National Museums Liverpool Blog - Thursday, March 13, 2008

Thank you to all the people who have posted comments about their experience of the International Slavery Museum on the Art Fund Prize webpage. It's really good to know that the museum is appreciated by our visitors as well as the judges.

If you've not posted your comment yet, and would like the judges to hear your views before they make their final decision next month, you still have time. Just visit the Art Fund website and tell the judges why you think the International Slavery Museum should win the prize. There you'll also find details of the evening reception we're holding on 2 April.

Can't believe no one's got this yet - thought it would have gone yesterday. The prize in this month's Name That Object game is still not won and today is the last day. This is today's clue - bit of a give away. All of this week's clues, plus the link to enter the competition, are on the Name That Object page. The prize is the catalogue from the recent Joseph Wright of Derby in Liverpool exhibition.

This month's final clue

Sketchbooks at the ready!

Are you a budding Botticelli, a promising Picasso or would you just like to be able to make you stick figures look less like, erm, a pile of sticks? If so and you’re aged between 11 and 16 then Culture Vultures at the Lady Lever Art Gallery is the place for you. There are still a few places left on this week-long course for young people who want to explore their artistic side running from 25 - 28 March. You’ll get to try your hand at sketching, craft activities and photography all in the inspiring surroundings of the Lady Lever. If you want to book a place call Lauren Gould our Learning Officer on 0151 478 4143.   

I think it’s fair to say we all need a little encouragement to draw out our artistic sides. It took an influential primary school teacher to force, sorry encourage me, to play Joseph in the school musical (Boltonian boys are notoriously tone-deaf) and I’ve never looked back. As my colleagues in the Press and Marketing office will tell you this extensive training has not gone to waste and is regularly demonstrated in the finest Liverpool karaoke establishments.  

Here's what I think is a really rather sad post from John Millard, Director of World Museum.

A press cutting book in the Central Library has revealed the facts.  A seal named Paddy was kept in the aquarium at the museum from 1919 until 1936, and he was probably an Atlantic Grey Seal. 

A cutting from the Liverpool Post and Mercury for 20 September 1933 said…

‘Paddy, Liverpool’s pet seal, lives in the Museum.  He is sleek, intelligent silver-grey creature, spending his time gazing at visitors and swimming round his tank – preferably on his back.

‘He was caught with seven other seals in the North Sea seventeen years ago, but his companions did not survive. When he was presented to the city in 1919 by the New Brighton Tower Company, Mr. Evans, who was to be his keeper, inquired what his name might be.  “Well!” said his late master, “my name is Paddy so you had better name him after me.”

‘Paddy lives almost entirely on herrings.  When herrings are difficult to obtain whitings are substituted, but he does not like them nearly so much.  At 3.30 every afternoon people gather to see him make very short work of 4lbs of herrings...

Underwater Sleep
His coat, which he changes every August, is brown for the first week or so then changes to silver-grey.  Although he does not have his coat pressed, he has it sponged down every morning while his tank is being emptied.  The toilet over he has an underwater beauty sleep of about fifteen minutes.  Some authorities contend that seals do not sleep under water - they should see Paddy.  The extraordinary thing is that he can glide around his tank when it is empty, with a perfect swimming motion.

‘Although Paddy is the very soul of good nature he is not without a little jealousy.  Should Mr. Evans look into another tank too long Paddy makes a great fuss and lashes his water into a foam.  Thousands of children would not consider their holidays complete without paying Paddy at least one visit.’

The Liverpool Post reported the death of Paddy the seal on 17 August 1936 saying…

‘Many thousands of Liverpool people, old as well as young, will be sorry to hear of the death, which took place on Saturday morning, of Paddy the seal at the Liverpool Museum Aquarium.’

Some people have said the seal was called Sammy and back in 1928 a press cutting mentioned Edgar the seal at the museum, but the story of Paddy and his keeper Mr Evans seems to be the most authentic.

Today it would seem cruel to keep a seal in a tank in the museum, but for seventeen years Paddy the seal was a star attraction at the museum.

Joanna Rowlands, Floella Benjamin and Lois Momoh in the International Slavery Museum

If, like me, you were born in the seventies the name Floella Benjamin will evoke happy memories of jolly people, multiple-sized Teds and variously shaped windows… when Opal Fruits were Opal Fruits and Pacers still existed. This weekend my lifelong ambition to meet the lady herself was realised when she visited the International Slavery Museum to give a talk for International Women’s Day.
 
