Blog Posts

[{"ID":565,"Title":"An Artist's Gift","Sort":23,"Date":"Tue, 26 Jun 2018","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003EIn the late 1960s, Canterbury artist Sydney Lough Thompson gifted his private collection of taonga M\u0101ori and Pacific objects to Canterbury Museum. Among these gifts is an exquisitely woven kaitaka (fine flax cloak) with an intricate t\u0101niko border.\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDExMF0/650pxSQR.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsZmFsc2UsMF0/650pxSQR.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/an-artists-gift/"},{"ID":550,"Title":"Acclimatisation or Assassination?","Sort":22,"Date":"Fri, 11 May 2018","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003EThe historical actions of Acclimatisation Societies around New Zealand continue to have damaging repercussions for the natural environment. Many of the species introduced in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were anything but innocuous and share responsibility for the extinction of many of our native species. Collections Technician Phil Skewes looks at the history of the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society set up in 1864 next to the Rolleston Avenue site of Canterbury Museum.\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDld/1968.213.5184-Acclimatisation-gardens.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsIngiLDIwNl0/1968.213.5184-Acclimatisation-gardens.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/acclimatisation-or-assassination/"},{"ID":526,"Title":"J H Menzies: Peninsula Carver","Sort":21,"Date":"Fri, 09 Mar 2018","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Henry Menzies, who lived and farmed on Banks Peninsula, was a prolific carver and designer active during\u00a0 the New Zealand Arts and Crafts period. His legacy includes around 80 pieces of carved furniture, a decorated house named Rehutai, and a decorated church, St. Luke's Anglican Church at Little Akaloa.\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDE1XQ/Rehutai-drawing-room-1200.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsIngiLDExMl0/Rehutai-drawing-room-1200.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/j-h-menzies-peninsula-carver/"},{"ID":512,"Title":"The striking spiders of Canterbury Museum","Sort":19,"Date":"Fri, 16 Feb 2018","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003EFifty of the world's 112 spider families are represented in the Museum's spider collection, 39 of which have native representatives in New Zealand. Many species in the collection are only found in New Zealand.\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDBd/IMG-3436-1201.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsIngiLDc1XQ/IMG-3436-1201.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/the-striking-spiders-of-canterbury-museum/"},{"ID":505,"Title":"A Castaway's Salvation","Sort":18,"Date":"Wed, 17 Jan 2018","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003EThe sub Antarctic islands, south of New Zealand, became the scene of a number of devastating shipwrecks during the 1880s with many lives lost at sea. To give survivors a better chance, the New Zealand Government established castaway depots on some of the islands.\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDI0XQ/Dundonald-survivors-1200.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsIngiLDk4XQ/Dundonald-survivors-1200.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/a-castaways-salvation/"},{"ID":490,"Title":"Welcoming Visitors for 150 Years","Sort":17,"Date":"Sun, 03 Dec 2017","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003EOne hundred and fifty years ago today, on Tuesday 3 December 1867, Canterbury Museum first opened its doors to the public. It was a very different space from the Museum we now know.\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDYzXQ/19XX-2-365-Provincial-Chambers-1202.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsIngiLDQ2XQ/19XX-2-365-Provincial-Chambers-1202.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/welcomng-visitors-for-150-years/"},{"ID":487,"Title":"Canterbury's War Hero","Sort":16,"Date":"Fri, 01 Dec 2017","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003ECanterbury Museum\u2019s new World War One exhibition features Victoria Cross winner Henry Nicholas as a pivotal character whose story can be followed through the exhibition. Read his story.\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDBd/2007-101-5-Harry-Nicholas-final-1200.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsInkiLDBd/2007-101-5-Harry-Nicholas-final-1200.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/canterburys-war-hero/"},{"ID":483,"Title":"Arthur Lilly's 'Life' in Concert","Sort":15,"Date":"Fri, 24 Nov 2017","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Life\u2019 is a large-scale choral work written by church organist and local composer Arthur Lilly. Lilly spent 15 years writing the piece and dedicated it to his younger brother Leslie in honour of his military service during the First World War. You can hear a short excerpt in this blog post.