More amulets on Flickr

Take a look at the new additions to the PRM 'Amulet' set on Flickr. These taster images will form the basis of the Small Blessings online gallery, which will be launched later this year and feature much more in-depth descriptions and research. 

Helen

Variolite pebble used as an amulet, France (PRM: 1985.52.705)

Amulet Cake Day

The Pitt Rivers Museum is a great place to work for lots of reasons. But one of them has to be the importance of cake to Museum life. Staff regularly make and bake goodies, or bring back traditional confections from their trips abroad, for us all to enjoy at break times. Every so often we run themed cake day 'contests' and this time around, we decided it would be apt to base it on amulets.

So, those wishing to take part had to make a cake or dessert that was inspired by the Museum's amulet and charm collections. The cakes were then laid out anonymously in the staff tea room, each with a piece of paper beside it. Staff were then asked to sample each cake and vote for their favourite - judged on both looks and taste - by placing a tally on the relevant piece of paper.

Pitt Rivers staff sampling and voting for cake

We had some brilliantly conceived and executed ideas, including a sponge Evil Eye rendered in blueberries, a rich chocolate Yin and Yang, a pink-frosted German lucky pig giant cookie, and a St. George lucky medallion recreated in ginger cake. Here are some of the other entries and the objects which inspired them....

A delicious creation from Alice and Rosanna, inspired by one of the
many reliquaries in the de Mortillet collection (PRM: 1985.52.109)

A citrus and white chocolate sponge (mine) based on an amulet from the Lovett collection
(also acquired from Wellcome): a tiny circle of paper on which is written the Lord's
Prayer (PRM 1985.51.781) [see here for more amulets from the Lovett collection].
Also a lime-flavoured tart from Marina, based on this lucky four leaf clover captured
in a green glass heart from Paris (PRM: 1985.52.1557)

Each cake received votes and it was a close-run thing as each one was yummy. Much to my surprise, my sponge cake - inspired by a piece of paper bearing the Lord's Prayer - won. I'll definitely use that recipe again, but next time I want to decorate it I'll buy a much smaller icing pen - I could only fit the first two lines on! 

Thanks to all the staff who took part - both the cooks and the tasters. I wonder what the next cake day theme will be?

Helen

My lucky cork

Last summer I was given this little object by my PhD supervisor. As he handed it to me he noticed a puzzled expression on my face. The object, a champagne cork and pound coin, was one that I had not encountered before.

In fact, the practice of placing a coin in a champagne cork has a long tradition. Corks that have been popped on special occasions, at weddings, birthday parties, or in this case my PhD viva (the examination of my doctoral thesis), have been made into keepsakes and good luck charms by many people. 

They were also once used by fishermen, who would cut a slit in the cork floats on their nets and insert a coin to pay for their catch. This one now sits on a shelf in my office, where I hope it will work a little lucky magic. 

I hope you will share your own lucky objects with us by entering the Amulets Around The World Today photograph competition, which runs from 10 May to 31 July 2012.

Charlotte

It's a Kind of Magic

This week, a guest blog from Simone Dogherty, an Education Officer at the Museum.

A family enjoying the Make-and-Take activity after exploring the handling objects

On the first Saturday of every month, the Education team delivers free, family-friendly, drop-in activities. This month, we ran one in conjunction with the Small Blessings project, called ‘It’s a Kind of Magic’. We had a range of activities on offer during the afternoon to get families interacting with the charms and amulets on display in the Museum. There was a trail, called ‘Charm Challenge’, which guided families around specific objects in the amulet displays and encouraged children to design their own. There was also a handling table, where families could hold real Museum objects and discuss them with trained volunteers. Finally – the biggest attraction – a ‘Make-and-Take’ activity, where families could decorate a charm bracelet or armband, and hang from it paper charms based on real ones in the collection. 

