Story Category: Legacy

This is a legacy story from an earlier version of our website. It may contain some formatting issues and broken links.

December’s bird is the Crested oropendola, Psarocolius decumanus.

Oropendolas forage in groups, looking for fruit and insects. They can use their beaks to prise open clusters of dead leaves. This ability to powerfully open, rather than close, their beaks only occurs in a minority of bird families.

Oropendolas are part of the new world blackbird family. They are found in Central and South America.

The females weave very long nests, up to two metres, which hang from tree branches. There can be up to one hundred nests in each colony. The males are larger than the females and there is one dominant male per colony who mates with all the females.

Kerrie Curzon, Collections Assistant and Lee Ismail, Curator of Natural Sciences

This is a legacy story from an earlier version of our website. It may contain some formatting issues and broken links.

Here’s the latest story from our What’s in the Box display.

Piecing together the history of the Terracotta chess set.

When carefully opening one of our hundreds of storage boxes I found, what I thought was, an extraordinary chess set. Each piece is marked on the base with a unique number, which told me that these had been donated to Hove Museum, so to find out more I looked for the original entry in the Museum register. To my dismay, all that was written was “21 chessmen in coloured terracotta with ivory bases. Period of Nelson” and that the donation was made in 1931 by a W. Wilkinson.

Like many Register entries in the past, frustratingly this description told us nothing of a specific date of production or where the set was made. Indeed the donor may not have known. To try and find out this information I had to go back to the objects and dig a bit further.

For ‘Period of Nelson’ I needed to know about Admiral Horatio Nelson, the famous British naval Captain – who was born in 1758 and died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. To work out where the figures might have been made I started looking at the overall design of the figures, which did not appear to be English in style. The King and Queen, both had their hair in long flowing tresses and the soldiers uniforms were definitely not an English design. This made me question – could they be French?

So with two clues so far – a period pre 1805 and possibly French – then could this set depict King Louis XVI of France, who was executed in 1793? Perhaps one of our visitors may know more about this period, or old chess sets or have seen a similar set elsewhere? If you have anything to add please do tell our staff!

There are other questions which might be harder to answer…the Register entry also adds ‘Remarks: The set has been made complete by Major Sutton.’ As the set is incomplete (21 of 32 pieces) and some figures not currently on display have damage, one wonders – what was Major Sutton’s contribution?? We may never know.

Find out More

Follow the What’s in the Box category on our blog to see what new items have come out from our stores.

If you visit Hove Museum in Church Road, Hove, look out for our What’s in the Box? display. 

Joy Whittam, Collections Assistant

This is a legacy story from an earlier version of our website. It may contain some formatting issues and broken links.

Regular visitors to the Booth Museum will notice a large gap in our displays where our largest object has disappeared.

Our Orca (or Killer whale) skeleton which normally hangs in our osteology gallery has gone!  

If you’re a fan of the Orca, don’t worry! The orca skeleton has gone on loan to the National Maritime Museum Cornwall (located in Falmouth) for the next two years, as part of their Monsters of the Deep exhibition. This exhibition looks at both the mythological and the real creatures associated with the sea. 

The orca is one of several specimens borrowed for this exhibition. Other popular exhibits that have also temporarily moved to Cornwall include the merman, the narwhal skull and the fin whale skull. (Click on the image for the full sized gallery) 

The reason for allowing such major exhibits to go on loan is that it allows us to carry out planned redevelopment work on the space whilst they are absent. This is important as it means we do not need to finance storage, removal and rehanging of large objects such as the Orca. It also allows us to utilise more storage at the booth for other objects to be decanted and stored during the redevelopment work. The final benefit is that the orca, which is due to return into the redeveloped space, will be cleaned and repaired for display at Falmouth, so will have essential work carried out on it before it goes back on display at the Booth Museum. We hope the Orca will have a whale of a time in the Monsters of the Deep.

The osteology gallery at the Booth Museum remains open for now but we’ll keep visitors informed on our website and social media accounts when it may be closed for periods of redevelopment work.   

Lee Ismail, Curator of Natural Sciences

• Watch a time lapse and see more photos of the whale move

This is a legacy story from an earlier version of our website. It may contain some formatting issues and broken links.

Here’s the latest story from our What’s in the Box display.