\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsIngiLDE4XQ/1991-288-33-1201.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsIngiLDE2NV0/1991-288-33-1201.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/arthur-lillys-life-in-concert/"},{"ID":479,"Title":"Bula Bula","Sort":14,"Date":"Fri, 10 Nov 2017","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003ETo celebrate Fijian Language Week, Canterbury Museum said a very warm bula (hello) to members of Canterbury's Fijian community giving them access to a selection of Fijian objects from the collection.\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDkzXQ/IMG-0682-crop.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsIngiLDE0XQ/IMG-0682-crop.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/bula-bula/"},{"ID":469,"Title":"Place Personified","Sort":13,"Date":"Thu, 05 Oct 2017","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003EIf you had something to say to Antarctica, what would that be? Quite a few people actually have quite a lot to say, and the question is a surprisingly topical one for New Zealanders.\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDNd/MG-0745-1201.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsIngiLDEzNV0/MG-0745-1201.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/place-personified/"},{"ID":458,"Title":"Beautiful Botanicals","Sort":12,"Date":"Fri, 22 Sep 2017","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003ECanterbury Museum cares for a large collection of botanical studies and landscapes by renowned local artist, Margaret Olrog Stoddart. The daughter of an early Canterbury settler, Margaret was born in 1865 in Stoddart Cottage, Diamond Harbour and later lived in Godley House. While Godley House was destroyed in the 4 September 2010 earthquake, Stoddart Cottage still stands.\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDBd/2015-114-34-Margaret-Stoddart-sitting-verandah-Godley-House.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsIngiLDY4XQ/2015-114-34-Margaret-Stoddart-sitting-verandah-Godley-House.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/beautiful-botanicals/"},{"ID":451,"Title":"Haast Past","Sort":11,"Date":"Mon, 04 Sep 2017","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003EIn 1863 Canterbury Museum founder, Julius von Haast led an expedition over the pass in South Westland that now bears his name. Expedition surveyor William Spearman Young's delightful watercolours add interest to Haast's rather more serious account of the journey.\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDI1XQ/1984-224-1-Haast-Pass-Brewster-1201.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsIngiLDI0XQ/1984-224-1-Haast-Pass-Brewster-1201.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/haast-past/"},{"ID":448,"Title":"Osman, Scott's Best Sledge Dog","Sort":10,"Date":"Mon, 21 Aug 2017","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003EOsman, which Captain Robert Falcon Scott christened his \"best sledge dog\", was recruited from the Arctic for the ill-fated expedition to the South Pole in 1910. He and other sledge dogs spent the Spring of 1910 training on Quail Island in Lyttelton Harbour, pulling makeshift sledges built with small wheels to handle the snowless environment.\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDExOF0/Osman.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsInkiLDdd/Osman.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/osman-scotts-best-sledge-dog/"},{"ID":421,"Title":"Behind the Tattooists' Art","Sort":9,"Date":"Tue, 18 Jul 2017","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003ETraditional Japanese tattooing traces its origins to ukiyo-e, an art form which developed more than 400 years ago in Japan\u2019s theatre and brothel districts. Canterbury Museum holds about 500 uyiko-e artworks in the collection, with a handful on display in the Asian Arts Gallery. Read more about ukiyo-e and the story behind the tattoos in our special exhibition \u003Cem\u003EPerseverance: Japanese Tattoo Tradition in a Modern World\u003C/em\u003E, on until 13 August 2017.\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDBd/JANM-Perseverance-Shige-1201.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsInkiLDBd/JANM-Perseverance-Shige-1201.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/behind-the-tattooists-art/"},{"ID":413,"Title":"Artistic and Scientific Marvels","Sort":8,"Date":"Mon, 19 Jun 2017","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003EBlaschka models, hand made from glass in the nineteenth century are both artistic marvels in the field of science and scientific marvels in the field of art. The Museum cares for the largest collection of these in the South Hemisphere. Some of the collection is on display in the Victorian Museum in\u00a0\u003Cem\u003EThe Christchurch Street.\u003C/em\u003E\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDMyXQ/CM017-160907-1200-crop.