Musée d’Orsay and Art Gallery of South Australia Expand Collections with Historic Acquisitions

The Musée d’Orsay in Paris recently received a ceramic mask created by French sculptor Jean Carriès around 1890. This piece, gifted by London sculpture dealer Stuart Lochhead, marks a significant addition to the museum’s holdings as it celebrated its 40th anniversary. The mask is crafted from enamelled stoneware and reflects a fusion of French Gothic revival style with Japanese ceramic influences, which Carriès encountered at the 1878 Paris Exposition. Carriès, who was fascinated by the technical challenges of firing glazed stoneware, produced this mask after relocating in 1888 to Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye, a village renowned for its pottery tradition.

Meanwhile, the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide announced the acquisition of a 16th-century portrait of Queen Elizabeth I of England. Painted around 1565 by an unknown artist from the British School, this oil on panel work measures 37 cm by 27 cm and features an engaged frame carved from the same wood as the painted surface. The portrait includes a verse traditionally attributed to Elizabeth herself: “Christ was the word that spake it: He took the bread and brake it: And what his word did make it: That I believe and take it.”

This acquisition is notable as it is the first portrait of the Tudor queen to enter an Australian public collection. The gallery plans to display the painting alongside a portrait of Elizabeth’s father, King Henry VIII, enhancing its historical narrative of the Tudor dynasty.

Both acquisitions highlight the ongoing efforts of museums to diversify and deepen their collections with works that offer cultural and historical insights. The Musée d’Orsay’s new mask adds a unique example of 19th-century ceramic art influenced by cross-cultural encounters, while the Art Gallery of South Australia’s Tudor portrait provides a rare glimpse into English Renaissance portraiture within an Australian context.

These additions not only enrich their respective institutions but also offer audiences in Canada and beyond opportunities to engage with significant artistic and historical artefacts from different periods and regions.