National Museums Liverpool Blog - Monday, May 11, 2009

Beautiful gold and silver items are always a joy to the eye but I think they are much more interesting if there is a story behind them. This particular piece of gilded silverware is linked to a very famous story indeed.

The White Star line – which later included the Titanic among its fleet – was founded in Liverpool in 1869 by shipping mogul Thomas Henry Ismay. Known also as the Ocean Steam Navigation Company, White Star eventually led the way in building prestigious luxury liners such as Titanic and her almost identical sisters Olympic and Britannic.

When Ismay died in 1899, White Star was the most successful transatlantic passenger line. In 1902 it was bought by the huge American firm, the International Mercantile Marine Company.

Ismay’s son, Bruce, became the first president and managing director of the new company. He remained in control of White Star and its ships continued to fly the British flag. J Bruce Ismay, as he was known, continued his father’s close partnership with the Belfast shipbuilders Harland & Wolff which led to the construction of Titanic and her sisters.

Thomas Henry Ismay’s original home can still be seen at Beach Lawn, Waterloo. He later built a huge mansion called Dawpool at Thurstaston, Wirral, but this was demolished many years ago. J Bruce Ismay – who survived the Titanic sinking by escaping in one of the last lifeboats - lived at a large house called Sandheys in Mossley Hill, Liverpool.

In the Titanic, Lusitania and the Forgotten Empress gallery at Merseyside Maritime Museum there are parts of the magnificent Ismay Testimonial silver.  This parcel gilt dinner service was presented to Thomas by the company’s shareholders on board the White Star liner Adriatic in 1884.

The service, made by London silversmiths Hunt & Gaskell, is one of the finest of its kind. It was intended to “illustrate the progress of the art of navigation from the earliest times to the present day”.

The centrepiece (which there's more about on our main site) depicts commerce on top of the world with figures of the legendary navigators Jason (of Argonauts fame), Vasco de Gama (first European to sail to India around the Cape of Good Hope), Christopher Columbus (New World explorer) and British naval explorer Captain James Cook.

There are beautiful models of tiny vessels used for fishing and hunting – a kayak, canoe and coracle. Most of these pieces could be used for condiments such as salt, pepper and mustard. A large sweetmeat dish is flanked by two contemporary (1884) seafarers – a merchant navy officer and a sailor.

A new Maritime Tale by Stephen Guy appears every Saturday in the Liverpool Echo. A paperback – Mersey Maritime Tales (£3.99) – is available from the museum, newsagents, bookshops or from the Mersey Shop website (£1.50 p&p UK).

Here's the latest report from art historian Eleanor Beyer. Eleanor usually works in the British Museum's conservation and science department but has been visiting the paper conservation department up here in the National Conservation Centre. During her time at National Museums Liverpool she has had a look round our art galleries. Here's what she thought of the Lady Lever:

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"The Lady Lever Art Gallery sits in a village designed by Lord Lever. He aimed to have every local facility his soap factory workers might wish for in Port Sunlight, so the gallery, like the local library, was purpose built to serve his employees. The gallery appears like a mausoleum to the objects, from outside and inside with its low height, shallow dome and columned entrance, one expects it to be much older due to the style. It is in fact reinforced concrete which was the best available material at this date, clad with Portland stone on the outside. With such an enthusiastic collector and his fascination with architectural design it should be the ideal gallery space particularly with the purpose built interior spaces and design. For instance the main gallery space is the ideal height for some wonderful paintings by Edward Burne-Jones, and the small galleries for the ceramics displays.

