[Scmusenet] "Lock, Stock & Barrel: Hunting in a Different Era" Exhibition Opens at the Pickens County Museum on September 19

[Allen Coleman]

"Lock, Stock, & Barrel: Hunting in a Different Era"

Exhibition Opens at the Pickens County Museum on September 19, 2009

 

 

 

   Art and History will blend well in the presentation of the enjoyable
"Lock, Stock, & Barrel: Hunting in a Different Era" exhibition at the
Pickens County Museum of Art & History. The opening reception for this
show is Saturday, September 19 from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m. and the public
is invited. The exhibit will continue through November 19.  

 

   Originally rather plain, it did not take long for the rifle to become
a source of pride for its owner, and by the 1770s every surface of the
rifle could be used as a canvas for excellently applied art. An
accomplished gunsmith had to be a skilled blacksmith, whitesmith, wood
carver, brass and silver founder, engraver, and wood finisher. While the
European shops of the day had significant specializations for the
trades, leading to many separate tradesmen building each rifle, the
frontier had so such luxury.

 

   This "Lock, Stock, & Barrel: Hunting in a Different Era" is a large
exhibit that fills two of the museum's changing exhibits galleries. In
the larger G1 Gallery, the visitor will view over twenty flintlock and
percussion rifles starting in a timeline with an early French Officers
style Fusil (1730), moving on to famous styles we have all heard about
like Trade rifles, the "Brown Bess", Pennsylvania Long rifle, Southern
Mountain rifles and ending with a Palmetto S.C. Armory Style Musket
(1842). You don't want to miss the opportunity to see a special rifle
featured in this exhibit; an original 1846 Gillespie Rifle. If you want
to learn what it takes to load one of these types of rifles, watch one
of our local re-enactors demonstrate this and talk about flintlocks in
the DVD playing in this gallery.  

 

   In addition to rifles, an expanded view of hunting "accoutrements"
for that era will be displayed with a variety of powder horns, shooting
bags and knives. A special collection of turkey calls will also be on
display courtesy the collection of the National Wild Turkey Federation
in Edgefield. 

 

   Enter the smaller Sealevel Gallery and you step into an exhibit that
pays homage to the Trading Post.  The Beamer Trading Post, which was in
the Estatoee Valley during this time period, was the inspiration for
this section of the "Lock, Stock, and Barrel" exhibition. The old trade
journals from this area reflect a time when a hunter used animal hides
(pelts) as a form of commerce to trade "purchase" needed supplies at
such a trading post. Here there is a display on the steps involved in
tanning a deer hide. A display on the history of Black Powder will point
out how Powdersville, SC got its name. Many original trade items such as
blankets and beads along with supplies like blocks of black tea and
green coffee beans will provide the viewer with even more insight into
the life of a Long Hunter or a Trader.

 

   The "Lock, Stock, & Barrel: Hunting in a Different Era" exhibition
will be on display through November 19 so be sure to mark your calendars
so you won't miss it.     

 

   The Pickens County Museum of Art & History is funded in part by
Pickens County, members and friends of the museum and a grant from the
South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National
Endowment for the Arts. 

 

   Located at the corner of Hwy. 178 at 307 Johnson Street in Pickens
SC, the museum is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:00 a.m.
until 5:00 p.m., Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays
from 9:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Admission is free but donations are
welcomed. For more information call the museum at (864) 898-5963.

 

 

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