BS: Contacting the British Museum

Subject: BS: Contacting the British Museum
From: Naemanson
Date: 29 Apr 05 - 09:01 AM

I will be in England in August and I want to do some research while I am there. Here is what I sent them last week:

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I am writing on behalf of the Traditional Seafarer's Society, a group dedicated to the study and preservation of traditional watercraft and navigation in Micronesia. We currently have a modern Carolinian sakman, a sailing canoe, and are working on construction of a two man paddling canoe. We hope to build a traditional Flying Proa, a watercraft that was used to travel between the islands at the time Magellan landed here in 1521.

The Spanish Occupation of the islands and the subsequent civil war with the Chamorro people resulted in the destruction of the sailing canoes and the loss of all knowledge of their construction techniques. Today all that is left are contemporary descriptions of the various types of watercraft and a few paintings and drawings. The most accurate drawing was produced in the 1740s when Commodore Anson visited Guam on his voyage around the world.

Commodore Anson acquired a flying proa and apparently took it with him when he returned to England. We understand that it ended up in the collections at the British Museum. Rumor then goes off in two directions. One rumor is that it has been lost. The other is that it is still in the collections.

In order to meet our goal of producing an accurate sailing replica of a traditional proa we would like to see the Anson canoe and take some pictures and make some measurements. Do you still have the canoe in your collection?

I will be traveling to England in August of this year. It would be very nice if I could visit the museum to view the canoe and come away with enough information to allow us to see once again the traditional flying proa sailing between the islands of Northern Micronesia.
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What I am looking for is a name and contact information of the person or persons who would best be able to help me. Doing this from the other side of the world is difficult even in our enlightened e-world.

Does anyone know who I should be talking to? You can PM me if you would rather not give that info on a public forum.

Subject: RE: BS: Contacting the British Museum
From: Naemanson
Date: 29 Apr 05 - 09:04 AM

I should have mentioned that the above message went to their generic contact link on their website. I am looking for something better than that.

Subject: RE: BS: Contacting the British Museum
From: GUEST,Blowzabella at work
Date: 29 Apr 05 - 09:14 AM

Your enquiry appears to relate to the Dept of Africa, Oceaia and the Americas: General contact:

[e-mail]

by phone:
[phone]

by post:
Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas
The British Museum
Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DG

There is a staff list at:
http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/ethno/ethcost.html

and some FAQ which might help (incl about looking at artefacts not on display) at:

http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/ethno/ethcofaq.html

Hope that is useful - info was all on website - just a matter of prowling until you find it!

Subject: RE: BS: Contacting the British Museum
From: Naemanson
Date: 29 Apr 05 - 09:41 PM

My web prowling is not very good. But I knew there would be some more knowledgable and able people on the Mudcat. Thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: Contacting the British Museum
From: gnomad
Date: 30 Apr 05 - 05:22 AM

If you do visit the museum you might like to report back on one of my father's pet theories: he said it was impossible to visit without meeting someone you knew, but were not expecting to meet there.

To my shame I have only been the BM once in 50 years, but it did happen that time. Of course your visiting from overseas makes a harder challenge out of it.

Subject: RE: BS: Contacting the British Museum
From: robomatic
Date: 30 Apr 05 - 09:22 AM

I had a friend visit there in the 70's. She called them a 'slack lot'.

So be persistent.

Subject: RE: BS: Contacting the British Museum
From: Naemanson
Date: 01 May 05 - 01:34 AM

"...impossible to visit without meeting someone you knew..."

Now THAT would be interesting. You've given me one more reason to go. In 1994 I went to Disneyworld with my family and ran into someone I used to work with. Hard to believe considering how big that place is.

'slack lot'

I wonder if things have improved since then. I would hope so but my experience has been that entropy rules.

Subject: RE: BS: Contacting the British Museum
From: GUEST
Date: 01 May 05 - 11:40 PM

Will the boat be made of rushes and will you paddling?

Subject: RE: BS: Contacting the British Museum
From: Naemanson
Date: 02 May 05 - 07:36 AM

Guest, these boats are high tech dugouts. The hull of our Carolinian canoe is made of at least five pieces sewn together with coconut fiber and caulked with heated breadfruit sap. Nobody knows what the original flying proas looked like or how they were constructed. Our goal is to recreate them and bring back the old Spanish name for the Northern Marianas Islands. No, not the "island of thieves" but the "islands of sails".

Subject: RE: BS: Contacting the British Museum
From: GUEST
Date: 03 May 05 - 06:10 AM

refresh

Subject: RE: BS: Contacting the British Museum
From: KateG
Date: 03 May 05 - 04:29 PM

You might also enjoy the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. http://www.nmm.ac.uk/ I'm not sure how much they have on traditional Pacific seafaring, but it would make a nice expedition for some of your other interests.

PS -- I've been enjoying your blog ever since it began, I hope you do end up publishing it.