Thoughts from the Bus Stop

Anne Boleyn doll - with detachable head!

 
Anne Boleyn doll (c) Katie Park 2008

I'll be off to watch The Tudors in a mo', but thought it fitting to warmly applaud the work of caffaknitted (aka Katie Park), who has made a fab Anne Boleyn doll complete (or incomplete?!) with a detachable head.

Katie has also made wonderful dolls of Henry VIII, Katherine of Aragon, Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves... so keep your eyes peeled for Katherine Howard (the other one who lost her head) and Catherine Parr!

The Queen's Progress: Knitting Elizabeth I

Knitted Elizabeth I doll in progress, next to the 'Pelican Portrait' of Elizabeth I, c1574

When my M.E. forced me to jack my job in, my beloved colleagues at 24 Hour Museum threw me a party and presented me with my very own spoof homepage, which included personalised links to (made-up, sadly) sites such as BuildABaptistBoyfriend.com and KnitYourOwnTudor.com. It's the latter which has spurred me into action!

Using Jean Greenhowe's Pedlar Doll as a base, along with the wig from her Cinderella doll, I have started to create a likeness of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I - in knitting. (It's already been done but I wanted to have a go myself.)

For inspiration, I consulted my gorgeous glossy catalogue from the Elizabeth I exhibition at the National Maritime Museum in 2003.

I'm concentrating on two portraits in particular, both from the 1570s and both depicting the Queen wearing deep red - Nicholas Hilliard's 'Pelican Portrait' of Elizabeth I, c1574, which is in the collection of the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, and the 'Plimpton Sieve Portrait' of 1579, by George Gower.

I'm also looking at portraits of Elizabeth I in the National Portrait Gallery's collection, concentrating on those from the 1570s, and researching fashion in hairstyles and clothing in the 1570s.

As you can see she's taking shape. Now for the fun part - beading, braiding and embroidery-a-go-go!

See also:
ElizabethI.org.uk: Elizabeth I - Appearance
Elizabethan Geek: Elizabethan Costume Review
Extreme Costuming: Two Elizabethan Hairstyles
Elizabethan-Era.org.uk: Elizabethan Hairstyles
themakeupgallery: Queen Elizabeth I
Semptress: Elizabethan Costuming
ElizabethanCostume.net: Elizabethan Hairnets, Cauls & Muffin Caps

Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth I: The Golden Age

Still from The Golden Age (c) Working Title

I am SO looking forward to the release of The Golden Age - Shekhar Kapur's sequel to 1998's Elizabeth - one of my favourite films of all time, and (along with David Starkey's book and TV series) largely responsible for triggering my obsession with Elizabeth I and all things Tudor.

Cate Blanchett is my favourite Elizabeth on film, perfectly capturing the wit, intelligence, strength and vulnerability of Elizabeth I. (Anne Marie Duff coming a close second - Cate does have the advantage of already looking like the Elizabeth we know from portraits).

The Golden Age isn't out till November, so am trying to sate my cravings by watching the trailer, rewatching Elizabeth and flicking through production shots on Working Title's website.

Still and production shot from The Golden Age (c) Working Title

Young Henry VIII at Hampton Court Palace

Tudor tea towel (c) www.historicroyalpalaces.com

I love my job. Especially when I get to spend hours wandering round a magnificent Tudor palace then enthuse about it on 24 Hour Museum. Read all about it: The Young Henry VIII Revealed At Hampton Court Palace

Hampton Court Palace blew me away. It gave me goosebumps to be walking through the courtyards and corridors the Tudor court would have bustled about in. AND I got this groovy teatowel - a fantastic piece of graphic design illustrating the quantity of food consumed by the Court in a year.

Museum Seeks Clubbers For Haçienda Project

Poster for the Hacienda's Hallucienda Monday night slot. © MoSI

Via 24 Hour Museum:

"The Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester is hosting an event designed to capture the memories of clubbers from the Haçienda."

The Museum's exhibition Fac 51 The Haçienda runs from 3 April–30 June, on Tues and Thurs from 10.00am–4.00pm. Urbis will also be running a Haçienda exhibition from 19 July 2007.

Gothic: Embroidery

Gothic embroidery by Gina Barrett (c) www.vam.ac.uk

Tucked away on the V&A Museum's Gothic microsite, there's this great embroidery tutorial, by designer, illustrator and expert textile worker Gina Barrett. There are also pop-up animations of couching, split stitch and satin stitch.

London: A Life in Maps

Panorama of London, William Smith, 1588. Copyright © The British Library Board

London: A Life in Maps, is on at The British Library from 24 November 2006 – 4 March 2007:

"Take a look at London as you have never seen it before. This once-in-a-lifetime exhibition brings to life London’s lost lanes and landmarks, parks and palaces, riots and railways, towers and temptations.

Maps, views, letters, and ephemera from the British Library collections, show the city’s transformation from a Roman outpost to the huge, heaving metropolis of today - and look to the Olympic and post-Olympic future.

In a series of magnificent maps and panoramas, London’s growth spreads before you through disease and fire, property booms and commercial expansion, war and comprehensive redevelopment. At the same time lesser-known images will enable you to see why and how these changes happened, and to catch a glimpse of Londoners’ lives and values, hopes and fears, preoccupations and aspirations through the ages.

Discover the ‘lost’ London’s you never knew - the great estates and the workhouses, the palaces and prisons, the grand churches and vast dockyards, the ancient villages and vanishing fields."

There's a book out too - London: A Life in Maps by Peter Whitfield. Looks tasty - have I mentioned that I love maps?

Gunpowder, Treason & Plot

As Bonfire Night approaches, thought I'd flag up Gunpowder, Treason & Plot, a new website for kids explaining the story of Guy Fawkes & co's failed plot to blow up Parliament, 400 years ago (by The Parliamentary Archives and 24 Hour Museum / Show Me). There's also a version for grown-ups.

Gloriana!

Oh joy - it's an Elizabeth-fest! Tonight it's the first part of Channel Four's Elizabeth I, starring Helen Mirren.

Then in January Anne-Marie Duff (Fiona from the genius Shameless) plays Elizabeth in the BBC series Elizabeth I: The Virgin Queen. This will cover Elizabeth's life from her teens to her death at the age of 70.

And it's possible that Cate Blanchett will reprise her role as Elizabeth in The Golden Age, a sequel to Shekhar Kapur's 1998 film Elizabeth, which is probably one of my top five films ever (and along with David Starkey's biog and TV series, responsible for getting me hooked on Bess). But I'm not holding my breath on this one.

As Empire says:

"It could be second time lucky for Cate Blanchett at the Oscars if this goes ahead. However, everything depends on Blanchett returning, and preferably the rest of the cast with her, and the script working out. We'll get excited if and when it all comes together."

The Makeup Gallery has a fantastic page of photos of actresses who have played Elizabeth on TV and in movies, linked to individual pages where their make-up jobs are gone into in detail - including some who agreed to shave their hairlines in order to get an authentic Tudor look... eeeshk!

The Postcodes Project

The Museum of London has used their vast collection of objects from all over London to produce the The Postcodes Project:

"To highlight some of their fascinating local stories we have selected a single object for each London postcode area. You can add to the richness of the site by submitting your own local stories."