Date: Fri 01-Aug-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

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Full Text:

SIDEBAR TO STEWARD MUSEUM : And You Thought They Had Oddities At Tag Sales And

Flea Markets...

"For further additions of curiosities the attention of gentlemen traveling to

foreign parts is requested, and every favor will be gratefully acknowledged. "

-Newspaper ad, in part,

by Joseph Stewart, for

The Hartford Museum (ca 1797)

Before Joseph Stewart opened his museum of "natural and artificial

curiosities" in Hartford's Old State House two centuries ago, he advertised in

local newspapers for donations of the unusual objects which would make up the

museum's collection. In only a few months, he had collected several dozen

items, which he proudly exhibited along with his paintings.

Steward maintained an inventory of his museum's contents, so museum officials

know which curiosities are still needed to return the collection to its 1797

condition. This is why Wilson H. Faude, executive director of Hartford's Old

State House, in which The Hartford Museum has been restored and is a permanent

exhibit, has announced a worldwide search for the items.

Mr Steward's list is long and contains many items that would seem difficult,

if not impossible, to acquire. For example, the museum's Steward's inventory

at one time or another included "a Crocodile from Egypt, 18 feet in length, 4

figures in wax depicting a guillotine, God Bacchus's shoes, and a 74-gun ship

made entirely of glass."

But this does not deter Mr Faude, who points out the museum has already

received many unusual items, including the horn of a unicorn and a two-headed

calf.

"The fax machine began to beep one day," said Mr Faude, in explaining how the

museum got the calf, "and out came a message from a farmer in Wisconsin who

had just discovered the calf, which was stillborn." Several months later, the

calf arrived, perfectly preserved by a professional taxidermist, right down to

its wet-looking noses.

A partial list of items needed to round out Mr Steward's collection of

curiosities follows. The listing was culled from the museum's original

inventory, so they all existed at some point in history. Anyone with any of

these items who wishes to donate to Mr Steward's museum should contact Mr

Faude at 860/522-6766, or fax 860/522-2812.

Paintings and Sculpture

Portraits of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Jonathan Trumbull, Thomas McKean,

Thomas Paine, Buonaparte, and/or Jean Paul Marat;

"The Death of Abel";

"Daniel interpreting to Belshazzar";

"Eristratus";

"Battle of the Nile";

A statue of Venus de Medici.

Natural & Artificial Curiosities

Extensive collections of minerals, medals, shells, including an oyster shell

weighing 234 lbs;

Indian ornaments, pipes, weapons, canoes, paddles;

Pagan idols and models of temples and a pagoda;

A crocodile from Egypt, 18 feet in length;

A pelican;

A seal;

An African black dog, which never had hair;

A very large penguin;

A sea dog;

A panther six feet long;

Bolguaca, a snake from South America, 15 feet long;

A porcupine;

A valuable collection of ores, gold, copper, lead, etc;

A large collection of reptiles, preserved in spirit;

Every rare and curious fish;

A pig with two perfect heads;

Hummingbirds, as well as any stuffed birds or fish, including the whole of

Wilson's Ornithology;

Four figures in wax depicting a guillotine;

A number of Chinese curiosities including a Chinese pipe with conduits running

from it, boots and shoes;

Asbestos;

Cloth made from Ortibets;

An armadillo;

Cloth from the South Seas Islands;

God Bacchus' shoes;

Penetrating spy glass;

A 74-ship gun made entirely of glass;

A new and superior organ, imported from London, which plays the principal

diapason, 12th and 15th, accompanied with drum and triangle.