Working in partnership for the people of Herefordshire
Object of the month archive
Victorian Spanish Mantilla Comb (Acc. No. 4778)
This beautiful and enormous hair comb is a Spanish "peineta" which would have been put into a bun or chignon on the back of the head and would have had a mantilla or lace veil draped over it. This particular comb was worn by the donor's mother on her wedding day.
This comb is Victorian and dates from the nineteenth century. It is during this period that there was a growing obsession with accessories and fashion trends. The innovations in manufacturing, the growth of the middle classes, their growing affluence and interest in manners had a profound effect on the speed of change in design and fashion. It accelerated to a point where there was a need for the bizarre, such as glass walking sticks, jewellery made from beetles and accessories made from real exotic birds. This comb represents an extreme in its size. The comb is made of tortoise shell, which comes from the horny plates found on the back of the hawksbill turtle. This material was widely used for both its beauty and practical properties. It becomes mouldable when heated in a similar way to plastic. Fortunately turtles are now protected by law and there are many synthetic materials that can be used in place of tortoise shell.
This Victorian comb is on display at Hereford Museum and Art Gallery in the accessories case.
Harvest Maid
This is a traditional harvest maid that was created from the last corn left standing. It was believed that it captured the spirit of the corn. For hundred of years the creation of corn dollies at harvest time has been an important part of the harvest tradition. They have their origins in pagan beliefs where the forces of nature were embodied by spirits, the tradition continued into Christian times and this traditional rural craft is still practiced today. Corn dollies both celebrate the success of the current harvest and also look to the future to secure a good harvest in coming years.
This tympanum is a cast of the original carved in stone which was once positioned over a door at St. Mary’s Church at Fownhope.
The stonework is of the Herefordshire School of Sculpture of the early 12th century. The image represents the Virgin and Child, with the winged lion of St.Mark and the eagle of St.John. Mary is seated in majesty with Jesus on her lap, both have cruciform halos and their right hands raised in blessing. A scroll lies across the Virgins left leg.
The stone tympanum was moved from its original position, possibly during expansion of the church during the Medieval period or during major restoration work in 1882. By 1938 it had been placed inside the church below the west window of the nave. We think the cast may have been made during one of these periods, possibly in the 1880’s.
This late 18th century lacquered poker set is beautifully designed with an elaborate pattern upon the outside. The inside has four decks of cards that seem to date from the late 18th to early 19th centuries. Perhaps of more interest are the mother-of-pearl ‘coins’. They are Chinese in origin, and the oval ones were made between 1790 and 1840. They were used as gambling counters, and most of them would have been made while the Philosopher - Emperor, Ch'ien Lung was in power 1736 - 1796. This peaceful period of the Ching Dynasty, was famous for its superior art work, reaching its height in craftsmanship around c.1780 - c.1800. A typical quote from Ch’ien was, "Things of beauty can become the source of purity, happiness, and inspiration; works of art can ennoble and raise the consciousness of people."
The exceptionally high quality of craftsmanship exhibited by these pieces can even be noted at extremely high magnification. The equally beautiful heavily carved circular counters are cut from thicker pearl shell, and would have been carved c.1800 - c.1820, around the period when another Philosopher - Ruler, 'Chia Ching' was Emperor. Usually the pieces show story-poem scenes of people in various life situations, both at work and at play, often employing a literary or counseling pose. Other items frequently portrayed are animals, birds, fish and insects. They were designed for the British who ordered them in boxed sets through the Far East India Company, who were trading with China in this period.
8069
These highly successful predators owe their success to their adaptability. They can eat a huge range of prey from invertebrates like worms and slugs to mammals and birds. This means they can survive in a range of different environments, as the now common urban foxes living in our towns and cities show.
The two faces of this animal are caused by a genetic mutuation . The genetic makeup of this creature has been weakened through inbreeding, this type of condition is quite common within animal populations where inbreeding is used to develop or retain partiuclar genetic traits within a relativly small animal population. Unusually this animal survived for about 6 days before losing its struggle for life.
Such mutations were once known as the fairies' revenge and farmers would traditionally put out a bowl of milk to keep the fairy folk happy. It was thought that any farmer whose animals suffered from such mutations had ben lax in paying the fairies their due respect and consequently the fairies had taken their revenge on the farmer's animals.
13 inch speculum, focus 9ft 5 1/2 inches made in 1867 by G With, Hereford.
G.H. With was headmaster of the Bishop of Hereford Bluecoat school for almost 25 years.
In addition to his duties as a teacher, George With was also a keen amateur astronomer. He was one of the first astronomers to produce mirrors for telescopes that were made from glass. Before glass, highly polished metal had been used but these metal mirrors required a lot of maintenance and were not as accurate as the new glass mirrors. George With's silvered glass mirrors were made by initally using a machine to obtain the rough curve required for a telescope mirror. The glass was then hand polished using a range of abrasive materials until the surface was smooth. The surface was then silvered, the whole process would take at least a week, often longer. Once silvered, the mirror would be tested for accuracy and re-smoothed and re- silvered if adjustment was needed.
The mirror surface of this object is still in very good condition despite being over 100 years old. This mirror could still be used in a telescope today.