BGuthrie Photos: VA -- Richmond -- Virginia Museum of History and Culture (VMHC) -- Exhibit: Oddities

VA -- Richmond -- Virginia Museum of History and Culture (VMHC) -- Exhibit: Oddities:

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Description of Pictures: Things That Make You Say “Huh?” “Wow!” and “Ewww.”
New Virginia Historical Society Exhibit Features Bizarre, Weird, and Just Plain Odd Items from the Collection
Richmond, VA -- Disassembled skull bones. A hair wreath. An infant’s smallpox scab. Tree fungus art. These are not items that most visitors would expect to see when visiting the Virginia Historical Society (VHS). But one way or another all of these weird pieces, and many more, have crept into the society’s collections since its founding in 1831. Beginning Saturday, June 12, 2010, the VHS offers a new exhibition, Bizarre Bits: Oddities from the Collection, that showcases more than forty of the most unusual objects and materials in the vast VHS holdings.
"The only common tie between the items featured in this exhibition is that they are all bizarre -- objects about odd people and events or with an unusual color, shape, or purpose," said William Rasmussen, lead curator at the Virginia Historical Society. "As visitors walk through the show, I image they will be asking themselves, 'What in the world is coming up next?' and "Why did the VHS take all this stuff?'"
Historical items range from the bullet that killed the first Confederate officer in the American Civil War, nails from the part of the Virginia State Capitol that collapsed in 1870, a 1,000-year-old piece of wood from the Canary Islands, a 1908 trepan that was used for perforating the skull to treat health problems related to intracranial diseases, records from Princess Anne County about the witchcraft trial of Grace Sherwood, and silhouettes cut by an armless Virginia woman using her mouth.
Personal items include pieces of President James Madison's hair, Jefferson Davis's cigar, the secret diary of William Byrd II, letters telling of fingernail clippings sent by a naval officer to his wife as tokens of endearment, John Randolph of Roanoke's dressing gown that he wore in his duel with Henry Clay in 1826, and a late 19th century "Tramp Art" bureau l ...More...

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. VHSODD_101222_001.JPG: Chyurgia Minor Strasbourg, France, 1573 This book bears the inscription, "In this volume note particular the efforts of the Inquisition to blot out certain paragraphs with hot irons and acids, charring the paper." The Inquisition began burning books in 1497, especially those related to Judaism, Islam, and medicine and other sciences. This medical volume by a Swiss physician was on the list of books banned for heresy by the Roman Catholic court.
2. VHSODD_101222_011.JPG: Nails, c. 1785 This bizarre arrangement of nails makes it a memorable piece, especially when compared to other everyday items in the society's collections that are simply labeled with a handwritten tag. The nails were used in the original construction of the Virginia State Capitol and were collected following the collapse of the second-floor courtroom in 1870. The nails were given to the donor in 1929, presumably in this arrangement.
3. VHSODD_101222_019.JPG: Victor Dancette La Bete Est Morte! Seemingly for children, this commentary on ethnicity and patriotism during World War II is anything but innocent. A big bad wolf (Hitler) sets out to destroy the woodland creatures (France), but they are rescued by their friends the bulldogs (England), the bison (U.S.), and the polar bears (USSR). This schoolyard tale of good versus evil makes an odd statement similar to George Orwell's "Animal Farm," which appeals to children as well as adults.
4. VHSODD_101222_047.JPG: Miss Honeywell's Gallery of Cuttings and Needle-Work, Is now open at ... This interesting Lady, a native of New-York, born WITHOUT ARMS, Has acquired such use of a common pair of Scissors, by holding them in her MOUTH, as to be able to cut out of paper the most curious and difficult pieces of CUTTINGS Ever attempted -- such as the Likenesses of Distinguished Americans, &c. Watch-Papers; Flowers; Landscapes and even The Lord's Prayer, Perfectly legible -- not only the outlines, but to resemble cop- perplate Engravings. She Writes, Draws, and does all kinds of Needle-work, with the utmost facility and ease. An exten- sive variety of specimens of her elegant performance, are for exhibition in the house she occupies. All her elegant works are for sale. She can be seen at her occupation from 10 o'- clock, A.M. till 9 P.M. Admittance, to obtain a Profile Likeness (cut in a few seconds, without hands, by Miss Honeywell.) ___ Cents -- Children half price. N.B. -- Profiles neatly bronzed and framed by Mr. J. STARKEY. Advertisement for Miss Honeywell's Gallery, ca. 1826-48 Martha Ann Honeywell (c. 1787- c. 1848) of New Hampshire was born without hands or lower arms and with only one foot. From 1809 to 1848, she traveled the eastern US as a parlor performer, making cuttings and doing needlework for small audiences. These two silhouettes, each with the artist's inscription, "cut by M. Honeywell with the mouth," were likely made at the same time.
