Having recently visited Portsmouth City Museum and Art Gallery, I was interested to see how its counterpart in Bristol compared. I expected that perhaps it would be a grander affair, and I was right. Whereas Portsmouth concentrates mainly on local history and art, Bristol, whilst giving prominence to local artists and exhibits, has world-class displays in its galleries.
The museum is housed in an imposing three-storey Edwardian building; the stairs are not steep and there is a lift to certain areas on the upper floors, but you do have to call an attendant to operate the lift. How easy it is to do this I do not know. However, if you are at all interested in Ancient Egypt you are in for a treat, as there is a new display on the ground floor. This is where we started our visit.
The Egyptian exhibits here are based on the themes of life, death and the afterlife. Everything is behind glass, unsurprisingly considering the age of these artefacts. Even after more than twenty years of living in Egypt, I can still marvel at tiny amulets that look almost as if they were made yesterday, the mummy of a woman, or examples of hieroglyphics and other writing on a fragment of papyrus or a piece of stone. Touch screens placed low enough for children who can read allow visitors to access information on the individual items in each case. As well as the themes of life and death, attention is drawn to the way the Egyptians worked with different materials such as wood (as in the case for the mummy) and stone.
Moving further down this gallery, there are some fine examples of Assyrian reliefs. These are finely executed, but personally they didn't thrill me in quite the way that the Egyptian exhibits did.
At the top of the stairs leading to second floor is a gypsy caravan; turning left, we found ourselves in the Oriental gallery where Chinese dragons are to be seen wherever you look. There is even a tee-shirt from Tammy Girl decorated with a dragon. It was interesting that although this gallery was one of the quieter ones, there were two children sitting drawing whilst their parents looked around. Emerging from the dragon room, you find yourself admiring one of the best collections of Chinese glass outside Asia.
From Oriental art you proceed to British art. The first gallery is devoted to a collection of beautiful silver artefacts amid paintings of Bristol as it was over two hundred years ago. Realising that we did not have time to see everything in one visit, we passed fairly quickly through this room; I really must go back one day to admire the silver. We made a beeline for the more modern exhibits such as the paintings of the St Ives group. Barbara Hepworth is represented here by a painting rather than a sculpture, alongside Ben Nicholson in Gallery 5. I was also particularly interested to find Bristol-born Richard Long's Delabole Slate Circle, acquired from Tate Modern in 1997. Long was a great influence of mine in my students days, as was Tom Phillips, one of whose paintings I was delighted to find here.
If you are not a fan of modern art, you might prefer the work of the Pre-Raphaelites in Gallery 6 where both Millais and Burne-Jones are represented amongst others. There are a few examples of Impressionist paintings in the European room, notably by Renoir, Sisley and Lucien Pissaro. Beyond the French gallery is a display of pottery and ceramics, but this was another room that I had to leave for a future visit.
Going back down to the first floor we were greeted by a fibreglass replica of a dinosaur as well as a huge dinosaur leg skeleton. This area was obviously one of the most popular ones for children, so we decided to leave them to it as they greatly outnumbered us.
The display of minerals was one we spent more time on. Although there are exquisite pieces from all over the world, perhaps my favourite was a slice of Blue John from Derbyshire. It's true that this mineral holds a special place in my heart because I spent some wonderful holidays in the Peak District during my childhood, but I loved the colours in this example, which ranged from orange through to purple. My son prefered the pyrophyllite with its fascinating geometrical forms.
Minerals were followed by fossils, including some that were unearthed during the building of the Great Western Railway. Then came the wildlife area, but we decided to give it a miss as it looked to be swarming with children and must be one of the most popular sections of the museum. Many of the exhibits there focus on rare, endangered or extinct species of wildlife. British wildlife can be seen on the ground floor.
Descending the staircase to the ground floor once again, we walked past the shop without taking a look, as I don't usually buy souvenirs from museums. We noticed an enclosed area for temporary exhibitions where paintings were waiting to be hung. There is a cafe in an open area on the ground floor which seemed to be frequented mostly by families with young children who probably needed a break from all the excitement of dinosaurs and gorillas. Organic and fair trade food and drinks are served here. The cafe, as well as the toilets, are due for refurbishment during the course of 2008.
As we were leaving I suddenly noticed a huge biplane suspended from the lofty ceiling above the entrance hall – despite its size, neither of us had looked up and spotted it on our way in.
Certain areas of the museum are great attractions for children, and there were plenty around on the grey Saturday afternoon when we visited. There is even a play area called Small World for the under-fives on the ground floor. The museum would be an excellent choice for a family outing, whether your children are into dinosaurs, wild animals or mummies. As for adults, I'm sure everyone will find a display here that fascinates them. Since it's free, there is nothing to lose by paying a visit.
Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery
Queen's Road
Bristol
BS8 1RL
Tel. 0117 922 4749
Open Daily, 10am-5pm (hours may change in 2009)
Lifts to some floors; space to leave buggies in front hall; baby-change; toilets' wheelchairs; highchairs available in cafe.
Car parks are situated five minutes' walk from the museum in either West End or Trenchard Street. On foot, the museum is ten minutes from the city centre and twenty-five minutes from Bristol Temple Meads railway station.
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