eith Bloor spends his days surrounded by treasure. As the manager of four Staffordshire museums, he can get close to
centuries of historic ceramics, jewellery, gold, paintings and important archaeological artefacts. In February and March, the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke-on- Trent, where he is based, has been hosting the greatest gold treasure ever found in Britain – the fabulous Staffordshire Hoard, and Keith’s
Working in a “box of surprises”, Keith Bloor spends his days making new friends. Lynn Parr meets the man behind the Potteries Museum in Stoke-on-Trent
enthusiasm fizzes through his conversation. “The Potteries Museum is our largest site,” he says. “You won’t find a finer collection of Staffordshire ceramics anywhere. We’ve got something from all the pottery manufacturers who’ve been in Stoke-on-Trent, which is a major centre for the production of pottery in the world – such as, Wedgwood. We have collections that tell the history of the industry − where it came from and where it’s going.” The museum also has a
“very strong” archaeology section, as well as oil paintings by such famous artists as Walter Sickert and Paul Nash, and hundreds of prints by Henry Moore, Degas and Whistler. Then there is the Natural History Collection, running into 130,000 fossils, plants, animals and rocks; and photographs and household items illustrating the history of the local area. Keith sees his job as a leadership role,
the world to share artefacts. He is currently talking to museum managers in China. “We have ceramics from around the
world, but they stopped being collected in the 1930s. China is a major producer of ceramics, both for the West and their own artistic style, too. What we want to do is research what’s going on in China in contemporary ceramics, and we’ve been looking into purchasing some objects to update our collection and fill some gaps. The Chinese tell us their younger people are less interested in their own culture but they’re intrigued with what’s going on in design in the West. So there’s scope there for exchange of displays.”
What’s taking up his time at the moment
running four museums – the Potteries, Gladstone Pottery Museum, Ford Green Hall and Etruria Industrial Museum – and making contact with other museums around
is raising funds to acquire the 7th-century Staffordshire Hoard for permanent display. This treasure trove of 1,500 gold and silver objects was unearthed last July in what was the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia. “When I first saw it − the scale of it − the
thing that struck me was that every time I looked at it there were new things to see
because of the amount of detail in it. It’s so exquisite − the designs capture you. There’s very little we know about it so there’s a mystery behind it as well.” Keith has been enlisting the aid of celebrity
historians such as David Starkey and Michael Wood, as well as Tony Robinson
from Time Team.
“The Hoard is important at a local level,
as well as at an international level. The people of Staffordshire have a strong identity with the Hoard. We very much see ourselves as a community museum, with a sense of identity and civic pride.” Surrounded as he is with treasures of
all kinds, which are his favourites? “The wallaby is a favourite of mine – I remember him as a youngster. The ceramic collections – we’ve got 5,000 pieces on display and another 35,000 in storage. Every time I walk through there’s always something that catches my eye. And the Spitfire − that’s another iconic object I remember as a child. “The museum is a box of surprises. It’s a
busy job, trying to steer the ship and keep it on a straight course. It’s full of challenges but they’re ones that I enjoy solving.”
8 Potteries Museum & Art Gallery . Tel: (01782) 232323;
www.stoke.gov.uk. Keep track of the Hoard at
www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk.
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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF THE POTTERIES MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY
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