Category: Museums

Those English Gowns…

On By kittycalashIn Clothing, Museums, Uncategorized1 Comment

GMFS2At the V&A, a fun interactive exhibit on 18th century costume allows you to turn the costumes around and zoom in for a better view.

V&A Screenshot
V&A Screenshot

My favorite, because I need to start making something like this, is the Gown made from a Shawl, about 1797.
There’s a good description of the gown, and you can always search the collections for the catalogue record and more non-turnable images. This is a good thing because the 3-D image player requires Flash, so it doesn’t work on an iPad.

I found the viewer helpful in understanding the sleeve-collar relationship, which was confusing to me with the contrasting colors. The description in the catalog record helps, too:

“An open robe with a medium high waist, the material stitch is pleated down the back, and then flowing into the skirt. The sleeves are of white satin, trumpet shaped, with a short green silk oversleeve. The oversleeve is bound with cream ribbon, and the undersleeve at the wrist where it fastens with three pearl buttons, with metal shanks, has a narrow green ribbon turn back cuff. There is a shaped falling collar of green silk bound with white, and a green ribbon binds the front of the gown. The bodice is lined with linen, and extends in front to cover the bust. The sleeves are lined with white linen.”

Fairfax House
Fairfax House

The oversleeve makes me think of this Fairfax House dress. I’ve not been able to find a larger image so I can’t get “close enough” to determine how it all goes together. Time to collect images of extant examples and fashion plates in a Pinterest board, and start comparing them. And time to think about whether or not this is a style seen in New England…and time to get ready for work.

Domestic Bliss

On By kittycalashIn History, Museums
Museum of London
Museum of London, John Middleton &tc

I’ll come back another time to John Middleton & His Family, 1797 from the Museum of London, but today, this group portrait represents one of the online galleries at The Geffrye Museum of the Home in London. Their website has some nice features, and while I did get distracted playing the Topsy-Turvy Timeline game, what I really like playing with exploring is the Life in the Living Room 1600-2000 gallery.

The Geffrye Museum

This has proven useful in keeping on (slightly distracted) track as we polish silver and think about lighting, entertaining, and the ways rooms were used in the past. In particular, since we settled on the idea of setting a formal table for the “holiday themed tours,” and on the After Dark tours, I’ve been thinking about lighting.

Not only is it clear that the expansive use of candles represented expense and disposable income, it’s also clear that it was uncommon. Special occasions on high-style homes: yes. Everyday use in middling homes: no. Even the charming and well-dressed lady reads by just one candle (though that is also a composition choice, and not purely documentary).

More hilariously to the point, this satirical engraving from the Lewis Walpole Libary:

The Pantry Apparition
Lewis Walpole Library, The Pantry Apparition

Surprise!

On By kittycalashIn History, Museums

Warning: Museum content ahead.

I found this link in the AASLH.org twitter feed yesterday: a post at The Uncataloged Museum about the Museum of Hunting and Nature in Paris.

CW Peale: The Artist in His Museum

What a great find, a wunderkammer in the 21st century. After this weekend, I was thinking even more about the ways in which museums engage (or fail to engage) their viewers. Working where I do, I can’t light a fire in a fireplace and hearth cook: for one thing, it wasn’t done in that house (and chimneys are all capped now, anyway).

But wait: isn’t there some place other than a living history museum where people have immersive and transformative experiences? Perhaps art museums? The last time I went to the MFA I did have to keep convincing my companion to stay a little longer–but even the 13-year-old was convinced when each gallery led us to a new surprise.

MFA: American Wing, with replicas

Take away lesson: surprise. wonderment. unusual presentations.

My colleague at work said one of the best things we ever did was to install a post-party room with a broken plate on the floor. You don’t see broken things in a museum! You don’t see messes. But that’s normal for a house, so why not for a house museum?

In preparing a room for a display change, we removed the manservant mannequin, and stashed him temporarily outside a storeroom (former bedroom) door. There’s a niche, and he was partially hidden, and looked guilty, as he reached for the door knob. That’s another kind of surprise, the hidden history of of a house–not just the servants, but also the gossip– that could be brought to life.

It Isn’t History Till it Hurts

On By kittycalashIn History, Living History, Museums5 Comments
End of the day, Sunday
End of the day, Sunday

That’s approximately what the costumed interpreters say their leader says.

Let me affirm for you that history does, in fact, hurt, when you are doing it right. That is to say, you will be bodily tired. You will be hungry. You will be cold. Your judgment will be impaired. Your world will shrink.

I have so many thoughts/ideas/inspirations/observations after another weekend at the farm that I do not quite know where to begin.

Yesterday, I made 290 candlewicks and draped them, with some help, over 50 sticks. My colleague and I managed to dip each stick of 6 wicks 2 or 3 times, though I had to trim the wicks after the first or second dip so they would match the depth of the kettle. Today, we got there late (thanks to my broken stay laces which had to be replaced…once replacements were found…annoying) so the fire was not hot, the wood not gathered, the tallow not melted—oh, it was not what this control freak wanted. I wanted to both make dinner and dip candles.

Well, we did manage both, in a way. Dinner was more of a snack of boiled chicken and root vegetables, followed by a snack of squash custard tart, and the candle dipping was managed only sporadically once the tallow was melted. First it was too cold, then too hot: it was a day of details. At some point I realized I was so tired that I could no longer think about a simple thing, and that what got in my way was simple lack of fluency. If I did this every day, I wouldn’t need to think about it. But I don’t. So while I can do these unfamiliar tasks, they are just a bit harder when I am cold, hungry, tired, or hurting.

Hot tip: sheepskin insoles. In wool stockings yesterday, my feet were freezing cold in the kitchen when I was not near the fire. With sheepskin insoles, my feet were warm today. Your mileage may vary, but well worth a try.