Northampton Museum gets accreditation back from Arts Council eight years on from £15.8m sale of Sekhemka statue

Northampton Museum and Art Gallery has regained full accreditation from Arts Council England, eight years on from the sale of the Egyptian Sekhemka statue for around £15.8 million in 2014.

Following the sale of the 4000-year-old museum artefact in July 2014, which saw the current Lord Northampton Spencer Compton receive around £6 million and the then Northampton Borough Council receive the rest, the accreditation was stripped on ethical grounds.

The sale was condemned throughout the art world and was considered so controversial that the council was removed from the Museums Association, making them ineligible to apply for many grants and funding.

It was announced Northampton Museum and Art Gallery had regained its accreditation at the Northampton Forward event on Monday (December 5) by Nick Gordon, the cultural services manager at West Northamptonshire Council.

Abington Park Museum, who also had their accreditation stripped as it is also under the ownership of the Council, has also regained it.

Talking to Chronicle & Echo about getting the accreditation back, Nick said: “The Council is really pleased and it has been a lot of work to get to this point. The loss has really had an impact and we hope to move things on and leave the past behind us now.

“We are under completely different administration now and we have learnt from what was done through the consequences. We want to put this to bed and face the future, but not forget.”

Nick says ‘financially motivated disposal’ of artefacts by museums can be done, but there are very strict ethical guidelines for what the money can be used for.

He said: “It has to be used for the betterment of the museum and it cannot be used for day-to-day running costs.

“This is exactly what has happened and every penny that was achieved by the Council from the sale of the statue has gone into the development of the museum – from the building purchase, to the redevelopment and even the storage furniture.

“The council was true to their word and this is evident from what you can see from the refurbished museum now.”

The refurbishment of Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, which was five years in the making and reopened to the public in July 2021, cost a total of £6.7 million.

Nick says West Northamptonshire Council has been in talks with Arts Council England for “several years” and “did not suddenly put the application in”.

“The Arts Council also wants to draw a line and move forward, and says our past will not be held against us when applying for funding and grants,” he added.

In July 2018, Councillor Jonathan Nunn told Chronicle & Echo that the Council was “building bridges” with the Arts Council to regain the status, and Nick says he “absolutely” believes the relationship has been restored.

The journey to getting the accreditation back began with a two-stage process of answering questions about the museum’s service, which then deemed them ready to submit their application to reapply.

The final application was “several inches thick” and detailed the museum’s policies, information on how they care for and use their artefacts, and a big focus on their community work.

This had to be done separately for both Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, and Abington Park Museum.

When asked by Chronicle & Echo about how the loss of the accreditation affected the cultural development of the town over the past eight years, the cultural services manager said: “The reputation has been hit the hardest, but attitudes have now become more accepting.

“It has taken longer to get the accreditation back over the pandemic as the scheme was shut down.

“We aren’t trying to brush it under the carpet, but a line needs to be drawn.”

Though Northampton Museum and Art Gallery was ineligible for a range of grants and funding, Nick says they were not in a position to apply during that time due to the refurbishment and because they were closed for the majority of it.

Now, however, the museum has been granted £450,000 after obtaining National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) status by Arts Council England as part of its 2023-26 investment programme.

The money will be used to fund the museum’s ‘Histories of Northamptonshire’ project, spread over the three-year period.

“This is a massive step and an honour for us,” said Nick. “It shows we are a fully run museum, delivering on our agenda and the Arts Council’s strategy.”

West Northamptonshire Council is currently “getting to grips” with the NPO funding as they are turning their “long plan into a full action plan”.

Northampton Museum and Art Gallery also has “lots of other projects, including significant grant bids, in early discussion” and these could not be shared with Chronicle & Echo.

Nick did not work for the Council at the time of the sale of the limestone statue, and was then working at the British Museum – who Northampton Museum and Art Gallery are now in discussions with about a potential partnership.