The Gardiner Museum is open seven days a week. Explore our permanent collection, discover special exhibitions, get hands-on with clay in our studios, dine, shop, and more.
Enter an immersive world created by Montreal-based artist Karine Giboulo, brought to life by over 500 miniature polymer clay figures that tell stories about our most urgent social issues, from the pandemic to the climate crisis. It will delight visitors of all ages!
Spring Clay Classes are open for registration and filling up fast! Secure one of the remaining spots and get creative with clay in our studios this season.
Experience the Gardiner's world-renowned collection, in person and online. From Chinese porcelain to contemporary Canadian ceramics, discover the people and histories behind the objects.
Everyone can love clay! Become a Gardiner Friend and enjoy the benefits, including unlimited admission, advanced clay class registration, invitations to exhibition previews and special events, discounts on lectures and classes, and more.
The 19th century saw the perfection and invention of many new ceramic bodies and methods of decoration. These techniques enabled the mass-production of quality, yet affordable tableware that appealed to a wide segment of the market.
This period was also characterized by stylistic eclecticism. By mid-century, the prevailing neoclassical taste was replaced by a vast array of revival styles, leading to the Gothic revival and a new interest in the art of Antiquity and the Renaissance. At the turn of the century, traditional historical revivals were rejected by proponents of the Aesthetic Movement, Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, and Secessionist styles.
The Gardiner Museum’s collection reflects the technological advances and stylistic movements that typify ceramic history in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. At the core of this collection are significant holdings of Minton and ceramics for the Canadian market.
1. Moon Flask (detail), England, Stoke-on-Trent, Minton, Deisgned by Christopher Dresser (1834-1904), c.1870-1880, Gift of N. Robert Cumming, G98.1.28
2. Dessert Plate from the Milton Service, "Our Night Camp on Eagle River - Expecting the Crees" (detail), England, Stoke-On-Trent, Minton, c.1967, Purchased with a Gift from N. Robert Cumming, G04.20.1
3. Cake Plate with Arctic Landscape (detail), England, Manufacturer Unknown, c.1840, The Barbara and James Moscovich Collection of Canadian Historical China, G13.15.44