Tag: galleries

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.