Do you recognise this china? These miniature porcelain models, with their crests of British seaside towns, were once hugely popular souvenirs. In 1910 most people in Britain owned one of these ornaments. W H Goss Ltd were the most popular makers but others, such as Arcadian, also produced the china.

There were a wide variety of designs including lamps, lighthouses, water bottles, swans, vases, lobster-pots, cannons, oars and hats. Many of the models were based on ancient objects, which had usually been found in different places than the towns represented on the crests. You might be able to spot ones for Brighton and Hove when you visit Hove Museum!

Find out More

Follow the What’s in the Box category on our blog to see what new items have come out from our stores.

If you visit Hove Museum in Church Road, Hove, look out for our What’s in the Box? display. 

Lucy Faithful, Collections Assistant

This is a legacy story from an earlier version of our website. It may contain some formatting issues and broken links.

Here’s the latest story from our What’s in the Box display.

Model Organ of the one in Stanford Avenue Methodist Church (miniatures kindly loaned by C. Berridge)  

This beautifully made wooden model of the church organ in Stanford Avenue Methodist Church Brighton was made by a Mr DA Wright – perhaps a worshipper at the church? It was donated to the collection in 1974 by his son along with two postcards; one of the model organ and the other of a splendid Harvest Festival display of produce at the church in 1911. The model has some very old wiring which may have powered a light, or perhaps linked to recorded music. The actual church was built in 1897–98 to an Early English Gothic Revival design by E.J. Hamilton, so in 1911 it was still a relatively new building. At that time – before the full scale development of the Hollingdean side of Ditchling Road – the church was at close proximity to farmland, allotments and smallholdings so giving thanks for the fruits of the harvest would have been an important local celebration.

Postcard of the Organ in Stanford Avenue Methodist Church

The donation record also notes that Mr Wright made a toy taxi complete with driver, ‘from cigar boxes during the 1914-1918 war’. Only a few years separate the making of these two objects but one can only contemplate how much life may have changed for Mr Wright, his family and the locality, between the peaceful abundance of the pre war Harvest Festival and the Great War.

Find out More

Follow the What’s in the Box category on our blog to see what new items have come out from our stores.

If you visit Hove Museum in Church Road, Hove, look out for our What’s in the Box? display. 

Joy Whittam, Collections Assistant

This is a legacy story from an earlier version of our website. It may contain some formatting issues and broken links.

Here’s the latest story from our What’s in the Box display.

There is a suspicious gent and a headless lady

a man is hanging out with spirits

a ‘ghost’ is tormenting poor villagers

Death is greeting a drinking man

Hamlet is chatting with his father’s ghost

and a witch has made herself comfortable in the corner

– she better beware because lucky stones ward off spells

perhaps the black cat will protect her. But where is its body – on Hallowe’en?

Object List

1. Suspicious Gent and Headless Lady, 2002, by Rachel Larkins
2. Copy of ‘spirit’ photograph, c.1900, possibly taken by Mary Burkett in Brighton
3. Creamware jug, c.1800. Inscribed: The Parson was brought in a horrible fright/To allay a mere turnip on a mopstick/Which an unlucky boy had placed in the porch/And in it alight a most terrible torch.
4. Creamware jug, c.1790, by Thomas Fletcher. Inscribed: ‘To speed his draught grim death appears.’
5. Pot with lid, c.1860, F & R Pratt & Co; Jesse Austin
6. Witch puppet – details unknown
7. Three pebbles known as Witch Stones or Lucky Stones, with natural holes. From a cottage in the Eastdean area. Pre 1939.
8. Toy cat, possibly Felix the Cat, c.1920 –30

Find out More

Follow the What’s in the Box category on our blog to see what new items have come out from our stores.

If you visit Hove Museum in Church Road, Hove, look out for our What’s in the Box? display. 

Lucy Faithful, Collections Assistant

This is a legacy story from an earlier version of our website. It may contain some formatting issues and broken links.

During the summer season 2019 families visiting Preston Manor were challenged by a specially created Riddle Trail.

The trail took them on a journey around the house encountering Victorian brain-teasers, puns and puzzles on the way.

