The next instalment of our Mystery Object Revealed!

A peculiar old netted bag has been up on a pedestal for the past month at Hurstville Museum & Gallery. This object, our second instalment of Mystery Objects in the exhibition Revealed, has had visitors even more stumped than the first (see Mystery Object Revealed!). Yes, we know it’s a bag, but what was it used for? What did it carry?

Again, we asked our visitors to have a guess and write a label for this unusual object. Several visitors suggested that it was a fishing net or used to hold fish once they were caught. Another thought it might have been like a cage to hold small animals such as possums. Such close guesses!

Our mystery object was actually used to trap and catch rabbits! It was also known as a purse net because of the drawstring top. The bag would be placed over the entrance to rabbit burrows and secured with a peg through the drawstring. That way when rabbits ran out and into the bag, pulling it away from the burrow, they would inevitably draw the string closed upon themselves. Pretty nifty!

Catching bags or nets of this kind have been used for centuries for a variety of different purposes and by different people. The Perth Gazette Newspaper (14 March 1840) tells of Aboriginal people using similar nets made from spun bark to catch small animals.

Our next and final mystery object is now on display at Hurstville Museum & Gallery. Don’t miss your chance to guess it!

Revealed! Special Object of the Week

Hurstville Museum & Gallery’s exhibition Revealed! has been on show for five weeks now! How time flies when you’re having fun!

One of the many fascinating aspects of our Revealed! exhibition is our rotating Special Object of the Week. Each week we reveal a new unusual or beautiful object that, due to the delicate condition of its material, cannot be on display for long. It is a rare chance to see some of the more fragile objects in the Hurstville City Library Museum and Gallery collection.

We are now just past the half way point of this exhibition, which means five special objects have come and gone! We have seen a corset worn by Gerringong resident Margaret Taylor, who must have had an enviously tiny waist. A beautifully designed, homemade cushion cover displayed a combination of 48 silk ‘cigarette cards’ featuring colourful Australian flowers. A crocheted boudoir cap also showed off bedroom fashions in the 1920s. But, my favourite was a gloriously hideous fox fur cape from the 1930s, still with paws attached! This cape will be on display for a final time during the last week of Revealed! Don’t miss out on seeing it!

With these Special Objects of the Week and other rotating displays, our exhibition is always changing. We invite you to pop in again and again!

Mystery Object Revealed!

Hurstville Museum & Gallery’s newest exhibition Revealed! Treasures from the Hurstville City Library Museum & Gallery Collections features a number of quirky objects on rotational display. Those of you who have visited the exhibition in the past few weeks will have noticed a bizarre silver, pointy thingy that we have aptly called a ‘mystery object’. We have asked our visitors to draw on their memories or imaginations to write their own label for our mystery object. The guesses have been many and varied, but always interesting! Some of my favourites include a primitive iPad and a giant magnet!

But I can now reveal the identity of this first mystery object. Hurstville Museum & Gallery is proud to present (drum roll please)… a cream separator!

This cream separator was used on a dairy farm at Brays Creek, 20 miles from Murwillimbah, by Albie and Eileen Carter. Separator machines were invented in 1885, and made it possible to separate cream from milk faster and more easily without having to let the milk sit and risk turning sour.

The machine works by manually rotating a handle so that a separator bowl spins at thousands of revolutions per minute! When spun, the heavier milk is pulled outward against the walls of the separator and the cream, which is lighter, collects in the middle. The cream and milk then flow out of separate spouts.

Pretty cool hey!

Some of our visitors did actually guess correctly. Congratulations! I now challenge you to view and guess our next mystery object!

Revealed! Treasures from the Hurstville City Library, Museum & Gallery Collections

Our latest exhibition Revealed! Treasures from the Hurstville City Library, Museum & Gallery Collections officially opened to the public last week. Over 60 guests enjoyed the event, including a fascinating speech from ABC presenter, author, and collector Claudia Chan Shaw. Claudia, who describes herself an 'obsessive collector', has written a book entitled Collectomania : from objects of desire to magnificent obsession.

Also, check out what the staff from Museums & Galleries NSW had to say about the opening.

Don't worry if you missed the event. We have many other events and activities coming up including:

Kids Activity

Be a museum detective
Get your detective investigation book from the Museum & Gallery service desk and explore the exhibition. There are many questions to answer and mysteries to solve. Available anytime during exhibition opening hours. Free activity.

Museum & Gallery Talks

Join us for a series of exciting talks exxploring the theme collecting, collectors and collections. Free events, bookings essential on 9330 6444.

Sunday 3 March, 3.00pm - 4.00pm
Michael Lea
Curator, Powerhouse Museum
Collecting collections - the Clements Cabinets at the Powerhouse Museum

Sunday 24 March, 3.00pm - 4.00pm
Dr Birgit Heilmann
Curator, Hurstville Museum & Gallery
Holy relics turn into history - the different lives of objects

Sunday 7 April, 3.00 - 4.00pm
Michael Vardakis
Pottery collector
My pottery collection

Seniors Week Program

Revealed! Show and Tell
Monday 11 March, 2.00pm - 3.15pm
Free event, bookings essential
Discover artefacts, oddities and treasures at the Revealed! exhibition. Join the curator and hear the stories of a selection of items from the exhibition, followed by show and tell with your own objects. Participants are asked to bring an interesting item of their own to discuss with the group. Afternoon tea provided. Bookings on 9330 6444.

Workshops

Make your own time capsule
Sunday 10 March, 2.30pm - 4.30pm
Ages: 15 to adult
Cost: $10.00
Bookings essential
Learn about time capsules and what they are used for and then make your own. Time capsules are a great way to mark a special family celebration. Bring some items to put in your time capsule, e.g. photographs, newspaper cuttings, special mementos.

Model Making
Saturday 13 April, 10.30am - 12.30pm
Ages: 7 - 14
Cost: $5.00
Bookings essential
See what interesting designs you can makeout of simple craft items.

Exhibition Finale
Sunday 14 April, 2.30pm - 4.30pm
All welcome, free event, bookings recommended
Don't miss your last chance to see the Revealed! exhibition. Come and have your afternoon coffee at the Museum & Gallery. Our staff will be on hand to give you insights into some of the objects on display.

Call 9330 6444 or email us to book.