Object Collections

Porvoo Museum’s object collections have grown for over 125 years, mainly through donations. The goal of the museum since its founding in 1896 has been to preserve the cultural heritage of Porvoo and Eastern Uusimaa.

Porvoo Museum’s object collections contain a lot of objects from the 1700s and 1800s. Design features prominently in the collection. The design collection includes jugend ceramics by AB Iris, furniture by Louis Sparre, and jewelry and glassware designed by Saara Hopea-Untracht. The ceramic and glass collection covers objects from a broad time-span, from East Indian imported porcelain to Savilinna’s ceramics.

The furniture collection in Porvoo Museum is significant. It has grown to its current extent due to, among other things, a few large donations. Notable bequests containing art, ceramics, and furniture came from the estates of count Carl Alexander Armfelt, Valter Sjöberg, John Linsén, as well as Annie and Berta Edelfelt in the 1900s.

Objects and documents related to the history of the city of Porvoo has been collected since the end of the 1800s. The political history of Porvoo also shows up in the collections, as material related to the Diet of Porvoo (1809). Cultural heritage related to the Diet is still a key area of collection for Porvoo Museum. Guilds and other professional associations have a significant role in the history of the city; the museum collections include a great number of objects and documents related to them.

Since the 1980s the museum has been active in collecting everyday objects and material related to times of post-war shortages. Even the industrial life in Porvoo is represented in the collection. For example when the operations of the famous crayon factory in Porvoo ended in 1992, several objects related to it were accepted into the museum’s collection at that time.