Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums Blog

The Charlton Brothers and the Hancock Museum – A Guest Post by Ashleigh Jackson

My name is Ashleigh Jackson. I am a History undergraduate student at Edinburgh and this summer I completed a placement with the Natural History Society of Northumbria in their archives at the Great North Museum: Hancock, looking at the effect of the Great War on the Society and its members.

John MacFarlane Charlton and Hugh Vaughan Charlton were the sons of the renowned Northumbrian artist John Charlton (1849-1917). Their association with the Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne began when John Charlton Snr moved to the North East in 1901 and applied for membership of the Society in January 1903.

Sadly, the brothers’ lives were tragically brought to an end in the ‘Great European War’ in 1916.

The Natural History Society annual report for the year 1916-1917 records: “Several of the younger members of the Society, men of promise and ability, have made the great sacrifice during the year under review. Of these, mention may be made of…Lieutenant Hugh V. Charlton, a gifted artist and naturalist, whose brush cleverly depicted bird life, and his younger brother, Captain J. M. Charlton, a good ornithologist, who though not actually a member was a frequent visitor to the Museum, to which he presented specimens from time to time“.

Lieutenant Hugh Vaughan Charlton (1884-1916)

Hugh was born in London in 1884 and moved to the North East in 1901 with his family where he was to become a skilled naturalist and artist. Before the war, Hugh followed in his father’s footsteps as an artist, focusing on birds. In 1912 his work was exhibited in the Royal Academy.

The Natural History Society of Northumbria (NHSN) possesses original paintings by Hugh Vaughan Charlton, perhaps most interesting is his watercolour drawing of Barras Bridge from the grounds of the Hancock Museum, indicating the Charlton family’s strong connections to the museum and the society. From the archive collections at the NHSN, we have found that Hugh was elected a member of the society in April 1905.

Hugh was educated at Armstrong College in Newcastle, and this is where he joined the Officer Training Corps. He enlisted in August 1915 and left for France on 13 March 1916. Hugh was the Second Lieutenant of the 7th Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers. Hugh was struck by a bomb from a trench mortar on 24 June 1916, near Wytschaete, Belgium, just a week before the death of his brother, Captain John McFarlane Charlton. Hugh is buried at La Laiterie Military Cemetery in Ypres, Belgium, while his brother is buried in France.

The above painting of a Tawny Owl was gifted to the Natural History Society of Northumbria by Lieutenant Charlton in May 1914 before the onset of war.

The above watercolour drawing of a Herring Gull, is another piece within the archives of the NHSN more proof of the Charlton brother’s love of nature.

Finally, the watercolour drawing below depicts the grounds of the Hancock Museum and was completed in 1914. This image serves to highlight further the important connection between the Charlton brothers and the museum, and the special interest that the brothers had in both the museum and in the Natural History Society.

The Hancock Museum curator’s report for 1917-1918 discusses how the Charlton brothers had bequeathed to the museum their entire natural history collections. This included over fifty birds and mammals in mounted cases, numerous skins primarily of birds. Joseph J. Gill the acting curator during this time, paid tribute to the brothers “whose death in their country’s service has deprived natural science of two most ardent and promising votaries”.

Captain John McFarlane Charlton (1891-1916)

John McFarlane Charlton died on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. The 1st July 1916 also tragically marked Charlton’s 25th birthday.

Born in London in 1891, John relocated to the North East of England in 1901 with his family. In 1903, he was awarded a special commendation in the Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne’s Hancock Prize competition for his essay ‘A Trip to the Farnes in 1903’. He was only 12 years old at the time but his submission showed so much skill in observing and portraying birds that one of the judges, Canon Tristram, awarded him a special prize out of his own pocket. John was deeply interested in nature, and would go on to become a promising ornithologist. It is alleged that a close relative described his taxidermy skills as rivalling those of even John Hancock, the famous Newcastle ornithologist. At school, John was secretary to the Natural History department and he was described as having ‘a wonderful knowledge of birds’. In 1910 he received a bronze medal from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, going on to write a series of articles, forging his way into the field of ornithology.

John enlisted in October 1914, soon after the beginning of the Great War. After initial training with his battalion, the 21st Northumberland Fusiliers in 1915, John and the rest of his battalion left for France in early 1916.