Coming from a much older museum I was curious to see how this worked, although there were still problems with the building, much of Lord Lever's forward thinking had paid off. For instance, with few windows the gallery has more room for hanging pictures and displaying objects. Lever was visually astute and the things he collected were visually attractive (like the soap adverts) and at the same time as being of academic interest. Much of the collection itself is relatively hardy - since ceramics and most nineteenth century paintings were mainly painted in durable materials - therefore if humidity levels fluctuate these types of objects can cope. However some more fragile collections have since had to be removed, such as works on paper and embroideries, and the walls in the main gallery are no longer black. The British Museum is a far larger museum, with an even more diverse collection, from ceramics to other more fragile objects like the mummies, and ancient wall paintings. The architects of the British Museum appear to have aspired to grandeur and style for the building: environmental control had yet to become a concern in the early nineteenth century!

On a basic level Lever's gallery showed me how one individual could make it happen - interest in design as well as providing a collection for everyone. Lever had one advantage - the gallery was built to house his collection, not to house future unknown objects."

It’s strange to think that bananas were once considered an exotic luxury in Britain.

My grandmother Lillian Potter, who was born in 1885, remembered them being hawked around the streets by a “banana man” - they were not cheap.

As late as 1915 bananas were still rather glamorous and featured in society soirees, as illustrated in the classic music hall song: “I’ve just had a banana with Lady Diana, I’m Burlington Bertie from Bow”.

Sir Alfred Jones (1845 – 1909) is credited with introducing the banana to Britain when he transported the fruit on refrigerated vessels run by his Elder Dempster shipping company.

We now take for granted refrigeration for perishable goods travelling by land, sea and air. This has enabled all manner of meat, fish, fruit and vegetables to arrive in our shops throughout the year.

Little more than 100 years ago this would have been unthinkable and it was pioneers like Sir Alfred who helped transform the way we eat.

At Merseyside Maritime Museum’ s Life at Sea gallery there is a wax plaque of Sir Alfred, who was the dominant figure in the development of the trade with West Africa (pictured).

He looks the epitome of the Victorian businessman with his formal jacket, starched collar and fancy whiskers. Born in Carmarthenshire, Sir Alfred started work at the age of 12 with the African Steamship Company in Liverpool. He made several voyages to West Africa and was manager of the business when he was only 26.

He then started business on his own account with two or three small sailing ships. In 1891 he was headhunted by Liverpool-based Elder Dempster which, through purchasing shares, he later controlled.

Sir Alfred had wide territorial and financial interests in West Africa. He played a key part in opening up the West Indies to trade and tourism. In addition, he was instrumental in setting up Liverpool’s School of Tropical Medicine and left large charitable bequests in his will.

Other exhibits include a visiting card case commemorating the 1902 trials of the Elder Dempster ship Burutu.

A vintage illustrated poster declares: “Travel in comfort, travel in style, travel better - travel Elders”.
 
Elder Dempster operated mainly between its Liverpool base and West Africa. In later years it ran three still fondly-remembered liners – Aureol, Accra and Apapa – to Ghana and Nigeria.

Eventually the Elder Dempster line name came to an end in 1989 when it was bought by a French company. However, the company continued as shipping agents before being wound up in 2000.

There's more on Elder Dempster, and the company records we hold in our archives, on our main site.

A new Maritime Tale by Stephen Guy appears every Saturday in the Liverpool Echo. A paperback – Mersey Maritime Tales (£3.99) – is available from the museum, newsagents, bookshops or from the Mersey Shop website (£1.50 p&p UK).

 

Here's some news from press officer Ed Casson, who was down at the Maritime Museum yesterday to see a new acquisition go on display:

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"National Museums Liverpool has acquired another great piece of maritime history - a pennant from the flagship Cunard liner QE2.

The paying off pennant was originally presented to Liverpool City Council during the QE2's farewell visit to the city in October last year. It has now been presented to the Merseyside Maritime Museum, hanging proudly in the Life at Sea gallery.

The red 39 foot long pennant was presented to museum director Tony Tibbles yesterday by Liverpool's Lord Mayor Councillor Steve Rotheram.

Flown immediately prior to the liner leaving service, the QE2 paying off pennant is the longest in Cunard's history - one foot for each year the famous liner was in service. Because it is so big, the pennant has had be folded into sections to fit in one of the museums display cases. But to give you an idea, 39 foot is longer than three Mini Cooper cars put together!