Floella’s come a long way from looking through the round window and has a CV that most people would die for. She’s impossible to define in a word - actress, TV presenter, businesswoman, author, this list isn’t exhaustive. She’s been awarded an OBE, runs her own production company, is a Doctor of Letters, Chancellor of Exeter University and works tirelessly for charities such as Barnardo's.

Floella is pictured here with me and my colleague Lois Momoh in front of the Black Achiever’s Wall, a place on which Floella has surely earned? The list of people featured on the wall is by no means exhaustive, so today I’m launching a one woman campaign to make sure Floella gets a good speck next time the display is changed.

Here's a report from Ann-marie Cassidy, our project worker for engaging refugees and asylum seekers, about some of this weekend's activities.

"Saturday was International Women's Day. This special day is celebrated every year on 8th March. Throughout the world thousands of events are held to inspire women and honour their achievements.

Here at World Museum Liverpool we celebrated International Women's Day with a number of special activities.

We began in the atrium, with an activity called 'Home Sweet Home?' We erected a temporary shelter, which we hoped would represent the shelters often used by displaced people fleeing their homes in times of crisis. We wanted visitors to think about the things that were really important to them, by asking the question:

'If you had three minutes to leave your home, what would you take with you?'

We asked visitors to write or draw their answers on the shelter. Answers ranged from the emotional: mum, dad, dog, rabbit; to the practical: tent, Swiss army knife, torch, matches; to the sentimental: photographs, jewellery. A number of people also said that they would bring their computer games - until their friends pointed out that there would be nowhere to plug in their computer! All in all, it was a very thought-provoking activity.

This was followed by a textile workshop with Maryam Patala, based on the textile piece Freedom - who’s set the borders? (currently on display on the World Cultures gallery). Visitors had the opportunity to improve their sewing skills and learn about the appliqué technique used by Maryam to create the piece." 

You can see more photos of the 'Home Sweet Home?' shelter on our Flickr page.

The old gateposts of Bellefield

Whenever I see an imposing gateway, vivid pictures of vanished villas and stately residences come into my mind. Liverpool is a city of many mansions to this day, but a large proportion have been demolished by developers hungry for their land. Their gateways often remain, leading to nowhere.

A Victorian gateway stands on the fringes of a private park, the only reminder of a strange deserted house associated with doomed vessels known as coffin ships. This was Bellefield, in West Derby, Liverpool, and the owner who laid it waste was notorious shipowner Edward ‘Bully’ Bates MP. He was among unscrupulous operators who deliberately sent their overloaded coffin ships to sea. They hoped the ships would sink so they could make inflated insurance claims. Bates once lost six ships in a year. 

Reformer Samuel Plimsoll fought a long, bitter battle to outlaw this shameful practice. It resulted in the now-famous Plimsoll Line being introduced on ships’ hulls showing they were not overloaded. This law still applies today.

Bates was called ‘Bully’ for good reason as his brutish behaviour was legendary. He was said to have confronted an idle crew on one of his ships. Such was his commanding personality that he intimidated them with kicks and blows until all, but one, ran away. This was a slightly-built shipwright armed with an axe who prepared to defend himself. Bates discharged all the crew except the shipwright, saying: “I like pluck and do not mind being faced”.

Bates bought Bellefield in 1871 at the height of the coffin ships scandal. He planned a side entrance through the gateway which still stands, blocked by railings, on the edge of Sandfield Park. It was never used because stubborn Bates refused to pay the park dues.

At Merseyside Maritime Museum there is a large commemorative handkerchief depicting Samuel Plimsoll in 1875. As a result of his tireless efforts, a maximum loading line on ships was introduced in 1876. The handkerchief includes a map of Liverpool plus contemporary personalities and scenes of Liverpool.

Three cut-away models illustrate how typical cargoes were stowed on sailing ships. Some commodities such as coal and iron were carried loose in the hold. Sugar, salt and tobacco were shipped in barrels or sacks while cotton was put into bales.

What eventually happened to ‘Bully’ Bates and Bellefield? He was expelled from the Commons for bribing the electorate whereupon Tory Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli rewarded him with a baronetcy. Bates died in 1896, aged 80. Bellefield was pulled down and the land later used as Everton soccer club’s training ground.

A new Maritime Tale by Stephen Guy appears every Saturday in the Liverpool Echo.

The second of what will hopefully be a monthly feature (prizes allowing) begins on Monday. Name that Object shows a new detail from an object in our collection every day for five days. Could be from any venue and any collection.  To win the prize all you have to do is identify the object and be the first to mail us the correct answer (use the 'contact us' form link on the competition page). As there's only one prize - the rather excellent catalogue that accompanied the recent Joseph Wright of Derby in Liverpool exhibition - most of you will be 'playing for fun', and it is fun as you'll discover if you check out last month's game - bit of a warm up for you.

