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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 1d

They’re objects of beauty, certainly, but also of defiance, crafted in an age of rapid industrialisation by someone committed to colour, craft and character.

Come see them for yourself. Expect dragons. And sunbursts.

👉 Plan your visit: ipswich.cimuseums.org.uk/colour-shape-pattern

Colour Shape Pattern | Ipswich Museums

From bold splashes to delicate design, celebrate contemporary artworks at Christchurch Mansion.

ipswich.cimuseums.org.uk

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 1d

These tiles, made around 1898, are the work of an artist late in his ceramic career, just before he turned his attention to writing (he’d go on to become a successful novelist — naturally).

Square tile with three blue flowers and green leaves in a symmetrical Arts and Crafts design.

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 1d

Here, his range is on full display. The hand-painted glazes sing with jewel-toned intensity, and no two tiles are ever quite the same. Look closely, and you’ll spot subtle asymmetries and deliberate quirks: De Morgan believed that perfection was the enemy of charm.

Blue and olive tile with a swirling pattern of stylised winged dragons.

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 1d

William De Morgan never met a tile he didn’t want to enchant. These tiles showcase the brilliance of one of the Arts and Crafts Movement’s most restless minds. De Morgan began his career designing stained glass with William Morris, but it was in ceramics that he found full creative freedom.

Embossed tile showing two cream-coloured lions on a background of gold and dark blue quartered squares.

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 5d

Like an organic transformer!

Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 5d

The scales cover their body and form living armour that can withstand a lion’s bite. When threatened, it'll roll into a tight ball and release a foul spray from a gland near the tail.

If you could adopt one pangolin feature, would you choose the armour, the tongue, or the roll into a ball defence?

Side view of the full pangolin mount on an oval wooden base with an enlarged background detail of the engraved plaque behind it. The specimen’s scaled body and long snout are visible, with yellowed claws resting on the base. The engraved text on the wood reads: “THE SHORT TAILED PANGOLIN. MANIS PINTADAC YLA. (CUVIER.) CENTRAL INDIA.”

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 5d

Did you know that pangolins are the only mammals with scales? They're solitary and mostly nocturnal, with some climbing trees whilst others stay on the ground. They dig into ant and termite mounds and use their tongue (that can reach up to 28 inches!) to feed.

Close-up of a taxidermy pangolin on a wooden base against a white background. The head and forelimbs fill the frame, showing overlapping brown keratin scales with fine ridges, a small dark eye, and long curved claws on the front feet. The shadow falls behind the mount, emphasising the texture of the scales and claws.

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 7d

A doll with no face, on purpose. This Ukrainian motanka was handmade in Ipswich with cotton, beads and dry wheat. Motanky were made as protective talismans or toys and kept faceless so a single soul couldn’t be attached.

Objects of care can be small and powerful. Do you have a good‑luck charm?

A handmade Ukrainian motanka doll photographed against a pale background. The doll is faceless, with embroidered red and black bands crossing the face. It wears a feathered red headdress, layered red bead necklaces and hoop earrings. The blouse has cream sleeves with red and black embroidery. A red overskirt ties with ribbon over a cream underskirt that shows a bold red, black and cream geometric panel at the front. Materials include cotton fabric and thread, beads, plastic flowers and a dry‑wheat filler. The figure stands upright on a flat surface.

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 8d

Come see them up close and learn more about the artform in Colour Shape Pattern, and discover how these everyday objects combined artistry and storytelling in just a few brushstrokes.

🗓️ 24 May 2025 – 22 February 2026
👉 Plan your visit: ipswich.cimuseums.org.uk/colour-shape-pattern

Colour Shape Pattern | Ipswich Museums

From bold splashes to delicate design, celebrate contemporary artworks at Christchurch Mansion.

ipswich.cimuseums.org.uk

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 8d

These tiles once lined the walls and fireplaces of homes that could afford such luxuries. Each square may be only a few inches across, but their impact was much larger — adding both warmth and worldly charm to 18th-century interiors.

Blue and white ceramic tile showing a running hare with upright ears, surrounded by small floral motifs.

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 8d

These blue and white delft tiles are more than decoration: they’re snapshots of 17th- and 18th-century taste, trade, and storytelling. Imported from the Netherlands, delftware tiles were popular for their gleaming tin-glazed surfaces and crisp cobalt designs.

Delft tile with a landscape scene of three figures crossing a bridge under a tree, buildings and a boat in the background. All are hand-painted in blue on a white background.

Delft tile showing a fisherman on a riverbank, with sailing boat, ducks and a distant town.

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 9d

What do you remember about timing calls to evening rates or negotiating phone time at home?

The same ivory Trimphone shown with the handset off the hook, revealing the cradle and rotary dial. The long coiled cord snakes to a grey inline connector marked “British Telecom,” attached to a straight line cord. Background is neutral tissue, suggesting a collections photography set-up. Circa 1980–1999.