The Journal of British Birds paid tribute to both Charlton Brothers in the 1st September 1916 edition. The journal reveals John’s final words, which were spoken to his orderly, allegedly ‘Is that you B—? For God’s sake, push on, I’m done.’ The orderly quickly rushed to aid his captain, only to find he had died after being fatally shot in the head. On 13th November 1917 John was ‘Mentioned in Despatches’, acknowledging his sacrifice at the Somme. He had also been recommended for the Military Cross, further highlighting his distinguished role in the war.The Northumberland Fusiliers aided the attack on La Boiselle, a village near Amiens which became a crucial backdrop as part of the Battle of the Somme. The attack was ultimately a failure, and La Boiselle was captured by the Germans on 25th March 1918. John had successfully assisted in the capture of the 1st and 2nd lines in German trenches at La Boiselle, and was soon to advance on the 3rd line. As Captain, John led the advance on the morning of the 1st July 1916. At 7.30am John and his men ‘went over the top’ onto No Man’s Land despite the heavy fire from the Bavarian Infantry Regiment. Notably, the No Man’s Land at La Boiselle was particularly narrow, further complicating the mission. Along with several other men, John was stuck in a crater which narrowly shielded him from the continued firing. Later, the men were able to advance after obtaining a machine gun with which to defend themselves. However, the advance was thwarted when the gun became jammed at a crucial moment and John was shot. By midnight on the 3rd July some 200 men remained from the 21st and 22nd battalions. As a result, the brigade for while John served was pulled from the line after such heavy losses.

John is remembered at Thiepval Memorial in Northern France, as well as a memorial in Lanercost Priory, Cumbria. There is a further memorial to the two brothers in St Cuthbert’s Churchyard, Cleveland.

My Top 10 Pincushions (part 1) – A Guest Blog by Zoe-Marie Dobbs

Collections & Objects Discovery Museum Social History
Posted by administrator on October 10, 2016 Permalink Leave a comment

My name is Zoe-Marie Dobbs and I am a volunteer with Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums. For the past few weeks, I have been photographing and researching the collection of pincushions in the costume store at the Discovery Museum. The pincushions in the collection span across a wide variety of different time periods and demonstrate whichever embroidery technique was in fashion at the time.

Pins in some form or another have existed since the prehistoric era and as long as pins have been in existence there has always been the need for receptacles to put them in, whether they serve a purely utilitarian purpose or are more decorative.

During the Early Modern era, pins were a very expensive commodity. For the poor they were considered to be a great luxury. In A History of Needlework Tools and Accessories, Sylvia Groves states, “In the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, a large and well-filled pincushion was an essential toilet accessory for every woman of rank. The Queen herself received, among her New Year’s gifts in 1562, an elaborately embroidered pinpilllow”.

The Countess of Southampton

In the above painting of the Countess of Southampton (one of Elizabeth’s maids of honour), a large pincushion filled with pins is presented on a table beside a case of jewels – this demonstrates the high value placed on a lady’s pincushion and her costly supply of pins.

During this time, on the eve of New Year or on New Year’s Day, it was customary for women to receive presents of pins or the money with which to buy them. This is where the expression ‘pin money’ comes from. Before the 16th century, the best quality pins had to be imported from France.

This is my countdown of my top 10 pincushions in the collection:

10 – George V heart-shaped pincushion, 1911

Object number – TWCMS : G10712

Apart from serving as purely functional objects, pincushions were also used as keepsakes and mementos. Many were created to mark a historical event or special occasion, such as this one to commemorate the coronation of George V, made in 1911. Heart-shaped pincushions were extremely popular throughout the 19^th century and the early 20^th century. This highly decorative example features a blue and red silk satin front, a burgundy pom-pom fringe and is decorated with two pictures of George V in coronation robes. I found this particularly interesting as it is the only pincushion in the collection at the Discovery Museum which is decorated with photographs.

9 – Blue silk crocheted pincushion, 19th century

Object number – TWCMS : J13104

This pincushion and cover dating from 1800-1899 are blue silk and decorated with beautiful hand crochet work. Crochet was especially popular during this period and features in many Victorian garments such as shawls as well as pincushions and other items. After receiving a gift of intricate Irish hand-worked crochet in the 1840s, Queen Victoria began enthusiastically adding crochet to her dresses and bonnets.

