National Museums Liverpool Blog - Friday, June 25, 2010

Yes, you have read the title correctly! Here in the Ethnology department we are busily packing lots of objects ready for them to have their photographs taken, before they go on display in the Global City gallery of the Museum of Liverpool.

This isn't always as easy as it sounds. One of the more tricky objects I've had today has been a large brightly decorated enamel horse, which is almost 1 metre long. The horse has a detachable mane (which looks a little bit like a toupe) and tail that all needed packing together to ensure it looks its best in front of the cameras. It turns out there is more than one way to pack a horse, but I decided on a nice simple solution of strapping the horse into a box, making sure it can't move about while its being transported. You could say, it will be travelling in its own handmade horsebox.

The horse once belonged to Sir Douglas Crawford a well known figure in Liverpool. Famous for the Crawford biscuit business and his work with the Scout Movement, he also in his spare time collected a very specific type of Chinese enamel called cloisonne. You'll be able to see a fantastic group of objects from Douglas Crawford's collection in the new gallery.

You can get quite attached to some of the objects you care for. I couldn't help naming this horse Biscuit, which seems to suit it.

I was very impressed when curator of maritime history Ian Murphy told me that he'd been filmed for Doctor Who. Unfortunately he wasn't part of tomorrow's big series finale so can't shed any light on what's in store there. Instead his expertise was required to help with a previous episode. He explained:

"I interviewed in Birmingham on the subject of 'maritime mysteries' for a short feature that will be used as a DVD extra for Doctor Who. It's for a re-release of an old John Pertwee episode from the 1970s, but I'm under orders not to reveal the episode title. The interview was based around disappearing ships and the DVD should appear sometime next year."

Since their dramatic crash out of the World Cup, France may not have much to smile about by way of football but when it comes to art they are world-leaders and we shall be celebrating this at the Walker Art Gallery next week!

On Wednesday 30 June the High Kicks and Low Lifes: Toulouse-Lautrec prints exhibition is open until 6pm and British Museum and exhibition curator Jennifer Ramkalawon will be delivering a free lecture on Toulouse-Lautrec's evocative and unique style. 

Paris is a must destination for all art-lovers but why go all that way when the Walker Art Gallery will bring the city of light to you. On the 3 and 4 July we are inviting visitors to join the free French-themed activities including family workshops, exhibition tours and atmospheric music.

For more details on the free exhibition events programme visit the website.

Often objects in museum displays can seem like very ordinary everyday items until you find out the incredible and sometimes very moving stories behind them.

One such item is a small medallion that is being loaned to the upcoming exhibition On their own - Britain's child migrants, which opens in the Australian National Maritime Museum later this year before coming to Merseyside Maritime Museum in 2011.

The medallion was awarded to Everton schoolboy William Nevin a century ago, for being a star pupil at Major Lester school. At the age of 14 William left Liverpool for New Zealand in 1911 and never saw his home again. William married, had children and was successful in business, but he never forgot about his Liverpool family.

William’s niece Phyllis Clark from Woolton, who has loaned the medallion to the exhibition, said:

“Because he was successful at school he was chosen to go to New Zealand. It was seen as an honour. So one day these men arrived in bowler hats from Alfred Holt shipping company and off he went. The family had never even heard of New Zealand – it was like they were taking William to the moon.

We were given the medallion two years ago by William’s family in New Zealand to return to Liverpool. William had died in the 1970s. He’d kept it all his life as a memento of his roots. And in some ways the medallion is one of the reasons why he left Liverpool behind – he excelled at school which is why he was chosen to go.”   

From the late 19th century Britain sent more than 100,000 children like William to Canada, Australia and other Commonwealth countries. It was believed they would have a better life working in the clean expanses of the British Empire where they were the source of much-needed labour.

While many had happy experiences and began new lives, for some the separation from the homes and families led to a lonely, brutal childhood. Today many former child migrants and their families are still coming to terms with their dislocation.

The On their own exhibition will tell some of the stories of children who migrated and of their families left behind. National Museums Liverpool and the Australian National Maritime Museum are developing the exhibition in partnership and have launched an online message board for people to share their memories and experiences of child migration.

Here's Clare Wolfarth's 4th weekly update from Haiti, where she has been helping out Oxfam on a sabbatical from her usual job at National Museums Liverpool:

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"The main thing to report from Haiti this week is the rain. We are now well and truly into the rainy season which means that for three or four hours every day, and occasionally the whole day, it absolutely buckets down, often accompanied by thunder and lightening. For Oxfam and for many of the other agencies operating here, this change in the weather represents the second phase of the emergency response. Even though the tents and the plastic sheeting provide some shelter, the ground is saturated and each time it rains there are floods or landslides to contend with. Port au Prince is built in a valley surrounded by hills and many of the roads become impassable during these storms, even in our four by fours.

Oxfam’s engineers and public health teams are currently working around the clock to ensure that adequate sanitation is maintained and to create drainage in the large camps where people are living. The mosquitoes are thriving but for the 1.2 million people left homeless here after the earthquake, life is pretty grim at the moment and is set to continue this way as hurricane season officially starts in June.

On a brighter note, I have continued to be able to make the most of my time off here. Last Sunday I went to the Oloffson hotel (pictured below) for lunch which is the hotel that Graham Green’s novel, The Comedians, is set. It’s an incredible decaying old colonial building full of character and wonderful art. Each room is named after a famous occupant including Mick Jagger, the Haitian Voudou art collector Virgil Young and Graham Green himself.

