Collections & Research

Mae tymor y sgarff a’r esgidiau glaw, yr het a’r hances boced, yn agosáu.  Er bod yn ofalus wrth wisgo’n glyd a chynnes mae bron yn anochel y byddwn yn dioddef rywbryd yn ystod y misoedd nesaf o un neu ragor o anhwylderau’r tymor. 

Meddyginiaethau Gwerin

Erbyn hyn, mae’n ddigon hawdd dod o hyd i foddion i esmwytho llawer salwch, ond cyn ymddangosiad y fferyllfa ar y stryd fawr, byddai pobl gyffredin Cymru yn troi at feddyginiaethau gwerin i wella mân afiechydon ac anafiadau. 

Casgliad yr Archif Sain

Yn Archif Sain Amgueddfa Werin Cymru ceir casgliad hynod o ddiddorol o recordiadau yn ymwneud â meddyginiaethau traddodiadol, rhai â sail wyddonol a rhai eraill braidd yn anoddach i’w llyncu! 

Felly, os nad ydych am fentro allan trwy’r gwynt a’r glaw i wario arian ar becyn o dabledi neu botel o rhyw gymysgedd gostus, dyma rai syniadau am sut i ddefnyddio eitemau cyffredin o’r cwpwrdd bwyd (ac un hylif corfforol!) i gadw’n iach tan y gwanwyn.

I Wella Annwyd

Rhowch beint o gwrw casgen ar y tân.  Rhowch bedair llond llwy fwrdd o siwgr brown a dwy llond llwy de o sunsur ynddo.  Gadewch iddo ferwi a’i yfed cyn gynted â phosibl a mynd yn syth i’r gwely.  Os nad oes cwrw yn y tŷ dylid yfed llaeth enwyn ac ychydig o driog ynddo neu gymysgedd o fêl, menyn a finegr.

I Wella Gwddf Tost

Rhowch hosan wlân a wisgwyd am y troed trwy’r dydd am y gwddf a’i gadw yno trwy’r nos.  Cofiwch roi troed yr hosan (y darn mwyaf budr) yn agos i’r llwnc er mwyn “dal y chwys”.  Gellir hefyd roi saim gŵydd neu sleisen neu ddwy o gig moch yn yr hosan os oes peth ar gael.

I Wella Clust Dost

Rhowch winwnsyn yn y ffwrn i gynhesu ac yna rhoi canol y winwnsyn yn y glust gan ofalu bod y darn yn ddigon mawr i’w dynnu allan eto.  Os nad oes winwnsyn gennych gellir rhoi peth olew yr olewydd wedi ei gynhesu ar wadin yn y glust, neu os nad oes olew yn y tŷ, gellir defnyddio eich dŵr eich hun.

I Wella Llosg Eira

Dylid chwipio’r llosg gyda chelyn nes bod y croen yn gwaedu.  Os nad yw hyn yn apelio, dylid mynd allan i gerdded yn yr eira yn droednoeth neu dorri winwnsyn yn ei hanner, rhoi peth halen ar y toriad ac yna ei rwbio ar y croen sydd wedi ei effeithio.

Wel, dyna ni.  Digon o feddyginiaethau i’ch cadw yn hapus ac yn iach dros y misoedd i ddod!

Ac i gloi, gair o gyngor i’r merched.  Dyma bennill a gofnodwyd oddi ar lafar yn Llanfachreth, Dolgellau, yn 1977:

            Pan dry’r hen gath ddu ei thîn ar y tân,

            Tynn allan dy bais dew, mae’n rhy oer i bethau mân.

In the last blog I outlined (very briefly!) what museum conservators do. Recently we (that is, the conservation team at Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales) had an opportunity to present ourselves and our work directly to the community during an Open Day. And the day gave us as many interesting insights as it did the public.

This was the first ever Conservators Open Day held at National Museum Cardiff. First up, the day was not a flop: almost 4,000 people came to the museum that day; for comparison, the daily average over the year is approximately 1,200 visitors, so the turnout was good. In fact, it exceeded all expectations. You could say we were happy with that.

