Woof: A Celebration of Dogs

This brand-new exhibition celebrates our canine companion throughout time. Featuring a wide range of objects and artworks, Woof explores the different roles dogs have played in our lives - as working animals and loyal companions. 

Drawing on Norfolk Museums Service's extensive collections, alongside significant loans, the exhibition includes natural history, archaeology, and art works of both local and national importance - including works by renowned artists Sir Edwin Landseer, Andy Warhol and David Hockney.

Probably the first animal to be domesticated, dogs have been our constant companions for many millennia building an extraordinary bond with humans. Discover how ancient artefacts depicted dogs or wolves from myth and legend including a Roman coin, an Egyptian cartonnage (part of the coffin for a mummy), and an Anglo-Saxon urn.

Explore how artists have celebrated dogs in their role as pets and companions or portrayed their noble and symbolic qualities - from a tender painting of a spaniel curled up in the lap of a young girl, to Andy Warhol's colourful pop-art portrait of a friend's pooch, to a Newfoundland famous for his life-saving exploits.

Other intriguing artefacts include Victorian lockable dog collars and a coat woven from the groomed fur of a St Bernard! 

Like the paw print on a Roman tile, dogs have left their impression on our imaginations (and hearts) for centuries. Woof celebrates this unique relationship and will delight dog-lovers of all ages.

Please note: While we love our four-legged friends here at Lynn Museum, the only dogs we can accommodate on site are Assistance dogs. 

Banner image credits: A Distinguished Member of the Humane Society (after Edwin Henry Landseer), by William Henry Ruggles, oil on canvas © Norfolk Museums Service (Great Yarmouth Museums)