The Parlour reimagines the ‘period room’ — a common display device used in museums reconstructing room interiors, frozen in time, within a specific style or historical era. But instead of a Victorian parlour or an Italian Baroque themed sitting room, this exhibition is in keeping with what a Dowse period room might look and feel like.

Drawing on The Dowse’s extensive permanent collection, this exhibition mixes and matches different eras and styles together — reflecting how collections, like our own homes, evolve over time. From wallpaper samples, handblown perfume bottles, textiles, paintings, to an abundance of brown ceramics — it feels like a real home (if The Dowse was home). It is not an immaculate reconstruction or idealised version of what a room should look like, but a reflection of the history of how a collection has been formed over the years through many hands.