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去图!(维多利亚女王)

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维多利亚女王Reigned by George Hayter
维多利亚女王Reigned by George Hayter

Hey everyone! This post I am very excited about because it is my absolute favorite figurehead that we have here in our collection! This figurehead of Queen Victoria not only interests me because of the historical significance of the Queen, but the detail of the carving is beautiful.

The figurehead is in a walking position with her long luxurious dress blowing in the wind, making her look very realistic. She is ordained in jewels and the top of the dress is covered in roses. The Queen is holding an orb, an emblem of sovereignty, which is a dead giveaway that this was in fact a queen. Also another tell-tale sign is the crown atop her head (duh). The detail is incredible on this carving, and even though it is hard to see in the photograph, the artist included a carving of the patron saint of England, St. George. The image shows the saint on horse back slaying the dragon, located just on the waist of Queen Victoria. Back in her day, this figurehead was probably painted all white, but today she remains in a dark greenish-color. She was once displayed in the Great Hall of the Mariners’ Museum, but now remains “Hidden in the Hold.”Read more

Collections

Choosing One Out of Many Thousands

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q299

How do you pick a favorite artifact when our collection contains over 30,000 of them? For me, it was love at first sight. Or maybe it was awe at first glance.

When I arrived at the museum over 8 years ago, one of the first projects I worked on was a complete inventory of the collection. I had the joy of opening all the boxes, folders, drawers, cabinets, mysterious rolled objects, and so much more. And each time, there was something amazing, beautiful, unique, compelling, ordinary or strange to see.Read more

Collections

去图!(-Mermaid Follow Up)

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Second Mermaid Figurehead
Second Mermaid Figurehead

这篇文章将致力于第二美人鱼our collection! This figurehead is a gilt mermaid with a greenish bronze tail and long flowing brown hair. I particularly like this mermaid because she was carved into the into the trail-boards of the the bow, something fairly abnormal for most other figureheads. As mentioned last post, the second half of the “Go Figure!” series will look at the darker side of mermaids, even though this mermaid does not appear to be scary or mean. I chose this mermaid to do this side of the creatures because the fin-like detail towards the end of her tail, give off a less human side than the other one did and show a more ‘evil’ aspect of mermaids.

The darker side of mermaids is the side that I have heard more tales about, and personally find it to be more interesting. I like that these women are seen as objects of beauty, but they have a dark twist. The most common of mermaid folklore says that these sea nymphs sing entrancing songs and use their beauty to lure sailors out to sea.Read more

Collections

去图!

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“A Mermaid” by John William Waterhouse, 1901.

For this post in “Go Figure!” I wanted to look at the two mermaids we have in our collection. For centuries myth and legends of mermaids have been told around the world, so I want to take this chance to share some stories and let you all know about the two ladies we have here in our collection.

The myth and folklore of mermaids have been around since 1000 B.C.E. While their whereabouts and intentions have differed through the years, this week I want to focus on the kinder and more gentle side of mermaids, since I think this particular figurehead has a sweet composure. For the next post, I will discus our other figurehead, and while she does not look the least bit frightening, I still think she is up to something.Read more

Collections

"I Think We Found Bigfoot"

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Our
Our “Bigfoot”

“I think we found Bigfoot in the Chesapeake Bay Gallery”. As much fun as that would be, I knew it wasn’t true. But after hearing this comment from a coworker, I still went running out to the gallery with a camera. And I found this…a big, hairy looking beast, but one made from a large pile of fiber optic cables that were once part of the interactive displays. Our “Bigfoot” is another sign that the deinstallation of the gallery is progressing nicely.

Right now the room is a mess of sawdust and chunks of plaster where the walls are coming down. As soon as an area is cleared of artifacts, the Exhibit Design and Facilities Management teams step in to take out the cases, walls and murals. The gallery is constantly changing and without all the design walls in place, the room looks twice the size it did before.Read more