The Gardiner Museum is open seven days a week! Explore our permanent collection, discover special exhibitions, and get hands-on with clay in our studios. We look forward to welcoming you.
Discover an exhibition of new work in our lobby by members of Inspirations Studio, a unique low-barrier ceramics program in Toronto for women and gender diverse people who have experienced marginalization.
Our Joy of Ceramics fundraiser returns on October 27, featuring a presentation by Sarah Milroy, Chief Curator at the McMichael Gallery, who will talk about a work by Shary Boyle, including its many meanings and her decision to donate it. This event sells out every year!
Every object in our permanent collection can be accessed through our eMuseum portal. Learn about individual collecting areas, like Italian Maiolica or Modern and Contemporary Ceramics, or search the full collection by keyword. You'll be amazed by what you discover!
Help us continue to offer innovative and engaging exhibitions, programs, and community projects in person and online, as well as plan for the future. Please consider making a donation today.
The Gardiner Museum’s Mesoamerican objects come from the modern countries of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Belize. Many great civilizations and cities emerging in these regions along with intellectual accomplishments, such as the domestication of corn, hieroglyphic writing, and a precise calendar based on the observations of the heavens. Objects in this collection date from about 1500 BC to approximately AD 1521.
Cultures represented in the Museum’s collection include the Maya, Aztec, Zapotec, West Mexico, Teotihuacan, Mixtec, as well as many others.
The Mesoamerican objects in the Museum’s collection were part of the original gift of ceramics given by George and Helen Gardiner.
1. Plate with Hieroglyphic Text (detail), Maya Culture, Guatemala, Uaxactun area, early late classsic period, 550-650, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G83.1.120. Photographer: Toni Hafkenscheid
2. Plate with Hieroglyphic Text (detail), Maya Culture, Guatemala, Uaxactun area, early late classsic period, 550-650, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G83.1.120. Photographer: Toni Hafkenscheid
3. Escavada Black on White Bowl (detail), Ancestral Pueblo Culture, Southern Colorado Plateau, USA, 950-1300, Gift of Ulli and Carol Rath on behalf of the Rath family, G14.10.4
4. Parrot Effigy Bottle with Double Chambers (detail), Salinar Culture, Peru, North Coast, Late Early Horizon 500-300 BCE, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G83.1.159
5. Tetrapod Jaguar Effigy Vessel with Rattle Supports (detail), Costa Rica, Guanacaste, Nicoya Zone, Late Period VI 1200-1400, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G83.1.147. Photographer: Melissa Shimmerman