On Saturday, we learned about ceramics from many different cultures, that were created throughout many different time periods, at the Gardiner Museum!
The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art opened in 1984 and is Canada's national ceramics museum. The museum was created by George and Helen Gardiner, and was founded on their generous personal collection of ancient American artifacts and European pottery and porcelain (over 1200 items!). On top of their extensive collection, the building itself is a beautiful, modern space that is a great place to wander around.
We arrived just in time for the daily guided tour at 2 pm, so we followed our guide up to the third floor to the museum's current special exhibition: Beneath the Surface: Life, Death, Gold and Ceramics in Ancient Panama.
This exhibition contains artifacts discovered during a 1940 archaeological excavation on the banks of the Rio Grande, Coclé in Panama. The Rio Grande flooded there, eroding its banks and causing gold beads and other artifacts to become exposed after laying undisturbed underground for over 1000 years. The team from Penn Museum who excavated the site, soon discovered that this was an ancient burial ground for the Precolumbian Coclé people, and as people were often buried with some of their prized possessions, many of the finds were magnificent.
This exhibition contains artifacts discovered during a 1940 archaeological excavation on the banks of the Rio Grande, Coclé in Panama. The Rio Grande flooded there, eroding its banks and causing gold beads and other artifacts to become exposed after laying undisturbed underground for over 1000 years. The team from Penn Museum who excavated the site, soon discovered that this was an ancient burial ground for the Precolumbian Coclé people, and as people were often buried with some of their prized possessions, many of the finds were magnificent.
Many large gold items were discovered such as chest plates, cuffs, and pendants, as well as fancy ceramics, many with very detailed animal motifs. We especially loved the jugs that are believed to have been used for frothing a spicy chocolatey drink (by blowing into a straw built into the ceramic). They loved their "chocolate drink" - and who can blame them?!
Once the guided tour was over, we took a wander through the rest of the building, through the Gardiners' collection of European porcelain and old pottery from the Americas. We learned about "Augustus the Strong" who was the King of Poland in the early 1700s and was also obsessed with Chinese porcelain and discovering the secret to creating it because Europeans didn't know how to make porcelain at the time.
Once the guided tour was over, we took a wander through the rest of the building, through the Gardiners' collection of European porcelain and old pottery from the Americas. We learned about "Augustus the Strong" who was the King of Poland in the early 1700s and was also obsessed with Chinese porcelain and discovering the secret to creating it because Europeans didn't know how to make porcelain at the time.
And when they did learn how to make porcelain, they chose to make these
Our time at the Gardiner Museum concluded with some modern folk/pop art, and then we walked around Queen's Park before grabbing a coffee and hot chocolate at a local shop (Elizabeth was clearly inspired by the Coclé). Our day ended off with a Haunted Walk through the Distillery District where we heard about the ghosts around that neighbourhood, followed by a few beers.
All in all, a pretty fun, laid-back, educational day! Here are some more pictures from our Saturday:
All in all, a pretty fun, laid-back, educational day! Here are some more pictures from our Saturday:
Curious what we've done in past years? Last year at this time, we checked out Sled Wars, a Freestyle Snocross and Powersports Expo, and the year before, we went to the Sharing Our Cultures event at The Rooms in St. John's.
