: Gwasanaethau Casgliadau

The advent doors are open

Katie Mortimer-Jones, 24 Rhagfyr 2018

 

Hope that you have been following our Natural Science #MuseumAdvent Calendar

Our curators and scientists in the Natural Science Department at National Museum Cardiff have been choosing their favourite objects from the collections, to place behind the doors of our very own museum advent calendar. As it is Christmas Eve, all of the doors are now open and we wanted to share with you all of the wonderful 24 objects chosen, and the staff who have helped created it. 

Why not have a look back through all of the doors and find out about these amazing objects and specimens within Amgueddfa Cymru collections.

Nadolig Llawen a blwyddyn newydd dda oddi wrth @CardiffCurator
 
Merry Christmas and a happy new year from @CardiffCurator

Building Management = Collection Care

Christian Baars, 4 Rhagfyr 2018

Cultural heritage collections need a friendly home. 'Friendly' means: a building that protects the collection from the elements – wind, sun and rain. Conservators worry a lot - and rightly so - about pigments fading when they are exposed to light, about stuffed animals being eaten by insect pests, about wartime medals corroding because of the presence of air pollutants. But it’s no good having a fantastic pest management system if the roof leaks. Getting the basics right makes the job of the conservator an awful lot easier and is better for the collection.

Like many museums up and down the country, National Museum Cardiff is housed in a historic building. The museum contains 30 public galleries and 50 collection stores which accommodate almost 3 million objects. This is only part of the national heritage collection of Wales and arguably something we want to protect for the benefit of current and future generations.

But being in a historic building, as beautiful as it is, has its challenges. Much of the building infrastructure is aging and needs modernising. Our roof needs some tlc. Our air conditioning systems are so old, there is nobody left in the museum who was around when they were first installed. And the electrics in parts of the building are not far from receiving a birthday telegram from Her Majesty the Queen.

All of those issues are a problem not just for visitors and staff, but also for the collections. Therefore, we have started modernising our museum building. In the past few years we already had parts of our roof replaced. Less publicly visible was the recent replacement of the electrical infrastructure in the west wing. We are now in the process of undertaking much more work to improve the building.

Some of this work will happen behind closed doors: replacement of our chillers and humidifiers with new, modern and efficient technology, making the museum leaner and greener. Other work will be more obvious to our visitors, including works to the roof of our south wing. Various works will require the temporary closure of some of our public galleries – please bear with us during this time, we are keeping the rest of the museum open and, once the works are completed, all galleries will be accessible again.

One difficulty remains: once all the works are completed the museum will look like nothing ever happened – we do not have a brand new building to show off for all our efforts. BUT the building will feel and operate differently. It will form a more reliable envelope around our collections. It will require less maintenance, saving us money and staff time. It will be more energy efficient and environmentally friendly, reducing our energy bills and forming a substantial contribution towards lowering our greenhouse gas emissions.

During this time of potential disruptions please bear in mind the end product, which will include a better museum experience for visitors today (well, next year) and in the future. And a building that continues to help us look after Wales’ national collection.

Should you have any questions at all about our refurbishment programme in relation to the collections, please do get in touch. We will be happy to assist in any way we can.

Find out more about Care of Collections at Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales here and follow us on Twitter under the hashtag #museumcare.

Lister's Historiae Conchyliorum: a seventeenth-century shell book

Kristine Chapman, 8 Mawrth 2018

The Museum holds a very significant library collection of Molluscan books, known collectively as the Tomlin Library. They were donated to the Museum in 1955 by John Read le Brockton Tomlin (1864-1954), a founder member of the Malacological Society of London, along with his extensive shell collection and archives.

 

To celebrate the Year of the Sea, we are focusing on some of the books in the Tomlin Library, and highlighting some of its treasures.

 

First up is Historiae sive synopsis methodica conchyliorum by Dr Martin Lister (1639-1712). Dr Lister was a physician to Queen Anne, who also had an interest in natural history and communicated with other leading naturalists of the time such as Edward Llwyd, John Ray, and Robert Hooke. He is generally thought to be the founder of conchology in England.

 

He had created a small version of this book for circulation to friends in 1685, but almost immediately began work on an expanded version which was produced from 1685 to 1692. This copy had 490 pages, with 1062 engraved copper plates, showing 2000 figures of molluscs.

 

The illustrations were the work of two of his daughters Susanna (1670-1738) and Anna (1671–1704). Their father had encouraged their drawing abilities, and they would have used the shells in his collection, or those sent by friends such as Sir Hans Sloane, from which to make their drawings. They were also responsible for etching or engraving the plates on copper and it is generally assumed that the printing was done by the family at home, rather than taken to a professional printing firm.

 

The publication of the first edition of Historiae Conchyliorum was a lengthy and laborious undertaking, it is an impressive feat for anyone to be involved in, but even more so for Susanna and Anna as it is thought that they were between the ages of 13 and 15 when production began. It was initially published in four books, or parts, and then a second, complete, edition was produced almost immediately and became available in 1697.

 

In 1712 Lister bequeathed the original copper plates to the Ashmolean Museum, and in 1770, the curator of the Museum, William Huddesford, published a third edition of the book. He reprinted the illustrations from the original plates, included additional notes from Lister’s manuscript, and dedicated it to the famous shell collector, the Duchess of Portland.

