Provincial Government of Gipuzkoa

The Provincial Government of Gipuzkoa owns many heritage items of great cultural interest, consisting mainly of works of art and other pieces of ethnographic and historical value. Over 38,000 of these items are housed in Gordailua.

The different collections vary greatly in composition, origin, size, form of acquisition, etc. Generally speaking, the institution strives to collect items that illustrate Gipuzkoa's historical and social history from rural, urban and industrial sites. It houses manufactured goods and art works that were either produced in the territory or have a clear link to ways of life, events, activities and significant characters from the province's culture and history.
 
The collections of Porcelanas Bidasoa, Unión de Artistas Vidrieros and Platería Satóstegui (porcelain, stained glass and silverwork manufacturers respectively) are of particular interest, showing as they do the entire process from raw material to final product, with designs, processes, tools and machinery, etc. Other collections include tools and utensils from farmsteads such as Soraitz, Zubimendi, Zugasti Barrena, Oruezabal and from the Miramar Palace. Others are the work of great collectors, including Manuel Laborde Werlinden, Fernando Díaz Peral, Ignacio María Atxukarro, and Jesús Maria and Lurdes Etxeberria. The centre also houses the lifetime's work of artists and researchers, such as Didier Petit de Meurville, Nestor Basterretxea, Juan Gorriti, Xabier Otero, Antxon Aguirre Sorondo, the Goruzaleok and Etnogintza groups, etc.

The art collection largely covers the period from the second half of the nineteenth century to the present. The section covering Basque art from the 1960s-70s and the 1980s-90s (from the Competition for New Artists and Arteleku) is particularly important. Artworks make up approximately 5% of the collection. They mostly comprise paintings, although there are also sculptures and prints.
 
Among the most important collections from the provincial government's museums are the collections of the Maritime Museum and the Zumalakarregi Museum.