Does your house shift with the seasons? So does the Nonsuch! Learn how the Conservation Team tracks the expansion and contraction of the Nonsuch in this video with Senior Conservator Carolyn Sirett.
Did you know how we care for the Nonsuch? Pt. 1
The Nonsuch is the largest artifact in the Museum Collection and requires specialized conservation. Join Senior Conservator Carolyn as she takes us through some of the regular tasks they carry out on the Nonsuch – including a trip up the rigging!
Check back next week for part 2.
Welcome to the CEO’s Corner
Posted on: Wednesday November 8, 2023
Dearest Manitoba Museum friends,
First, thank you for being here. I appreciate how much information we receive on any given day, and how overwhelming it can feel. We often ask ourselves, ‘Is this message relevant to me or do I just delete it or move on?’ Fair question, and a necessary one if we want to create a life most meaningful to each of us. This message, aka my introductory blog, is one such piece of communication I hope you don’t automatically move on. I’m going to try my best to make reading this message worthy of your time and attention.
To begin, for those of you I haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting, my name is Dorota Blumczyńska and I am the CEO of the Manitoba Museum. I joined the Museum two and a half incredible years ago. I say incredible because my life has been forever changed by what I’ve learned, unlearned, and re-learned in this seemingly short time. Leading this important organization is one of the greatest honours of my career, my life. Every day brings with it new insights, new challenges to overcome, new opportunities to embrace, and new uncertainties to leap into. More about that in a bit.
Why a blog? Although engaging with our communities is an important part of my role at the Museum, it isn’t something I get to do as much as I would like. The day to day realities of leading a museum are dynamic and demanding; they require paying attention simultaneously to what’s on the horizon and what’s right in front of us. I enjoy the challenges that come with supporting a fantastic team and doing hard and heart work, in balance with opportunities to be with the people and planet we do all of it for. That’s where this blog comes in: it’s my way of being present with you, our community, while serving the needs of the moment. In time, as we get to know each other, I hope to hear from you, respond to questions, and offer my insights on museum work and why it matters. These are some of my goals.
So, a little about me. I came to Canada with my parents and four siblings in 1989. We were brought here as Privately Sponsored Refugees – meaning a community who had never met us agreed to support our family during our first years here; everything from finding work, housing, learning English, to understanding our new country. As it is for many migrants, life in Canada in those early years was very difficult. The most basic things proved more complicated than any of us had imagined. In time however, we began to make friends and it was the warmth and welcome of others that helped us feel like we had found home again.
Community, I’ve learned, both professionally and personally, is what makes life a less arduous journey. The mere presence of others, those who witness our milestones, celebrate our successes, grieve our losses, and accompany us in the most beautifully mundane moments, enriches our existence.
My own life was enriched two and half years ago when I was invited to be a part of the Manitoba Museum team.
It was enriched years earlier when my family was selected for re-settlement.
And it continues to be enriched by every chance I get to welcome you, our community, into relationships with us.
This past year, as you can see from our spectacular new website and changes to many of our physical and online spaces, has been a year of continued transformation. Improvement not for the sake of improving, but with the goal of bringing us closer together, in proximity to each other’s stories.
This CEO corner, the first of many blogs from me to you, will help us get to know one another a bit more, encourage us to be curious about each other’s perspectives, and will create a space where we can ask and answer questions, explore complicated topics, and perhaps, demystify some of the myths and mysteries of museums today.
Loving Thy Nonsuch – Care of a Beloved Ship
Posted on: Friday November 3, 2023
By Carolyn Sirett, Senior Conservator
In 1973, the Nonsuch replica made its final resting place at the Manitoba Museum where it has become the largest artifact in the Museum’s collection and one of the most beloved. The preservation of this treasured little ship falls onto the shoulders of the Conservation department, whom over the past 50 years have taken great care in ensuring it sticks around for generations to come. So how does a team of trained Conservators look after a ship that has been stored indoors for the last fifty years?