 

A final edition was produced in 1823, which included an index by Lewis Weston Dillwyn (1778-1855), the porcelain manufacturer whose shell collection is now housed in the Museum zoology department. This edition includes the notes from the Huddesford version and identifications of the species and remarks by the compiler. It is technically the fourth edition but is known generally as the third.

 

The Tomlin Library contains a copy of the first edition from 1685-1692, a copy of the 1770 Huddesford edition and two copies of the 1823 Dillwyn edition. For the duration of Women's History Month the 1685-1692 version will be on display in the Main Hall of National Museum Cardiff, along with a variety of shells from the zoology department.

Anrhegion ddoe, heddiw

Sarah Parsons, 20 Rhagfyr 2017

Dim syniadau am anrhegion i’r plant eleni? Mae digon o ysbrydoliaeth yng nghasgliadau’r Amgueddfa. Bydd rhai o’r eitemau yma’n cael eu harddangos yn orielau newydd Sain Ffagan Amgueddfa Werin Cymru yn hydref 2018.

Peiriant gwnïo tegan

Rhif caffael: F82.51.63

Oes rhywun yn y teulu’n dwlu ar wnïo? Margaret Eckley o Sili oedd perchennog y tegan hyfryd hwn. Byddai wedi chawrae ag ef yn y 1930au. Mae’n cael ei droi â llaw ac yn addurn arno mae llun o’r Hugan Fach Goch. Mae llyfr cyfarwyddiadau ganddo hefyd.

 

Set o filwyr bychan

Rhif caffael: 56.313.134 – 154

Beth am hen ffefryn? O Aberhonddu y daw’r set hon o filwyr tegan. Wnaethon nhw fartiso yr holl ffordd? Cawsant eu rhoi i’r Amgueddfa yn y 1950au, a bydden nhw wedi cael eu defnyddio gan blant y rhoddwr a gafodd eu geni yn y 1890au.

 

Tractor tegan Corgi

Rhif caffael: F00.27.9

Mae ceir bach Corgi yn boblogaidd o hyd. Plant o Gaerdydd fyddai wedi chwaraeâ’r tractor hwn yn y 1950au a’r 1960au.

 

Dol gwisg Gymreig

Rhif caffael: 30.316

Ganol y 19eg ganrif byddai plant wedi chwarae â’r ddol Gymreig hon. Mae’n rhaid ei bod hi wedi cael ei thrysori – roedd hi yn nheulu’r rhoddwr am 80 mlynedd. I weld mwy o ddoliau Cymreig ewch i wefan Casgliad y Werin Cymru.

 

LEGO Nadolig

Rhif caffael: 2000.194/1

Fyddai hi ddim yn Nadolig heb LEGO! Dyma sïon corn a’i sled a gynhyrchwyd yn ffatri LEGO yn Wrecsam.

Dyw’r gwrthrychau ddim i’w gweld ar hyn o bryd, ond byddan nhw ar y wefan yn fuan, ynghyd â nifer o’n casgliadau Celf, Archaeoleg, Diwydiannol, Cymdeithasol a Diwylliannol. Diolch i chwaraewyr y People’s Postcode Lottery am eu cefnogaeth i’r gwaith hwn.

Os oes gwrthrych penodol yr hoffech chi ei weld yn unrhyw un o’n hamgueddfeydd, gwnewch yn siŵr ei fod yn cael ei ddangos cyn teithio, neu gallwch chi drefnu apwyntiad i’w weld.

These are a few of my favourite things…

Sarah Parsons, 24 Tachwedd 2017

Forget Raindrops on roses, you can keep your whiskers on kittens…

With such varied collections that we have in the museum I can’t help noticing some fabulous objects.

Thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery, we have had funding so we can enhance records and add images for you to view in Collections Online, soon you’ll be able to search the museum catalogue and discover your own favourite things.

These are a few of my favourites:

What a fabulous picture this is! (I may be a little biased). This picture shows the first ever test match between the Wales and New Zealand rugby teams in 1905. Wales won 3 – 0 (a try was only worth 3 points in those days rather than 5 points as it is now).

Roman copper alloy figurine of a mouse

This lovely little mouse (only 3cm high) was found in Loughor, or Leucarum as the Romans knew it. Is it nibbling some cheese, or has it found a biscuit somewhere?

Electric locomotive

It might look like something from Thunderbirds, but this is an electric locomotive used in Glamorgan Haematite Iron Ore Mine (Llanharry Iron Ore Mine) from the 1960s. These locomotives replaced the use of horses for haulage in the mine.

Manylyn o'r brodwaith arian ar y gŵn. 

This shows detail of a dress from the 1720s. This is a very grand court dress (known as a mantua) which would have been worn for presentation at court by Lady Rachel Morgan the wife of Sir William Morgan of Tredegar House. Just look at the incredibly detailed embroidered silver thread on silk damask. The best thing about it I think, is that it was altered during the 19th century by one of Lady Rachel’s descendants, probably to wear as fancy dress! The dress will be on display in the new galleries at St Fagans National Museum of History in the autumn of 2018.

Puzzle jug made by the Cambrian Pottery c. 1800

What’s the puzzle about this puzzle jug? Try and pour from it, and you’ll end up with beer all over the place. To find out how these were made, and importantly, how you’d use it, check out this video by the V&A museum.

If you want to see more of the collections you can explore online or come and visit one of our museums. Not all of our items are on display, so before you make a special trip to see something specific, check that it’s on display first.