An overview of cartoons from the beginning of the 18th century to today. 
The Golden Age of cartoons - the century of deception.How 18th Century Hoaxes were depicted in cartoons.
How Magicians are seen in Paintings, Prints and Cartoons. 

Click here for full details

The medieval world teemed with women: biblical women and female saints dominated the Church. Women took religious vows and headed up religious houses; they ruled kingdoms and made commissions as patrons. Yet, research proves that medieval women were skilled makers too.

For full details and a booking form click here.

Booking and payment by card is now accepted through TicketTailor; please click the link to be taken to the site. 

https://buytickets.at/staffordartssociety/1731823

A Study Day to be held in the Darwin Suite at The World of Wedgwood, Barleston, ST12 9ER

For further infomation and Booking Form click here

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A CHANGE OF DATE (was the 23rd October)

Dining with James and Jane:

Eating at home with the Georgians

More than Just Buns:

Eating out in Georgian London

Cinders in the Dripping Pan

Cooking in the Georgian Kitchen

For further information and a booking form click here.

This Special Interest Day provides a visual feast of the masterpieces produced during the late 17th and the 18th centuries on both sides of the English Channel.

The Study Day to be held in the

Darwin Suite at The World of Wedgwood, Barlaston, ST12 9ER

Full details of the Study Day a copy of the booking form click here

Gardens in Art - The depiction of the Garden in painting from the Romans to Monet

A Study Day to be held in the Darwin Suite at The World of Wedgwood, Barlaston, ST12 9ER

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Full details of the study day and a booking form click here.

This Study Day will look at two of the great periods in British Glass making followed by a Glass Road Show...

To be held in the Darwin Suite at The World of Wedgwood, Barlaston, ST12 9ER​

For full details of the Study Day and the booking form click here.​

A stimulating and enjoyable day exploring how and why the city of Paris has acted as both a magnet and cauldron of talent for aspiring artists and designers. Discover more about the key events and personalities shaping the 'City of Light' during the first half of the twentieth century.

To be held in the Darwin Suiteat The World of Wedgwood, Barlaston, ST12 9ER

For full details of the Study Day and the booking form click here.​

The Origins, Evolution and Purpose of Imperial Art Collections.

The Golden Era of Imperial Art.

The Survival and Re-invention of the Imperial Collection of Art

To be held in the Darwin Suite at The World of Wedgewood, Barlaston, ST12 9R

For full details of the Study Day and the booking form click here.

1000 years of a British Icon

to be held at 

The Darwin Suite. World of Wedgwood, 
Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent. ST12   9ER

For further information and a booking form click here.

To be held at The Darwin Suite. World of Wedgwood 
                                 Barlaston Stoke-on-Trent. ST12   9ER

For more information and an application form click here

A Journey through and beyond the Imperial Wardrobe Qing Dynasty

To be held at The Darwin Suite. World of Wedgwood 
                                 Barlaston Stoke-on-Trent. ST12   9ER

For more information and an application form please click here.

Lifts to Study Days

If you need a lift to a Study day - please contact Heather Gardner.

Assisa, Siena and Florence at the Dawn of the Renaissance.

For more details and an application form click here.

To be held at The Darwen Suite. World of Wedgwood 
                                 Barlaston Stoke-on-Trent. ST12   9ER

Lifts to Study Days

If you need a lift to a Study day - please contact Heather Gardner.

Please note that the venue for this is at the DARWIN CENTRE, WEDGWOOD. and NOT the Gatehouse as stated on the application form.

These beautiful handwritten and painted books preserve for us the greatest gallery of medieval art.

We will explore how they were made, meet some of the people who made and used them, see how theuy developed over a thpiusand years and start to find out how to 'read' their images.

For further information and an application form please click here.

Five Centuries of British Portraiture c1530-c1960

This study day focuses on how portrait paintings were painted in England throughout the ages.

For further information and an application form please click here.

By the close of the day, participants will have a complete (but brief) history of European Architecture, from the ancient Greeks right up to the present day. John brings an engineering perspective to the sessions—explaining how structures have evolved over two thousand years. 

Click here for a booking form with more information.

Why were foreigner painters preferred by the aristocracy in London to native-born English painters, why did foreigners come in the first place, what was their motivation, and what was the impact of foreigners in London on English art and art practise? The lectures will look at the various formats and uses of art, tracing foreign artists from the Tudor period through to the Renaissance and Baroque, looking at their origins and how they came to work in England. 

Click here to download the booking form with more information.

Turner vs. Constable

This is the story of the epic rivalry between the two giants of British art, J.M.W. Turner and John Constable. As unlike in background and temperament as their paintings were in style, these two creative geniuses transformed the art of landscape. This lecture/study day sets them head-to-head and examines their differences, their similarities, their battles and their shared triumphs. But who will ultimately be crowned star painter? As well as giving an overview of Turner and Constable, the subject provides an enjoyable overview of the British art world during the nineteenth century.

Click here for full details and booking form.

For more information and to download a booking form please Click here

Sorry - This is now fully booked, however a waiting list is being taken.

If Russia is a riddle wrapped in 'a mystery inside an enigma', then St Petersburg surely is the mask she wears to greet the West.

For more information and a booking form Click here

The 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare in 1616 gives us the opportunity to look at his visual and material world. What was the experience of a boy from a small Warwickshire village moving to the plots, the intrigue, the mix of glamour, fear and squalor that was contemporary London? This is an age of portraits and playbills, plots and parades, of theatres and timber frame, of a Virgin Queen and an anti-smoking, witch-hunting king – while little survives that can be associated with Shakespeare personally, this talk examines the visual and social changes which shaped him.

 Click here for a booking form.

Linking China with the shores of the Mediterranean World, and on to Rome, the Silk Road was once the most important trade route in the ancient world. The exchange of silk, spices and jewels as well as cultures and religions was carried by great caravans of merchants and animals for thousands of miles, across searing waterless deserts and snow bound mountain passes. Oases and cities lined the 4000 mile long route, traversing kingdoms and tribal lands with different and powerful customs. From the 1st century AD almost up to the 12th century the trade flourished. Eventually the secret of making silk was used by the Byzantines. Wars and the use of the sea routes curtailed the exclusive trade route network. Centuries of sand and dust covered beautiful Buddhist caves and shrines, oases and cities were left in isolation for over a thousand years, until the late 19th century when the mysterious lure of the Silk Routes drew western archaeologists to excavate sites and uncovered astonishing, remarkable artefacts. The story of the exotic and mysterious “Cross Roads” of Asia is filled with adventures and surprises.

The lecture covers the outstanding, archaeological discoveries made in the 20th century at Bactria, the cross roads of central Asia (modern Afghanistan); the splendid Tillya Tepe gold hoard, and the burial site at Begram, the city founded as Alexandria on the Caucasus.

Click here for more details and booking form.

Few archaeological finds of the 20th century have created as much intrigue as the discovery of the Cheapside Hoard, in the heart of the City of London, in 1912, just over one hundred years ago. Lost – or hidden – in the first part of the 17th century, an unique collection of jewels, jeweled pieces, gems and other items remained buried for 300 years until the demolition of buildings in Cheapside, the very centre of the goldsmiths’ trade until recent times.

Click here for more details and booking form.