Cheshire West and Chester Council’s £2.6m art collection ‘not for sale’

Mar 24 2011 by David Holmes, Chester Chronicle

THERE are no plans to sell off Cheshire West and Chester Council’s £2.6m art collection despite funding cuts in other services.

The council owns paintings, sculptures, watercolours, drawings, prints and silhouettes insured for a total of £2,594,658.

But the authority has confirmed it has “no plans to sell of any works of art” in line the Museums Association’s Code of Ethics.

The code states that: “Financially motivated disposal risks damaging public confidence in museums and the principle that the collection should not normally be regarded as financially-negotiable assets.”

A council spokesperson said: “We regard the collection as an historic and/or cultural asset to be used to educate and inspire.”

Eight of the ten most valuable items in the authority’s art collection are oil paintings, all of which are on permanent public display in the Grosvenor Museum.

The two other most valuable items are watercolours, which are displayed in the museum for two months every two years.

But individual valuations are highly confidential, and for security purposes are only available to specific staff.

Among the oil paintings of most significance to the Grosvenor Museum is Chester and the Roodee painted by Pieter Tillemans (1684-1734).

The picture is the earliest known oil painting of the city and dates back to the early 1700s. The 1st Duke of Westminster presented the painting to the museum in 1894.

The painting shows horse-racing on the Roodee, the course marked by posts and crowds of spectators lining the western city wall, which had originally been constructed in the early 12th century.