The offer on the day had included an insight into every branch of the museum’s conservation. The furniture conservator brought a real harpsichord and explained how it had been repaired recently. The paintings conservator demonstrated how she restores paintings. The natural history conservators asked our visitors how a damaged stuffed peacock should be conserved – and they are now working on applying these suggestions so that the peacock will soon be presentable again. Here is a little summary with many photos giving an impression of the day.

So we know that people are interested in our work and how we go about preserving heritage. But what exactly does that mean? Are conservators really being confused with conservationists, and did people go home having learned what the difference really is? Museums are about learning – so we would like to know if this works. Some big questions – we wanted to know the answers and undertook some research in the form of event evaluation.

The results of the evaluation indicated that many people had come specifically to see this event (the marketing is working), and almost all enjoyed it (our offer was good). This is good to know and gives us some direction for the organisation of future events. What surprised us was to find that most people knew who museum conservators are and what they do – apparently we do not get confused with the people who look after pandas (who also do incredibly valuable work). Not only that, but 100% of our respondents said that the care of collections is one of the most important roles of museums.

An important answer in many ways. It makes conservators – who spend most of their time hidden behind the scenes, working on their own in a laboratory or windowless store, where it is easy to get a sense of isolation – feel valued for the many hours of painstaking work. More importantly, it suggests that the community cares deeply about its heritage, and appreciates that there is somebody who looks after it on their behalf.

We all need our heritage. It defines who we are. It is a reference point for our values. It anchors us in our roots. But it’s not as easy as handing your grandfather’s watch to the museum and putting it on a shelf. Things fall apart without proper care, and once an object is lost we cannot simply buy a new one from a supermarket/antiques shop/ebay. Together with the object the story is lost, and a piece of history gone.

Conservators are key in the museum sector’s work of maintaining the link between objects and history, values and identity. Our visiting public are aware of this and know to value it. Does that mean we can stop holding Open Days? Absolutely not: according to the evaluation, no visitor went away not having learned anything, and now that curiosity has been awakened the majority want to find out more. In fact, two thirds of visitors want conservators to be more visible in public spaces. This is what we are now working on – so watch out in our galleries and you might just see more of us soon.

Find out more about care of collections at Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales here.

11^th December 2015 at the National Museum Cardiff from 10.30am to 3.30pm.

Join us for the Christmas version of this one day conference organized by Amgueddfa Cymru: National Museum Wales, The Federation of Museums and Art Galleries of Wales and Cardiff University. The theme is ‘Conservators in action’ and will highlight some of the great work done by conservators across Wales.

A good mix of talks is being arranged;

• Gemma McBader, this years winner of the Pilgrim Trust Student Conservator of the Year Award, will talk about her project 'Significance-led conservation of a 19th century Ethiopian shield'.
• Helen Baguley on her experiences as a music internship at St Fagans National History Museum.
• Adam Webster will be exploring the conservation of the Stradling family memorial panels.
• Ruth Murgatroyd on preparing the specimens for the ‘Stuffed, pickled, pinned’ exhibition for their 3 year tour.
• Julie McBain will be challenging authenticity in textile conservation.
• Jane Rutherfoord discusses the uncovering, conservation and significance of the 15th century wall paintings at Llancarfan.
• Caroline Buttler will be looking at the challenges of conserving, moving and displaying a few tons of fossil tree root!
• Katie Mortimer Jones will be providing an insight into the way the Natural sciences at AC-NMW integrate the use of social media.

A draft program for the day is;

If you have any queries about the program please contact julian.carter@museumwales.ac.uk. We will be looking to finish by around 3.30pm, with the additional option of some short collection tours afterwards if you wish to stay longer. For those requiring some further refreshment the tours will be followed by a seasonal visit to a local pub.

The cost of the day is £20 which includes lunch (£10 for students). If you wish to join us, please email your booking information before 7 December 2015 and follow it with a cheque or Purchase Order payable to Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales to

Katrina Deering
National Collections Centre
Heol Crochendy
Parc Nantgarw CF15 7QT

Please E-mail any booking queries to katrina.deering@museumwales.ac.uk

Booking information
Name:
Organisation:
E-mail address:
Payment enclosed or to follow: Yes/No     

Students are permitted to pay cash on the day, but must book a place by 7 December 2015. Places are allocated on a first come first served basis.