Behind-the-scenes, weekly, monthly, and bi-annual maintenance tasks are completed, ensuring that Nonsuch stays in working condition. Regular cleaning of woodwork, removal of dust from decks, and polishing of metal components keeps everything in tiptop shape. Historical changes in footwear have also helped greatly in the preservation of Nonsuch. There are stories from the early 1970s of Conservators removing studs from high-heeled shoes that would get stuck in the deck seams almost daily. The flat-bottomed footwear of today’s fashion style has been much more sympathetic and favorable to the lasting conditions of the ship.
Assistant Conservator, Loren Rudisuela, polishes the brass on the tiller handle of Nonsuch. ©Manitoba Museum
Log books with maintenance records and drawings from the 1980s are still used today to track and record preservation tasks by the Conservation department. ©Manitoba Museum
Senior Conservator, Carolyn Sirett, climbs the ratlines to apply pine tar to the standing rigging as part of the ship’s maintenance. ©Manitoba Museum
The more challenging jobs are completed above the main decks, in the rigging and sails that soar high above the gallery space. With a stomach for heights, the ratlines or rope ladders, are used by Conservators to climb up to the various sections and apply pine tar to the standing rigging. Pine tar, an oily black substance brushed on to the ropes, is what gives the ship and gallery its iconic smell – a smell that has been said to spark memories of first field trips, first dates, and first visits. Caring for Nonsuch is a passion for the Conservation team, and a longstanding tradition of ship secrets that have been passed down from one Conservator to the next.
Carolyn Sirett
Senior Conservator
Carolyn Sirett received her B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Manitoba, Diploma in Cultural Resource Management from the University of Victoria, and Diploma in Collections Conservation and Management…
Read more
Current Night Sky: November 2023
November brings colder weather which quickly becomes the dominating factor for most observers. When the sky is clear it will be cold, so the most important equipment is not a telescope or pair of binoculars, but a pair of good boots and a warm parka. Don’t forget mitts, a toque, and several layers of underclothes.
Visible Solar System
Jupiter is at opposition early in the month, providing its largest and brightest views face this year. It rises at sunset and is visible all night, finally setting in the west as the sun rises.
Saturn is at its highest shortly after sunset, but still low in the sky for Manitoban skywatchers. Although visible until after midnight, telescope viewers will want to catch Saturn and its rings as early in the evening as possible to minimize the poor seeing nearer the horizon.
Uranus reaches opposition as well this month, its best and brightest for the year but still requiring at least binoculars for most observers to
spot it as a faint “star”. CHART COMING
In the morning sky, Venus rises about 3 hours before the sun and stands high in the east in the pre-dawn sky.
Mercury has moved into the evening sky but the angle of the ecliptic at this time of year keeps it too low to be easily spotted from Manitoban latitudes.
Mars passes around the far side of the Sun on November 17th and so is invisible from Earth.
The Moon passes several planets this month:
- November 9 (morning sky): the waning crescent Moon is about 1 degree away from Venus in the morning sky, a spectacular alignment
worth getting up for. - November 14 (evening sky): the thin crescent Moon is near Mercury, but the pair will be too low to observe from Canada.
- November 24-25: The waxing gibbous Moon is near Jupiter tonight.
Observer’s Calendar
All times are given in local time for anywhere around the world at mid-northern latitudes, unless it’s an event which occurs at a specific moment – then the time is given in Central Daylight Time – the local time for Manitoba.
November 2: Jupiter at opposition
November 4: Daylight Saving Time ends tomorrow – set your clocks one hour earlier before you go to bed tonight.
November 5: Last Quarter Moon; the South Taurid meteors peak in early evening, but only produce two to five meteors per hour. On the plus side, those meteors are often bright fireballs.
November 9 (morning sky): Venus 1 degree below crescent Moon
November 10: The monthly meeting of the Winnipeg Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, the largest astronomy club in the province. The meetings are open to anyone and are also streamed online.
November 11: The North Taurid meteor shower peaks, also producing a few meteors per hour. Between the two overlapping Taurid streams and the upcoming Orionid stream, November often has an increase in bright fireballs.
November 13: New Moon
November 14: Antares occulted by Moon (daytime event)
November 18: The annual Leonid meteor shower peaks on the night of November 17-18, with a predicted rate of about 10-15 meteors per hour (under a dark sky) in the pre-dawn hours of the 18th. Th e Moon is a thin crescent in the evening and so won’t interfere with observation, making this a decent year for this famous shower. No major outbursts are predicted for this year, which can cause rates of several thousand per hour. A potential minor outburst may occur near 12h Universal Time on November 21st, consisting of 10-15 bright meteors per hour. The is timing is well-placed for North American observers and is worth monitoring. For details on how to turn your meteor watching into scientifically useful data, visit the International Meteor Organization.
