Find something on display: Cabinet of Curiosities

Teeth and vertebrae of Otodus Obliquus, one of the earliest mackerel sharks that lived in the Eocene. They have a characteristic triangular shape and some can reach more than 3.5 inches.

Duelling pistols used to be manufactured during the 18th and 19th century for the purpose of an equal fight between men. These specialized weapons were relatively lightweight, accurate and could be considered the finest examples of firearms available back then.

Currently on loan to the Royal Cornwall Museum

A 19th century fashion item, also called ‘limerick gloves’. They were so thin that they could be folded up into a nut shell, with such delicacy of texture ordinarily aimed at the upper classes. Despite their name, limerick gloves were made out of the skin of unborn calves.

An endangered species, pangolins are scaly anteaters that also live in Africa, India and South-East Asia. Their scales resemble a pinecone.

Typical of the ceramics produced by the Cochiti Pueblo people of New Mexico, USA. Our examples were acquired by a traveller in the late 19th century.

The Cochiti Pueblo people of New Mexico, USA, produce ceramics with animal forms and decorations. Our examples were acquired by a traveller in the late 19th century.

Typical of the ceramics produced by the Cochiti Pueblo people of New Mexico, USA. Our examples were acquired by a traveller in the late 19th century.

A mutant with four legs from Hawe Farm, Sturry.

From Monte Bolca, Italy, a site rich in very well preserved marine fossils from the Eocene period, one of the first fossil sites to be known and studied. This particular fossil was given to Francis Crow by the Royal Institute of Paris and may have been part of the Haeberlein Collection looted by Napoleon. Its matching half is in the Louvre museum, Paris.

Preserved in a large nodule of cement stone from the London Clay, this fossil turtle was probably found on the Isle of Sheppey. It is positioned upside down showing the inside of its shell, ribs and backbone.

Shells of carnivorous sea snails that live predominantly in warm and tropical seas. Other examples in the collection include Turbo Petholatus (CANCM:L 599), Pecten Proteus Sol. (CANCM: 2006.88), Pleuroptoma Babylonica (CANCM:547), Potamides Fuscatus (CANCM: 2006.76) and tiny gastropods in round cases, such as Ris soa sp.cf.confinis

The mahogany box was donated in 1936 and contains two fine insect specimen from West Africa.

This ammonite comes from the Lower Greensand, a Cretaceous age rock. The green in greensand comes from the mineral glauconite.

Combination axe and spear

This turtle shell is turned inside out to see the interior structure.

A variety of hematite, an oxide mineral, found in a range of red, orange, brown and grey colours. It derives its name from its lumpy, kidney-like appearance.

Given by Reverend Holman, who took part in the search for Sir John Franklin’s doomed Arctic expedition to find the North-West passage.

Polished to reveal mother-of-pearl and cut to show the mathematical spiral of buoyancy chambers inside. Nautilus shells were much prized by collectors from the Renaissance onwards for their shape and lustre.

Reputed to have belonged to Oliver Cromwell.

Snow shoe of woven leather and gut thongs.

Bolas function as a hunting tool that is thrown in the distance and captures animals by entangling their legs.

Collected in British Guyana by Reverend R. Wyllie of Canterbury.

Volcanic dust collected after an eruption of Vesuvius on 1 July 1907 by Mr Chinery of Orchard Street, Canterbury.

White porcelain saucer with a monogram of the monarch Louis Philippe, originating in Sevres, 1830. Despite living a much simpler lifestyle than his predecessors, the French king became unpopular during his reign and was targeted in seven assassinations before exiling to England.

Stephen Hewson (1775-1807)
William Goulden (1749-1816) was a member of Canterbury Historical Society for the Cultivation of Useful Knowledge, which was founded in 1769 and met every Tuesday evening at the Guildhall Tavern.
He was one of two ‘Guardians of the Mathematical Instruments’. These included a brass telescope; an ‘electrical battery’ known as a Leyden jar, which he is holding in his right hand; and a ‘large electrical machine’ for generating electricity by friction, seen behind him.
Hewson painted portraits of three other members of the Society: John Calloway, silk weaver; Thomas Ridout, land surveyor; and Mr Cooper, holding an architectural plan (all in Canterbury Museums and Galleries collection). He also painted portraits of Canterbury’s Member of Parliament, Charles Robinson, and Alderman James Simmons, at around the same time. Hewson otherwise painted in the North and Midlands. He may have received the Canterbury commissions through Mechanics Institute networks.
The Society re-formed in 1825 as the Canterbury Philosophical and Literary Institution.