For the last two years we have put together an advent calendar celebrating some of the beautiful specimens in our natural history collections at National Museum Cardiff. We have been tweeting these from the @CardiffCurator Twitter account each day and will continue throughout December. The specimens behind the first twelve doors have been inspired by the song ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’.
We have compiled a Storify story on our advent calendar, which can be viewed here.
Wrth i’r nosau gau amdanon ni a’r oerfel ein cydio, dyma bum syniad i gadw’n gynnes dros y gaeaf gan Amgueddfa Cymru.
1. Comisiynwyd y blancedi tapestri hyfryd yma gan Felin Teifi yn Sir Gaerfyrddin, un o’r llond llaw o felinau gwlân gweithredol yng Nghymru heddiw. Dyma ddefnyddio patrwm Caernarfon traddodiadol gyda thinc modern yn yr arlliwiau ffres a’r fflach o liw llachar.
2. Beth am bâr o sanau cashmir cyfoethog ar gyfer eich bodiau bodlon? Sefydlwyd Corgi Hoisery yng Nghaerfyrddin ym 1892 i gynhyrchu sanau gwlân ar gyfer glowyr yr ardal. Heddiw, mae pob pâr wedi ei greu yn unigol ar beiriant gwnïo llaw.
3. Ychwanegwch laeth poeth at y powdwr siocled i greu diod i lonni’r galon. Ychwanegwch ddiferyn o Penderyn os ydych chi’n fentrus. Yn dod mewn mwg priddwaith cadarn.
4. Mae’r blancedi gwlân ffasiynol yma gan Tweedmill Textiles yn Nimbych yn wedi’u dylunio’n wych ac yn werth yr arian. Bydd cyfuno dau batrwm yn creu effaith trawiadol yn y cartref.
5. Capiau stabl twîd wedi’u gweu yng Nghymru o wlân 100% mewn patrwm traddodiadol. Perffaith i gynhesu’r pen yn y wlad neu yn y dref dros y gaeaf.
Insects love eating dead things. In nature, they are important decomposers. But in museums (and in your house) they can be a right old nuisance. Museums - who look after and preserve your heritage - need to keep a constant watchful eye on their collections; sometimes, this work hits the news, such as last week at Bakewell Old House Museum in Derbyshire.
Museum collections contain a lot of dead things. Wood is eaten by the larvae of furniture beetles (woodworm) who create very attractive tunnels; that is nice if you like tunnels, but not so good if you like that historic picture frame more than the tunnels inside it. Mould in archives and libraries provides a nice little food source for booklice. Carpet beetle larvae and clothes moth caterpillars aren’t fussy – they will eat wool, fur and feathers.
There is hardly a museum that does not have pest insects in its stores from time to time. These are the same insects you will find in your home. Your wardrobe at home is irresistible to moths. And did you ever have to throw away a bag of flower or cereal because it contained a healthy population of weevils or flour beetles? This is annoying, but you can easily buy a new pair of socks, or a new packet of flower. But can you imagine a WWI flag or a specimen of the extinct quagga being destroyed by moths? These are irreplaceable objects.
So insects like organic things. Parts of museum collections that are susceptible to insect infestations include entomology (yes, insects even love to eat insects!), taxidermy, botany, furniture, costume, shoe and library collections, and anything containing wood. It is often the larvae of insects that feed on organic objects. Insects also like not being disturbed. At home, you are more likely to find weevils in flour that is several months old than in a bag you bought last week.
To deal with an insect infestation does not mean fumigating the place with chemical insecticides; instead, it means not letting a problem get out of hand. It means regular checks and audits of the collections to spot any problems early. It means setting up pest traps around the entire building and checking them regularly. It means collecting data on insect activity across the site to spot patterns and relating them to particular problems, for example high humidity. It means setting up pest control zones with different restrictions in various parts of the building and a quarantine facility, which is something more and more museums are doing. It means good housekeeping: regular cleaning of stores, avoiding rubbish accumulating, putting specimens and objects safely away immediately after using them. And should any infestations be spotted we kill insects usually by freezing the object rather than using chemicals.