Queen Victoria crocheting

The well-to-do ladies of Victorian England soon followed suit and the demand for crochet skyrocketed. The publication of crochet patterns became widespread with magazines offering instructions on how to make a variety of crochet items including babies’ bonnets, doilies, evening bags and parlour clothes as well as trims for clothing. Crochet was often used as a cheaper alternative for more costly lace.

8 – Maternity pincushion, 1913

Object number – TWCMS : 2007.5444

This pincushion from 1913 is known as a maternity or layette pincushion and was traditionally given as a gift to new mothers to celebrate the birth of a child. This type of pincushion was particularly sought after between 1770 and 1890 but was still produced long after this period. This type of pincushion was given after a baby had been born due to a superstitious belief that pins could cause birthing pains – “For every pin a pain” was a well-known phrase. Layette pincushions were given as gifts in the same way that we would give congratulatory cards today. Several examples of this type of pincushion are found in the collection at the Discovery Museum. This pincushion is of cream silk satin and is edged with matching cream silk fringe. The front is decorated with a border of pale lilac velvet ruched ribbon. With Layette pincushions the pins are often arranged to spell out good wishes for the baby. With this pincushion, pins form the inscription – ‘Welcome Sweetbabe’. This type of pincushion was almost purely decorative as the pins would not usually be removed. The act of forming the words out of the pins demanded great skill and attention. Mistakes could damage the fabric and the design was usually made out in pencil first before pins were stuck in.

7 – Flat mother of pearl pincushion, 19th century

Object number – TWCMS : J11794

This pincushion is comprised of a flat pincushion sandwiched between two carved mother of pearl discs which depict an eastern countryside inspired scene. One side of the intricate carving displays the image of two men surrounded by trees and the other side features a dog and cat sitting in a field beside a tree and several houses. Pins would have been stuck around the outside of the pincushion. This example dates from 1800-1899. Pincushions of this type first appeared in the 18^th century were often made with two pieces of elaborately carved ivory stitched onto a flat cushion encircled by silk ribbon. These were worn suspended from the waist by a loop. In the 19^th century pincushions were produced in larger number than ever before. With the mass manufacture of pins there arose a higher demand for pincushion which were now seen as mandatory household items. The Ladies’ Work Table Book (1858) decrees that: “A large pincushion, having two covers on it should belong to each toilet table”. Pincushions were made in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, using different materials such as ivory bone, wood or patchwork with stuffing. Mother of pearl cushions were commonplace as well as small animals and shoes made of base metal.

6 – Pinball pincushion, 1801

Object number – TWCMS : J11784

This pinball cushion dates from 1801 and was probably purchased at a souvenir from the Ascot horse race of that year. Pinball pincushions were usually covered in knitting and crochet and were worn suspended from the waist. These are typically emblazoned with a date and the owner’s initials. Pinballs were often made in two pieces, stuffed with cotton wool and joined together with stitching or braid. This pinball pincushion is covered with red, green, cream, pink and blue silk thread. The front bears the inscription: ‘Ascot not forgot 1801’ with the image of two horses on either side in cream thread. The back is inscribed with the initials S L. This type of pincushion was favoured 18th century when fine silk knitting was in fashion.

Read part 2 for my top 5 pincushions

A mini-museum inside Haven Court – South Tyneside’s brand new NHS integrated service hub for older people

South Shields Museum & Art Gallery
Posted by administrator on October 5, 2016 Permalink Leave a comment

‘Haven Court, located at South Tyneside Hospital is a purpose-built and innovatively designed facility, which provides integrated health and social care services for older residents, their carers and families in South Tyneside. The state of the art facility brings together key health, social care and voluntary sector services to improve the range, quality and co-ordination of care and support, especially if you have dementia, to enable you to live independently in your community for longer.

The vision for Haven Court is for it to become a hub for the local community, providing person-centred care and support. Whether you need access to residential services, respite care or simply want to meet in the café, the centre will provide a ‘haven’ for you.’

(http://www.southtyneside.gov.uk/article/23109/Haven-Court)

Some of the household objects in the display

Haven Court opened in August and it looks great – such a nice community space. A lovely environment for older people.

