Rare early work by Sir Grayson Perry goes on display at Portsmouth Museum and Art Gallery as part of the Portsmouth 100 exhibition celebrating the city's centenary.

The piece, *The Extremes of English Mediocrity*, was created in 1986, four years after Perry graduated from Portsmouth Polytechnic with a fine art degree.

The BBC reports the council calls it an important acquisition that brings the artist's work into the city's collection of studio ceramics for the first time.

The surprise for ceramics fans is that a city with such a direct Perry connection had never held his studio ceramics until now.

According to the council leader Steve Pitt, quoted by Yahoo Lifestyle Australia, the acquisition reflects Perry's strong connection to Portsmouth, having studied there in the 1980s.

Funding came from the Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund and Art Fund, which the museums team secured to bring the piece into public hands.

AOL reports the free exhibition opened on 26 October and spans three galleries with 20 themed sections covering football, music, transport, art and the dockyard. It also includes a painting gifted by Portsmouth-born artist Sir Christopher Le Brun, who has had one of the galleries named after him.

The Perry work now sits inside this broad survey rather than a solo show.

The exhibition sits within a wider 2026 programme marking 100 years of Portsmouth's city status. Events have run throughout the year, including live music performances, fireworks displays and a sculpture trail.

For art readers, the Perry acquisition gives the centenary a lasting legacy beyond the festivities: a permanent civic holding by an artist whose career began in the city.