Collections & Research Staff
Brian Musselwhite
Assistant Curator
B.A., Fine Arts, University of Toronto, 1974
M.A. Course Work, Museology, University of Toronto, 1974-1975
Brian Musselwhite is Assistant Curator of the ROM's European department. He is primarily responsible for British and European glass and ceramics, his other responsibilities include research, acquiring and cataloguing artifacts, and identifying antiques and other heirlooms belonging to members of the public. His areas of specialization include: 19th and 20th century glass, portrait miniatures, English ceramics and silver, and 2Oth century design.
Mr. Musselwhite has lectured and published widely on various decorative arts topics. He is a professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design and teaches a course on the history of glass, ceramics and metals, ancient to present. He also teaches evening courses on the English decorative arts for the School of Continuing Studies at the University of Toronto. He has organized and produced a number of exhibitions at the ROM including Glass Worlds: Paperweights from the ROM’s Collection, which closed on May 4, 2008. He is co-author of High Style: Masterworks from the Bernard and Sylvia Ostry Collection in the Royal Ontario Museum.
Among his many projects Mr. Musselwhite plays an active role in the ROM's Annual Decorative Arts Symposium. The last Symposium, which took place April 10 to 12, 2008 entitled Silver and Gold: Treasures, Fakes and Forgeries was presented with the generous assistance of The Goldsmiths' Company of London, England.
Publications
| 2007 | Glass Worlds: Paperweights from the ROM's Collection |
| 2005 | High Style: Masterworks from the Bernard and Sylvia Ostry Collection in the Royal Ontario Museum Alastair Duncan with contributions by Ross Fox, Peter Kaellgren, Robert Little, Brian Musselwhite |
| 1993 | Earthly paradise : arts and crafts by William Morris and his circle from Canadian collections, Lochnan, Katherine, Editor, contribution by Brian Musselwhite, Glass, pp. 109-110, Metalwork, pp. 228-233. Art Gallery of Ontario |
| 1987 | The Huguenot Influence: English Silver of the Late 17th and Early 18th Century, Canada's Huguenot Heritage, Toronto, pp. 83-104. |
| 1985 | Paperweights, Victorian Inventons, Ancient Techniques, Canadian Collector, Vol. 20, No. 3 (May-June 1985) pp. 78-82. |
Galleries
Samuel European Galleries
Past Exhibitions
Glass Worlds: Paperweights from the ROM’s Collection
ROM Images
Europe
Other Links
The Gardiner Museum - Past Exhibitions
Podcasts
Glass Worlds: Paperweights from the ROM's Collection
May 10, 2007
Assistant Curator Brian Musselwhite reveals the treasures of the ROM's paperweight collection.
Video Podcast (22MB, 3m 32s)
Contact Information
Department of World Cultures
Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen's Park
Toronto, ON
M5S 2C6
Fax: 416.586.5877
E-mail: World Cultures
Brian Musselwhite with a Large Ornamental Goblet, acid-etched clear non-lead glass with blue glass overlay and twisted cane stem, Bohemian, about 1860, Gift of Countess Mary Bieniewski, 980.99.54.
Glass Worlds: Paperweights from the ROM's Collection, 2007.
