Cotton to Gold filled the opulent interiors of Two Temple Place with some of the finest treasures of an extraordinary group of Lancashire magnates. As the cotton mills boomed, bringing development and deprivation hand in hand, this group of prominent industrialists privately, and sometimes secretively, poured their wealth into some of the most astonishing collections in the country. Exceedingly rare Roman coins, priceless medieval manuscripts, Turner watercolours, Tiffany glass, Japanese prints, Byzantine icons, ivory sculptures and even preserved beetles and a Peruvian mummy.

The exhibition sought the stories behind these collectors and what motivated them to give it all away; discovering their complicated relationship with the fast-developing world in which they lived and asking visitors if times are really so different.

Cotton to Gold was presented in partnership with three publicly owned museums in the North West (Lancashire): Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery, Haworth Art Gallery (Accrington) and Towneley Hall (Burnley). The exhibition was curated by Dr Cynthia Johnston from the Institute of English Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London, and Dr Jack Hartnell from the Courtauld Institute.

Our partners

‘What visitors to Cotton to Gold will take away is...that there are hundreds of such smaller museums and galleries conserving local legacies of world class importance’

The Independent

‘William Waldorf Astor's 1895 neo-Gothic mansion is at Temple Place is an ideal backdrop for this snapshot of lavish, wealthy taste of 100 years ago. The exhibition continues Temple Place's brief of drawing attention to some overlooked but ravishing works in regional galleries’

Financial Times

‘You get a clear picture of the obsessive curiosity – the need to gather, categorise, understand – which animated Britain’s middle and upper classes during the age of Empire. But most striking to me is the notion of community presented ’

Apollo Magazine

Sign up to our mailing list to be kept up
to date with upcoming events.

"*" indicates required fields

By clicking submit, you are agreeing to how we use the data you provide.
Please see full details in our Privacy policy.