Sailors' sixpence

The exhibition " Sailors' Sixpence : the lives of Whitby seamen revealed through the Muster Rolls " was officially opened yesterday by Captain S. L. Gamble, Master Warden, Trinity House, Hull.

These Muster Rolls are crew lists from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and are now beginning to reveal the lives of Whitby seamen, telling tales of wars and trade, national events and personal tragedies.
In this exhibition, you can explore the history of these muster rolls, find out about their national importance, and learn about the conservation that will preserve their future.





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Location:Whitby Museum

Good luck for the New Year

In Japanese, the Seven Gods of Luck are called Shichifukujin 「七福神」, from shichi 七 = seven, fuku 福 = happiness, good fortune and kami, jin 神 = god. The museum has a beautiful representation of Takarabune. In the ship are Fukurokuju (God of happiness, wisdom, longevity, virility and fertility), Hotei (God of happiness, satisfaction and abundance), Juroujin (God of longevity) and in the second row Bishamonten (God of war and warriors), Ebisu (God of good fortune, commerce and honest work), Benzaiten (Goddess of arts and knowledge) and Daikokuten (God of wealth and prosperity).

The  Museum will re-open on Tuesday 3rd January 2012. Please note that the café is closed from the end of November until mid-February.

Happy New Year! あけましておめでとう！

Mary's shoes

Today I have been a participant in a workshop run by local artist Serena Patridge and called 'Mary's shoes'. It was run to link in with the current exhibition in the Pannett Art Gallery, exploring the lives and art work of the Weatherill family, who were 19th Century Whitby artists.  Serena makes beautiful and intricate pieces of work with imagined histories and she demonstrated how to construct tiny shoes in paper and card. 

We all then made our own versions using the pretty papers and trimmings Serena had provided.

This is one of a series of events organised by the Pannett Art Gallery to link into the current exhibition.  There will be childrens Drama Workshops on 18th, 23rd, 25th, 30th August and 1st September (all starting at 1.30pm) and suitable for children between 8 and 11 years.  They will explore the lives of the people in the Weatherill paintings.  To book a place please telephone 01947602051.  There will also be a drop in day on Friday 26th August suitable for all ages exploring the lives and work of Whitby Women during the 1800-1900s and looking in particular at Ganseys and rag rugs.

Young consultants

On the 10th August we had a visit from a group of young people as consultants for the Precious Cargo project. I helped our Curator of World Cultures to introduce them to some of our Rich collection of objects. They are now going to do some background research for us. They were very excited at being able to take objects out of the display cases for a closer look. It was a fantastic morning as they were full of questions and enthusiasm, so it was a lovely thing to be a part of.


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Location:Whitby Museum

Work experience

Last week we had a work experience student helping out in the museum for a few days.  She did get to help behind the scenes doing all sorts of jobs like moving some beaded purses out of their storage, photographing them and helping to put them into the new store.  On Friday she helped to move some Bronze Age pots from their usual display into another case temporarily, for safety while some changes are made to the lighting in the main hall of the museum.  Here she is putting the label into the case, having carried the objects and carefully placed them in their temporary home.

Yesterday's celebration and student work

As part of the celebration of the re-opening of the Explorers wing of the museum we have a small display of student work on show.  This work was made by a group of young people in Year 10 at Whitby Community College.

It has been inspired by some of the objects from the Pacific that we have on display. These beautiful masks and shields were on temporary display in library yesterday together with many sketches and drawings.  I will add some pictures of the sketches and drawings to the blog later.

The pieces on the plinths (the first picture) will remain on display for a couple of weeks in the Explorers wing of the museum.

Grand re-opening

Today was the grand re-opening of the Explorers wing in the museum. Dr Sophie Forgan, Director of the Captain Cook Museum gave a short talk about the lives of objects. She used a small piece of Kauri gum as an illustration of the different journeys and stories that a modest object can tell.

The refurbishment has been a brilliant team effort and it was lovely to have so many people together this afternoon to share and celebrate our achievements.







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