November 20: First Quarter Moon
November 25: Jupiter below waxing gibbous Moon
November 26: Uranus below waxing gibbous Moon IMAGE COMING
November 27: Full Moon (near Pleaides star cluster)
Scott Young
Planetarium Astronomer
Scott is the Planetarium Astronomer at the Manitoba Museum, developing astronomy and science programs. He has been an informal science educator for thirty years, working in the planetarium and science centre field both at The Manitoba Museum and also at the Alice G. Wallace Planetarium in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Scott is an active amateur astronomer and a past-President of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
Fakes & Forgeries: Buyer Beware!
Posted on: Tuesday October 31, 2023
The month of October is affectionately called ‘spooky season’ by many folks. While the word spooky makes most people think of ghosts, vampires, and other creepy things, equally spooky for me are the number of items for sale online marketed as authentic pieces of fur trade history!
Ok, maybe I’m trying too hard to connect this blog post to the season. BUT there is an abundance of fakes and forgeries on the market, all trying to entice unlikely buyers searching for Hudson’s Bay Company history. This trend is not seasonal, but it always make me cringe. I receive a few emails each year where someone has spent a substantial amount of money online on a bale seal, token, amulet, or trade axe and they want to learn more about it. I always feel so terrible when I have to let them know that they likely purchased a fake or forgery.
Which means it’s time for me to share some of my ‘red flags’ when looking at online auction sites for fur trade history. I’ve also written about two commonly forged items, bale seals and trade axes, for Canada’s History Magazine so you can read those too (links at the end of the blog!).
This month I decided to do a quick google search to see what came up when I typed “Hudson’s Bay Company tokens” and “Hudson’s Bay Company bale seals”. I immediately spotted numerous red flags: anytime I see a conjoined HB I’m a bit suspicious; iconography that bears no resemblance to the HBC Coat of Arms also sets off alarms; and anytime there’s a very old date stamped on the item my hackles raise. Why is that? Well, HBC was fairly routine with how, where, and when they marked their items. Although trade tokens were highly variable during the earlier years, and many posts made and issued their own, anytime HBC produced something it looked pretty official and often used their full name, or their coat of arms (or a portion of it).
Trade Tokens
Here are some examples of HBC trade tokens from the Museum Collection:
This is a set of the brass trade tokens for the East Main district. Note the Coat of Arms.
Here is a framed set of the thinner aluminum tokens used in the Arctic and the Labrador/St. Lawrence districts.
And here are some items I found this month, including this one from an auction house where somebody paid $360 USD in 2022 for an item that is clearly fake.
Note the large beaver icon in the centre and the miss-spelling of Hudson’s Bay Company.
And these tokens which are slightly better forgeries, but still fake none-the-less (and I am not a member of WorthPoint so I don’t know how much these sold for!).
These brass tokens look a little better but still not how HBC would mark their tokens.
This one on ebay might be the best forgery. It uses the Coat of Arms, but it’s still not a 1670 medallion. It looks modelled after a much later commemorative coin, and if you look at the reverse in the second image, there’s no way HBC was putting French on their early coins and tokens!
This is a pretty good looking fake, but the date, 1670, is the red flag. That’s not the Company’s name at that time period and it looks like a commemorative coin!
The reverse of this coin or token is also questionable, especially the French!
Bale Seals
Lead bale seals are another commonly faked item. I would encourage folks to look at images of actual bale seals to see that they’re relatively small, thin, and intended to be pinched or crimped. So there are often two parts with a small connecting piece. What I tend to see online are these thick, flat circles with crude HB or conjoined HB C on them and a perforated hole. Here are two similar examples both posted to a coin community forum:
The conjoined HB and chunkiness of these make me question their authenticity.
Again, this looks quite crude and unlike any authentic HBC bale seal.