There are also many signs of people returning to some sort of normality here. Thursday was a public holiday to mark the feast of Corpus Christi and there was an enormous book fair held in a park where the Sugar Cane Museum is found. There were literally thousands of people there, most of whom had dressed up for the occasion and who mingled and drank juice and held hands in the heat of the midday sun. It was inspiring and quite humbling to see local people enjoying themselves and using culture as a way to come together after all they have been through.

I remember my brother’s bugle – a bright brassy one he used in the Scouts – but until recently I never knew they blew one on the Titanic.

It was with trepidation that I pursed my lips and gave the instrument a quick blast and the noise that came out almost deafened me.

Titanic had strong links with Liverpool but never visited her home port - by 1912 the White Star Line had switched its transatlantic liners to Southampton.

The organisation of her maiden voyage, including choosing the officers, was supervised by Charles Bartlett, the shipping line’s marine superintendent based in Liverpool.

Ironically he was known as Iceberg Charly because of his skill in smelling ice or sensing when there were dangerous bergs in the vicinity.

At least 90 members of Titanic’s crew on her tragic maiden voyage – about 10 per cent – were from Merseyside or had close links with the area.  Most of her key officers and crew had originally sailed from Liverpool for White Star.

In Merseyside Maritime Museum’s Titanic, Lusitania and the Forgotten Empress gallery there is a display of White Star items from the pre-Titanic era.

A chief officer’s frock coat was worn by William Lightfoot of Litherland, Liverpool, about 1900. Titanic’s officers wore similar coats as can be seen in photographs. There is an officer’s cap badge and uniform button.  

A White Star bugle was made by RJ Ward & Sons of Liverpool about 1885. A bugle like this was used to call Titanic’s passengers to meals.

A First Class china coffee cup and saucer of about 1905 was supplied by the famous Liverpool store Stoniers Ltd. The same design, featuring the White Star house flag, was used on Titanic. Stoniers also provided the1900 cobalt blue and gold china soup bowl made by Spode Copeland.

An iron rivet is engraved with the White Star emblem and RMS Titanic 1910. It is probably a shipyard worker’s souvenir taken from the slipway.

Bartlett joined White Star in 1894 and was given his first command in 1903. Titanic’s slightly-larger sister ship Britannic was commissioned as His Majesty’s Hospital Ship (HMHS) G618 on 13 December 1915 in Liverpool. Bartlett took command the following day as medical equipment was installed.

Britannic struck a German mine on 21 November 1916 in the Aegean off the Greek island of Kea. When he saw there was no way to save the stricken vessel, Captain Bartlett issued the order to abandon ship.

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 p&p UK).

If you have an iPhone you can now download a free virtual 3D model of the Titanic based on the model in Merseyside Maritime Museum.

A very unusual thing happened during the development of Cargo-a-go-go, the fun new game on the Merseyside Maritime Museum's website. I was involved in the development of the game and had tested it thoroughly during this process, so when it was first launched my score was  right at the top of the leaderboard. This doesn't happen to me very often so I was very tempted not to tell anyone else about the game.

The word is out now though and thousands of people have now played Cargo-a-go-go, knocking me of the top spot in the process. Of all those people, I did wonder how many actually realised that the game has its roots firmly in Liverpool's maritime history, thanks to some very thorough research.

You can now read all about the development of the game on our website. The process started when the web team at National Museums Liverpool produced a thorough brief and an initial concept sketch for the game. Thankfully the game's developers, Glow, produced some much better graphics, thanks to some detective work of their own.

On a recce to the Albert Dock, technical director Thom Shannon found inspiration for one of the key elements for the game right outside the Merseyside Maritime Museum when he spotted an original wheeled crane on the quayside. You can see the full set of Thom's photos of the crane on Flickr.

Based on this information and examples of cargo ships from the era, provided by the museum's curator of maritime history, the artist Sophie Green produced an initial illustration which the game's graphics were based on.

If you haven't seen Cargo-a-go-go yet then why not have a play - it is Friday afternoon after all. If anyone asks, you're learning about Liverpool's heritage!

Rose Hardman reports on funding that will enable fantastic new opportunities for conservation trainees.

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We were delighted to receive the news recently that the Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded £350,700 to help National Museums Liverpool and the North West Fed deliver training opportunities for 12 Positive Action Trainees.

The money, awarded under the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Skills for the Future programme, will give trainees a chance to learn about heritage conservation and audience development.

National Museums Liverpool’s six trainees will spend two years looking at conservation techniques with the Institute of Conservation as a key partner. We will begin advertising for placements at National Museums Liverpool in 2012.

In addition, six trainees will be placed in Manchester Museum, Salford Museum and Art Gallery, and Towneley Hall where they will develop visitor services and community outreach skills. Recruitment for these placements will begin in November 2010.

The scheme will boost the North West heritage sector’s training and development provision for Black Minority Ethnic (BME) and Disabled people; this award will enable us to expand our work whilst helping existing staff build on their skills. It will also help us reach varied sections of the community.

We look forward to updating you on the progress of the project!

Here's our Curator of Botany, Geraldine Reid, to tell us about a curious new arrival at the botany department...

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Today started like any other and then suddenly a new acquisition arrived in the botany department. It was a costume from the performance piece 'Grains of Paradise' created by Adela Jones back in 2008. She used the botanical collections as inspiration for her costumes and piece, which was hosted by the Bluecoat and was part of 'Fragrant', which explored Liverpool’s Botanical Collection.

As you can see, after I unwrapped the costume I seemed to end up totally engulfed in it and almost turned into part of a living plant exhibit! I’m not quite sure what species I am meant to resemble, but as we’re celebrating the International Year of Biodiversity in 2010, maybe I’m morphing into a new species down in the basement of world museum...