August
5
A note of thanks... to elias ashmole?!
If you have heard me speak about Walter Potters Museum of Curiosity before, look away now. Otherwise, let me explain why, when talking to visitors about Elias Ashmoles acquisition of the Tradescant collection, I come down on the side of Ashmole.
While fighting her claim through the courts, Hester Tradescant was selling off items from the familys collection. Its fate in her hands would have been uncertain, but Ashmoles involvement kept it (more or less) intact. The Potter collection, which came up for sale in 2003, is arguably the Victorian equivalent of the Ark. It was then on show at Jamaica Inn, a fittingly spooky setting.
As a child, coming upon this museum by chance in Arundel, I was transfixed: charmed/appalled by tableaux of stuffed animals, shaken by specimen jars of fleshy somethings. Kittens, rats, mice and squirrels massed in miniature schoolrooms, games of cricket... incredible anthropomorphic stuff. (Though Potter was not the best at his craft, so I imagine his giraffe was like the overstuffed walrus at the Horniman, not quite anatomically correct.)
Damien Hirst offered to buy the entire Museum but the auction house sold it off in around 200 lots, dispersed across the world. There was a 'last chance to see (ever)' in 2010, when Peter Blake and the Museum of Everything suceeded in pulling back together exhibits from Potter's collection in an old dairy in Primrose Hill. The place was packed and they extended the exhibition run by several months.
The Directors swim, reversing the journey of the Ark from Lambeth to Oxford, will raise funds to display the items the Ashmolean will loan us. So remember that it was the 'industrious' nature of Ashmole, which produced the catalogue Musaeum Tradescantianum and preserved the Tradescant collection - where else would you find a mermaids hand and a stuffed dodo?
If you want to know more...
The new Kate Mosse novel 'The Taxidermists Daughter' out on September 11th, takes Potters craft and collection as its background. Theres more about his Museum of Curiosity at http://www.walterpottertaxidermy.com/ with pictures at http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2013/sep/13/curious-world-walter-potter-pictures-taxidermist-victorian#/?picture=417139796&index=2
The Ashmoleans take on the Ark is at
http://www.ashmolean.org/ash/amulets/tradescant/
The revamped (and now rather less charming) Pitt Rivers Museum - which includes some items allegedly from the Ark - can be viewed digitally at
http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/explore.html
And a blog on the weird and wonderful...
http://cabinet-of-wonders.blogspot.co.uk Ashmoleans take on the Ark is at
http://www.ashmolean.org/ash/amulets/tradescant/
The revamped (and now rather less charming) Pitt Rivers Museum - which includes some items allegedly from the Ark - can be viewed digitally at
http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/explore.html
And a blog on the weird and wonderful...
http://cabinet-of-wonders.blogspot.co.uk
Christopher Raven
Flower news from dublin!
Naresh visited the World Flower Show in Dublin last June. The event, devoted to flower arrangement, is held every 4 years and presents 31 different categories. Have a look at the winning creations here:
http://wafaireland.com/results/
Outline Productions is on the search for non-professional London gardeners who love their gardens to participate ina brand new prime-time Sky 1 series that will showcase beautiful private gardens across UK. They will be celebrating the hard-work, enthusiasm and passion individuals put into their own personal plots as well as uncovering gardening hints and tips as they highlight a wealth of horticultural knowledge, creativity and expertise from amateur gardeners.
If interested, contact Rebecca Mason: [email protected]
sky 1 casting