So, I ask you to take a second to think about what comes to mind when you think of an art gallery?
Most people would say the artwork. But for some, it’s the boring people in suits or possibly the 50 something fanatics with bum-bags and sandals.
We all have our own experiences of Galleries, whether they are a once in a lifetime thing or a spark of a lifetimes hobby.
So, why is this gallery the subject of the article?
Well, that’s because the building holding Lord and Lady Lever’s art collection is still the home to the couple’s colossal compilation and is still used as intended when commissioned. To be a gallery!
Not many heritage buildings are used for their original intent. In our local history articles, we discovered that most older buildings have changed their usage as and when required. We see this in the Weavers Cottage in Rawtenstall and Brunel House in Manchester City, to name just two.
Can you name any Heritage buildings that are solely used for their intended purpose?
Getting back to the gallery, we first need to understand why the gallery was elected? for this, we need to understand the owner and the need for the build.
Lord and Lady Lever, and their Art.
In 1911 William Lever earned the title Baronet of Thornton Manor; this is like a Knighthood granting Lord Lever the opportunity to use the title Sir. Lord Lever was a pioneer in his field; this hard work raised him to the peerage in the realm.
The need for a permanent place to house their Art Collection interested Lord Lever to commission a gallery in 1913 and sees its completion in 1922.
Lady Elizabeth Lever née Hulme died in 1913, leaving Lord Lever a widower. Out of respect for his wife, the art gallery he commissioned was dedicated and named after her.
The architects used were William and Segar Owen; they designed the gallery using the beaux-arts style. Owen’s built the Gallery with reinforced concrete with the outer walls clad with Portland stone. Thus, giving it the late Victorian and Edwardian look we see today.
In 1917 came a secondary dedication to his late wife. Lord Lever was given a peerage in the United Kingdom as Baron Leverhulme of Bolton-le-Moors. Not staying a Baron for long because, in 1922, Lord Lever was granted the new title of Viscount Leverhulme of Bolton-le-moors.
Most titles come with a separate title name that will follow the claim. These are either the title land (e.g. Bolton-le-moors) or the family name (e.g. Lever). But if you see the name chosen for the Barony and Visconty was Leverhulme, the Hulme section of the title was in honour of Elizabeth Hulme, his late wife.
But what kick-started the Levers to build such a vast art collection? It started as a way of advertising his ‘sunlight soap’. This idea made Lord Lever one of the pioneers of modern Advertising.
Lever used artwork he found beautiful and appealing to housewives (who were his main customers). Lord Lever bought these artworks from art exhibitions in London; Lord lever would have copies of the painting made with his logo and slogan.
This Advertising ploy soon became a true passion for Lord and Lady Lever, who later bought their collection more for their pleasure than for the monitory value it had brought them.
But what was Lord Levers company?
Original Lord Lever worked for his father’s grocery store in Bolton. Which gives Lord Lever and his younger brother James the opportunity to build business connections and access an active consumer market. After seeing a gap in the demand, Lord Lever took the opportunity to create his own brand of self-lathering soap; in 1884, the brothers developed their own Soapmaking company known as Lever Brothers.
The Lever Brothers promoted British employee welfare in their factory in Port sunlight as they saw that a happy and healthy workforce would produce more. But, unfortunately, they did not copy this scheme at their subsidiary in Belgian Congo, where forced labour was used on the plantations between 1911 and 1945.
Like most influential men of that time, Lord Lever did employee slave labour for his plantations, which was not hidden from the public eye. This is part of his history, and the Lady Lever Gallery is open about admitting this fact. With that in mind, Lord Lever did not build his empire on the backs of slave labour; that does not change the fact it still happened and will be a smudge on his legacy.
That legacy being in the form of museums, parks, model villages and educational facilities. Lord Lever died in 1925, where 30,000 people attended his funeral.
Now, if we sit down with a cuppa tea and use PG Tips for that glorious liquid you call your brew. Note that the Manufacture is Unilever. Why is this important?
Unilever just so happens to be what the Lever Brothers company became after Lord Lever’s death. In 1929 Lever Brothers and Margarine Unie joined forces, becoming one of the founding companies that’s the primary consumer goods market.
Unilever owns PG Tips, Dove, Lynx, Magnum, Hellmann’s and many more… Who would have thought that the mayo on your sandwich could be from the same company that built the lady lever art gallery?
But then, with our local history, when we do a little bit of digging, we can find some interesting facts.