St Fagans Collections Manager - FIRST BLOG! Dylan Jones, 1 July 2011 My name is Dylan Jones and I am the Collections Manager at St Fagans:National History Museum. Apart from being responsible for the documentation at St Fagans I also look after the fishing and hunting collection which will be the main focus of my first blog. It will cover the work / preparation for the fishing weekend at St Fagans later on this month.Follow the blog as I finalise details for the weekend which will include Karl Chattington, Coracle maker from the Cynon Valley, lave netsmen of the Severn estuary demonstrating their unique fishing skills and Hywel Morgan giving a demonstration on fly fishing. For the first time around the Netshouse we will also be preparing and cooking fish. I hasten to add it will not be me cooking!Karl is no stranger to St Fagans and over the years he has been a popular attraction on site demonstrating his coracling skills on the ponds at Easter and in the summer months. Karl was part of the Welsh contingent that attended the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC in 2009. It was at this particular festival Karl constructed a Tywi coracle within two weeks of the festival – no mean achievement considering the lack of tools / weather conditions. Karl’s exploits at the festival can be read in a later blog.I have already received some good news a few weeks ago with Martin Morgan, Secretary of the Blackrock Lave Net Fishermen Association confirming the presence of the fishermen at the festival. Good news indeed as the netsmen are very popular and informative. Beside showing the lave net Martin and his brother Richard will also bring with them fishing traps known as putchers and a putt which were once used on the Severn estuary until quite recently. Keep reading the blog to learn more about these hardy and unique fishermen. Follow me on Twitter @CollectionsSF
The Derek Williams Trust Collection 6 May 2011 NMW A(L) 606 Ceri Richards The Pianist 1949 Pencil, indian ink and watercolour 38.2 x 56.2 cms On loan from the Derek Williams Trust since 1984 © Estate of Ceri Richards. All rights reserved, DACS 2010 NMW A(L) 561 Josef Herman Three Welsh Miners About 1966 Oil on canvas 66 x 51 cms On loan from the Derek Williams Trust since 1984 Copyright of Artist's Estate NMW A(L) 577 Ben Nicholson 1944-45 (Painting) 1944-45 pencil and watercolour on board 17.2 x 16.8 cms On loan from the Derek Williams Trust since 1984 © Angela Verren Taunt 2010. All rights reserved, DACS. Derek Mathias Tudor Williams F.R.I.C.S. (1929-1984) has been the greatest benefactor to Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales since Gwendoline and Margaret Davies. Derek Williams was a modest and private man, based in Cardiff and Pontypridd as a chartered surveyor, who enjoyed many pursuits, including golf, opera, photography, but most of all collecting contemporary art. He gained immense satisfaction from building his collection and displaying it within his numerous residences. The collection contains a large number of works by the British neo-romantics, including Ceri Richards, John Piper, David Jones and Keith Vaughan. This element is supported by the work of other artists of this period such as Lucian Freud, Josef Herman, Ivon Hitchens, Graham Sutherland, Ben Nicholson and Henry Moore. In 1984 Derek Williams died, requesting in his Will that his collection and the residue of his estate be held in trust, allowing his trustees to undertake the care and public display of the works of art, in addition to contributing to the enhancement of the collection. The Derek Williams Trust was formed by his executors in 1992, which in the following year made a formal agreement with the Museum to work together in order to fulfil the wishes of Derek Williams. The Trust’s collection has since been on long-term loan to the Museum and there have been over fifty works added and more continue to be acquired every year. A number of pictures by leading painters of the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s, including Michael Craig-Martin, Craigie Aitchison, Sean Scully and Howard Hodgkin form a strong component of the new additions. The original Derek Williams collection continues to be strengthened and consolidated by the purchase of major works by artists of the mid-twentieth century, among them Ceri Richards, Henry Moore, John Minton and Edward Burra. Interest in contemporary international art has been expressed through the regular purchase of works by artists featured in Artes Mundi. Applied arts are not overlooked by the Derek Williams Trust as they possess an active interest in this area and have acquired eleven works of applied art over the last sixteen years, in addition to assisting the Museum with a number of acquisitions, particularly in the field of ceramics. The Trust also has an interest in work by contemporary Welsh and Wales-based artists, which includes the purchase of work by Eisteddfod Gold Medal-winners. The great generosity and support of The Derek Williams Trust made possible many acquisitions of post-1900 art for the Museum’s own modern art collection, such as David Hockney, Stanley Spencer and Pablo Picasso.
