The Gardiner is thrilled to announce the launch of CLAY, an original in-house restaurant offering seasonal menus of fresh, local fare in collaboration with The Food Dudes.
Opening October 20! The Gardiner has reunited for the first time more than 350 objects from Sir William Van Horne’s exceptional collection of Japanese pottery alongside archival materials and stunning watercolours.
Our annual 12 Trees fundraiser has evolved into New + Now, a celebration of national and international ceramics. View and purchase some of the world’s most extraordinary contemporary ceramic art, on display in Toronto for the first time.
The Gardiner Museum is among the few museums in the world focused on ceramics, and is one of the most important specialty museums internationally. It houses approximately 4,000 objects, including European porcelain, ceramics from the Ancient Americas, Chinese porcelain, Japanese porcelain, and contemporary ceramics. Search the collection online!
Everyone can love clay! Become a Friend at one of the world’s great specialty museums and enjoy the benefits, including unlimited admission, invitations to exhibition previews and special events, discounts on lectures and clay classes, and more.
The nineteenth 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