Paula Wrightson, Venue Officer Preston Manor in the Drawing Room at Preston Manor

Arguably the most famous riddle of the Victorian age was that posed by the Mad Hatter in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)

“Mad Hatter: “Why is a raven like a writing-desk?”
“Have you guessed the riddle yet?” the Hatter said, turning to Alice again
“No, I give it up,” Alice replied: “What’s the answer?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea,” said the Hatter”

When I created the Riddle Trail Alice was my inspiration, as were two real-life Victorian girls, twins Diana and Lily Macdonald who were born in 1866 and grew up at Preston Manor. Without doubt Diana and Lily read Alice in their childhoods and puzzled over Lewis Carroll’s un-answerable raven riddle, as people still puzzle today.

Diana and Lily Macdonald

Since Preston Manor contains a number of Victorian writing desks and The Booth Museum of Natural History was able to provide me with a taxidermy raven I thought what better fun than pose the raven riddle to our summer visitors leaving pencil and paper handy.

The Riddle Trail has now ended, so here are the results from the brave few who attempted an answer:

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

“Because it can produce a very few notes though they are very flat” wrote Destiny.

Pam had a similar idea, “because it can produce a few notes”

“Kept on a writing desk as a sign of good luck” Jasmine offered.

“They both have the letter R in them” an unnamed person suggests.

“They are the two loves of my young fragile life” declares another, poetically

“HE IS NOT” writes a child employing faultless logic

Lewis Carroll’s answer

In his preface to the 1896 edition of Alice in Wonderland Carroll feels he must answer:

“Enquiries have so often been addressed to me, as to whether any answers to the Hatter’s riddle can be imagined, that I may as well put on record here what seems to be a fairly appropriate answer, viz: “Because it can produce a few notes, though they are very flat; and it is never put with the wrong end in front!’ This, however, is merely an afterthought; the Riddle, as originally invented, had no answer at all.”

My answer?

In relation to the raven and writing desk at Preston Manor: “one is preserved by stuffing the other is stuff worth preserving”

Looking to 2020

Preston Manor’s 2019 Riddle Trail proved popular with families who responded by saying how much children and adults enjoyed the hands-on activities, dressing up and doing something unexpectedly thought-provoking in a historic house.

Inspired, we are already planning a trail for summer season 2020. There will be a new theme and new activities with the trail running daily during normal opening hours free with entry tickets.

Preston Manor summer season begins on Wednesday 1 April, for more information see the Visiting page.

Paula Wrightson, Venue Officer Preston Manor

This is a legacy story from an earlier version of our website. It may contain some formatting issues and broken links.

His Dark Materials on BBC1

[kad_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APduGe1eLVI” ]

In the trailer for the major new BBC series ‘His Dark Materials’ above, there is a brief appearance at 1:08 for a digitised version one of our specimens.

Two years ago several of our specimens were borrowed by the production team involved in making the visual effects for the new series. Though they had a very long list of objects, unfortunately many of their wishlist items (including Lyra’s daemon’s stoat form) were unsuitable for scanning due to being included in a diorama.

However, they did borrow moths, stag beetles and a hare. These items were in our loan collection, so were available for general use as the possibility of damage wouldn’t affect our research collections. The items were scanned and digitised in top secret (we were not allowed to reveal our involvement until the series had been officially unveiled). They used the scanned specimens as a basis for the CGI animations of the animals. Puppets were also created for the actors to interact with in front of the cameras (though we don’t know if these were based on our specimens!).

The most high profile of the specimens appears to be Lee Scoresby’s daemon Hester the hare. Having watched the first episode, the hare and stag beetles are yet to make an appearance, but a digital version of a moth form of Lyra’s daemon may be observed in the scene where Lyra hides in a seat during Lord Asriel’s speech to the Oxford academics, asking for their funding of his research. You can read more about Lin Manuel Miranda’s character and Daemon in an online interview for Entertainment Weekly.

The hare, moths and beetles join our badger in the list of TV and film stars at the Booth. Our badger had previously been digitised for the base of the CGI badger in the Prince Caspian movie.

Lee Ismail, Curator of Natural Sciences

This is a legacy story from an earlier version of our website. It may contain some formatting issues and broken links.

The Booth focus on the Long-tailed paradise whydah, Vidua paradisaea, for November

Whydahs are brood parasites, like the European cuckoo, though they do not destroy the host’s eggs. Whydah chicks are larger and louder than the host’s, which means they are given more food. The long-tailed paradise whydah uses the green-winged pytilia (a type of finch) as a host.

The species can be difficult to distinguish from each other, therefore the host finch is often used to determine this. Whydahs recognise the song of the finch, which the male imitates.

