Whatsits & Thingymejigs

Over the years many bizarre and curious objects have made their way into museum collections and although most of them have an easily defined purpose, it may not always be clear at first glance. This gallery shows a selection of the objects from our stores and displays which may cause you to pause and wonder just what they are or what on earth were they for?

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A Tutor for the Musical Glasses

A popular form of musical entertainment in the early 19th century was playing Musical Glasses. Fir

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Coco-de-Mer

This relative of the cocoa-nut, which is larger than your head, is also called the Sea or Maldive Do

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wire birds nests

This looks just like a jumble of wire, but look closer and you will see that they have been delicate

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Mercury Arc Rectifier

What strange contraption is this? Looking like something from Frankensteins Lab, a Mercury Arc Rect

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Tamil Penance Shoes

These shoes were designed to be worn by women, who would endure the pain from the upturned nails as

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Ancient Chinese Money

If asked what these objects were, money probably wouldn't be the first thing that we would think of

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Bonar Sundial

Most people think that the only purpose of a sundial is to tell the time and that they only work whe

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