As part of my retrospective documentation work I came across this exquisitely preserved fossil brittle star.
It is from the Middle Jurassic 195 – 189 million years old.
Although it does not have a locality the preservation and matrix indicate that it comes from Dorset.
Info. by – Stuart
YORYM : 2007.4563
Well, that was one of the most bizarre (but most fun) afternoons I have ever had! Today families were given the chance to try and protect two eggs – one was to be launched in a rocket, the other was to be thrown off the roof of the musem. And, of course, the aim of the game was to see if your eggs had survived.
For me the fun was to be had because I was one of the lucky members of staff who was able to go up to the roof of the Yorkshire Museum and throw eggs off it. It was really odd to be up there for the first time (it’s a little difficult to get to, and of course only employees with good reason to are allowed on the roof), to look down on people, and to be flinging away carefully prepared eggs. We had to throw the eggs far enough for them to stay away from the edge of the building and land on a target, but at the same time hope that a child wouldn’t be really disappointed if their egg hit too hard. One egg hadn’t been so well secured in a polystyrene cup and came flying out of it about half way down, smashing right into the middle of the target. The parachute gently followed it and came fluttering down all by itself…
We’re doing it all again tomorrow. I’m sure I can find the time to have fun throwing eggs off the roof help out my colleagues with an important activity!
Willow pattern is probably the best known and most enduring example of English chinoiserie design. It is generally accepted that Thomas Minton engraved the earliest version in the 18th century.
Willow pattern is wholly English in concept, but completely Chinese in inspiration. It is not a direct copy from any Chinese design, but is a composite drawn from Chinese sources. The early versions vary quite a lot, but by the first decade of the 19th century a standard pattern had emerged, and this is still being produced today. It has even found its way back to China.
The willow pattern was produced by many potteries and proved to be very popular. Stories and legends then grew up around the design. Although the stories varied, they usually centred on a pair of doomed lovers who are turned into birds by sympathetic gods. The first known printed version of the willow pattern legend was published in the magazine, The Family Friend, in 1849.
YORCM : 2007.446
Information by - Michelle
The culture of Museums using their assets to make extra cash is now well established in Britain. Some of the most successful ventures have been in venue hire.
These two photos were both taken on Friday afternoon in York – the first shows the work going on in York Museum Trust’s own medieval building – the Hospitium – and the second is at the National Railway Museum.
The Hospitium is to become the new centre of the Trust’s Venues business in April and the NRM have recently extended their conference facilities. This will be the first time in 600 years or so that the Hospitium has proper plumbing – you can see some of it in the middle of the floor in the picture!
This is a large, four storey, wooden doll’s house. I t was made for Phyllis Dulce Warwick in about 1895 when she was 8 years old. The rooms are furnished with the original objects.
The doll’s house is wired for electricity and still has original carbon filament bulbs (very few real houses would have been lit by electricity in 1895).
The most interesting and unusual piece of furniture is the miniature Ice Chest. On top there is a hinged lid revealing the space where the block of ice would be stored, the interior is painted grey to represent the metal lining the full-sized chest would have. On the shelf in the cold compartment there is a miniature cooked chicken. Ice Chests as a form of cold storage became popular in the late 19th Century.
Information by - Sarah Maultby
YORCM : 1972.51