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Tuesday, November 08, 2016

Tawhiti: Life at home

The second room at Tawhiti was large, well-lit, and contained so many scenes (both full-sized and miniature) that I found it almost overwhelming.

An example is this series of dioramas showing how butter was made 'in the old days':
Display of model scenes depicting the four stages of making butter.
from milking the cow,
Model of a 19th-century woman milking a cow, with a child standing next to her with a bucket.
through pouring the milk (not sure what this did, and was too distracted to read the information below the scene!),
Model of a 19th-century woman inside a house, pouring milk from a jug into several bowls.
churning
Model of a 19th-century woman and child inside a house, churning butter.
and, finally, eating.
Model of a 19th-century woman and child inside a house. The woman is cutting a loaf of bread, and the child is pointing at a pat of butter.
The full-sized scenes that caught my eye (and made my brain hurt as they were full-sized scenes that looked like miniature scenes made big: I figured it was all part of the owner's eye and ability to tell stories without words...): 
Full-scale model of a 1930s woman cooking dinner, while holding a baby and having her apron tugged by a screaming child.
a woman making dinner.
Full-scale model of a 1920s man in a workshop, contemplating a vintage Harley Davidson motorcycle.
A man in his workshop.
Full-scale model of the interior of a 1930s shop, with a shopkeeper serving a school boy in uniform.
A scene at the local store,
Full-scale model of the interior of a 1930s shop, with a customer with a basket on her arm.
and the local gunsmith at work.
Full-scale model of the interior of an early 20th century gunsmith's shop, with a man working on a gun.
While this room focused mainly on the pakeha* inhabitants of the area, the next rooms made up for it:
Full-scale model of a 19th century maori village, with a man sitting outside next to a fire, wrapped in a blanket.
A full-sized model of a maori man wrapped in a blanket beside a fire outside two huts,
Miniature dioramas of maori pas.
And miniature dioramas showing life in and around Turuturu Mokai pa, in a few scales.
Diorama showingTuruturu Mokai pa from above.
Diorama of Turuturu Mokai pa.
Diorama showing the vegetable gardens of Turuturu Mokai pa.
Diorama showinga man fetching water from a well at Turuturu Mokai pa.
Diorama showing a lookout at Turuturu Mokai pa.
Diorama showing residents climbing up to Turuturu Mokai pa using a system of wooden logs with notches cut in them.
Diorama showing residents at Turuturu Mokai pa.
One-twelfth-scale diorama of a maori waka (war canoe) at the edge of a river.
One-twelfth-scale diorama of a maori waka (war canoe) at the edge of a river with people around it holding paddles.
Detail of the carving on a one-twelfth-scale diorama of a maori waka (war canoe).
(*Non-maori)
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2 comments:

  1. Sheila9:23 am, November 08, 2016

    Totally random but pouring the milk into the bowls made it easier for the cream to rise to the top. It was then skimmed off and the cream is what is churned into butter.

    I'm so jealous of you getting to visit this museum. It looks just wonderful.

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  2. AMCSviatko9:41 am, November 08, 2016

    Hi Sheila

    That makes complete sense (and I was planning to google it to find out why: once I'd dealt with the hundreds of photos I took on the trip).

    Thanks!

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