The 1853 Gallery, on the ground floor of Salts Mill, is a treasure filled with treasures. It sells wonderful books on art, photography, architecture... I could browse for hours!
Its walls are filled with priceless paintings and sketches by David Hockney, a 'Bradford lad' and a friend of the late Jonathan Silver, the entrepreneur who saved the mill when it ceased to be a textile business in the 1980s.
I've always rather liked the unfinished sketch of Hockney's muse, the textile designer Celia Birtwell. Behind it, a glimpse of the surrounding treasure that is Saltaire village - the tower of the Victoria Hall can just be seen through the window.
Alongside the paintings there's a superb collection of Burmantofts ceramics: art pottery produced between 1880 and 1904 by the Burmantofts Pottery in Leeds, which mostly made utilitarian ceramics for the construction industry. Much of the collection was a personal passion of Jonathan Silver. I wonder if the family (who still own and run the Mill) continue to collect pieces? I don't remember seeing the little table (below) before but perhaps I just never noticed it. I love the colours and glazes of the pottery.
In the 1853 Gallery, you can always smell the fragrance of the white lilies that are placed in vases all around the gallery. (You can even smell them outside.) I think they may be a tribute in Jonathan's memory. He sadly died of cancer in 1997, aged only 47.
So many treasures.
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