The Decorative Art collections include pottery, glassware and furniture.
Lowestoft pottery was manufactured between 1757 and 1802. It is soft paste porcelain with a translucent finish. A popular form of porcelain design from Lowestoft was a Chinese style blue and white design. Between 1757 and 1760 Lowestoft pottery was decorated with distinctive under glaze blue patterns, generally in pale tones of blue, beneath a pink-tinged glaze.
Some of the best pieces were produced between 1760 and 1762 and have a wet-look glaze. Over glaze colours were introduced around 1765. The eventual range had several hundred patterns. Many are similar to Worcester designs but most are actually unique to Lowestoft. In 1766 blueprinted patterns were introduced with many unique designs, however many of them are very poor quality.
The collection also includes decorative studio pottery, including Martinware jugs. The four Martin brothers specialised in salt-glazed stoneware, a strong, non-porous pottery with a distinctive 'orange-peel' texture. The designs include examples of their famous bird jars.
Another studio potter whose work is represented in the collection is Blanche Vulliamy. She designed strange and grotesque pottery figures resembling gargoyles and goblins with twisted smiles and gaping mouths.
She named some of her creations, for example 'Miss Droopy Mouth', and she even created families such as 'the Smiling Poggs'. At least 40 of her designs were registered and in addition there are known examples of at least another 42 designs.
The furniture collection includes two early town chests, used to keep important legal papers. One is decorated in a gothic style dating from between 1450 and 1500 and the other can be dated to about 1530, as it shows German mercenary soldiers called 'landsknechts' from that time.
We also have examples of Mendlesham chairs, a form of Windsor chair unique to Suffolk. These chairs were made between 1800 and 1860, out of fruitwood with an elm seat.