The Library collections are eclectic, full of unexpected treasures and due to the foresight of the early Librarians, it holds an extensive archive charting the history of the Museum. I enjoyed getting to know this archive and learning about the early staff who created it. One character in particular who stood out for me is Archibald Lee, the first Museum Secretary. I wrote a blog post on him, to read it click here.
During my early years as a Museum Assistant, I became very attached to the zoological specimens I watched over. These beautiful static creatures with their frozen glassy-eyed stares, who once breathed and panted, scampered, galloped, flew and slithered in the sunshine, now sit quietly, remembering, dreaming. Imagine my wonder when, I saw the Vertebrate Store for the first time. There are thousands of animals, all neatly arranged on pristine shelves and labelled with genus, dates and accession numbers. The store also holds specimens too large to fit on a shelf, there's a tiger in there, and a bison too.
As well as a Librarian, I am an artist and poet and to celebrate my 20 year anniversary at the Museum, I have created a portfolio of animal portraits. Below are selected highlights of the collection, a link to the full collection appears under the last portrait.
They are my love letter to the Museum, I hope you enjoy them.
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| Museum Menagerie - works inspired by National Museum Wales’ Natural Sciences collection Barn Owl [currently residing in the Library] |
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| Museum Menagerie - works inspired by National Museum Wales’ Natural Sciences collection Gold and glittered Robin |
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| Museum Menagerie - works inspired by National Museum Wales’ Natural Sciences collection Zebra with floral bonnet |
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| Museum Menagerie - works inspired by National Museum Wales’ Natural Sciences collection Rhea with floral cap |
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| Museum Menagerie - works inspired by National Museum Wales’ Natural Sciences collection Snow Leopard with crown |
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| Museum Menagerie - works inspired by National Museum Wales’ Natural Sciences collection Fox in ancient halo crown |
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| Museum Menagerie - works inspired by National Museum Wales’ Natural Sciences collection Mouflon [wild sheep] in floral and gold braid head-dress |
The whole collection of Museum Menagerie is available to view here:
Mayfifth1935 Designs Museum Menagerie Album
More about the Museums' natural history collections:
https://museum.wales/cardiff/natural-history/
Natural Sciences collections & research at Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales Twitter account
More about the Library here:
https://museum.wales/curatorial/library/
The Library of Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales Twitter account
My other blog posts concerning Archibald Lee can be read here:
https://museum.wales/blog/2016-01-05/Our-Museum-during-the-Great-War/
https://museum.wales/blog/2018-07-12/Museums-Association-Conference-of-1948-at-National-Museum-Cardiff-/