Please include any dietry requirements with your booking information.

Conservation Matters in Wales conferences are held twice a year in Wales, UK and bring together examples of best practice, case studies and research in conservation and collections care, and provide networking opportunities for conservators and museum, library and archive professionals.

Explore Your Archive is a joint campaign delivered by The National Archives and the Archives and Records Association across the UK and Ireland. It aims to showcase the unique potential of archives to excite people, bring communities together, and tell amazing stories.

Last year staff from Amgueddfa Cymru held an Explore Your Archive event for the first time. It was held in the Oakdale Institute at St. Fagans: National History Museum. We showcased a selection of documents and photographs relating to Wales and the First World War to coincide with the launch of our First World War online catalogue. You can search the catalogue here.

It was a popular event with adults and a number of school parties excited to see original historic archive material, and discuss their history with the staff who look after these collections. The success of last year’s event means that we are organising another one this year. ‘Discovering Wales: History on Your Doorstep’ will be held over two days on 20-21 November in the main hall of National Museum Cardiff, Cathays Park. This year the theme will be travel and tourism and we will have a selection of archive material from our collections including photographs, film, postcards, letters and notebooks for you to look at and discuss with members of the team who curate, manage and conserve the archive collections. This year we will also have a series of events for children. Children will be able create their own postcard for display in the Main Hall, or can put on their Sherlock hats and help us to identify unknown names and places from the photographic collections! There will also be an Explore Your Archive trail around the museum.

We hope to see you there. You can find out more about the event here.

The Bishop’s Palace at Hereford was once a very grand hall, and as it was built in 1180, offers a rare glimpse at the constructional techniques of the period. Last week, my colleagues and I visited the Palace to see the one giant arched-brace that survives, hidden in the attic.

One of St. Fagans’ latest building projects is the reconstruction of a medieval Royal hall from Rhosyr, near Newborough in Anglesey. This hall was significant because it was one of 22 in Gwynedd owned by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn ‘the Great’) during the beginning of the 13^th century. At the time Princes were peripatetic and would visit each hall in turn, in order to attend to the administrative needs of that region. As this hall now only stands as a ruin, very little evidence survived of its timber-framed roof, and a considerable amount of research has been undertaken in order to provide a representative design for the reconstruction. One potential ‘post-pad’, and areas of differential stone paving was enough evidence to suggest the existence of two rows of timber posts within the great hall at Rhosyr. These divided the space along its length, forming a central ‘knave’ and an ‘aisle’ on either side. Rows of tall timber posts like these need to be braced together to ensure their rigidity, and hence the reason for our visit to Hereford. The curved arch is almost as impressive today as it must have been when it was built. We plan on replicating this framing technique by joining our posts with similar, if smaller, arched-braces. Together they will form strong ‘arcades’ on which our roof rafters can rest.

The 1168 work was finished to a very high standard, as you can see from the ornately carved capitals and the studding along the upper edge of the brace. The timber is also of some note, as today such large diameters are only to be found in the dreams of woodworkers. For instance, each half of the brace is made from a single long curving trunk, which would be an exceptionally rare find these days. Also, the circular column near the base of the arch has been carved from, and is still attached to, the same trunk as the square post it backs on to - which called for a very wide tree.  A point of note, however, is that although the standard of workmanship is high, its design is somewhat frowned upon. In his book ‘English Historic Carpentry’ (1980) Cecil A. Hewett wrote ‘This is poor carpentry’… ‘The Hereford example is wrought to a high standard, but this quality is expressed only in the skilled cutting of the timber and the degree of ‘fit’ achieved. As illustrated, the jointing is weak and hardly deserves to be called such..’

Although described as ‘bad carpentry’ The Bishop’s Palace has stood for 835 years. Having returned from Hereford, my challenge is to replicate this design for use in our own hall, where 17 of these semi-circular arched braces are required to support Llys Rhosyr’s thatched roof, albeit at a reduced scale. The inclusion of a pair of hidden tennons at the top of the arch will successfully raise the standard of the jointing while crucially, maintaining the look of the original brace.