Folk Art and Commemorative Crockery

When you think about folk art and ceramics, you think of harvest jugs and christening mugs, coronation cups and saucers, earthenware cooking pots. The recent Folk Art in Britain exhibition at Tate Britain included some great examples. Pottery and ceramics have been used to mark national occasions, commemorate personal life events and show political allegiances. Ceramic urns have even been used from earliest times to hold a person's ashes after death. The museum has some wonderful examples with a collection that includes everyday objects and replica English Delft ware and Thomas Toft style slip ware. There's also locally produced Pinxton porcelain and examples of Wedgewood. Stoneware hot water bottles, made at Pearsons factory in nearby Chesterfield, cooking pots and water purifiers are all there in the collection. Sometimes we know who the potter was. Their signature or cipher is on the piece. More often with folk art their work is anonymous, and if we are lucky there's a thumb print in the clay, the potter's mark, connecting the past with the present.

An elephant's tale

This photo of one of the display cases in the Museum tells a tragic tale. On my first day at work in the Museum, back in February 2003, I arrived to find an unusual object on my desk. It was a hollowed out elephant's foot, recently donated to the collection. I knew the story of the Bakewell elephant, but I hadn't expected to get so close to its remains. The museum also has one of its teeth, which can also be seen in the display case. Elephant teeth continue to grow, like rabbits' teeth, and are constantly worn down by feeding. I was told that the museum had also been offered a knife that was used to cut off pieces of the poor elephant's hide for souvenirs. Good taste prevailed and this donation was declined! The local story has a twist. This is said to be the only five footed elephant in existence, as those were the number of feet claimed to have come from this unlucky creature. I have also seen an old family photo of one of its tusks, found on the local tip where its body was buried. Newspaper articles of the time and information from the National Fairground Archive (based at Sheffield University) tell a confused story. Travelling circuses were a feature of the 20th century, and Sangers Circus visited Bakewell annually. In 1905 the circus came to town. Their star elephant was a bull, confusingly known as Old Paul or Phylis. Elephants are incredible creatures,intelligent and thoughtful. One version of events describes the bull elephant as being 'in must' and therefore difficult to handle, desperate for a female of the species. Another version describes how the elephant would take sweets from the audience. A cruel person put a carpet tack in a toffee and as the elephant picked it up with his sensitive trunk, he was maddened by the pain. One version has him breaking out of the circus tent and rampaging down Haddon Road towards Pickory Corner and the turning to Youlgreave. Another has him injuring the ringmaster (confirmed by a family eye witness account) and being too dangerous to handle. Local soldiers were on manoeuvres nearby and were called in to help.The elephant was shot dead. But this isn't the end of the story. His body was left on the recreation ground whilst arrangements were made to dispose of it. On the Sunday morning children in their Sunday best climbed on him, including their dog, and had their photograph taken. You can see it in the museum display. A local family story describes how the elephant appeared to come to life. As the climbing children pressed on his stomach full of gases he trumpeted! The timber wagon from the local wood yard had to be brought in to move the body to the local tip. The body was hung in chains from the feet, an ignominious end for a magnificent creature. Again you can see the photo in the museum. A hundred years later the tip where he was buried was prepared for redevelopment, and I was told that his skeleton had broken up and moved down through the culvert at one end of the site. What will archaeologists of the future make of this exotic find ? I worked for an organisation based in the new offices there. We had to create a new address and as it was a nature conservation organisation some of us voted for ' Elephant's Graveyard' in honour of Old Paul.It wasn't taken up. This elephant's story is however celebrated in the museum. If you visit the co-op supermarket in Bakewell, take a minute to look up at the tiled picture on the clock tower at its main entrance. There among the animal market scenes depicted, commemorating the sheep and cattle that used to be sold there, you will see an elephant in a pen. Spare a thought for Old Paul.

Sensible about your feet

As the weather worsens we need to think about how we keep our feet warm and dry. Clogs were the footwear of the working men and women. Practical and almost indestructible, their wooden soles, usually made of alder wood, were both protection and insulation. Clogs and shawls will forever be associated with women mill workers. Agricultural labourers also wore clogs. Some were shod with iron, raising sparks as they struck stone pavements. Others have rubber soles,and were slightly more comfortable to wear. Nowadays they are worn for clog dancing, and decorative patterns, bells and bright colours adorn them. There are still clog factories in West Yorkshire, notably in Calderdale. They have become fashion items in recent decades. When I was younger I lived in Todmorden. Mr Pinnington made clogs to order in his tiny shed of a workshop next to the bus station. I had a couple of pairs made. My black lace up ones were passed on to a friend who was studying to be a gardener. Perfect for outside work in the cold. I still have my fancy red ones, rarely worn but often admired. I had friends in Holland who ordered Lancashire clogs from Mr Pinnington by sending a drawing of the outline of their feet. Talk about coals to Newcastle! Travelling back to Todmorden from Manchester on the train, wearing my clogs, an elderly lady commented "Ee, you are sensible about your feet". Sadly Mr Pinnington's shed was demolished by a bus one day. Luckily he wasn't in it at the time, but he took it as a sign to retire. You can see traditional clogs, with irons on the soles in the Museum's collection. The red ones are my own 'dancing' clogs.

Rag rugs and samplers

As the carpet beetle story develops and unfolds, the good news is that we have been offered storage space, away from the Museum building, to house the items that have been through the freezing process. Our wonderful pest control expert has also found us a generous ice cream manufacturer in Nottingham with spare freezer capacity. This means that the process of freezing the collection will take less time than we had feared. In the meantime, here are some images of items that tie in with the recent Folk Art in Britain exhibition at Tate Britain. The Old House Museum has a wonderful collection of samplers, many with a very local connection. The rag rug in Pitts kitchen has been a great memory jogger with visitors over the years too. Is it time for a revival of this up cycling craft?!