Since her maiden voyage in 1969, the QE2 carried many famous passengers, including film stars, members of the Royal Family and world leaders. She was Cunard's flagship until succeeded by Queen Mary 2 in 2004 and is also the longest serving ship in Cunard's history."

Yesterday evening the National Conservation Centre resounded with the sights and sounds of the 1980s to celebrate the opening of the exhibition Sound and Vision - music and fashion photographed by Francesco Mellina, Liverpool, 1978-82.

The exhibition takes a look at the music and fashion scenes in the city at the time, including punk, New Wave, New Romantic and Rockabilly. There's also some great shots of some of the local and visiting bands who played in the city at the time, including an early photo of New Order still finding their feet without Ian Curtis. You may also recognise a certain unknown Irish band who opened for Wah! Heat and Pink Military on tour in 1980. What was their name again? Oh yes - U2!

As you would expect, the opening event was attended by lots of fashionable Liverpool faces, some of whom you can see in our Sound and Vision opening event Flickr set.

Konichiwa

Well I am back at work after my break in Japan, as interesting and exciting a destination as I have ever visited. It really is a mix of the old and the new and this cannot be better personified than the city of Kyoto. I spent 5 days in Tokyo, truly a metropolis of bright lights, fashionistas and the latest gadgetry but Kyoto – what some call the cultural heart of Japan - is where the clash of worlds is most obvious. As soon as you step off the Bullet train you enter Kyoto's futuristic looking plate glass and steel frame rail station building designed by Hiroshi Hara. The Bullet train really is as efficient as you are told and quite a shock for someone used to British trains when your reserved carriage actually stops in front of you and on time. I can only hope a contingent of British rail carriers executives have their next annual conference in Japan and invite the CEO of Japan Rail as the keynote! The area around the station has hotels, offices and shops aplenty like most major cities but scratch under the surface and there lies a hidden world of temples and Zen gardens of all shapes and descriptions.

I wanted to visit one in particular – Ryoanji (part of the Peaceful Dragon Temple) in North Kyoto which is a simple gravel and Zen garden. It was also visited by Monty Don in the BBC programme Around the World in 80 Gardens! On the day we visited there were already hoards of tourists there (Monty Don must have been allowed access before the crowds) and as such it was difficult to have a totally peaceful experience. There was also maintenance taking place on the viewing platform but even so, the simplicity and beauty of the garden was palpable. To get to it though you had to first walk through the beautiful temple grounds with its cherry blossoms, lake and shrines. It made me think of something I was once told by a leading expert on Stonehenge on a visit to the World Heritage Site. We stood like the masses of tourists facing inwards looking at the famous stone structure but then he told me to turn around and face outwards, to look at the surrounding landscape. Nobody else was doing this but to get a real understanding of Stonehenge he said it had to be seen in relation to its surroundings.

I could not resist visiting a few museums whilst I was over there and thoroughly enjoyed the Tokyo National Museum. It is situated in the beautiful Ueno Park which was in full cherry blossom bloom during our visit. The park was packed with families, tourists and strangely... Tokyo rockers! Several rockers were dancing their hearts away to some loud Japanese rock 'n' roll directly opposite the museum entrance. The museum grounds are also the location of the Le Corbusier inspired Gallery of Horyuji Treasures which was designed by Yoshio Taniguchi (he was also the architect for MoMA in New York) which consists of over 300 objects, mainly from the 7th - 8th century, which were donated to the Imperial Household by the Horyuji Temple in 1878. It was a bit too dark for my liking inside the actual galleries but I liked the sense of space in the research area and library as well as the overall design. 

