these are a few of my favorite things...
Grimoires and Altars, Curiosity Cabinets and Little Boxes..
Part 1
Imagine me twirling wildly on the Alps singing “these are a few of my favorite things” not quite the familiar image of a young and graceful Julie Andrews in her long flowy skirt.
-Curiosity Cabinets
-Altars
-Grimoires & Herbariums
-Traveling Medicine Show
-Little Boxes
and yes Kittens!
(A.D.D Rabbit Hole: I think one of the reasons I loved the TV show Weeds as much as I did back in the day was the way they used so many variations of Malvina Reynolds 1961 song Little Boxes as the theme song. )
I have always been fascinated by the Traveling Medicine shows and the snake oil salesmen. From the 1840s to the 1920’s Snake Oil Salesmen traveled around the country, selling their elixirs as they went. They also served a greater function than just swindling; they also provided entertainment and brought news from town to town. The shows were interspersed with sales pitches peddling miracle cures, elixirs and other various products of a dubious nature from a self-proclaimed "doctor" who sold an astounding cure-all medicine. These shows were usually a one-man operations were unique to the United States and I could not find a record of a woman snake oil peddler! (though there seem to have been a few family acts). These shows seem to have originated in western culture in the Dark Ages (c. 5th–10th centuries) in Europe after theaters and circuses were banned so the only performances took place through the marketplace.
A.D.D Rabbit Hole: An interesting NPR show on the origins of Snake Oil, How a legit remedy because a symbol of quackery
What draws me in is the aesthetic? A cross between modern day van life, tiny homes and Roma culture (which I believe I have deep in my genes) and of course herbalism. I practice from the Wise Woman Tradition not the heroic tradition which was common with the traveling medicine shows. It is possible that while the men were off swindling and entertaining, the women, the kitchen witches, the mothers, the grandmothers, the herbalists were home keeping the communities healthy and nourished. Every herbalist I know has many jars, potions or dried herbs, seeds and liquids filling every shelf in their home, even at times a mystery potion or two because the label has fallen off.
“Always Label Everything”
Herbal Apprenticeship Lesson 1
What is a cabinet of curiosities?
The ‘cabinet of curiosities’ is an early ancestor of the modern museum. It also marks the beginning of “collecting/collections”
(A.D.D Rabbit Hole: Collections and Collecting is an area of such complexity and perplexity for me personally. My maximalist aesthetic is always fighting with my minimalist desire. I cannot function if there is clutter around me. Luckily as a many planets in virgo I am pretty organized. But I do love collecting; natural items, stones, old keys, lace, books, art, jadeite, postcards, pottery, cats! and I love it when friends share their collections with me. Yet, I think a lot about Swedish death cleaning (it makes good sense as a single parent of an only child). I do love Marie Kondo and the concept does this bring joy? Years ago at a conference I was teaching at the keynote speaker Martin Prechtel said that we should only keep things in our home which were either handmade or gifted by a special friend- the idea has stuck with me. The idea of a capsule wardrobe/uniform is intriguing to me. I practice a one in and one out way of keeping possessions under control, I am also an obsessive declutterer, when stressed, procrastinating, about to begin or and a new project my modus operandi is decluttering. I love talking about decluttering and collecting so where do you all stand on stuff and the stuff we own? Lets chat)
“JOY IS NOT MADE TO BE A CRUMB”
Mary Oliver
Cabinets of curiosities - or wunderkammer - traditionally were displays exhibiting a wide variety of objects and artifacts, with a particular leaning towards the rare, eclectic and esoteric. Through the selection of objects, they often tell a story about the world and its history and/or sense of place.
Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.”
― Rachel Carson, The Sense of Wonder
(A.D.D Rabbit Hole: Many creators of these cabinets collected specimens such as herbs and natural materials in order to create medicines, Imperato also had an apothecary. Others collected natural materials believed to be alchemical or metallurgical in order to experiment with new recipes (“segreti”, or “secrets”) to ease human ailments. Magical. Sometimes these were considered heretical by the Catholic Church in Italy at this time. Some possessed objects in their cabinets of wonder believed to have magical properties based on arcane knowledge. However Imperato saw his cabinet of wonder as a place to derive knowledge directly from the artifacts before him, rather than trying to apply secret knowledge from arcane ancient and contemporary manuscripts to the objects in order to try and produce a result, like other scholars of his time, such as Girolamo Ruscelli (who had his own Accademia Segreta).
The cabinets commonly featured antiques, objects of natural history (such as stuffed animals, dried insects, shells, skeletons, shells, herbarium, fossils) and even works of art. These collections were often organized into about four categories:
Artificialia: which groups the objects created or modified by human
Naturalia: which includes creatures and natural objects
Exotica:which includes exotic plants and animals
Scientifica: which brings together scientific instruments.
Here are a few historical examples:
Again the question I have asked is where are the women? and the Curiosity Cabinets made by women. I could not find one! I am thinking about proposing an exhibit Women and NBA Created Curiosity Cabinets- who is in?
There has been considerable study on the collecting habits of women in the nineteenth century, but, it seems that its focus has been more on the collecting, connoisseurship and patronage of the fine and decorative arts, rather than on cabinets of curiosities. This leads me to wonder, were there women collectors who were interested in acquiring the strange, the surreal and the exotic? (There was the Colorado Huntress Martha Ann Maxwell) And if so, who were they and what channels of acquisition were open to them in the nineteenth century?
