Intricate hand-drawn playing cards, a strange love token, a 19th century French death mask, and a painting of a Spitfire are among the historical items battling to become the new Hertfordshire Museum Object of the Year.
The county’s museums are packed with little known treasures, objects that tell the story of our shared heritage and our communities.
Staff and volunteers from Herts' museums and heritage sites have each chosen one cherished object from their collections to enter into the annual competition.
Although visitors to Hertfordshire’s museums will be familiar with many of the collections on display, limited space means a great deal of fascinating objects held in our museums are kept in storage.
The annual competition is a chance to highlight many of those lesser-known artefacts.
Councillor Caroline Clapper, who is responsible for education, libraries and lifelong learning at Hertfordshire County Council, said: “Museums serve as a beacon of knowledge, a sanctuary of art, and a place for history. They are a place where people come together to learn, appreciate, and be inspired.
The annual museums Object of the Year competition is a good way for museums to showcase their collections to a wider audience and it is great to see more museums than ever before taking part."
Twenty museums from across the county have entered the competition in 2024 and the winning object will be picked in a public vote. The full list of objects entered is listed below.
The winner will be announced on Thursday, February 15, 2024.
HERTFORDSHIRE MUSEUM OBJECT OF THE YEAR 2024
Museum Objects entered
Ashwell Museum – Maquette for the National Firefighters Memorial Statue by John Mills
A resin maquette of the National Firefighters Memorial by local artist, John Mills (1933-2023), who lived for many years in Hinxworth, near Ashwell.
This is a draft model for the full-sized version outside St Paul’s Cathedral.
Bishop’s Stortford Museum – Medieval Seal Matrix
A 14th century Seal Matrix, originally used to mark sealing wax on documents, lost by its owner over 600 years ago and found in a local forest by a father and son who were out with a metal detector.
It’s engraved in French with the words “May a false friend be forever shamed”.
The Bunker Museum at Hatfield Police Station – Frank Halford’s Desk
An Art Deco-style hand-made wooden desk made for Major Frank Halford, who was a leading designer of aeroplane engines and pioneer of early jet engine technology.
Major Halford worked on the design of the world’s first jet airliner, the DH Comet, while sitting at this desk.
Bushey Museum and Art Gallery – Death Mask
Plaster death mask, one of two used in drawing classes at the Herkomer Art School in Bushey, said to have been taken from a body recovered from the River Seine by the French police in the 1880s.
Sir Hubert von Herkomer, an artist originally from Bavaria, founded his famous Herkomer Art School at Bushey in 1883 and directed it until 1904 when he retired.
Dacorum Heritage – Ovaltine Maid Painting
Ovaltine was developed by Swiss chemist, Dr Wander, in 1904 as the first convenient and complete milk fortifier, intended to give strength.
Manufacturing started in the UK in 1913 at the factory in Kings Langley.
The location was chosen because of the plentiful supply of water, good transport links and suitable farmland to produce barley, fresh eggs and milk.
Ovaltine was at the forefront of advertising, utilising new techniques, and this Ovaltine Maid was an icon worldwide.
Frogmore Paper Mill – Burnt Beam from Paper Stores
When fire broke out at Frogmore Mill in January 2022, a top priority was to salvage as much as possible from the collection on display.
However, one of the most important artefacts was the building itself, with the visitor centre, featuring original wooden beams, housed in the mill’s 19th century paper stores.
This beam represents a piece of living history, giving a story of resilience as old as the Mill itself.
Garden City Collection (Letchworth Garden City) - ‘Broadway’ by Sylvia Molloy
A joyous, recent purchase, this is already one of the collection's most popular paintings.
It perfectly portrays Letchworth’s gorgeous grand tree-lined boulevard, Broadway, by much-loved local artist, Sylvia Molloy.
Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies (HALS) – Essendon Vestry Minute Book, 1833 – 1917 (HALS ref DP/37/8/16)
HALS holds many parish records but only one believed to have been damaged by enemy action.
This vestry minute book (DP/37/8/16) was damaged during the airship raid on Essendon in September 1916, in which Captain William Leefe Robinson won the Victoria Cross for shooting down an airship over Cuffley.
The damage, believed to be from shrapnel, includes holes piercing the front cover and evidence of scorching.
Hertford Museum – Cat, painted on wall plaster
People have always loved cats – and this 17th century moggy (complete with tabby stripes scratched into the plaster) was painted on a farm wall in Standon, to ward off bad luck or to deter mice.
This was the century of witch trials and when many people buried dead cats within their walls and under floorboards to ward off witchcraft and bad luck and it is possible that the early tenants of Great Barwick Farm had the same intention with this painting.
