Collections

Artifact of the Month – Calliope

Posted on
z-18

This month’s artifact of the month is our miniature 24-whistle steam calliope, ca 1901. The calliope was invented in 1855 by Joshua C. Stoddard and had its debut in Worcester, Massachusetts on the 4th of July, 1856. It was made to work by having a number of graduated whistles pitched to create the appropriate sound. When the player hit a key, steam would be released into the appropriate whistle to create the desired sound.

The calliope was built in Cincinnati by George Kratz and may very well be the last Kratz steam calliope built by Kratz in existence. This piece comes from a showboat namedFrench’s New Sensation. She was the fifth showboat to bear that name and was built at Higginsport, Ohio in 1901. The calliope was frequently used to announce the showboat’s arrival into town to attract visitors.Read more

Collections

Artifact of the Month – Jaguar statues

Posted on
qs11

Inspired by a recent story about how they came to be, I have decided to make our two Jaguar statues the artifacts of the month for April! These two pieces are currently displayed in what we call our Huntington Room, so a lot of visitors probably haven’t seen them as this room is mostly used as a rental space or for staff meetings/events. The room was named for Archer and Anna Huntington, with a smaller adjoining room (The Anna Room) being named for Anna Huntington.

The jaguars, titled “Reaching Jaguar” and just “Jaguar” were carved by Anna Hyatt Huntington sometime between 1926-1932. Anna was a talented sculptress known for the accuracy in which she portrayed animals. Anna’s father, Alpheus Hyatt, was a professor of zoology and paleontology and so Anna gained a love of animals early in life. Despite this love, she had intended to become a violinist until an illness caused her to have to re-evaluate her chosen path. Anna’s sister, Harriet, is who Anna credits with having really pulled her into the world of sculpting. Harriet worked with Anna to create a sculpture of a boy and an animal as Harriet was not able to sculpt animals well. (You can read an interview of AnnaHEREwhere she mentions this) Harriet is also known for sculpting a statue on our property called Shouting Boy. For many years he was located in Kettle Pond, but now he is in one of our courtyards.Read more

Collections

Artifact of the Month – Claret Jug

Posted on
fs250a

This month’s artifact of the month comes as a recommendation from boss lady and is a claret jug inscribed to Francis Pettit Smith, a pioneer in the development of the screw propeller.

虽然不是在最好的形状了,你可以e how decorative and beautiful it must have been when presented to Smith. The inscription reads “The First Screw Ship ARCHIMEDES 1859 / Presented with a silver salver / TO FRANCIS PETTIT SMITH ESQUIRE / By the committee and the other subscribers to / To the Smith Testimonial Fund / As a lasting mark of their high estimate of his / private worth, and the great benefit conferred / by him on his country. / In introducing, and by his talent, energy and / perserverence. Bringing into general use the / system of screw propulsion. / 1858”Read more

Collections

Artifact of the Month – Painting of SS Kaiser Wilhelm II

Posted on
kaiser wilhelm

Today’s object of the month is an oil painting featuring the steamshipKaiser Wilhelm IIin front of the Great Pyramids of Egypt. I remember when I first came across it as I thought it was such a strange image with the ship completely out of water, but of course that’s how an allegorical painting is supposed to look. With my interest piqued, I went to check out the file folder to see what the background of this painting was. To my dismay, there was next to no information in the file and the wrong artist had even been attributed to the painting, despite the fact that there is a clear signature in the bottom left hand corner.

我是一个好奇的人,自然,所以没有knowing anything about this painting was rather painful. Taking what little I knew about it, which was basically just the artist, I turned to my best friend for answers, Google. I soon found out that the artist, Otto Bollhagen, was a well-known painter in Bremen, Germany. This is where he set up his ‘atelier’, meaning studio. Underneath ‘Atelier Bollhagen’ on the signature is ‘Bremen’. The business Otto started in 1892 continues today under the leadership of a great-grandson.Read more

Collections

Artifact of the Month- White Star Line

Posted on
White Star Line china
White Star Line china

This “Artifact of the Month” is a piece of china from the White Star Line. The White Star Line was a prominent British shipping company and today is most known for its ship, RMSTitanic. While our piece of china is not from the actualTitanic, it is very similar to what first class guests would have been served on aboard the ship and therefore is on display in a corner of our Great Hall of Steam Gallery with information and other objects relating toTitanic.

“Stonier Co. Liverpool” is stamped on the back of the plate, but in reality they did not make the china. The Stonier company brokered and distributed the china. The star featured in the center of the dish is the symbol of the White Star Line, which is also inscribed in the banner below the flag star. The crown pattern around the plate originated from Brownfield, which gave this style its name. As you can see in the photo, the gold gilt and turquoise embellishments really highlight the center emblem well.Read more