Acquisition in the nineteenth century was intricately linked to mercantile and trading routes and to military campaigns, all of which were men’s domains which made the first-hand acquisition of objects by women difficult (Still there were always independent women and I am set on finding and naming them) These objects were later sold on the art market, but though it was increasingly accessible for women, wealth and status remained barriers to their entry into the marketplace. Membership of institutions such as the United Service Institute Museum and Library also offered opportunity for military members to purchase objects of curiosity from around the globe– another channel of acquisition closed to women.
However, the military was not the only way that one could travel in this period and certainly women had been traveling, sometimes even alone, since the eighteenth century (remember my post on Marian North) .
One such collector worth mentioning is Lady Charlotte Schreiber b. 1812 (formerly Lady Charlotte Guest, neé Bertie) who donated 2,000 pieces of china from around the world to the South Kensington Museum in 1884 which became the V&A Museum.
As well as displaying collections which reawaken our sense of wonder I find Curiosity Cabinets to be magical and sacred, almost altar like. Here are a couple I have made using old printmakers typeface trays.
“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.” “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” Rachel Carson
As this is Women’s History Month I want to highlight an American Photographer whose work was recently introduced to me by Lisa Baskin (whose magnificent work I will highlight in another post) Rosamond Wolff Purcell specifically her unique 2004 installation, Museum Wormianum, a re-creation of and commentary on the “wonder cabinet” of 17th century Danish natural philosopher Olaus (Ole) Worm
Ole Worm (don’t you love his name!) seems to have based his cabinet etching on the earlier one by Ferrante Imperato, shown above which he is believed to have visited in Naples. He also believed that you needed to use all your senses in learning, not just from books, but touching, feeling and smelling specimens Worm’s method of scientific enquiry was a kind of proto-empiricism – gaining knowledge through direct study of an object – and a modern approach that was still quite new to Worm and his contemporaries. and he created what has become known as one of the first iterations of the modern museum “The Museum Wormianum cabinet of curiosities” in his home which housed everything from specimens of the natural world to scientific instruments and ethnographic objects.
Rosamond Wolff Purcell recreated the Museum Wormianum.
(A.D.D Rabbit Hole: in 1638 Ole Worm demonstrated what was then quite groundbreaking that supposed unicorn horns were actually narwhal tusks, demonstrating the pointed “horn” still attached to its whale skull)
You can learn more about Rosamonds work here
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The Mind Memory Mycelium Show was a hit! You can check out some photos from the show following this link. Here is a little artists talk I gave for it for NEBA (the New England Book Artists) . I am thinking about creating a digital catalog from the show…this will be a freebie for paid subscribers ($5 for everyone else) Stay tuned.
I’m trying to get back into writing these posts regularly. Over the past several months I have begun several missives, got excited about them only to save as draft and eventually abandon all together. As the readership has grown a little, I let the judgey voice in my head get louder- “no one wants to read that” or “whoa that is a little too vulnerable a share” or “I can do better”…the list goes on. Thus the silence. I am working on it. Your support means the world to me.
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Next up (Teaching Schedule):
In this intimate workshop which is part herbalism, part art, and part ceremony you will create a unique, and one of a kind artist book celebrating you. A physical record of your place in the universe, your life book of recipes, rituals, memories and family traditions.
Many of us have forgotten how to keep our own stories alive, this is where this book begins. Through a series of guided exercises, journalling and creative exploration we will each create a one of a kind book that is both meaningful, and visually cohesive. Every page will be filled with wonder. Nature will be our muse as we explore our ancestral relationship with plants and magic.
We will learn various artist book binding methods and structures and work with the following techniques for crafting the unique and personal content; Nature printing methods, plant pressing, Image Transfer techniques, Historical photographic methods, paper making and more.
Sunday March 24th The Art of The Grimoire (a 12 month monthly course begins (there are still 2 spaces!!)
Sat April 6th Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University, Boston
Intro to Botanical Cyanotypes (free)
Tuesday April 23rd 2024 Beginner/Intermediate Herbal Apprenticeship begins
Friday May 3th Botanical Art In Studio Program 2024 begins
Sat May 4th May Day Craft Fair at Blazing Star Herbal School
Sun May 5th New England Botanical Garden at Tower Hill Boyleston MA
Intro to Cyanotype workshop
Wed-Thurs May 15-16th Provincetown Art Museum
Fri May 17th Provincetown Art Museum
Intro to Cyanotype Photography: Printing from a Digital Negative
Sun May 19th-May 23rd Snow Farm, Williamsburg MA Guest teacher
Books in the Woods Retreat (Handmade Book Club event)
Wed June 12 Westborough, MA Library
Intro to Eco-printing(free)
Fri June 21 Shepherd Maudsleigh Studio, Newton MA
Daylong Eco-Printing Intensive
Sat June 22 Shepherd Maudsleigh Studio, Newton MA
Day long Artist Book Making w/ecoprinted papers
Sun June 30th New England Botanical Garden at Tower Hill
Intro to Eco Printing workshop
Wed July 10th Westborough, MA Library (Free)
Artist Book Making demo(free)
Sat Aug 24th Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University, Boston
Intro to Eco Printing (free)
Did Lisa tell you about Rosamond Purcell? She’s a photographer and collector. She recreated a cabinet of curiosities based on a 17th century etching. I saw the exhibit “Two Rooms” when it was at Mount Holyoke. She also had an exhibit of what nature had done to books left in a barn. Fascinating. https://artmuseum.mtholyoke.edu/sites/default/files/newsletters/Fall%202007%20Newsletter.pdf?bc=node/397 https://chsi.harvard.edu/exhibitions/bringing-nature-inside
Clutter is such a hurdle for me! I stumbled upon a video about how cluttered living can be linked to trauma by the Crappy Childhood Fairy. ( hilarious name but she’s a valid therapist). The concept of being disregulated by the sight of clutter really helped me to go easy on myself.