We also decided to take a day trip from Kyoto to Hiroshima. It was as expected a very somber and sobering trip but an interesting one nonetheless. I was particularly impressed with the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb victims and Hall of Remembrance which was a very informative and respectfully designed centre. This was in sharp contrast to the larger Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which in comparison had some rather dated displays. I am fully aware of the need to be respectful when looking at sensitive subjects but you also sometimes need to be quite graphic and not water down displays or exhibits. This museum might have taken that further than I personally would have though, that said; it was very busy with a large amount of schoolchildren who would have had to face issues which unfortunately are still with us in the world today. So it was a great trip and I thoroughly recommend it as a destination for museum aficionados, general culture vultures, amateur gardeners and even rockers!

Bye for now.

I spent Monday with a film crew from the popular BBC 2 show Flog It! – not at an auction but perusing some of our fabulous collections.

 

We focused on the Liverpool waterfront – looking back at the fascinating history of the Albert Dock and touring the new Museum of Liverpool.

 

First stop was the Merseyside Maritime Museum and the Albert Dock where I was interviewed by presenter Paul Martin walking along the quayside admiring the stunning architecture and remarkable Victorian cranes, winches and pulleys.

 

It’s not easy talking and walking with a camera crew in front of you. Then there was the issue of my face. “We’re getting too much profile,” said the cameraman. It was explained that the viewer likes to see your full face not the side of it.

 

I managed to get the hang of facing forward and occasionally glancing at Paul. We talked about the dock’s builder Jesse Hartley, Prince Albert’s visit in 1846 and why the dock was almost demolished in the 1960s.

 

After lunch featuring the excellent pies at the Maritime Museum café, we headed to our workshops to see some amazing exhibits being conserved for the Museum of Liverpool when it opens late next year.

 

Paul interviewed land transport curator Sharon Brown in the 3^rd class carriage from the legendary Liverpool Overhead Railway (pictured - more information here). It is one of the many stars of the new museum.

 

It may have been the carriage I rode in with my father in 1953 to see the smouldering wreck of the Empress of Canada in Liverpool docks. I was only five but remember vividly the incredible experience of clattering along in the elevated railway and seeing the capsized ship resembling a great whale.

 

The crew also filmed senior conservator David Letsche working on the Lion which once hauled carriages on the Liverpool to Manchester railway in the 1830s. Lion starred in the classic Ealing comedy The Titfield Thunderbolt.

 

They were fascinated by the first car off the assembly line at Liverpool’s Halewood plant in 1963 – an immaculate Ford Anglia.

 

We ended the day at the Museum of Liverpool with its breathtaking views of the Liverpool waterfront and River Mersey.

 

National Museums Liverpool’s building operations manager Martin Hemmings took Paul and crew on a tour of the enormous building.

 

Martin pointed out the specially-constructed area where the Overhead Railway carriage will stand, overlooking the Lion.

 

The cameraman cleverly used artist’s impressions of the new galleries to line them up exactly with the real display areas.

 

The day had started with cloud and rain but ended in bright sunshine, enabling the crew to get superb shots of the dazzling stonework and huge shimmering windows.

 

This edition of Flog It! is due for screening in the autumn.

Here's another special report from art historian - and roving reporter - Eleanor Beyer. As you may remember from Eleanor's last review, she works in the British Museum's conservation and science department but has been working with Nicky Lewis in the paper conservation department up here in the National Conservation Centre. During her time at National Museums Liverpool she visited Sudley House. Here's what she thought of it:

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"Pitched with an expansive view across Liverpool from one side and all the way down to the docks on the other, Sudley sits in a great position. On approaching the house, I could imagine why this would be an ideal location for a rich shipping merchant. The house was purchased by George Holt, a partner in the shipping firm Lamport and Holt, in 1883 and as Assistant Visitor Services Manager Mark Harris pointed out, he would often have climbed the stairs to the rooftop turret to look out for his ships coming into the harbour.

Inside the ground floor is as close to how it would have been as possible - the painting collection covers the walls - except of course for the large TVs in each corner. But these TVs serve a valuable purpose: they show actors dressed up as Sudley's former residents who talk about life there, bringing the house to life. For example, we hear the scandals and gossip from the owner’s servant. 