Outside of the breeding season the male moults his breeding plumage, including the very long tail, making them difficult to distinguish from the females.

Kerrie Curzon, Collections Assistant and Lee Ismail, Curator of Natural Sciences

This is a legacy story from an earlier version of our website. It may contain some formatting issues and broken links.

The View from Here is a colourful installation in ceramic and steel that was recently displayed at Hove Museum.

When I saw this work at the museum I was intrigued by it and wanted to meet the artist to find out more about the way she works and the ideas behind her exhibit.

Lisa Jones is a ceramicist who is currently undertaking an MA in Craft at The University of Brighton.

Lisa says “By placing these ceramic sculptures together to create an installation I’m forming a sense of place, a topology of the museum and my response, through the material of clay, to the objects and the immense history of making”.

She suggests that we can enjoy the displays in museums a different, more aesthetic way, without so much concern for the history behind each piece.

It became clearer in conversation that Lisa is most interested in the subjective experience of the viewer. Passionate about museums (she always visits the museum when she goes to a new town) – she likes the idea that everyone can bring their own stories to each object to have an emotional response and that this makes it possible for everyone to participate.

Lisa’s work seems very playful. She spoke about her research acknowledging that while it is underpinned by theories of the politics of display, a great deal of it is practice-based. She learns from manipulating the clay, enjoying the forms and experimenting with texture. She uses both glaze and engobe and I learnt that engobe is a product that is in-between a glaze and a slip (clay mixed with water). It has a matt finish, sometimes with a texture. Colour is something that Lisa is only just starting to explore, as her previous works were monochrome.

With Engobe for texture, before and after firing.

With Engobe for texture, before and after firing.

We talked about how museum objects from different collections could share generic shapes and colours in our memories: The colours in Lisa’s installation reminded me of items from the Hove Museum craft display but she told me that her original inspiration came from displays in The Pitt Rivers Museum and Ashmolean in Oxford.

There are particular items that Lisa is drawn to in museum collections: staffs and wands, hats and loom weights, bartering tokens as well as peashooters! The objects that she is drawn to seemed to have some commonality in that they are all both useful items with the potential for a playful side: Hats are used by everyone regardless of class and income, though the actual use of the hat can differ – for safety and warmth or for pure display “frippery” as Lisa says. Mary of Wapping used a peashooter for the serious business of waking up the workers but in the hands of a school child it could be a tool of mischief and play.

Similarly Lisa wonders about the loom weights that has she has seen in museum collections: useful in weaving but without the loom they are just lumps of material ‘lumpen’ as she calls them. The ‘lumpen’ in her display have been given ever so slight human characteristics. Wands and staffs could bring to mind elders, leaders and decision makers with the weight of responsibility and wisdom, alongside thoughts about magic, fantasy and folklore.

Lisa’s installation, and many exhibitions in museums, remind me of assemblage art: an art form that started in the 1950’s that is typified by the use of three-dimensional, often found objects, placed together to make a whole. I wondered if this was an influence for Lisa – but she sees her work more like a mini museum made from individual pieces of ceramics that can also be separated to stand in their own right. Instead, her work is influenced by the ceramicist Matt Smith, who has exhibited at Brighton Museum and Preston Manor in the past. As well as creating his own ceramics, Matt Smith’s work involves curating museum displays so that they challenge the viewer’s perspective, recognising that these displays tell the story that the curator chooses to tell.

Matt Smith says: “ I am drawn instead to the emotional bonds between objects, makers, viewers and collectors in order to examine what these collections can tell us about human experiences’ and this seems to resonate with Lisa’s perspective.

Thank you to Lisa Jones for talking to me about her work. This conversation highlighted a particular way of looking at and responding to museum exhibits. It has at the heart of it a passion for spreading the enjoyment found from simply allowing a personal and emotional exploration of museum objects. We look forward to seeing more of Lisa’s work in the future.

More ceramics at Hove Museum

Cultural Icons: Remaking a Popular Pottery Tradition.

28th November 2019 – February 2020.

Six ceramicists: Joanna Ayre, Christie Brown, Claire Curneen, Stephen Dixon, Ingrid Murphy and Matt Smith have been inspired by Victorian flatback figurines and responded by making contemporary Cultural Icons.

For more information see Hove Museum Displays

Visit the Events page for details of a Gallery Talk 

Louise Dennis, Community Artist