Category Archives: Cambridge

Aqila and Prisila

Posted on 11/10/2018 by carolinemmurray

I have mentioned before the excitement of spotting something new in the display cases at the Fitzwilliam Museum (either because of a change-around, or simply because I’d never observed it before). The other day I noticed this ceramic dish showing … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, Cambridge, History, Literature, Museums and Galleries, Printing and Publishing | Tagged broadsides, ceramics, conjoined twins, Montacute House, Quakerss | 5 Comments

Plant of the Month, October 2018

Posted on 04/10/2018 by carolinemmurray

What is an autumn crocus? The easy answer is that it is not in fact a crocus (in the Iridaceae family) but a colchicum (in the Colchicaceae family), Colchicum autumnale to be precise. Needless to say, neither life nor taxonomy … Continue reading →

Posted in Botany, Cambridge, Gardens, Natural history | Tagged Cambridge University Botanic Garden, colchucum, crocus, plant of the month, saffron | Leave a comment

Enter by the Founder’s

Posted on 26/08/2018 by carolinemmurray

… and exit by the gift shop. You can of course, alternatively, enter via the Courtyard, which takes you through/past the gift shop first, on your way to the café. Cambridge friends will realise that I am taking about the … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Cambridge, Classics, History, Italy, Museums and Galleries | Tagged architecture, C.R. Cockerell, Cambridge, Dr Victoria Avery, Fitzwilliam Museum, George Basevi, museums, portrait busts | 4 Comments

Object of the Month: August 2018

Posted on 10/08/2018 by carolinemmurray

I was recently trying to find out who in Cambridge (apart from the Polar Museum) has any scrimshaw, and was most intrigued to discover – as well as, naturally, bone and ivory carvings – Jane Scrimshaw, immortalised by John Faber … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Bibliography, Biography, Cambridge, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Printing and Publishing | Tagged almshouses, centenarians, Jane Scrimshaw, John Faber, Old Parr | 3 Comments

Plant of the Month: July 2018

Posted on 27/07/2018 by carolinemmurray

I had vaguely hoped that during my recent sojourn in Florida I might see a catalpa in (almost) its native habitat. Its usual southernmost range is further north in the state, but I had plans to visit botanic gardens, until … Continue reading →

Posted in Bibliography, Biography, Botany, Cambridge, Gardens, History, London, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged Cambridge University Botanic Garden, catalpa, Mark Catesby, plant of the month | 1 Comment

(Yet) Another Artist Of Whom I’d Never Heard

Posted on 05/07/2018 by carolinemmurray

Well, had you (assuming, of course, that you are not an expert in eighteenth-century French flower paintings) heard of Gerard van Spaendonck? You will gather from his name that he was not French – he was born in 1746, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Botany, Cambridge, France, History, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged botanical paintings, Cornelis van Spaendonck, Fitzwilliam Museum, flower paintings, Gerard van Spaendonck, Lucy Cust, Redouté | 9 Comments

Object of the Month: June 2018

Posted on 29/06/2018 by carolinemmurray

This fire screen, standing 104 cm (3 ft 5 ins) tall, must in the summer have graced fireplace of a well-to-do eighteenth-century individual, probably in France. When I first noticed it, I thought it was embroidered, perhaps by a daughter … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Cambridge, France, History, Literature, Museums and Galleries | Tagged Beauvais, Colbert, David Teniers, fire screen, Fitzwilliam Museum, Louis XIV, tapestry | 1 Comment

Object of the Month: May 2018

Posted on 19/05/2018 by carolinemmurray

How many bear jugs does one person need in his or her life? The answer, in the case of Dr J.W.L. Glaisher (about whom I have written before), appears to be at least twelve. This is the number bequeathed by … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Cambridge, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Uncategorized | Tagged animal cruelty, Bankside, bear jugs, bear-baiting, ceramics, Fitzwilliam Museum, Shakespeare's London | 1 Comment

When It’s Gone, It’s Gone …

Posted on 11/04/2018 by carolinemmurray

I was slightly disconcerted to note that a small new display which opened yesterday at the Fitzwilliam Museum is available only until 22 April; and even more so that an exhibition opening at the Chelsea Physic Garden on 15 April … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, Cambridge, History, Italy, Museums and Galleries | Tagged British Museum, Edward Lear, Fitzwilliam Museum, Jenny Uglow, Knowsley Hall, William Barclay Squire | 2 Comments

Plant of the Month: March 2018

Posted on 27/03/2018 by carolinemmurray

The primroses are out in splendid fashion this year – two severe blasts of snow appear not to have cramped their style (let’s see what the third, allegedly due later this week, will do). Quintessentially plants of woodland and hedgerow, … Continue reading →

Posted in Bibliography, Botany, Cambridge, Gardens, History, London, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged Cambridge University Botanic Garden, John Parkinson, Linnean Society, primrose, Primulaceae, Sir J.E. Smith, spring flowers, William Hudson | Leave a comment