The Royal Cornwall Museum (RCM) in Truro has confirmed that it is considering a financially motivated sale of items from its collection.
The museum's director, Hilary Bracegirdle, said two paintings - Bondage by Ernest Normand and The Sea Maiden by Herbert Draper - had been identified for sale by auction.
The museum wants to raise £3m to invest in its endowment fund, which was set up in July 2008 for the care of its collections.
"In common with independent museums, our investment income has gone down," said Bracegirdle. A museum statement said: "None of the Cornish collections were considered [for disposal] and no item whose sale would damage the integrity of the collection was proposed."
The move was approved in September by the trustees of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, the charity that owns and manages the museum. Clearance to pursue the sale has also been given by the Charity Commission.
The RCM receives an annual grant of £158,000 from Cornwall County Council, which Bracegirdle said was at a standstill. She added that it was "extremely likely" that Renaissance in the Regions funding to the museum would decline after 2011.
It costs more than £1.3m a year to run the RCM. Sixty per cent of the museum's funding currently comes from Renaissance.
The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) has told the RCM to reduce its dependence on Renaissance to 45 per cent by 2011. The MLA and Museums Association have been notified of the disposal plans.
An MLA spokesman said: "The MLA has been in close contact with the RCM in recent weeks concerning the organisation's proposal to sell two paintings from its collection. We will want to see all appropriate avenues explored and procedures followed."
The Royal Institution of Cornwall's 800 members will have the chance to vote on the proposal at the RCM's annual general meeting on 14 November. A wider consultation might take place after that.
The museum's director, Hilary Bracegirdle, said two paintings - Bondage by Ernest Normand and The Sea Maiden by Herbert Draper - had been identified for sale by auction.
The museum wants to raise £3m to invest in its endowment fund, which was set up in July 2008 for the care of its collections.
"In common with independent museums, our investment income has gone down," said Bracegirdle. A museum statement said: "None of the Cornish collections were considered [for disposal] and no item whose sale would damage the integrity of the collection was proposed."
The move was approved in September by the trustees of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, the charity that owns and manages the museum. Clearance to pursue the sale has also been given by the Charity Commission.
The RCM receives an annual grant of £158,000 from Cornwall County Council, which Bracegirdle said was at a standstill. She added that it was "extremely likely" that Renaissance in the Regions funding to the museum would decline after 2011.
It costs more than £1.3m a year to run the RCM. Sixty per cent of the museum's funding currently comes from Renaissance.
The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) has told the RCM to reduce its dependence on Renaissance to 45 per cent by 2011. The MLA and Museums Association have been notified of the disposal plans.
An MLA spokesman said: "The MLA has been in close contact with the RCM in recent weeks concerning the organisation's proposal to sell two paintings from its collection. We will want to see all appropriate avenues explored and procedures followed."
The Royal Institution of Cornwall's 800 members will have the chance to vote on the proposal at the RCM's annual general meeting on 14 November. A wider consultation might take place after that.
