Description
A pair of incredible marine botany specimen collections in original oak frames as donated to Thomas Barnett and the Niagara Falls Museum. Created as a complimentary pair, one reads MARINE BOTANY SPECIMENS OF SEA WEEDS COLLECTED ON THE WESTERN COAST OF IRELAND BY MISS MARIA J. W. KIRKWOOD PRESENTED TO THOMAS BARNETT ESQUIRE PROPRIETOR OF NIAGARA FALLS MUSEUM APRIL 12, 1871. The second framed collection features a poem flanked by seaweed specimens and signed VICTORIA HALL APRIL 4 1871. The poem reads ‘Oh call us not weeds but flowers of the sea, For lovely and bright and gay tinted are we, And quite independent of sunshine or showers, Then call us not weeds we are oceans gay flowers, Our matchless, our tender and beautiful forms, Are nursed by the ocean and rocked by the storms, And our blush is as deep as the rose of thy bowers, Call us not weeds we are oceans gay flowers, Not nursed like the plants of a Summer parterre, Where gales are but sighs of an evening air, Our exquisite fragile and delicate forms, Are the prey of the ocean when vexed with the storms. Victoria Hall, April 4, 1871
The Niagara Falls Museum was the longest operating privately owned museum in North America, opening to the public in 1828 and finally closing it’s doors in 1999. Incredible and historically significant pieces.
33 x 26.5 inches
Local Pick-Up recommended however shipping arrangements can be made, contact us directly with the item name and SKU# to discuss.