5. VHSODD_101222_060.JPG: Alonzo D. Pratt to John Woolley September 12, 1864: This letter sheds light on an unusual, though not uncommon, event during the Civil War. Capt. Alonzo Pratt reports the arrest of two women, Kate and Eliza Frances, who were dressed in US Army uniforms and claiming to belong to the 1st West Virginia Cavalry (USA). Were they there to fight for the Union, or were they following husbands or sweethearts into the army? Unfortunately, the document does not reveal the answer.
6. VHSODD_101222_063.JPG: Sketch of Thomas J "Stonewall" Jackson, 1863 William G. Williamson "Stonewall" Jackson was renowned among Civil War generals for his decisiveness, quick action, and tactical brilliance. He was also familiar to his troops and acquaintances alike for his awkwardness, both socially and physically. This sketch of Jackson by one of his subordinates suggests the oft-noted peculiarities of stance and stride to which the general's chief topographer, Jedediah Hotchkiss, refers in his caption.
7. VHSODD_101222_076.JPG: Cast, said to be of Daniel Boone's skull c. 1845 In 1845, the state of Kentucky reinterred Boone in a place of honor at Frankfort. At that time, for the purpose of phrenology, a mold of his skull was made, from which this is a cast. One modern anthropologist, however, has suggested that the mold is of the skull of a young African American man.
8. VHSODD_101222_085.JPG: Cast of the skull of Daniel Boone Presented to the Va. H.S. by G.W. Ranek Lexington, Ky. Feb. 4 1891 [???]
9. VHSODD_101222_091.JPG: Hair wreath, mid-19th century Hair flowers and wreaths were so popular during the Victorian era that such magazines as Godey's Lady Book printed instructions on how to make them. Many wreaths were memorial objects, but others combine hair from multiple sources, including church congregations, schoolmates, or family members. This wreath crafted by Elizabeth Kilmer of Martinsburg, now West Virginia, is composed of "125 locks of family and friends."
10. VHSODD_101222_098.JPG: Diary of Elijah S. Johnston, March 9, 1863-January 14, 1864 Pvt. Elijah Johnson [last name spelled two different ways on the sign] of the 15th Virginia Calvary carried this diary and Bible in his left coat pocket when he took part in a Civil War skirmish near Culpeper Court House on September 13, 1863. During the fight, a rifle bullet passed through the diary and lodged in the Bible, saving the young soldier's life.
11. VHSODD_101222_107.JPG: Trepan, 1908 Sharp & Smith This grotesque device was used for perforating the skull to treat health problems related to intracranial diseases. Trepanation has a long history. Evidence has been found in prehistoric human remains from Neolithic times onwards. Cave paintings reveal that people once believed the procedure would cure mental disorders, epileptic seizures, and migraines. Trepanation was also a primitive surgery technique for head wounds.
12. VHSODD_101222_112.JPG: Scarifier, c. 1850 This grotesque instrument was used by Dr. Alvan James Edward Jennings (1820-1868) of James City County to draw blood without opening a large vein. Thirteen retractable steel blades made shallow incisions in the skin. Today, the term "scarification" is better known not as a medical technique but as the art of cutting or branding designs, pictures, or words into the skin.
13. VHSODD_101222_125.JPG: First bullet to kill a Confederate soldier, 1861 On June 1, 1861, Union cavalry were reported at Accotink Creek in Fairfax County. In response, Virginia militia led by Capt. John Quincy Marr occupied Fairfax Courthouse. About 3am, suddenly the quiet was broken by sounds of running horses and shouting riders. Marr's men rushed out. One bullet fired by a cavalryman apparently ricocheted off the sidewalk and killed Marr. In 1904, when Marr's remains were located and reinterred, this bullet was found.
