Purpose

This decision relates to the approval of seven
loan requests for items in the Ipswich Borough
Council museum collections. The loans to Essex Fire Museum,
Hollytrees Museum and the Musée du Quai Branly are new requests and
those to Uvedale Hall, Norfolk Museums Service,Colchester
Museums and the National Horseracing Museum are renewals of
existing loans.
 

1.   
Essex Fire Museum, Grays (IPSMG:
LO.2025.08)
Loan commences: 19
December 2025 Loan ends: 19 December 2028
 
IPSMG:R.1954.123 A four-wheeled, wooden, horse-drawn
manual fire engine. Painted red and with 'Ixworth Fire Brigade' on side in a tan colour.
Shafts for two or more horses to pull the engine. Associated with
Ixworth, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
Height: 2.1 m; length: 3.6 m; width: 1.9 m.
 
The Ixworth fire engine has been on loan to The Food
Museum, formerly the Museum of East Anglian Life, since 1992. The
Food Museum no longer requires this loan and has asked to return it
to Ipswich. However, there is no space for the fire engine to be
stored by Ipswich Museums and there are no plans for it to be put
on public display. As a result, it has been arranged that the fire
engine will be loaned to the Essex Fire Museum, part of the Essex
County Fire & Rescue Service. Due to time pressures at The Food
Museum the fire engine needs to be removed from their premises and
relocated to the Essex Fire Museum on 19 December 205. It is
proposed that the loan is for three years with the option of
further renewal for three-year periods.
 

2.   
Hollytrees Museum, Colchester
(IPSMG: LO.2025.09)
Loan commences: 16
March 2026 Loan ends: 19 October 2027 Exhibition
dates: 30 March 2026 – 4 October 2027
 
A collection of 18 geological
fossils, botanical specimens and casts requested for a temporary
exhibition entitled ‘Discover’ which focuses on objects
not normally on display from Archaeology and Natural History to
Fashion and Art. As the exhibition evolves over its 18-month run,
visitors will have the opportunity to share stories of the objects
that they have found and a chance to see their objects displayed as
part of the exhibition. Some, at least, of these items will feature
in a planned dinosaur exhibition at an Ipswich venue in 2028.
 

3.   
Uvedale Hall Residential Care Home, Needham Market
(IPSMG:2010.10)
Loan commences: 1
February 2026 Loan ends: 1 February 2029
IPSMG:R.1918.41 ‘Portrait of Robert
Uvedale’ by an unknown artist, early 18th century, oil on
canvas.
 
This painting has been on
loan to Uvedale Hall since 1989, with the loan being renewed in
2010, 2014, 2017 and 2022. It is displayed in the dining room at
the care home. The portrait has been regularly reviewed in situ by
Ipswich Museums’ Conservation Officer and was last seen in
2022. It is an important part of the history of Uvedale Hall and
Ipswich staff have no current plans to display the painting in any
forthcoming exhibitions or in the galleries of the redeveloped
Ipswich Museum.

 

4.   
Musée du Quai Branly
– Jacques Chirac, Paris (IPSMG:LO.2025.02)
 
Loan commences: 14
September 2026 Loan ends: 7 February 2027 Exhibition
dates: 28 September 2026 – 24 January 2027.
 
This loan is for a temporary
exhibition, First Nations from the Northwest Coast of Canada, and
relates to eight objects from the Pacific Northwest Coast of North
America in the Ipswich Borough Council collections. The exhibition
aims to illustrate, from both an anthropological and historical
perspective, the extraordinary cultural and artistic development of
the First Nations of the Northwest Coast of Canada. The arts have
always been at the centre of First Nations’
preoccupations for
transmitting information and, more recently, for revitalising
important aspects of their culture and world views.
 
All but one of the objects
requested were previously lent to the Sainsbury Centre for their
2023 exhibition ‘Empowering Art: Indigenous Creativity and
Activism from North America’s Northwest Coast’. The
exception is the copper club (IPSMG:R.1992.90.663).
 
The exhibition in Paris
provides an opportunity to display Ipswich Museum objects in an
international setting, thereby raising the profile of the
town’s collections. It is also the chance to collaborate with
a major European world cultures museum, providing an opportunity
for Ipswich
curators to discover more
about the loaned items and as a result be better placed to
interpret these items when they go on display in the refurbished
Ipswich Museum.
 

5.   
Norfolk Museums Service (NMS), Norwich Castle
(LO.2013.07)
Loan commences: 1
January 2026 Loan ends: 1 January 2029
 
IPSMG: R.1936.84 A modern
replica of the Head of Claudius, the original Roman sculpture being
in the British Museum.
 
The loan was originally
approved for a three-year period in 2013 and subsequently renewed
in 2016, 2019 and 2022. It is currently on display in the Boudica
Gallery at Norwich Castle Museum, and its condition has been
recently checked by an NMS conservator. There are no current plans
to display this replica in an Ipswich
museum venue.

6.   
Colchester Castle Museum (LO.2014.09)
Loan commences: 1
January 2026 Loan ends: 1 January 2029
 
These objects have been at
Colchester Castle since 2014, with the loan last being renewed in
2022. The nine items were originally selected because they tell
stories which cannot be illustrated from the objects available in
the Colchester City Council museum
collection. There are no current plans to display these objects in
a temporary exhibition or in the new displays at Ipswich
Museum.
 

7.   
National Horse Racing Museum, Newmarket (LO.2015.02)
Loan commences: 1
January 2026 Loan ends: 1 January 2029
 
IPSMG: R.1935.304 ‘The
Hawking Party’ by Jan Wyck, c. 1700, oil on canvas This loan
was originally made in 2015 and renewed in 2021.
 
Displayed in the Packard
Galleries, Palace House, the Hawking Party forms an integral part
of the displays and is well received by visitors. Ipswich Museum
staff have no current plans for displaying this painting in an
Ipswich museum venue.

Decision

To approve the loans to Essex Fire Museum,
Hollytrees Museum and the
Musée du Quai Branly and to approve the
renewal of loans to Uvedale Hall, Norfolk Museums Service,
Colchester Museums and the National Horseracing Museum.
 
Reason:
To allow for the Ipswich Borough Collections
to be seen by the wider public.