Clifton Park Museum puts contemporary spin on classic Rockingham pottery in Dishes of Rotherham exhibition

The renowned, lavish and intricate tableware produced in Rotherham provided one of the most spectacular ways of serving food in the 19th century.

But the many pieces used in Dishes of Rotherham have not been touched by anything edible for about 200 years — if they were in fact used at the time.

The exhibition has involved ten cooks learning about the pottery, which was produced in a factory at Swinton, and deciding on a dish to cook and serve on a piece of Rockingham.

Simon Grennan, the visual artist who pitched the idea to the museum, said: “Rockingham is quite famous if you’re into a bit of English china, which I am.

“I got invited to the museum in connection with another show, and I could tell the team were quite forward-looking.

“It was clear they wanted the museum to be more than just high art or local history, and I liked that.

“My whole career as an artist has been about getting folks to do things they wouldn’t normally do.”

Tessa Chynoweth, collections and exhibitions manager at the museum, said the post-Covid era had brought a new approach to temporary showcases in the upstairs gallery.

She added: “The reason is to look in much more depth at particular aspects of Rotherham's story, or different bits of our collection. It allows us to do more of a deep dive into the stories that we’re wanting to tell, and we’re looking to be a bit more creative about the way that we explore those stories.

She added: “We at Clifton Park Museum are really proud to have one of the largest public collections of Rockingham in the world.

“We’ve done really exciting, innovative exhibitions in the past but, to be frank, we were looking at new ways to make the collection relevant for audiences today.

“Simon came to us and said he wanted to get cooks from around Rotherham to visit the museum, find out about the Rockingham collection and go away and cook a dish inspired by what we have here. Then they would cook it and dish it up onto the collection itself.”

Tessa said the team was on board with the idea — but admitted it was a scary prospect.

She added: “We are obviously used to putting on workshops and exhibitions within the walls of the museum, and we have processes, risk assessments and training.

“We do that less well going out into the world. But with this, we went to the cooks’ houses, community centres, places of worship, a tiny café in the town centre which seats 14 people. It pushed us out of our comfort zone.

“The other thing which sent me into a spin was that we had to put food onto the collection.

“There’s no food and drink in the museum because crumbs and things on the floor are more likely to attract pests, which will damage our collections and buildings.

“Also, we know there are properties in food and drink which can damage the collection items. Just as if you spill a curry or a coffee on you, the stain might not come out.

“It’s our responsibility as museum professionals to look after the pieces in our care not only today but for generations to come. We are custodians of Rotherham’s history.

“We are never, ever allowed food or drink in here. That’s not just visitors, that’s for staff. There’s no food or drink in our collections store. So this was totally different to the way we are used to working.”

About 100 pieces of Rockingham were selected from the museum’s collection. The ten cooks — found through various ways including at Rotherham Show — were invited along to choose.

Some didn’t mind; they just said they needed a bowl or a platter. Others were much more specific about their requirements — with the museum even buying in a piece for one of the meals.

Simon said: “Here’s a collection of old, valuable china, and some of it is quite rare. When it was new, it was fancy but it was used, washed and dried and put away for next time.

“When I pitched the idea to the museum, they got it immediately. They understood it.

“Then it became a question of actually doing it: getting Mariam’s chicken biryani onto a fruit compote from 200 years ago without damaging it.”

The secret behind dishing up on Rockingham to take photos for the exhibition was that the food never actually touched the tableware.

Plastic sheets were cut to the exact size of the meals and each individual piece of food was carefully moved onto this divider, then arranged.

It meant moving individual grains of rice with tweezers. It meant putting on liquids with a pipette — drip by drip!

Food photographer Sally Robinson said: “The Rockingham pieces had to be protected at all times.

“I worked closely with the museum staff to style the food.

“They were responsible for making sure the Rockingham was protected from the food, and I was responsible for making the food look as good as possible, and we had to work together to achieve this — a real team effort.

“We shot in many different spaces and each location provided its own challenges. However, this was great for finding meaningful props we could use in the images.

“We borrowed so many interesting fabrics and kitchen implements for the photos, and they really helped to tell the story of the dish.

“This project was a truly collaborative effort, thoroughly enjoyable, and I’m really proud of the final images we produced as a team.”

The result is a showcase of meals celebrating cooking traditions including British, Pakistani, Sudanese, Guinean, Ukrainian, Czech, Yemeni and Chinese.

Tessa said: “For me, the photographs demonstrate the joy and beauty not only of the Rockingham but the food and the stories associated with them.

“The photos are beautiful and the exhibition has been well-received. People who have visited have been saying it’s made them feel hungry and happy.

“There is also the joy that it’s brought to everyone who’s been involved. It was quite mad, us going into people’s homes, but everyone was so generous and so hospitable. It meant so much to them that this collection was coming into their homes.

“To me, it felt like we were saying that their stories and lived experiences were as important to us as the Rockingham collection.

* The Dishes of Rotherham exhibition is open until June 18.

* Wednesday, April 12, 11am to noon and noon to 1pm — Cup & Saucer Stories: A free workshop with Simon, for kids aged six to 11 to design paper cups and saucers.

* Sunday, April 16, between 11am and 3pm — Dishes in the Walker Kitchen: Join some of the cooks involved in the exhibition as they cook up their meals. Exact timings to be confirmed.

“And we got to eat some delicious food, which was a bonus.”