Upstairs is more entertaining for children and frequent visitors, with displays on childhood, including a dolls house children can play with, and at the time of my visit, a temporary exhibition of a glorious display of dresses in the Costume room. With the changing exhibitions, including A Sweet Life at the moment, children’s areas with interactive material and interactive interpretation downstairs this makes a great visit for a browse or a more studied investigation of the homes and art collected in the late nineteenth century.

I really enjoyed visiting the house, and hearing about it from Mark. It was good to learn  about how the house had been changed to make it more welcoming and to provide more information about its history. The location away from the cultural centre of Liverpool makes Sudley more of a local museum, though it still attracts plenty of other visitors and was well worth a visit. I am hoping more to bring the house to life will be able to be done."

When choosing an outfit for a sunny day (though it is raining right now) you can't go wrong with navy and white. In particular, I'm very into the nautical stuff that is around at the moment. On a recent trip to Beyond Retro in Shoreditch I had to be talked out of purchasing a vintage sailor bib top, possibly taken from a real sailor in the mists of time (that's an actual era you know.)

In 1910, fashion fanatic and philanthropist Mrs. Emily Tinne would have been right on trend for this summer with her quirky sailor inspired espadrilles, which are now on show as part of A Sweet Life at Sudley House until Spring 2010.

Everywhere you look on the high street right now there are beachy espadrilles and sailor-style pumps, but none that combine the two things quite as well as Mrs.Tinne's little beauties. They are made of white linen and have a cool anchor design that has been hand-embroidered onto the toe with red wool.

Even über-model Agyness Deyn is a fan of the nautical trend - who would have thought Mrs.Tinne and Aggy would have something in common!

Just looking at this plan of a slave ship hold almost makes me break out into a cold sweat.

As regular readers of this blog will know, I have a strong aversion to crowded enclosed spaces. This print of 1789 brings home to us all the hideous nature of the slave trade.

Liverpool’s slave ships carried their human cargoes from West Africa over the Atlantic to the Americas and Caribbean on journeys that took six weeks or more. The Africans were held in atrocious and dehumanising conditions – violence, terror and degradation were everyday occurrences.

They had already suffered terrible hardship before reaching the coast. Sometimes the slaves were forced to march hundreds of miles from the interior of Africa. Sold several times over, they passed from one owner to another, their sense of disorientation and dread increasing with each sale. However, the prisoners took every opportunity to escape. One group of women tracked their husbands for several days before breaking them free.

Some African leaders were actively involved in the trade but others took a stand against slavery. They included Tomba, leader of the Baga in Guineas and Agaja Trudo, king of Dahomey.

The slaves’ final destinations on land were forts and places such as the island of Goree where they were held before boarding ships. The message to potential escapers was clear – skeletons of those who tried to make a run for it were impaled on spikes as gruesome warnings.

The horrors of the Middle Passage, as it was known, were made worse because many of the captives had never seen the sea. They were packed into unbelieveably hot, cramped and suffocating conditions in the holds. The men were kept separated from the women and children. In good weather they were brought on deck.

The men were humiliated and forced to ‘dance’ for the crew. This also have an ulterior motive – to keep the slaves fit and healthy so they would fetch higher prices. Women were abused by crew members and rape was common.

The physical conditions, fear and uncertainty left many of the captives totally traumatised and unable to eat. Some preferred death and took their own lives. Disease and brutality took their tolls. Between one tenth and one quarter of enslaved Africans died on every journey. Mortality among crew members was also high.

At the International Slavery Museum, in the Merseyside Maritime Museum building, there are displays which explore slave voyages including a model and painting of slave ships.

A new Maritime Tale by Stephen Guy appears every Saturday in the Liverpool Echo. A paperback – Mersey Maritime Tales (£3.99) – is available from the museum, newsagents, bookshops or from the Mersey Shop website (£1.50 p&p UK).