Appeal launched to find two missing Arthur Berry paintings as Antiques Roadshow returns to Trentham

An appeal has been launched to help trace two missing paintings by celebrated Potteries artist Arthur Berry, as Antiques Roadshow returns to Trentham Gardens.

Barewall Art Gallery has renewed its search for the two works, believed to be Northern Art masterpieces, following the recent rediscovery of Berry’s painting The End House, now in the care of The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery. The gallery believes the missing paintings were companion pieces, forming a set of three connected works.

The renewed appeal comes as three special Unseen Treasures episodes of Antiques Roadshow were filmed in Stoke-on-Trent as part of the city’s centenary celebrations. The first aired on 30 November from the World of Wedgwood, with two further episodes filmed at Trentham Gardens. One of these aired on 21 December, with the final episode due to air before the end of the year.

The Trentham Gardens episodes feature ceramics experts from the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, alongside iconic designers such as Clarice Cliff, who is honoured with an official blue plaque on Snow Hill in Shelton. The second episode also includes a special appearance by Ozzy the Owl, the city’s Staffordshire slipware owl jug, first featured on Antiques Roadshow in 1990 and now on display at the Potteries Museum.

Arthur Berry’s work previously appeared on Antiques Roadshow in an episode filmed at Trentham Gardens in 2016. During that programme, expert Dendy Easton appraised Berry’s mixed-media painting Unemployables, describing him as:

“Someone who was to the Potteries as The Pitmen painters are to Durham, or Lowry to Salford.”

Born in 1925, Arthur Berry was an artist, playwright and poet whose work documented the people and industrial heritage of Stoke-on-Trent. Often referred to as “the Lowry of the Potteries”, his paintings remain an important visual record of working-class life in the city.

Amanda Bromley, director of Barewall Art Gallery, said:

“Berry’s paintings are more than artworks, they are social history. Now that The End House is safely with the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, we are determined to track down the two companion pieces we believe once formed part of a trio. Reuniting them would be hugely significant, not just for Berry’s legacy, but for Stoke-on-Trent’s story as a creative city built on industry, resilience and community.

“With Antiques Roadshow returning to Trentham Gardens, it feels like the perfect moment to revive the search for Berry’s missing masterpiece paintings. The rediscovery of The End House has shown us that important pieces do still surface, often quietly held in private collections. We’d love to reunite the final two paintings with the city he painted so vividly, and we’re asking anyone who believes they may have one to come forward.”

Councillor Jane Ashworth, leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said:

“Arthur Berry’s work is an important part of our city’s cultural heritage and, with Stoke-on-Trent in the national spotlight on Antiques Roadshow, now’s a great time to try and track these paintings down.

“If anyone has information about these works or knows where they might be, please get in touch. It would be fantastic to reunite this set of paintings.”

The appeal forms part of the Arthur Berry 100 centenary programme, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and its players. The programme has already led to several lost Berry works being rediscovered, authenticated and catalogued.

Barewall Art Gallery has represented the Arthur Berry estate since 2012. Its current exhibition, A Sense of Place, runs until 8 February 2026 at the gallery in Market Place, Burslem.

Anyone with information about Arthur Berry artworks, particularly pieces sold or gifted before 2012, is encouraged to contact Barewall Art Gallery via email at shop@barewall.co.uk, by telephone on 07932 717718, or through the gallery’s website.