Heritage News 19 - South Derbyshire District Council

COME AND SEE!
Two very special items from the famous Bretby Art Pottery are now
on show at Sharpe’s.
Melbourne is to push the boat out this coming September by staging
the first “Melbourne Festival”, which it is hoped will become an
annual event.
The first is a unique painted canvas designed as a mural for the
decorative ceiling of the pottery showroom building. It is reputed to
show chief artist William Oram Trivett working at an easel, flanked
by two seated ladies who are decorating pottery. The mural has
had a lucky escape, having been stolen from the showroom and
damaged prior to its fortunate retrieval. It has since been expertly
restored, with the financial backing of the showroom owner, and
will remain at Sharpe’s pending the hoped-for repair and restoration
of the showroom building.
Planned for the weekend of 17 th and 18 th September, local
householders will be opening their homes and gardens to provide
interesting and unusual settings for the work of both local and
visiting artists. In addition, special events are being planned by the
Melbourne Photographic Society and the St. Michaels Youth
Players, and a gala evening is under consideration, involving the
Town Band, the Melbourne Male Voice Choir and the Melbourne
Operatic Society.
Kick-start donations for funding the Festival have been made by
the Melbourne Business Association and the Friends of Melbourne
Parish Church. In addition, a grant is being prepared for submission
to the National Lottery’s “Awards For All” for display materials
etc. The weekend itself will generate income from ticketed events,
sales of the festival guide (a numbered map indicating the location
of host venues), and financial contributions from visiting artists.
Festival Co-ordinator Phil Dobby says “We now have a proper
organisation and a bank account, with money in it! One important
decision made by the Festival Committee is that two or three
bursaries for local young people in the field of arts or architecture
will be made from surplus funds. Anything left over after that will
go towards 2006!”
This is an event which brings heritage and culture together and
thereby embraces the past and the present at the same time. It has
taken its cue partly from the well-established Wirksworth Festival,
and to a smaller degree from the Heritage Open Days events that
have taken place each September in Melbourne over the last five
years. As in past years, some of the participating properties will be
of historic interest, worthy of a visit in their own right.
If you would like further information, either as a spectator or as a
would-be participant, please contact the Festival Co-ordinator Phil
Dobby on 01332 863640 or by
e-mail: info@melbournefestival.co.uk
•A Sharpe’s volunteer admires the Bretby mural
The other item, scarcely less unusual than the first, is an example
of the Bretby “Gypsy Boy” or “Italian Boy”. He is a seated figure
wearing a hat, designed to sit on a pedestal, with his legs loosely
crossed. He plays a tin whistle or similar instrument, and has a
satchel slung over his shoulder. At 2’ 6" tall without his pedestal, he
is now the focal point of the Bretby showcase in the first floor gallery
of Sharpe’s. To complement him, Bretby Art Pottery also produced
a companion female figure.
NB. A feasibility study into the future of the attractive Grade II
listed showroom at the Bretby Art Pottery site is currently being
conducted by the Derbyshire Historic Buildings Trust, with a
view to its repair and restoration when the adjoining site of
the demolished pottery works is being redeveloped.
•Church Street, Melbourne
•The Bretby companion figures of a girl and boy.
Heritage News - 2