The Buddhas are as many as the sands of the Ganges River: Carved inscription at Baodingshan, Dazu, AD 1177-1249 Dafydd James, 16 March 2011 May 2010. I’m standing next to the largest head I’ve ever seen. Carved in sandstone and painted, it belongs to the vast reclining Buddha at the heart of the Baodingshan cave temple. Baodingshan, ‘Summit of Treasures’, is the most impressive of the seventy-five rock-carved temple sites that make up the Dazu World Heritage Site in south-west China. 10,000 individual figures populate its 500m-long tree-shaded sandstone cliff, all carved between AD1177 and 1249.The experience is overwhelming. I’m astonished by the sheer ambition of this Buddhist complex, by the sophisticated imagination that planned it, by the skills of the artists that fashioned it. I’m here with colleague Steve Howe to plan an exhibition of Dazu carvings at the National Museum in Cardiff early in 2011, and I’m wondering how we are going to convey the magic of these places to our visitors.This visit to Dazu was my first time back in China since working there in the mid 1980s. China had changed hugely, of course, and the pace of change is as breathtaking as the ferociously spiced Sichuanese food (the best in China, in my view) which our generous hosts pressed on us at every opportunity. The most important things, however – the sociability of the people, their rightful pride in a distinguished cultural heritage – remain undimmed.Our week’s work with colleagues at the Dazu Rock Carvings Museum developed a warm and trusting friendship, along with the realisation that we had an opportunity to create something really special back in Cardiff. Dazu, after all, represents the last great flourishing of the cave-temple art form and its treasures of Song-dynasty (AD960-1279) sculpture had never been seen outside China before.Back in Wales, the whole exhibition team rose enthusiastically to the challenge and, under serious time pressure, captured the serene drama of visiting a rock-carved cave temple. The exquisite beauty of the carvings, something both spiritual and deeply human, shines out. From a number of favourite pieces, I would highlight the meditating figure of Zhao Zhifeng, the designer of the Baodingshan complex, and, in complete contrast, the charmingly characterised family group from a tomb complete with serious father, delighted mother and two naughty children. Pride of place, though, goes to the central Sakyamuni Buddha, whose authoritative dignity greets visitors to the exhibition and provides a profoundly spiritual focus for the whole experience. I was particularly pleased to see the delight of our Chinese colleagues at the results, but equally so to see the enthusiasm of so many visitors of all kinds, whether people from Cardiff or China, specialists or local school children. If the multitude of Buddhist figures and schools of thought, and their interweaving with Confucian and Daoist ideas, all seem like too much to grasp, not to worry. Just enjoy the spectacle and take heart from another Dazu inscription that expresses the essential simplicity of Buddhist thinking: ‘to know clearly means that there is nothing to know’.Andrew Renton, Head of Applied Art, National Museum Cardiff
Old cures: Amgueddfa Cymru's Historic Medicine Collection Victoria Purewal, 22 October 2010 Some examples from the materia medica collection, stored in glass jars. Nearly all medical benefits and cures come from nature. Even one of the most deadliest human diseases, malaria, was first treated with the extract from the bark of a South American tree. Amgueddfa Cymru holds a remarkable collection of materials used in historic medical remedies. In 2007, Amgueddfa Cymru were gifted a collection of 469 materia medica specimens from Professor T.D. Turner OBE of the Welsh School of Pharmacy, Cardiff University. It includes material of animal and plant origin, such as bark, roots, leaves and resins, which were the traditional sources of medicinal drugs. The collection will help visitors and students wishing to learn more about current and historic medicines. Life or Death The amount of active ingredients within each plant can vary, but would often make the difference between life and death. The active chemical constituents such as alkaloids, glycosides or tannins were released by, for example, macerating or chewing the material or making an extract or a tincture. Many of these constituents have since been identified and isolated and are now used in their pure form in modern pharmaceuticals. Kola nuts, the original ingredient of the medicinal Coca Cola of 1886 Kola Nuts and Coca leaves The Coca Cola we know today was originally derived from Mariani's Coca Wine and then John Pemberton's Coca Cola, originally intended as a patent medicine to act as a tonic and help calm the stomach. The constituents were sarsparilla, coca leaf and kola nuts. Kola nuts are a high source of caffeine and, although this has been substituted today, caffeine and sarsparilla are still important components of present day Coca Cola. The Kola nut of Western Africa (Cola acuminata) was chewed or brewed into a stimulating tea. Coca leaf (Erythroxylum coca), the plant from which cocaine is derived, originated from the Andean highlands of South America, was also chewed to diminish sensations of hunger and fatigue, and to aid digestion. It is believed that the Aztecs gave their slaves coca leaf to help them move the huge stone masses for building their pyramids. Coca leaf is still used by Peruvians to help combat altitude sickness. Cocaine was extracted and used as the first local anaesthetic primarily for eye and dental surgery. Cinchona bark from Tropical South America, containing anti-malarial quinine. Tree bark to treat malaria Some barks have been used for medicinal purposes. In Britain, the best known is probably willow bark (Salix alba), from which aspirin is derived. Even the leaves of the willow have helped with pain relief — Hippocrates recommended their use in 5BC. The bark of the Cinchona tree has equally important characteristics. Cinchona