14. VHSODD_101222_139.JPG: Anatomical specimen of a disarticulated human skull, c. 1848 The label pasted to the original lid of the box for this human skull bears the name of Aine Guy, a nineteenth-century preparer of anatomical specimens in Paris. The skull is disarticulated or split into parts for use by medical students, who could learn the structure and function of the parts by reassembling the skull. This skull belonged to Dr. Gustavus Richard Brown Horner (1804-1892) of Warrenton, Virginia and Philadelphia.
15. VHSODD_101222_145.JPG: "Tramp Art" Bureau, c 1880-1920 Design of a traditional furniture type -- the bureau -- in a folk art style creates a strange-looking object. The "crown of thorns" motif was produced by chip carving (cutting at angles and then prying out the chips). The mirror unit rotates on an axis to expose a useful sewing center. George. G. Lander, an African American physician in Lynchburg, last owned this piece; its origin is unknown.
16. VHSODD_101222_160.JPG: Our Junior Partner Fairy Queen Cigarette Company, Lynchburg late 19th century This strange-looking pack of cigarette contains a printed insert that promises the product "will not injure your health in any way" and contains "no opium." A "corn shuck mouth-piece... extracts the nicotine." Note "which end to light, and do not put Cigarette too far in the mouth." The boy pictured, who does not smoke, is William Hubbard Loyd, son of James Edward Loyd, who developed the corn filter.
17. VHSODD_101222_165.JPG: If you want a Cigarette which will not injure your health in any way, smoke the "JUNIOR PARTNER." They have a corn shuck mouth-piece, which ex- tracts the nicotine and bad effects of the burning paper; are made of the purest and brightest Vir- ginia tobacco; have no opium or flavorings in them; are hand made, and 1/4 of an inch longer than any other Cigarette. Notice directions on the box as to which end to light, and do not put Cigarette too far in the mouth when smoking, for fear of break- ing off the shuck mouth-piece. "FAIRY QUEEN" CIGARETTE, CO., Sole Manufacturers and Proprietors, Lynching, Va., U.S.A.
18. VHSODD_101222_173.JPG: A Map of Virginia Discovered to the Hills... Virginia Farrer London, 1651 John Farrer of the Virginia Company of London was a tireless promoter of the colony. His daughter Virginia shared her father's enthusiasm, reissuing in 1651 under her own name a map he had drawn. Surprising accurate in its depiction of the Chesapeake Bay region, it also records John's curious belief that the China Sea (Pacific Ocean) lay just west of the Appalachian Mountains, a conviction shared by numerous contemporaries.
19. VHSODD_101222_182.JPG: A Piece of the Elm Tree Formerly Standing in Cambridge, Massachusetts under which George Washington took command of the American Army July 3, 1775 Presented by The City of Cambridge 1924 Wood from the Washington Elm Tree: By tradition, it was under the Washington Elm -- a tree in Cambridge, Massachusetts -- that George Washington took command of the Continental Army on July 3, 1775. Publication in 1876 of a fictional eyewitness journal, The Diary of Dorothy Dudley, furthered the legend. In 1923, when the tree was diseased, it was cut into 1,000 pieces that were distributed to the state legislatures and the public.
20. VHSODD_101222_195.JPG: The Nude Lady, 1906-07 Adrien Barrere Hand-colored lithograph This print, one of the artist's most popular, satirizes the medical faculty at the University of Paris. Barrere studied medicine and law but practiced neither; instead he made a living as a graphic designer and artist and became famous for his comics and caricatures.
21. VHSODD_101222_236.JPG: Jefferson Davis's cigar, 1865 According to a label once attached to it, this unusual object was "preserved as a relic of the Great Rebellion." At the capture of Confederate president Jefferson David in Georgia in 1865, his trunk was confiscated. In 1874, the secretary of war ordered that all the contents be returned "to their owner," with the exception of one of the cigars.
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2010 photos: My office at the main Commerce Department building closed in October and I was shifted out to the Bureau of the Census in Suitland Maryland. It's good to have a job of course but that killed being able to see basically any cultural events during the day. There's basically nothing of interest that you can see around the Census building. Overnight trips this year: Civil War Trust conferences (Lexington, KY and Nashville, TN), and my 5th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including Los Angeles). Equipment this year: I mostly used the Fuji S100fs until the third one broke and I started sending them back for repairs. Then I used either the Fuji S200EHX or the Nikon D90 until I got the S100fs ones repaired. At the end of the year I bought a Nikon D5000 but I returned it pretty quickly. Number of photos taken this year: about 395,000..
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