To include local and historical inspiration into the design of the new space South Tyneside NHS approached South Shields Museum and Art Gallery to help provide objects to go on display. I work throughout Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums on the Platinum Programme – for people over 55, so the task of finding suitable objects was passed to me.

Me with the objects on display. The images were created by another company – they look great!

It seemed perfect for me to work on this, as I was based in South Shields Museum and Art Gallery for 5 years. I even moved to South Tyneside! I was aware of a number of museum objects that could be put on display. Objects that we have doubles of and were not being used. Objects that I know local people will recognise. Items such as an old Shields ferry ticket, old postcards and a Wrights biscuits coaster with the familiar little boy logo.

South Tyneside objects including A South Shields police badge, Westoe brewery beer labels and an old ferry ticket.

A part of the ‘Memory wall’ showing the South Tyneside objects, a miners lamp, a sewing machine and an old telephone.

As well as local objects we set out to find objects that would generate conversation with older people and bring back memories. An old rotary dial telephone is great for showing to both old and young people. Youngsters try and press the dial – like buttons and don’t understand it, whilst people who can remember such telephones like the sound and action of something that was once so familiar.

A Bakelite radio and an old copy of the Radio Times

‘The displays all look amazing, there have been so many positive comments already and tonight several residents came along to look at them and they sparked a great deal of conversation between them.’

Lesley Dowson – Care Manager for Haven Court:

Zoe helping with one of the displays

We have lots more South Tyneside images to share with the centre and I’m looking forward to going back soon to share them and do some workshops with the residents.

Chaïm Soutine, misfit artistic genius in 1930s Paris

Art Exhibitions Laing Art Gallery
Posted by administrator on September 28, 2016 Permalink Comments (2)

Could anyone have better fitted the 20^th-century archetype of an artist than Chaïm Soutine (1893–1943)? He was a temperamental social misfit who painted in a frenzy when inspiration struck him, at the same time creating an important new expressive style. Plus, he suffered years of poverty for his art before being discovered by an American collector. And he was capable of reckless eccentricity – for example, blowing much of a financial windfall on a 400-mile taxi ride from Paris to the south of France.

In his figure paintings, Soutine was known for depicting servants – people from the same kind of Paris life as the artist himself – and he continued to choose these models even when his powerful colour compositions had become successful. One of his finest paintings from the height of his career, Waiting Maid (about 1933, Ben Uri Collection), can be seen in the Out of Chaos exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery from October 15^th. (The young woman is a maidservant in a home.)

Soutine energised his pictures with colour and texture, and also introduced semi-abstract form. The blue line curving around the front of the young woman’s apron doesn’t seem to have much to do with her body – the fabric appears to form a bowl-like shape, and hangs strangely compared with a real-life maid’s clothing (photo). However, it does give a suggestion of 3D form and space in a fairly abstract way.

Perhaps this element of Soutine’s picture owes something to a painting by Rembrandt, Soutine’s artistic hero. Soutine had earlier painted a version of Rembrandt’s Woman Bathing in a Stream (© National Gallery, London), where draped fabric creates curving 3D form and establishes space in front of the woman’s body. More generally, Soutine’s use of glowing hues, abstract smears of paint and textured brushstrokes is, in part, a development of Rembrandt’s late technique – but reinterpreted in bold, 20th-century colour, influenced by artists like Van Gogh.

During his early career in Paris, Soutine lived and worked in the ramshackle artists’ studios known as La Ruche (‘the Beehive’, photo). Soutine’s artistic circle included Marc Chagall, Jacques Lipchitz and creator of abstract ‘visual poetry’ Sonia Delaunay. They were all Jewish-Russian artists who had left their home country to find artistic freedom in Paris, and are also represented in the Out of Chaos exhibition – Chagall’s Apocalypse en Lilas, Capriccio, 1945/7 and Sonia Delaunay’s Greeting Card for Galerie Bing, 1964, are pictured below (both are Ben Uri Collection, both © The Artist’s Estate).

Soutine painted this self-portrait (not in exhibition, Henry and Rose Pearlman Foundation) in 1918, five years after he arrived in Paris. He had reached the city after a demanding 1,000-mile journey from Russia, arriving with very little money or knowledge of French. Soutine had to struggle to become an artist. He was the son of a poor clothing mender and was one of 11 children. In his Orthodox Jewish community, artistic representation of people was forbidden, and he was badly beaten after secretly sketching the village rabbi. However, compensation money for this assault later made it possible for him to travel to study art in the city of Vilna (now Vilnius). He subsequently left for France, where he changed his surname from Sutin to the French-sounding Soutine.

