Figure Heads

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One of my favorite exhibits is the East India Hall in the Peabody/Essex Museum.

That hall is huge, almost like a ballroom, well-lit and spacious. Mounted on the walls are artifacts (today we might cal them souvenirs) from the adventures these ships experienced while roaming the 7 seas.

As they explored new worlds and strange cultures they immortalized the people they met in life-sized carved statues that were mounted on the bows of the ships. A wide variety of these figureheads have been collected and are displayed in this room.

The figurehead embodied the spirit of a ship and was originally believed to placate the gods of the sea and ensure a safe voyage. Almost every prow had a carved figure looking down at the waves, and the variety was immense.

A large figurehead, being carved from massive wood and perched on the very foremost tip of the hull, adversely affected the sailing qualities of the ship.

In Germany, Belgium, and Holland, it was once believed that spirits/faeries called Kaboutermannekes (water fairies) dwelt in the figureheads.  The spirit guarded the ship from sickness, rocks, storms, and dangerous winds.

 If the ship sank, the Kaboutermannekes guided the sailors’ souls to the Land of the Dead. To sink without a Kaboutermanneke condemned the sailor’s soul to haunt the sea forever, so Dutch sailors believed. A similar belief was found in early Scandinavia/Vikings.

3 Centuries of New England Life

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One thing  that you will learn as you wander through the historic and vintage homes and buildings is that Salem likes to move their buildings around. They have a long-standing tradition that when a historic building is scheduled  for demolition someone seems to step up and with a twitch of a nose or a wave of a wand the building materializes in a new location.

Well, maybe not quite like that but there are certainly many examples of buildings being saved from the wrecking ball by being donated or otherwise acquired by a museum (The PEM) or attraction (Nathaniel Hawthorne’s house) on the grounds of the House of the 7 Gables.

The Peabody Essex Museum has been a pioneer in the acquisition, relocation, restoration, and interpretation of historic environments. One of the first examples was the Quaker Meeting House which was acquired in 1865 and reconstructed using what is thought to be the beams from the original First Church. This was followed in 1910 by the John Ward House.

The John Ward House was split in two and rolled on ox-drawn logs from its original site about 3 blocks to its present location. Restored and put back together, the building opened to the public in 1911. The building features typical 17 century furnishings.

The low ceilings, batten door and diamond-paned leaded glass casement windows typify the architecture of this period. This was the era of the Puritan, austerity was prized and money wasn’t everything. Life was simple and the functional emphasis of the building style and furnishings complimented the day-to-day living of these early settlers.

Moving on to the 18th century the housing style was more “English” and it was clear that a middle class was developing. In fact the architectural style is known as Georgian after King George. The old “batten” door is gone and the windows are now double hung sash windows that can be raised and lowered. Dormers or gables appeared in the gambrel roof.

Inside the furnishing are more advanced. Signs of wealth on display. Various classes were developing; the merchant class , the artisan, the farmer.

The last of the homes visited was by far the grandest. By this time in the 19th century the accumulation of wealth, as today had become of great importance and those who were succesful wanted all to know it. Newly independent and no longer colonies the building styles began to change. We were looking for our own identities and borrowed freely from other cultures. Greek revival with its columns or pilasters and ornate porticos became a popular style for the wealthy ship owners and merchants. Brick also came into fashion as a building material.

Inside the furnishing were much more lavish and ornate.

A tradition of adding an ivory button on the balustrade when the mortgage was paid developed so all of your neighbors would see when they came to visit.

Salem’s architectual heritage is rich and varied. These are just 3 of the many restored buildings that are spread throughout Salem. Look around and you’ll find examples of many other builing styles and architecture.

To take this 3 house tour through the centuries visit the Peabody/Essex museum.

The Peabody/Essex Museum

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The Peabody / Essex Museum aka the PEM is located in Salem, Ma. and is the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States.

The origins of the museum date to 1799 when a group of sea captains formed the East India Marine Society. Members of the society were required to collect “natural and artificial curiosities” from beyond the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn during their sea voyages.

 Due to the age of the institution many of the collections are truly rare and wonderous with outstanding  provenance for such old pieces.

The museum also collects and maintains a number of historic buildings. Currently the list stands at 24 historic homes and gardens. The museum was truly ahead of its time. One of the earliest examples of preserving a historic building was the John Ward House which was saved from demolition by splitting it in half, relocating it and then reassembling the building at its current location. A pleasant and informative tour of three of the buildings is a worthwhile add on to your visit.

Inside the museum the collections and exhibits range from the Gallery of Figureheads (my personal favorite) to a Chinese house. Some of the permanent collections include extensive maritime art, American Decorative art, Asian and Japanese Art, Native American Art, Hawaiian Art and the list goes on. A perfect example of the diversity of the exhibits is the beaded gown.

When you look closely you realize it is all shell work. Across the room is an artist’s conception of the world as it looks from space.

The atrium of the museum is spacious and airy, the window coverings evoking the sails of the tall ships that were so important to developing the trade that brought the first collections to Salem. You can enjoy a snack in the cafe or sit on a comfortable bench as you wait for the docent to lead a tour.

One particularly beautiful piece is the animated clock. It is amazing just to look at it but next to the clock is a display that shows the clock working. Of course they don’t have the display clock work now, even though it says it can, for they want to preserve it but this little demo isn’t a bad substitute. It made me appreciate the fine workmanship even more.

As we waited for our tour back to the 17th, 18th and 19th century the sun shown through a large window onto a sculpture of a horse. A lovely peice in a lovely setting.

October? MacBeth comes to mind

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October can mean so many things…Harvest time, Halloween, Octoberfest, apple picking, country fairs, trick or treating. For today I was thinking of those witches from MacBeth.

Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison’d entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone
Days and nights has thirty-one
Swelter’d venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

October’s Bright Blue Weather

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October’s Bright Blue Weather

O suns and skies and clouds of June,
And flowers of June together,
Ye cannot rival for one hour
October’s bright blue weather;

When loud the bumblebee makes haste, Belated, thriftless vagrant,
And goldenrod is dying fast,
And lanes with grapes are fragrant;

When gentians roll their fingers tight
To save them for the morning,
And chestnuts fall from satin burrs
Without a sound of warning;

When on the ground red apples lie
In piles like jewels shining,
And redder still on old stone walls
Are leaves of woodbine twining;

When all the lovely wayside things
Their white-winged seeds are sowing,
And in the fields still green and fair,
Late aftermaths are growing;

When springs run low, and on the brooks,
In idle golden freighting,
Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush
Of woods, for winter waiting;

When comrades seek sweet country haunts,
By twos and twos together,
And count like misers, hour by hour,
October’s bright blue weather.

O sun and skies and flowers of June,
Count all your boasts together,
Love loveth best of all the year
October’s bright blue weather

Helen Hunt Jackson

I believe I was in 5th grade when we had to memorize this for English Class. Here I am, all these many years later, and it is still one of my favorite poems.  It seemed a fitting post for October 1.