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsIngiLDg2XQ/CM017-160907-1200-crop.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/artistic-and-scientific-marvels/"},{"ID":407,"Title":"Casting New Light on Moths","Sort":7,"Date":"Fri, 02 Jun 2017","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003ECanterbury Museum has 120,000 specimens - including 20,900 moths - in the pinned insect collection which have been collected and identified over decades. Many are only found in New Zealand, some are very rare and others have an interesting story to tell.\u00a0\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDk1XQ/Photo-1-Adult-male-of-Orophora-unicolor-on-pin-650.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsIngiLDEyXQ/Photo-1-Adult-male-of-Orophora-unicolor-on-pin-650.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/casting-new-light-on-moths/"},{"ID":333,"Title":"P\u0101t\u012bt\u012b: a Fusion of Cultures","Sort":6,"Date":"Tue, 16 May 2017","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003EThe p\u0101t\u012bt\u012b, a single-handed weapon, represents a fusion of M\u0101ori and European cultures.\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDExMF0/1952-30-498-patu-2.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsZmFsc2UsMF0/1952-30-498-patu-2.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/patiti-a-fusion-of-cultures/"},{"ID":342,"Title":"From Geraldine to Jericho","Sort":5,"Date":"Fri, 21 Apr 2017","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003EAs we commemorate the centenary of the First World War - the Great War - a new book 'From Geraldine to Jericho' provides a fitting tribute to the New Zealand men and their horses who served in the Middle East. The book can be downloaded \u003Ca title=\"here\" href=\"https://collection.canterburymuseum.com/objects/848218\"\u003Ehere\u003C/a\u003E.\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDIxNl0/Ch5-34-1202.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsInkiLDg5XQ/Ch5-34-1202.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/from-geraldine-to-jericho/"},{"ID":324,"Title":"Fantastical Life in Antarctic Wonderland","Sort":4,"Date":"Tue, 28 Mar 2017","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003EIn the winter of 1908, Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson wrote a fantastic sci-fi story in which explorers descend into an imaginary wonderland at the bottom of an abyss where they encounter gigantic mites, water-bears and rotifers. A copy of his book has just sold at auction in London for\u00a0\u003Cspan\u003E\u00a355,000 ($97,400).\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDg3XQ/175-Aurora-Australis-pencil-drawing-crop.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsIngiLDIwXQ/175-Aurora-Australis-pencil-drawing-crop.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/fantastical-life-in-antarctic-wonderland/"},{"ID":318,"Title":"The St Bathans Fauna: a Window on New Zealand's Past","Sort":3,"Date":"Fri, 10 Mar 2017","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003EIn the 1860s, St Bathans was at the heart of the Central Otago gold rush. Today researchers are searching for another kind of treasure: fossils.\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDMxM10/201601-Vanesa-De-Petri-and-Dr-Trevor-Worthy.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsInkiLDE3MV0/201601-Vanesa-De-Petri-and-Dr-Trevor-Worthy.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/the-st-bathans-fauna-a-window-on-new-zealands-past/"},{"ID":304,"Title":"Hunting for snipe on The Snares","Sort":2,"Date":"Thu, 09 Feb 2017","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Department of Conservation (DOC) recently offered the Museum an historic hut that had been used as a research lab on The Snares Islands. Museum Exhibition Preparator Sebastian Denize was excited by the chance to join the DOC expedition to recover the hut and help relocate rare snipe from The Snares to Whenua Hou (Codfish Island).\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDMwXQ/Snipe-1200.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsIngiLDkwXQ/Snipe-1200.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/hunting-for-snipe-on-the-snares/"},{"ID":276,"Title":"Celebrating 75 Years of Air New Zealand - Let's Eat!","Sort":1,"Date":"Wed, 07 Dec 2016","ShortDesc":"\u003Cp\u003EIn 1940, the first scheduled passenger service from Auckland to Sydney on flying boat \u2018Aotearoa\u2019 ZK-AMA took place. This flight marks the birth of New Zealand\u2019s national airline, originally named TEAL (Tasman Empire Airways Limited), now Air New Zealand. It was piloted by Captain John Burgess and there were just nine passengers.\u003C/p\u003E","ImageSmlLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzY0MCw0MjAsInkiLDExM10/Blog-post-2-image-3.jpg","ImageMedLink":"assets/Uploads/_resampled/CroppedFocusedImageWzU0MCw1NDAsInkiLDJd/Blog-post-2-image-3.jpg","Type":"","PageLink":"/discover/blog-posts/celebrating-75-years-of-air-new-zealand-lets-eat/"}]