In 1995, just before the BSM opened to the public, the entire artefact collection was moved from its temporary location to its new permanent home. Previously, space was limited and the entire skate collection was stored in boxes. Now with new shelving and more space, the dilemma was how to safely store these artefacts so […]
Boots & Blades: Early 20th century brand marks and models
John Wilson’s “The Syers Skate” blade, named after Madge Syers, the first women’s world champion, 1908. Maker of the boots is “The Lobby Shoes” company. Collection of the Bata Shoe Museum. Image © 2022 Bata Shoe Museum. The skate research for Boots & Blades: The Story of Canadian Figure Skating took me down some fascinating […]
Conservation for a Virtual Exhibition
Last year the BSM received funding to support an online exhibition about the history of figure skating. This project was managed by the BSM’s Collections Manager Suzanne Petersen. In the late spring of 2021 she went through all the skates in the BSM collection to determine which ones would best tell the story. Once her […]
Update from the Conservation Lab
The artefact collection of the BSM continues to grow through donations and purchases. For the past ten years we having been struggling with diminishing storage space along with the need to store items made of modern materials in an appropriate environment. The original architectural plan for the museum included the design of a potential third […]
Student Projects: Part III of III
This is the last blog in the series which reflects on the amazing skills of interns who chose the BSM lab for their placements. This particular intern was enrolled in the Master of Textile Conservation program at the University of Southampton, located in a port city on the south coast of England. They had worked […]
Boots & Blades: 19th century brand marks and models
The launch of our next virtual exhibition, Boots & Blades: The Story of Canadian Figure Skating, is coming up in the New Year, so the research into skates continues. In this blog, I’ll take a look at a few of the interesting makes and models of blades that we have been learning about. One of the […]
Q&A with Henry VanderSpek
This month’s Community Spotlight features a Q+A with Henry VanderSpek, documentary photographer and curator of Old World Shoes, a fascinating exhibition exploring independent shoe and shoe repair shops in Toronto. On display at the Daniels Spectrum in Regent Park December 2, 2021 to January 3, 2022. Can you tell us about your exhibition, Old World Shoes? […]
Student Projects: Part II of III
This blog continues to explore projects undertaken by interns at the BSM conservation lab. In 1982, the museum acquired one of several outfits, with matching shoes, made for Lana Turner when she starred in the 1955 MGM movie The Prodigal. The costume was composed of a heavily beaded silk bodice with silk pant-skirt attached. The […]
Boot & Blades: Blade Technology
This is a pair of ‘gliders’. Note the flat metal gliding surface and the thickness of the blade. The blade is also mounted close to the foot and this ‘foot stack’ is made of a thick piece of wood. Collection of the Bata Shoe Museum. Image © 2021 Bata Shoe Museum. As we continue to […]
Ask a Conservator Day 2021
Did you miss Ask a Conservator Day this year? Ask a Conservator Day is in remembrance of the flooding of Florence on November 4th, 1966, which damaged priceless cultural heritage. The social media campaign inspires conservators around the world to engage with each other to exchange knowledge and celebrate the growth of the field. Check […]