura Knight performers. Highlights fact sheets One of our most popular artists, Dame have been developed to Laura Knight has long been associated The painterly technique she has used in provide information on with her home city – she even has a tram this painting is sometime referred to as important artworks named after her! ‘English Impressionism’. within the gallery. This She was among the most successful and We have three other Dame Laura Knights can be used to support popular painters in early Twentieth on display too, including Elsie on Hassan, students’ activities in Century Britain. Her success in the male- pictured below, plus Motherhood, the gallery as well for dominated British art establishment depicting a woman with her baby, and follow-up activities in paved the way for greater status and Miss Thompson, a painting of a seated recognition for women artists. young woman. the classroom. Gypsy Splendour Dame Laura fact file Dame Laura Knight, 1939 See if you can spot all the Dame Laura Learning • Dame Laura Knight was born in Long The title of the painting is Gypsy Knight's on your visit. What do her Objectives Eaton, near Nottingham, in 1877. Splendour, but it is also known as Fine paintings tell you about her “style”? 1. Introduces • Then called Laura Johnson, she went Feathers. important objects to Nottingham School of Art, aged just 13, living near the Arboretum. The name of this lady in the painting is from the galleries • She met fellow artist Harold Knight at Lilo Smith, known as ‘Granny Smith’, who that activities are Art School and they married in 1903. the artist painted many times. focused on. • They joined an artists' colony at 2. Provides contextual Staithes, Yorkshire, before moving to Granny Smith had invited Knight to paint information needed Newlyn, Cornwall in 1908. the travelling communities on the • In 1929 she became a Dame of the common at Iver, Buckinghamshire, where to support students’ British Empire. she painted every day for several months learning. • In 1936 she was the first woman in the late 1930s. elected to the Royal Academy. Artwork images courtesy • She served as an official war artist in Knight had extensively painted (and of Nottingham City WWII and was one of only 3 female befriended) travelling communities at the Museums and Galleries © British war artists to go abroad. Epsom and Ascot racecourses, where she