also known as Jesuit Bark is a genus of about 25 species native to tropical South America. The bark contains a source of a variety of alkaloids, the most familiar being the anti-malarial and anti-fever compound, quinine. These compounds interfere with the protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmoidium, which cause malaria. Potable, bottled water in colonial India was carbonated and spiked with quinine to both improve the flavour and prevent the onset of malaria, and hence became Indian Tonic Water. The Ordeal or Calabar Bean, from Calabar in south-east Nigeria. The Ordeal Bean: Die if guilty, survive if innocent The name Calabar Bean (Physostigma venosum) is derived from the locality of Calabar in south-east Nigeria, where it was used in 'trial by ordeal', notably in cases of witchcraft — hence its alternative name, the Ordeal Bean. The bean would be ground up and placed in a drink given to the accused. It was assumed that a guilty person would nervously sip the concoction, causing certain death. An innocent person, in contrast, would knock back the whole drink with bravado, which would generally be too much for the stomach, which would expel the poison quickly. Consequently, death was taken as a sign of guilt, but surviving was a sign of innocence. Its medical significance was discovered in 1855 and it is now the basis of the highly important drug physostigmine, used to treat reduced bladder control, glaucoma and delayed gastric emptying. Blistering beetles are distributed widely from southern Europe to Central Asia and Siberia. Blistering beetles These beetles are known as Cantharides or Blistering beetles (Lytta vesicatoria). Crushing the insect body releases the chemical cantharidin, which is aggressively stimulating to mammalian skin and internal organs. It was found to be a successful aphrodisiac by causing irritation or stimulation to the urinary tract. It has even been successfully used on cattle to encourage mating. The nutmeg, believed to look like our brain. Nutmeg If a plant has a shape or form that in any way resembles part of the human body, then that plant was once believed to heal that part. The humble nutmeg (Myristica fragrans), because it superficially looks like a human brain, has been associated with powers surrounding the brain and mind. This has been accepted through folklore as nutmeg also has psychoactive components. Nutmeg contains the alkaloid myristicin which, is narcotic and toxic, and large doses can cause hallucinations, nausea, vomiting and circulatory collapse; very large doses can be fatal. Nutmeg is a fruit endemic to Banda, the largest of the Molucca Spice Islands of Indonesia. The seed was highly sought, for its medicinal properties (it was thought to ward off the plague) and as a symbol of wealth and opulence; a person with a handful of nutmegs in their possession in the late 1600s would have been financially secure for life. The bloody wars that ensued to control the nutmeg plantations resulted in the death of 6,000 Bandanese people. Between the 17th and mid-20th centuries, the Dutch had full control of the Spice Islands. They sometimes kept the price of this spice artificially high by setting fire to their own warehouses full of nutmegs. The British fought bitterly to gain control of Run, one of the smaller Spice Islands, which resulted in the Dutch giving Britain Manhattan Island in exchange for Run. Nutmeg has been considered to be a useful medicinal herb in a number of Asian societies. It has been used to treat digestive problems and as an aphrodisiac; it has been claimed to combat asthma and heart complaints, and is still used as a sedative and as flavouring agent. Japanese Star Anise, physically similar to the culinary spice Chinese Star Anise. Star Anise There are two types of Star Anise: one is the commonly used Chinese spice (Illicium verum) and the other is the Japanese Star Anise (Illicium anisatum). When dried they are very difficult to tell apart, but one is harmless and the other toxic. The only way to separate the two conclusively is to conduct chemical analysis or to examine the shape of their calcium oxalate crystals. The trees also look similar, so, understandably in the past these spices have been combined and sold as foodstuffs. Japanese star anise contains several active components that cause severe inflammation of the kidneys, urinary tract and digestive organs. Consumers have been hospitalised with neurological symptoms after ingesting excessive doses of Japanese star anise or smaller doses of products adulterated with the fruit. Cases of illness, including serious neurological effects such as seizures, have also been reported after using star anise tea, and this may be a result of mixing up the Japanese and Chinese species. Medicinally Japanese Star Anise is used as a carminative, to relieve toothache and to stimulate the kidneys and promote urination. The leaves and seeds are also anti-bacterial. Castor sac of the mature North American Beaver Castor Canadensis. Beaver Castor sac This unusual item is a singular castor sac of the mature North American Beaver Castor Canadensis. It is also known as Castor Fibre and is similar to the anal gland in dogs. The castor sac secretes a yellowish substance called castoreum, which the beaver uses in combination with its urine to scent-mark its territory. Both male and female beavers possess a pair of castor sacs located in two cavities under the skin between the pelvis and the base of the tail. Historically, castoreum has been used in the treatment of hysteria and menstrual cramps, and was used successfully for cardiac disease. Today, it is used in beaver trapping, as a tincture in some perfumes and is even touted as an aphrodisiac. Castoreum is also used in small amounts to contribute to the flavour and odour of cigarettes. Hopefully Amgueddfa Cymru's materia medica collection will be expanded in the future. The collection is open to the public, but currently only by appointment so please contact (029) 2057 3224 or (029) 2057 3119 prior to your visit.
