A NEW collection of ceramics produced by an influential artist is set to be displayed in a museum later this week.

Hove Museum and Art Gallery will reopen on July 26 with a show from the 'grand wizard of studio ceramics' Richard Slee.

The exhibition will consist of a series of objects and installations inspired by Mass Observations (MO) 1937 Mantelpiece Reports, which was social research initiated by the University of Sussex in the 1930s.

The first initiative, the Mantelpiece Directive, invited its national panel of volunteers to share what was on their mantelpieces, leading to conclusions that ordinary objects are full of meaning to their owners.

Slee's work is said to represent his interest in the everyday domestic objects and has created works based on detailed descriptions from the reports, including a Janus-faced ceramic spaniel inspired by a housewife in Burnley's own description of her Staffordshire dog.

Hanging alongside his work will be photographs taken by Humphrey Spender, who was the lead photographer of the MO's study of the northern working class and his work therefore adds a sense of historical context to the collection.

Slee said: "Working from the MO Mantelpiece Reports and Humphrey Spender's photographic archive of 1937-38 has set focus that has been liberating and stimulating, suggesting new creative solutions.

"Works have emerged from the individual written reports prompted by such things as the typing mistake in 'Block woolly cat', a detailed description of a Toby jug, or the minimal description of 'a pair of ordinary vases'. These mantelpiece objects and arrangements are an alter to the interior, a landing strip for the everyday, a haven of domestic symbolism."

The CEO of Royal Pavilion and Museums Trust, Hedley Swain said of the exhibition: "I'm so glad we can reopen Hove Museum and Art Gallery with such a great, accessible and fun exhibition. It's great that the show has a strong Sussex link through the fascinating and important Mass Observation Project."