Soutine remained almost penniless until 1922 when the American collector Albert Barnes visited his studio and purchased 52 paintings – the occasion that resulted in the extravagant taxi ride. Following this breakthrough, Soutine’s reputation started rising sharply. “Everyone is running after Soutine,” said an envious fellow painter. However, in 1940, the Second World War invasion of France by the German army put the lives of Soutine and all people of Jewish heritage in the country at risk. Soutine fled from Paris and went into hiding, sometimes having to sleep out in the forest. Not surprisingly, his stomach ulcer worsened and began bleeding badly. He made a risky journey to Paris for an operation, but it failed to save his life.

As well as his impact on French art, Soutine’s expressive style influenced later artists in London, including Leon Kossoff and Frank Auerbach, both represented in the Out of Chaos exhibition. The picture on the left is Auerbach’s painting Mornington Crescent, Summer Morning, 2011 (Ben Uri Collection © Frank Auerbach courtesy of Marlborough Fine Art).

John G. Watson and many, many coins. A Guest Post by Daniel Wood.

Archaeology Collections & Objects Great North Museum: Hancock Social History
Posted by administrator on September 26, 2016 Permalink Leave a comment

My name is Daniel Wood, I am currently studying an undergraduate History and Archaeology degree at Newcastle University. During the summer holidays I undertook an Archaeology-related fieldwork placement at the Great North Museum: Hancock in partnership with the Natural History Society of Northumbria (NHSN).

John G. Watson, a local numismatist donated a large collection of Chinese, Japanese and Korean coins to the NHSN in 1921. I was originally given the index cards that were associated with the collection to transcribe. Luckily, the actual coin collection was soon found within the Natural History Resource Centre, located in the Discovery Museum. The task of matching up the written and archaeological sources could now begin! The coins encompassed a wide time period of Chinese history, beginning with the Zhou Dynasty in 1046 BC and ending in the Qing Dynasty in AD 1911. You can see below just one of the many types of coinage from the collection that Watson donated and beneath, the written record associated with it.

One of the earliest examples of Chinese coinage from 670-221 BC.

The written record associated with the above artefact.

The most difficult task was not the matching of records, or the translation of symbols on the coins however; it was finding information about the donor, John G. Watson that could be added to the archival record. From what little information we could garner, it is clear that Watson lived in Benwell, Newcastle upon Tyne during the 1920s, and had a keen interest in Chinese numismatics as he wrote a variety of books on the subject during the decade, the most prevalent book being Common Chinese Coins, published in 1924. The cover can be seen below.

Cover of Common Chinese Coins by John G. Watson.

Despite this, the information can be added to the Society’s archives for future reference. Beyond this I was also given the task of photographing, translating and recording another collection of Chinese coins and a Chinese coin sword, an artefact used to ensure a happy marriage or ward away evil spirits. Though having no knowledge of the Chinese language at the beginning of this project, it was not as difficult as you might imagine! Luckily, the coins were from a much narrower period of time – dating from the Qing dynasty which ruled from 1644 to 1911. Below you can see the coin collection and sword.

Collection of various Chinese coins.

A Chinese coin sword.

The final task was to record late twentieth-century and early twenty first-century coinage from around the world, including former East and West Germany, Greece, Israel, the US and Singapore just to name a few. It was very interesting to see how currency has evolved from the ‘knife money’ shown above, to modern day dollars and euros. All these artefacts have now been added to the Museum’s database and archival store.

Despite having no knowledge of the subject area at the beginning of this placement, I have not only thoroughly enjoyed my time working at the Museum but have also learnt a great deal about this period of Chinese history and currency through the ages.

With many thanks to June Holmes of the Natural History Society of Northumbria, and Andrew Parkin and Ian Bower at the Great North Museum: Hancock.

Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums Blog

The Charlton Brothers and the Hancock Museum – A Guest Post by Ashleigh Jackson

A mini-museum inside Haven Court – South Tyneside’s brand new NHS integrated service hub for older people

Chaïm Soutine, misfit artistic genius in 1930s Paris

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