Thread by @Sayraphim

In #Ballarat today to visit the @thegoldmuseum. Going to do a little #TwitterTour so maybe mute my hashtag #GoldMuseumTour if you dont want spoilers for your visit!

#GoldMuseumTour we start outside with a statue of #SirHenryBolte who was a Lib premier of Vic for a record 17 yrs. He supported development of @sovereignhill & pushed to set up an acquisition fund for historic items. Love how his hand is shiny from people grasping it!

#GoldMuseumTour we start with a small display of the Indigenous language group who were in this region, the Watha Wurrung. There's some beautiful items on display but no label which identifies and describes and/or ages them.

And reading @_mavic 's acquisition policy guidelines, I know that museums can apply for exemptions for owning dangerous weapons&that pre 1900s guns are ok as long as they don't take contemporary ammo&are firmly attached to walls/in secure cases. This gun is bolted in in 2 places

#GoldMuseumTour here a label with a painting by #EugeneVonGuerard from 1884 is positioned by a large window looking at the same view from almost the same point. It's incredible that 130 years later it's not that different!

A display of some of the first ppl to discover gold here includes some replicas of early nuggets. Next to the #WelcomeNugget is a label which ends "you can see...the story of its discovery... at @sovereignhill " which is across the road but a whole other museum
#GoldMuseumTour

There's a giant map of all the gold mines in Victoria from 1853 from the @Library_Vic map collection, I didn't know there was a mine at Pentridge! Though it kight explain where they got all the rocks to build it (marked here just above Heidelberg with a 'P') #GoldMuseumTour

There is a bronze statue of a miner on display but I notice it has a n&w fabric sleeve. I can't figure out how it's gotten there, the statue's hand holds the wheelbarrow. A closer inspection reveals its a mannequin dressed & painted to look like bronze. Genius!
#GoldMuseumTour

Since reading that @_mavic document, I find I'm noticing guns and other dangerous weapons much more in museums. Here is a Belgian made 'percussion' pocket pistol from 1850. I assume the name has to do with the hammer(?) action of firing the pistol. Safe in steel display case

A calico reward poster for the apprehension of the killer of Thomas Ulrich Burke. I want to know more! Did they find the killer? Did anyone claim the 300 pound reward?
#GoldMuseumTour

Some great info on the #HansomCab new design, which made it better as a public cab, like doors at the front and driver at the back rather than the other way around & the drivers could lock the doors to help stop fare evasion #GoldMuseumTour

This is cool (but doesn't really show up inthe photo), a digital ticker tape which shows today's gold price ($6838 per ounce) and thus how much gold in billions of dollars ($59.29 BILLION in AUD) was taken from Ballarat.
#GoldMuseumTour

Women have so far been missing from the museum, no stories, no names, only a few items (a bustle, a fan, a shoe) & out of 24 lithographs, a woman appears on only one, she's actually mining. I wish there was more female representation in the permanent exhibition #GoldMuseumTour

Also the Indigenous folk have disappeared. There was a label describing their changing way of life and no mention since. Were there Indigenous miners? &what about the miners from non UK places, the racism on the goldfields?There's scope for more stories to be told #GoldMuseumTour

The 6 month temporary exhibition is The Victorian Silhouette, looking at women's fashion from around tje state. As a craft nerd (as well as a museum nerd) this is what I'm here to see! #GoldMuseumTour

The Victorian Silhouette exhibition is beautiful. There's historic dresses & reproductions from the @sovereignhill costume dept. I love how different the waist sizes are, 1870 day dress on the left, 2016 repro evening dress on the right
#GoldMuseumTour

This was a item I didn't know about, the Miser's Purse circa 1880. The two pouches on either side hold the coins & the two metal rings (like tiny napkin rings) have to be slid into the middle to reveal a narrow slit for access. Notoriously difficult to retrieve the coins inside.

I love this. An explanation of all the undergarments & how long each took the @sovereignhill costume dept to make. All up, 204 hours which, working a full 8 hr day without lunch is 25 and a half days to just make the undergarments. S.H costume dept, I salute you!
#GoldMuseumTour

These tiny details really remind you that all these items in all these museums once belonged to actual peopl. On this bustle, circa 1885, is a small, neatly lettered label which reads "Mrs. Dawson." Sewn with tiny stitches onto the cotton waist band.
#GoldMuseumTour

Day bonnet, 1850. That is a lot of overlapping frills on that. It's stained and faded by the sun, which suggests it has been worn many times outside.
#ISwearByMyPrettyLittleBonnet #GoldMuseumTour

This is great! A day dress circa 1850s. The label states it's handmade and most likely from a commerical pattern which was readily available as there are several dresses made using the same pattern in other museums #GoldMuseumTour

Another dress from the @sovereignhill costume dept, this one based on the 1850s craze for tartan, inspired by Queen Victoria's captivation for all things Scottish. This only took 36 hrs, so an 8 hr day w no lunch is 4.5 days. So a whole month for a full costume #GoldMuseumTour

Beyond amazing! Eliza Perrin's 1860s polished cotton day dress & next to it is a photo of Eliza wearing the it in a portrait with her children. I always try to picture what colours the clothes are in old 'tog, here it's clear the sepia tones are true to the dress!
#GoldMuseumTour

This stunning #NeedleworkSampler book(circa 1842)belonged to Mary Reid.The label reads "was a resident of the Clunes goldfield" &that she "may have been employed for her needlework skills" Employed by who?I need to know more! #ToldYouThereWereWomenOnTheGoldfields
#GoldMuseumTour

From the same glass case as Mary Reid's Sampler book, so it might be hers? But no explanation why the needlepoint reads "Alicia Ewing" Fascinating the blue of the sky is in 2 shades,assume the dye is fading from one faster. Also 1/2 IN HEXIES #BrainBreakinglySmall
#GoldMuseumTour

Damn! Just got to the @sovereignhill costume dept room and theres about to be a free tour, so enjoy these photos and I'm heading to the tour! #GoldMuseumTour

Ok, tour by super knowledgeable volunteer was amazing. He told me the story of the #WelcomeStranger nugget, found by John & Catherine Deason & Richard Oates and how integral Catherine was to the story 1/2 #GoldMuseumTour

They were terrified it would be stolen, so they put the 76kg nugget in a crate on a cart & Catherine sat on it and hid the box with her skirt to fool bushrangers. That was 1867, this dress from the exhibition is 1870. Big enough to hide anything! #GoldMuseumTour

My tour guide showed me this photo of the first lady miners. The label was missing thou, so I have no other information to give you about them. #GoldMuseumTour

And finally, there was a place to try on bonnets. Here is your intrepid tour guide in a fetching grey number with lace detail at the back. Hope you've enjoyed my #GoldMuseumTour, I'm definitely coming back to visit @sovereignhill next.