We are not quite "waging war on hungry bugs"; our approach to dealing with insect pests is called “Integrated Pest Management” (IPM). A couple of years ago the BBC made a helpful programme on this: What's eating the museum?, featuring museum pest management specialist David Pinniger. Work on this at National Museum Cardiff has only just started but IPM will receive a lot of attention in the next couple of years. Because of its general interest, pest management at the museum is also an area where we will involve the public through workshops, exhibitions and volunteer programmes. It will help us keep safe the collections we care for on behalf of the people of Wales while giving everyone an opportunity to learn about the fascinating world of insects.
The 14th October 2014 was the 101st anniversary of the Universal Colliery disaster at Senghenydd. 440 people were killed in this disaster on the 14th October 1913. It is still the worst mining disaster in the U.K. Last year on the centennial of the disaster a Welsh National Memorial to all mine disasters was unveiled on the site of the pit head. The memorial can be seen on the front of this memorial service programme acquired recently.
You can read an article on this disaster on our website. It is also possible to view all the objects from our collections that relate to this disaster on our ‘Images of Industry’ online database. Check it all out here
This interesting autograph book was donated this month. The book contains autographs, inscriptions and drawings connected with the South Wales Miners Federation, and most date to 1926. There are also some inscriptions relating to the Spanish Civil War. The photograph here shows the main inscription on the inside of the front cover.
This month also saw the launch of our First World War online database. It currently contains all objects and documents from the social & cultural history collections. It will soon include all our WW1 related objects from the industry collections as well. The site can be viewed here
To complement the launch of this database, staff from across Amgueddfa Cymru were involved in an ‘Explore Your Archives’ event held at the Oakdale Institute at St. Fagans: National History Museum. This event was an opportunity to show some original documents and photographs to members of the public, and promote the work we do in looking after these important collections.
Bag gyda phrint llaw chwareus yn dangos rhai o hoff adeiladau’r brifddinas. Mae’r bagiau cotwm trwm, hawdd i’w glanhau yn dod mewn dau faint; bas siopa mawr a bag llai, perffaith i ddal eich cinio. Daw bathodyn am ddim gyda phob bag, i chi ddangos eich cariad at Gaerdydd i bawb.
Rhodd rhamantus
Ysbrydolwyd y fodrwy arian brydferth hon gan fodrwy bwysi o’r 15fed ganrif a ganfuwyd ger Priordy Ewenni. Mewn arysgrif ar yr ochr allanol mae’r geiriau ieme la belle gyda chyfieithiad cudd i’ch cariad y tu mewn – love is beautiful.
Cariad at waith celf?
Gyda’i rhyfeddodau breuddwydiol a’r hiraeth yn yr iaith, mae ‘drama leisiau’ Dan y Wennallt Dylan Thomas wedi tanio dychymyg Syr Peter Blake erioed. Mae’r llyfr cain hwn yn croniclo obsesiwn un o hoelion wyth Celf Bop Prydain mewn gwaith pensil, dyfrlliw a collage.
Casgliad Llwyau Caru Sain Ffagan
Cerfiwyd y casgliad gwych hwn o lwyau caru Cymreig â llaw gan Sion Llewellyn. Mae pob un wedi'i seilio ar lwy garu o gasgliad Sain Ffagan: Amgueddfa Werin Cymru.
Gweu at y gaeaf
Cynhyrchwyd yr edafedd gwlân pur 100% hwn ar beiriannau hanesyddol Amgueddfa Wlân Cymru yn Dre-fach Felindre. Gyda’r gaeaf yn cau amdanon ni, beth am weu ychydig o belenni yn sgarff gynnes, neu arbed arian drwy brynu côn 500g ar gyfer project mwy.