Hogarth in his new home

Here's a snap of last month's prize - a Superlambanana now christened Hogarth (I'll leave you to figure out why) - happily ensconced in his new home. His new owner got the answer right on clue one so you'll probably have to be there from kick off on Monday to be in with a chance. To make it a bit easier I'll tell you it is a painting and it is featured on our website.

You can also play via the rss feed so there's no chance of you missing a clue.

The Lord Mayor shows off his handiwork

We invited press to the Walker Art Gallery yesterday to see the Lord Mayor of Liverpool making his mark to the fabulous Liverpool Cityscape. We all held our breath as he sprayed in the clock hands of the Municipal building to point to the time 12.07. But as the picture above shows he didn't go over the lines and did a perfect job!

The time 12.07 was specially chosen to represents the year 1207 when Liverpool was granted its own status in King John’s Royal Charter, an important part of the city's history covered in Magical History Tour at the Merseyside Maritime Museum.

Ben Johnson has been working on the painting in front of a live audience for nearly six weeks. The last day for his public residency is 7 March 2008. The finished painting will be revealed in the exhibition Ben Johnson’s Liverpool Cityscape 2008 and the World Panorama Series.

'St Bernardino Preaching' shown before conservation on the left and after on the right

Admit it - in your rush to get to see the portraits of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I at the far end of the Walker you've probably dashed past most of the other Medieval and Renaissance paintings without giving them a second glance. Which is a shame because there are some real gems on display.

Take 'St Bernardino Preaching' by Francesco di Giorgio for example, which is the Walker's picture of the month in March. It's being highlighted following recent conservation treatment, which has brought all of the vibrant colours and incredible detail in this busy scene back to vivid life. Have a look at our online feature about the conservation of 'St Bernardino Preaching' to see images of the painting before, during and after treatment, plus some fascinating insights into the techniques used by the artist.

There are also some gallery talks about the painting this month. Curator of continental European art Xanthe Brooke will be giving the first talk today at 1pm. Then Nicola Christie, the head of paintings conservation, will be talking about the conservation of the painting on Thursday 13 March, also at 1pm. See the Walker Art Gallery's What's On page for further details.

Campania at the Spithead Review, 1897 by Parker Greenwood

The Spithead Review of 1897 is one of the great historical naval spectacles that I would have liked to witness. It was a sight to freeze the enemy’s blood – a fleet of warships lined up in the greatest display of sea power the world had ever seen.

The Review is depicted in a remarkable painting at Merseyside Maritime Museum which captures the pomp and power of that day. In the centre of Parker Greenwood’s picture is Campania, at that time the pride of the Cunard Fleet. She steams slowly between lines of ironclad battleships bristling with guns.

The Campania, along with several other famous merchant ships, attended the Review to accommodate the guests. The event was to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee – 60 years on the throne. However, the Queen was not feeling up to taking to sea and her son Bertie – Prince of Wales and the future Edward VII – took her place. He was accompanied by guests from all over the British Empire and beyond.

This Spithead Review was claimed to be the largest number of warships ever gathered at anchor together. In two seven-mile-long lines between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight were 170 British naval ships including 50 battleships. Nearly all were less than 10 years old and were immaculately ablaze with brass and bunting. Crews stood in serried ranks in wide straw hats and spotless white uniforms in the stunning spectacle.

The painting shows guests crowded on the deck of the Campania under canvas awnings, looking at the warships as they pass by.

There was an incident that day which is not seen in the picture. In an impudent publicity stunt, Charles Algernon Parsons brought his revolutionary turbine boat Turbinia uninvited to the Review.  As the Prince of Wales, Lords of the Admiralty and other dignitaries looked on, Turbinia – much faster than anything else afloat – raced between the lines of big ships. She easily evaded the Royal Navy’s patrol boats.

Parsons, who invented the steam turbine in 1884, had made his dramatic point. In 1905 the Admiralty confirmed that all future Royal Naval ships would be turbine powered. The following year the first turbine powered battleship, the famous HMS Dreadnought, was launched.

Campania and her sister Lucania were ordered in 1891. They were Cunard’s response to recently-launched rivals on the Transatlantic service – White Star’s Teutonic (1889) and Inman Line’s City of New York (1888). When launched in 1893, both Campania and Lucania were described as “the most magnificently appointed passenger liners in the world”.

A new Maritime Tale by Stephen Guy appears every Saturday in the Liverpool Echo.