Making paper charms for armbands to take home

This Make-and-Take was a nicely straightforward activity to create. Charms and amulets naturally lend themselves to being worn, or carried around with you, so making a bracelet or armband seemed an obvious choice. It’s always nice to have a strong connection between the objects and an activity, to ensure that the families also get a valuable educational experience out of it, often without realizing. Also, the most successful Make-and-Takes are always those where the children (and adults!) get to wear what they make.

This boy had designed many of his own charms,
including one to help things grow in his garden

A pretty charm bracelet, each one's magical powers described on the back

There’s always preparation for an event like this. You have to create and present the activity and trail in a way that enables families to learn a lot without much effort, as well as make them fun and enjoyable so they have a positive experience in the Museum. It’s a difficult balance to strike, so a lot of time is devoted to this. Then there’s all the photocopying, laminating, and setting up the activity space. On the day, a huge amount of work is done by a wonderful team of volunteers who assist families, run the handling tables and promote the other activities going on, so I get the opportunity to step back and check that it all runs smoothly!

We had lots of positive feedback and, even better, lots of families were keen to head downstairs to see the amulet displays and learn a bit more about them. More than 100 children participated in the activities, which hopefully reflects the large number of people inspired by the collections, and who discovered new things about charms and amulets from around the world!

Simone

Amulets on Flickr

One of the planned outcomes of the Small Blessings project is a dedicated website showcasing around 50 highlights of the several thousand amulets we are cataloguing.

The website won't be launched for a few months yet and there is still lots of research to do. However, we wanted to share with you some of the ones already chosen to feature, so you can now find them in the Museum's 'Amulet' set on Flickr.

Some are beautiful, some are curious, some are a little macabre. Which is your favourite?

Death's head amulet, Naples (PRM: 1985.52, 43)

Easter Amulets

According to de Mortillet’s original catalogue, these textile heart amulets contain pieces of Easter bread and were worn around the neck. They are listed as coming from St. Michael’s Convent in Kiev, Ukraine, and were collected sometime by 1931 (the year of de Mortillet's death). 

PRM 1985.52.206-.208

Bread-making is an important aspect of Ukrainian Easter traditions; paska and babka are two round shaped sweet breads served at Easter. Babka is either iced or left plain, whereas paska is elaborately decorated with symbolic motifs made of dough, such as crosses, flowers and solar signs, or other religious symbols.

Paska baked by Lubow Wolynetz © The Ukrainian Museum (New York)
http://www.brama.com/art/easter.html

Paska is traditionally made by women, and whilst it is being baked various ‘magical gestures’ and ‘incantations’ are used to ensure that the bread is a success. For example, as the dough is being prepared the person making it must maintain ‘pure thoughts’, and while it is in the oven no one is allowed to sit down or make loud noises out of fear that the bread might collapse.

After the bread is baked it is wrapped in rushnyk, a ritual cloth, or placed in a basket with a newly embroidered cloth. Other Easter foods, such as eggs, salt, butter, cheese, and horseradish, are also added to the basket. Then on Easter Sunday the basket is taken to church to be blessed by the priest, after which it is taken home to be eaten. 

Easter basket © The Ukrainian Museum (New York)
http://www.brama.com/art/easter.html

However, pieces of the consecrated Easter bread also become amulets, for example, to protect fields against hail, or to ward off ‘evil influences’. And, colourfully decorated Easter eggs (pysanky and krashanky), another important part of Ukrainian tradition, were supposed to cure a person of illness when hung on a piece of string around the neck. So, perhaps these textile heart amulets from St. Michael’s Convent were worn to protect the wearer from evil or sickness, or just as a reminder of the meaning of Easter.

1911.40.5-.13 (Romania) and 1965.3.209 (Galicia) are on display in the Lower Gallery
and were decorated using a 'resist-dye' (batik) process.

It’s amazing how three small amulets can lead you into an exploration of a different Easter tradition. Hopefully you will all be inspired to try making your own Easter bread or having a go at painting some eggs this Easter weekend.

The Small Blessings team wish you a very Happy Easter!

Rosanna