Face to face with the past - the redisplay of a Roman coffin Chris Owen, 28 September 2010 One of the most popular displays at the National Roman Legion Museum is a stone coffin that contains the skeleton of a Roman man. The coffin also contains the remains of grave goods that he would need for their next life, including the base of a shale bowl and fragments of a glass perfume or ointment bottle.The coffin was found in 1995 on the site of a Roman cemetery just outside Caerleon. The cemetery is now part of the Caerleon Campus in the University of Wales, Newport. It has been on display in the National Roman Legion Museum from 2002, however in Summer 2010 we started working to redisplay the coffin in a fashion that is closer to its original form thanks to funding from the Friends of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales.Made from a solid block of Bath stone, the coffin dates to about 200AD. Since it is around 1800 years old the coffin wouldn’t be able to support the weight of its original lid which is in 2 large pieces. The sides and base of the coffin are being reinforced and the lid will sit on top of a Perspex cover with enough of a gap so that you can see the skeleton inside.Further work will be done to find out more about our Roman man, who was about 40 when he died. Thanks to funding from the Roman Research Trust, Isotope analysis will be carried out on his teeth which should tell us where grew up and what sort of food he ate. We will also be trying to reconstruct his face so that we can produce a painted portrait of him using the same materials and techniques used by the Romans.Follow our progress as work proceeds over the next year.We aim to complete the redisplay by the end of 2011 when you will be able to come face to face with the past!Step 1 The coffin, skeleton and grave goods have been on display since 2002.In that time it has become one of the most popular exhibits in the gallery.Step 2 Gaps in the coffin allowed visitors to push things into the display.These are some of the things we found, not exactly the sort of thing our Roman would like to take to the next life.Step 3 Work begins. First the skeleton and grave goods have to be removed and stored safely.While off display the skeleton will undergo further investigation in an attempt to find more about the man buried in the coffin.Step 4 All modern materials added to an object must be reversible. This makes it easier to remove restoration without causing damage to the original artefact.Here a reversible barrier is being painted onto the coffin. This will separate the original stonework from the material used to fill gaps and level the rim.Step 5 Even the most awkward places have to be reached!Step 6 The lid of the coffin must have a level surface to sit on!Unfortunately much of the original rim of the base has eroded so with the aid of foam, double-sided tape and the glass top of the original display as a guide, we hope to establish a new level for the coffin rim.Step 7 Layers of foam were stuck to the flat glass top. When the highest part of the coffin was reached this line was used as the level for the new rim.Step 8 Now for the fun bit� mixing up the fill material.This material must work like a putty and set hard when dry. Also be safe to use in the open gallery and similar in colour and texture to the original Bath stone.We went for a mixture of air-drying clay, sand to reduce shrinkage and give texture. Acrylic paint for colour and extra bonding. This was a bit of a messy job and it took a while to get the mix right!Step 9 Once the mix was ready the gap between the foam and the edge of the coffin was filled.Step 10 Being careful not to get excess fill material all over the stone.Step 11 Looks good, let�s hope the fill dries without to much shrinkage.The colour of the fill is a bit light, not as golden as the original Bath stone. The Roman quarry for the stone is believed to be south of the ancient City of Bath. The stone is soft and easily carved when wet, but becomes hard on drying.Step 12 Inspecting the days work! Hopefully when the glass and foam is removed the fill will be nice and level.Step 13 The gaps in the side of the coffin have to be filled to prevent access to the skeleton once it is put back on display.Step 14 The glass top and foam are removed and the new rim revealed. The fill has dried much lighter than expected so will have to be painted to make it less obvious.Most of the fill will be hidden by the lid which extends over the edge and down the side. This overlapping edge use to rest on a ridge that ran round the top of the coffin base.Remains of this ridge can still be seen on the right hand-side of the image just below the fill.Step 15 The coffin was unearthed by a mechanical digger, which broke it into several sections. Most of the pieces were retrieved, but one area was so badly damaged no pieces survived.Instead of filling the gap to complete the side, we decided to install a viewing window so small visitors to the museum can still get a good view of the skeleton inside.Step 16 The coffin is extremely heavy and could not be moved out of the gallery safely. Therefore, all conservation work has to take place in the gallery, which has been quite challenging at times.If you are visiting and see us there, come over and say hello, we are happy to answer any questions about the project.