And here are some examples from the HBC Collection. These are 20th century varieties, no longer made from lead but enamel-coated zinc or aluminum:
Zinc examples in the front, including one that has been pinched with red enamel-coated ones in the back, both featuring HBC coat of arms.
Three 20th century examples from the collection: plain zinc, red, and gold coloured.
So please be cautious when purchasing items online, because there’s nothing scarier than finding out you’ve wasted your hard-earned dollars!
Further Reading:
Dr. Amelia Fay
Curator of Anthropology & the HBC Museum Collection
Amelia Fay is Curator of Anthropology and the HBC Museum Collection at the Manitoba Museum. She received her BA in Anthropology from the University of Manitoba (2004), an MA in Archaeology…
Meet Dr. Amelia Fay
Do you know how to spot fakes and forgeries?
Join Dr. Amelia Fay in this video in the Hudson’s Bay Company Museum Collection to learn how to spot some common fakes and forgeries that claim to be HBC artifacts.
Check out Dr. Fay’s blog Fakes & Forgeries: Buyer Beware! to learn more and see some photos of fake artifacts people have tried to sell online.
A Story of Three Violins
Did you know that the three violins on display in the Prairies Gallery and the Winnipeg Gallery all have something in common?
Find out what, or who, it is in this video with Dr. Roland Sawatzky, Curator of History!
New Exhibition Shares Stories of Family and Migration as Told Through the Art of Clock-Making
Winnipeg, MB: October 23, 2023 – The Manitoba Museum will be a temporary home to a beautiful and engaging exhibition developed by the Kroeger Clocks Heritage Foundation in partnership with the Mennonite Heritage Village.
Keeping Time: The Art and Heritage of Mennonite Clocks provides an in-depth look into the craft and art of Mennonite clocks made in Europe and transported by immigrants to the Americas over the last two centuries. Beautiful in and of themselves, each clock also has an important story to tell about its owners and their experiences of migration.
“Several clocks featured in this exhibition are on loan from family homes, where their ticking and chiming connects present-day owners to their ancestors. Others are loaned from museum collections, where they are preserved for their cultural value,” says Alexandra Zeitz of the Kroeger Clocks Heritage Foundation, who is herself a descendant of Mennonite clockmakers.
For centuries, Mennonite clockmakers honed their craft to produce iconic clocks that brought beauty and structure into homes and communities. Today these timepieces carry emotional meaning. They survive as cultural representations and witnesses to the social and political upheaval experienced by their makers and owners. These clocks are now found around the world, wherever there is a Mennonite diaspora.
“These clocks were both beautiful and functional, but most importantly, they acted as symbols of family stability. They were taken along during Mennonite migrations to retain and transplant that social continuity,” says Roland Sawatzky, Curator of History at the Manitoba Museum.
This temporary exhibition features 15 Mennonite clocks, made between the late 1700s and early 1900s and transported to Manitoba by Mennonite immigrants over many decades. These beautiful timepieces were made in Mennonite workshops in Ukraine, and represent Mennonite migration stories, mechanical ingenuity, folk art, and family life.
Members of the media are invited to preview the exhibit in
The Manitoba Museum Discovery Room • Thursday, October 26
Doors Open: 6:30 pm;
Welcome, Speeches & Refreshments: 7:00-7:30 pm;
Exhibit Viewing: 7:30-9:00 pm
Keeping Time: The Art and Heritage of Mennonite Clocks, will open to the public on October 27, 2023 in the Manitoba Museum’s Discovery Room. It will be on display until February 2024. Exhibit admission is included in General Admission to the Museum Galleries.
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Media Contact:
Brandi Hayberg
Manager of Marketing & Communications
204-988-0614
bhayberg@manitobamusuem.ca
Meet Manitoba’s Bats!
Have you seen any bats lately? As Halloween approaches we start to see bats everywhere, but do you know where Manitoba’s bats are in October?
Find out in this video with Curator of Zoology, Randy Mooi, and learn some of the challenges our local bats are facing.
Even though there may not be any real bats flitting through the air this October, it is the perfect time to visit the Manitoba Museum to find out more about these fascinating flying mammals. Don’t forget to put on your costume and join us for our annual Halloween Takeover – a safe, weatherproof, and fun-filled experience for all ages – October 28 and 29!