City wins artwork in cultural twist on shop sweep

Polly Puttnam was one of eight curators from around the country who were given an hour to race around an art fair at London’s Saatchi Gallery, choose a piece for their collection and then bid to a panel for the money to buy a selected piece of art.

The assistant curator of decorative arts for Leeds Museums and Galleries, Miss Puttnam was invited to the preview day of Collect, the Crafts Council’s international art fair for contemporary objects. She was invited by Art Fund Collect, an initiative run jointly by national charity Art Fund and the Crafts Council.

Miss Puttnam said: “It’s such a delight and honour to be one of the award winners. It’s great for Leeds as it’s a marvellous opportunity to do some new and exciting things with the collection. As a curator in the early phases of my career, it’s a huge accolade. However, I’m more pleased that Leeds has such a great piece to add to an already very good craft ceramics collection.”

In her hour at the art fair, to which Miss Puttnam had access ahead of VIP guests and private buyers, she chose Amalthea, a piece by Cumbria-based British maker Michael Eden. This pair of digitally created, spiralling works is made from a high-quality nylon material with unique mineral soft coating. The cornucopia shape of the piece is inspired by the wealth of knowledge available on the worldwide web.

After choosing the piece, Miss Puttnam bid to a panel of judges for her share of £75,000, winning the £16,000 piece for the Leeds collection. Amalthea will go on show at Leeds Art Gallery on June 20.