Knebworth House – Playing Cards made from Georgian Calling Cards by Elizabeth Bulwer Lytton
These intricate hand-drawn playing cards were made over 200 years ago by Mrs Elizabeth Bulwer Lytton (1770-1843) of Knebworth House.
Made from visitors’ calling cards, the detailed drawings give an insight into life in the Georgian era.
Each card has a different scene, often with speech bubbles and tiny written messages, and includes various slightly grotesque, comedic characters.
Natural History Museum at Tring – Southern Elephant Seal
Look up when you reach Gallery 5 at Tring and you might spot this magnificent animal, one of the biggest in the museum – the southern elephant seal.
It dates to 1908, travelled nearly 8,000 miles to get to Tring and would love your vote!
North Hertfordshire Museum – Penguin Pals
The penguin pals, an Adélie and an African penguin, once spent their time inspiring children about the natural world in schools.
They now spend their retirement together in North Hertfordshire Museum's Terrace Gallery.
Redbourn Village Museum – Bakelite Hot Water Bottle
Did you have a hot water bottle like this one?
Bakelite, patented in 1909, was the first entirely synthetic plastic.
It was easy to mould and resistant to heat and electricity and was used in many household items.
These hot water bottles are designed to be plugged in to a lamp or an electric socket.
Royston Museum – Spitfire Over Bassingbourn
Spitfire over Bassingbourn, by E.H. Whydale, was painted as a raffle prize for the Wings for Victory campaign to raise money for Spitfires for the RAF in May 1943.
Verulamium Museum – Sabina’s Samian Bowl
This bowl fragment, dating from Roman times, is inscribed “Sabina” and made of Samian ware, a type of pottery imported from Gaul.
Excavated in Verulamium, this bowl is the only object found in this area that explicitly references a woman.
Stevenage Museum – Superbus Badge (2004.24)
This metal badge was issued to mark the inauguration of the Stevenage Superbus in 1971. What better way to show your Stevenage Public Transport Pride?
You can see this accessory in Stevenage Museum's current exhibition, Scenes from Contemporary Life, open until April 2024.
Three Rivers Museum Trust – Original 1950s Ovaltine Mugs
Three promotional red plastic mugs with Captain Midnight transfers, for drinking Ovaltine.
These were sent out with a 6-step instruction guide for making the drink, a warning about washing the mugs, and a letter from President of the Wander Company in Kings Langley, addressed: 'Please Give This To Your Mother'.
Captain Midnight was a US Adventure Franchise, sponsored by Ovaltine from 1940.
Tring Local History Museum – Gibson A14 Ticket Machine
The Gibson Ticket Machines, manufactured in Tring, were the first hand-operated ticket machine issued to bus conductors that could print tickets for a selection of destinations from a blank paper roll by operating a rotating handle.
Prior to this, bus conductors were issuing the not so economical pre-printed tickets.
Ware Museum – George, The Pulhamite Grotesque
This Grotesque in the form of a dog was found near Ware Museum during renovation of Ware Priory.
He is made of Pulhamite, and is affectionately nicknamed George!
Pulhamite is a patented anthropic rock material invented by James Pulham (1820-1898) of the Broxbourne firm James Pulham and Son.
Watford Museum – Longland’s Love Token
This decorative Victorian curiosity was crafted by local shoemaker on Estcourt Road, William Longland, as a gift for his wife, Hannah Elizabeth ‘Bessie’ Longland.
It is one of a number of gifts he made for her throughout their marriage, using the hooves and horns he had access to through his work with leather.
HOW TO VOTE FOR OBJECT OF THE YEAR
The Object of the Year will be decided by public vote via the Hertfordshire Association of Museums website https://www.hertfordshiremuseums.org.uk/
Voting closes at midnight on February 5, 2024.
Cllr Clapper added: “The entries for the Object of the Year Competition always provide a fascinating insight into Hertfordshire’s museums and snapshots of life in Hertfordshire through the ages.
"This year we are delighted to have 20 more fabulous objects to showcase and look forward with anticipation to see which one captures the public’s imagination in 2024.”
Past Herts Objects of the Year have included Charlie the Chimp, a mechanical toy from Watford Museum, the oldest toilet roll in Letchworth, and a 1970s Bond Bug toy car — one of the Corgi Whizz Wheels Range — from the Garden City Collection in Letchworth.
The current title holder is a set of four wooden swans which sat for 100 years on wooden gallows across Waltham Cross’s High Street and are now on display in Lowewood Museum.
Hertfordshire Association of Museums is an umbrella organisation representing all the museums across Hertfordshire and supported by Hertfordshire County Council’s Museum Development team.
This team is part of Hertfordshire County Council Heritage Services and supported by Arts Council England.
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