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 9d

Before mobiles, the household Trimphone ruled the hallway. Lighter, a long cord you could sneak round a door, and that famous electronic “warble”. Ours keeps the rotary dial and a mid‑cable connector stamped “British Telecom”, which is a nod to the days of renting your phone.

Ivory-coloured plastic Trimphone with the handset resting on the cradle. Rotary dial with clear finger wheel, translucent number ring and numbers 1–0 visible. Long coiled handset cord tangles across the frame and meets a grey inline plastic connector stamped “British Telecom.” The base has a clear plastic rest and a wall cable extending out of shot. Circa 1980–1999.

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 10d

Guess the spot: George Frost’s Ipswich Docks, c.1800. Low sheds, masts and figures on the quay before the wet dock opened in 1842. On today’s Waterfront, would you place this near St Peter’s Dock, the Old Custom House or Stoke Bridge? Why?

Graphite drawing of Ipswich Docks around 1800. Small sailing vessels and masts rise behind low waterside sheds. Figures work on the quay. In the foreground a couple walk along the shoreline. The sky is lightly clouded. The paper shows faint marks consistent with a watermark, but the mark is not identified.

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 11d

Whole streets grew out of that industry, along with tight‑knit working lives around the kilns. These bricks built terraces, schools, chapels, and factories across Ipswich. If your home has old brick, it may well have started life on ground like this.

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 11d

Whole families could be tied to the yard’s rhythm: men at the clamp or kiln, women and children turning, stacking, and barrowing when work was available. In this part of town, the Dales and Grove brickyards even ran a narrow‑gauge line to Westerfield Station to move bricks and coal.

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 11d

You can see the tall chimney on the left and stacks of drying bricks laid out on tables. Sites like this sat close to good clay and transport, with long days shaping, turning, and firing. It was tough, skilled work. Pay was often by the piece, so a quick hand meant a better week.

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 11d

Smoke, clay, and steady graft. This 1909 photograph shows the Brickfields in Ipswich, where thousands of handmade and machine-pressed bricks fed a town that was growing street by street.

Black and white photograph of Ipswich brickfields, c.1909. In the foreground are stacked bricks and low drying tables. To the left stand long sheds and a tall chimney rising above the works. The ground is rough with patches of clay and timber props. No people are visible, but the scene suggests active industrial work and large-scale brick production.

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 12d

Years below ground compressed the grain, leaving them dark and dense. Quiet tech that kept buildings and boats together.

Seen trenails locally?

Two short, dark wooden trenails displayed horizontally on a small green-painted wooden stand with four upright supports and a square base, photographed against a white background.

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 12d

They look like two short logs, but they’re trenails: wooden pegs that fasten heavy timbers without iron. An old label notes they were buried after a destructive event in Oct 1896 and uncovered in 1949 excavations.

Front view of the same pair of trenails on the green wooden stand with a small aged paper label attached to the base, text partially faded and unreadable.

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 13d

The final Peep into the Past tours of 2025 are here! If you haven’t joined the Friends of Ipswich Museums yet, now’s your chance to uncover the fascinating layers of Christchurch Mansion before the season ends.

Free and open to all — come take a last look before winter draws in.

Promotional poster for Peep into the Past free guided tours, set in an ornate historical study or drawing room. Foreground shows a large globe, a bust, and various decorative objects on a desk. In the background, a mannequin dressed in Georgian-style clothing stands near a fireplace with an elaborate red and gold surround. Framed portraits, statues, and pale blue-grey wall panelling complete the scene. Tours run from April to October, held Saturday–Sunday at 11 am and 2 pm, and Tuesday–Wednesday at 11 am.

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 14d

It is an abugida, so each character shows a consonant with its vowel. Children learning Amharic would chant the rows until sound and sign matched.

What was the first thing you remember reading on your own?

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 14d

International Translation Day invites us to think about how writing carries voice. This teaching scroll uses the Ge’ez script, the historic script of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Two aged scrolls display neatly arranged rows of text written in Ge'ez, an ancient Ethiopian script. The parchment has a yellowish-brown tone, suggesting significant age and historical value.

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Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 15d

Want to discover how colour, shape and pattern have been used across time to inspire, impress and influence? Come explore the Colour Shape Pattern exhibition at Christchurch Mansion, open now through 22 February 2026.

👉 Plan your visit: ipswich.cimuseums.org.uk/colour-shape-pattern

Colour Shape Pattern | Ipswich Museums

From bold splashes to delicate design, celebrate contemporary artworks at Christchurch Mansion.

ipswich.cimuseums.org.uk

2

Ipswich Museums @ipswichmuseums.bsky.social · 15d

If you look closely, you can still see signs of its handmade origins: overlapping joins, subtle colour shifts, and centuries of wear. It would have cost a pretty penny—more than many earned in a year—but it made a clear statement: wealth, taste, and fashion lived here.

Close-up of ornate historic wallpaper. The pattern features large, dark brown floral and foliage motifs over a pale green and muted blue background. Subtle butterfly and leaf designs are interspersed within the background, and some wear and creases are visible, revealing the wallpaper’s age and layered texture.

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