Paisley Museum and Art Galleries is a museum in Paisley,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It is currently closed for refurbishment and is due to reopen in 2026 with the title of Paisley Museum. It is located in the town of Paisley and is run by

Renfrewshire Council Renfrewshire Council is the local authority for Renfrewshire, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It consists of 43 councillors who elect from among their number a provost to serve as the council's convener and ceremonial head and a leader o ...

. When it had art galleries, it housed one of the largest municipal art collections in

, including over 800 paintings. The Museum and Art Galleries were gifted to the town of Paisley by the industrialist Sir Peter Coats in 1871. The building, which also houses Paisley Library and the

Coats Observatory Coats Observatory is Scotland's oldest public observatory. It is currently closed for refurbishment as part of a 4-year long £42m transformation of the observatory and museum buildings. Located in Oakshaw Street West, Paisley, Renfrewshire, the ...

, was designed by Glasgow architect John Honeyman of the firm of

Honeyman and Keppie Honeyman and Keppie was a major architectural firm based in Glasgow, created by John Honeyman (architect), John Honeyman and John Keppie in 1888 following the death of James Sellars in whose architectural practice Keppie had worked. Their most no ...

. The first curator of the Museum was the entomologist Morris Young who remained in post until his death in 1897 leaving the Museum a bequest of £500 to be invested and the returns used to pay for the upkeep of the entomological collections and all his books. The museum has been extended on several occasions since it opened. There are plans for a revamp of the Museum to transform it into an "international-class destination" based around the Paisley's heritage story. The art collection displayed over many years, including the large art collection owned by

Paisley Art Institute The Paisley Art Institute is a Scotland, Scottish art organisation founded in 1876, evolving from the Paisley Fine Art Society in 1829. It is an established registered charity, registration no.SC000840. As well as encouraging arts and artists, an ...

has concentrated largely on works by late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century Scottish artists, such as the

Glasgow School The Glasgow School was a circle of influential artists and designers that began to coalesce in Glasgow, Scotland in the 1870s, and flourished from the 1890s to around 1910. Representative groups included The Four (also known as the Spook Schoo ...

and the

Scottish Colourists The Scottish Colourists were a group of four painters, three from Edinburgh, whose Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist work, though not universally recognised initially, came to have a formative influence on contemporary Scottish art and cultur ...

.In addition there is a contemporary collection which includes work by artists such as Steven Campbell and John Byrne, who was born in Paisley. The museum houses a collection of objects and documents covering the local history of Paisley and Renfrewshire, especially the importance of the textiles industry, tracing the history of the luxury

shawl A shawl (from ''shāl'') is a simple item of clothing, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, and sometimes also over the head. It is usually a rectangular piece of Textile, cloth, but can also be Square (geometry), square or tr ...

industry which developed in Paisley. The museum has recreated the work and a weaving using a traditional hand loom can be seen on site It also contains an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

collection which includes objects from

Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

and

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

and an extensive natural history collection, the museum also houses the local biological records centre. One of the most important items in the Museum's collection is the Arbuthnott Missal which was presented to the Museum by another of the Coats family, Archibald. This missal is the only extant pre

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

missal A missal is a liturgical book containing instructions and texts necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the liturgical year. Versions differ across liturgical tradition, period, and purpose, with some missals intended to enable a priest ...

(

liturgical book A liturgical book, or service book, is a book published by the authority of a church body that contains the text and directions for the liturgy of its official Church service, religious services. Christianity Roman Rite In the Roman Rite of ...

) of the Scottish Use and in 2007 it was awarded a prestigious top award in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

's Hidden Treasures Brought to Life competition. The museum is currently closed to the public.

References

{{Authority control Museums established in 1871 Natural history museums in Scotland History museums in Scotland Egyptological collections in Scotland Art museums and galleries in Scotland Museums in Renfrewshire Buildings and structures in Paisley, Renfrewshire Category A listed buildings in Renfrewshire Listed museum buildings in Scotland

See also

References