In a Ladies' World: Ceramics and Shoes

Tina, Janice Amy, Angel, Winnie, Aidin's mom, Yuri, Joan, and Aidin miss out on the ROM and the Dead Sea Scrolls ... again. But ...

Minus 18 degree Celsius windchill and the disappointment of again being denied ROM tickets notwithstanding, ten of us from LINC 4-5, including Aidin's mom and Winnie's daughter, Angel, made our way to the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art and the Bata Shoe Museum today. Hey, where were the men?

A former tennis court belonging to the University of Toronto, the Gardiner did not seem terribly impressive at first. But we kept an open mind.

Within fifteen minutes of visiting the coat room and washrooms, checking out the second floor, and me trying to make up stories about each exhibit, we were greeted by Carol Shaw, a gracious museum volunteer who took us through the history of the museum, Mr and Mrs Gardiner's role in learning about, accumulating, and then gifting the ceramics to the people of Ontario, as well as developments since their passing.

It was quite an eyeopener into the world of porcelains, tureens, snuff boxes, English tea services in period boxes, cobalt pigments, King Augustine the Strong of Poland, private collectors, art auctions, and hilarious Western imitations of Chinese art. We were also fortunate to catch the eye-catching works of American sculptor Viola Frey before they are returned to Los Angeles next month.

 

Quite unexpectedly, we were out of time before long and hungry and so bundled up and started out for the McDonalds across from the ROM.

After a quick bite at Tim Hortons (the McDonalds was closed for renovation), it was over to the Bata Shoe Museum for a quick tour.

Another four floors of education followed, with heavy-duty vocabulary like moccasins, stilettos, pointe shoes, stirrup heels, skeleton and luge shoes, and chopines. It was great listening in on several guided groups; seeing the footwear of Rudolf Nureyev, Marilyn Monroe, and Goh Chan Hon; feeling the influence of Rome and Persia on today's high-heeled shoes; and witnessing form following function for the Olympic winter sports. I guess we should be seeing a few nice blogs from the ladies in the next week.