All posts by Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin

Gallery Outing: Bookbinding at the Grolier, Saturday, April 13

Events

The Canton of Appleholm invites you to join us on an informal weekend outing to one of our many world-class museums.

On Saturday, April 13, at 2 PM, we’ll visit the Grolier, an exclusive club for antiquarian book dealers and collectors. Their “Judging a Book by Its Cover” exhibition focuses on the art of bookbinding, and includes a number of impressively-bound fifteenth-, sixteenth-, and seventeenth-century volumes as well as more-recent items. Before leaving we’ll take a brief detour to their secondary exhibit on hieroglyphics, which also includes a couple of period manuscripts and very early printed books.

The Grolier is located at 47 East 60th Street, between Madison and Park. The closest trains are the N/R at 5th Av/59th St, the 4/5/6 at 59th St, and the Q at Lexington/63rd; there are also numerous bus lines in the area.

We’ll gather outside the front entrance (or in the lobby if the weather is inclement), then enter as a group. (If you have trouble finding us, call Mathghamhain at 917-502-7795.)

The galleries are small, so we expect to finish the exhibitions within an hour or so, and afterwards folks who are interested may walk across the street to Café Bilboquet for snacks and further discussion.

Gallery admission is free. The building is ADA-accessible. Masks are optional.

All are welcome to join us. No Society membership or previous experience required. Modern attire; come as you are. Feel free to RSVP or just show up. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Detail of “Bookbinder” from Jost Amman’s Book of Trades (1568)

Morgan Gallery Visit

Events

We had a lovely trip to the Morgan this weekend, touring the “Medieval Money and Morality” exhibit and following it up with a visit to the opulent personal library of the Gilded Age robber baron himself.

Thanks to everyone who joined us, and we look forward to scheduling more of these local outings in the coming months!

Gallery Outing: Medieval Money at the Morgan, Sunday, March 10

Events

The Canton of Appleholm invites you to join us on an informal weekend outing to one of our many world-class museums.

On Sunday, March 10, at 3 PM, we’ll visit the Morgan’s “Medieval Money, Merchants, and Morality” exhibit, which includes numerous manuscripts, artworks, and artifacts from the late medieval period and into the renaissance. Covering the period in which capitalism emerged and upended the medieval economic system, the exhibit focuses on the cultural and material products created by this transformation, as well as the social and religious forces arrayed against its rise.

The Morgan is located on Madison Avenue between 36th and 37th. The closest trains are the 4/5/6 at 33rd St, the N/Q/R/W and B/D/F/M at 34th St, and the 7 at Bryant Park; there are also numerous bus lines in the area.

We’ll gather outside the front entrance (or in the lobby if the weather is inclement), and then enter as a group. (If you miss us at the entrance, call Mathghamhain at 917-502-7795 to link up inside the museum.)

We’ll probably spend about an hour or so in the museum, and afterwards folks who are hungry may walk a block down Madison to get a snack in a fancy coffee shop.

Museum admission is an exorbitant $25 with discounts for seniors and students. The museum is ADA-accessible. Masks are optional.

All are welcome to join us. No Society membership or previous experience required. Modern attire; come as you are. Feel free to RSVP or just show up. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Met A&B Gallery Visit

Events

Thanks to everyone who joined us for our trip to the Africa & Byzantium exhibit at the Met this afternoon!

Our party of eight viewed art and artifacts combining Byzantine, Islamic, and African influences, with origins spread over more than two thousand years and more than two thousand miles of north and east Africa, followed by a pleasant repast at a local diner (coincidentally run by descendants of the Byzantines).

We look forward to seeing you all on our next gallery outing soon!

Gallery Outing: Africa & Byzantium, Saturday February 24

Arts & Sciences

The Canton of Appleholm invites you to join us on another informal weekend outing to one of our many world-class museums.

On Saturday, February 24, starting at 2 PM, we’ll visit the Met’s “Africa and Byzantium” exhibit, which includes numerous period art works and artifacts from north and east Africa showing the shared influence of Byzantine and local cultures, as well as a few post-period examples showing the legacy of this synthesis. The special exhibit is positioned between the museum’s halls of Greek and Roman art and the halls of Medieval art, so we’ll likely loop through those on our way.

The Met is located on Fifth Avenue at East 82nd Street. The closest trains are the 4/5/6 at 86th, and there are several busses that run along either Fifth or 86th.

We’ll gather on the front steps, weather permitting, or in the lobby atrium, and then enter as a group. (If you miss us there, call Mathghamhain at 917-502-7795 to link up inside the museum.) We’ll probably spend about two hours in the museum, and afterwards folks who are hungry may walk over to Madison to get a snack in a local coffee shop.

Museum admission is “pay what you wish” with proof of New York State residence. The museum is ADA-accessible; to bypass the front staircase, visit their website for directions to the street-level entrance. Masks are optional but recommended.

All are welcome to join us. No Society membership or previous experience required. Modern attire; come as you are. Feel free to RSVP or just show up. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Fragment from a Coptic Hanging (Detail)

January Commons Minutes

Meetings

Our canton’s quarterly business meeting was held on Monday, January 29, 2024. The minutes as recorded by Mathghamhain are attached below. 

Attendance

  • Alienor Salton, Seneschal
  • Zahra de Andaluzia, Exchequer
  • Angelica di Nova Lipa, Chatelaine
  • Ibrahim al-Rashid, Arts and Sciences
  • Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin, Herald & Webminister
  • Ronan

Provincial guests:

  • Ragnarr, Østgarðr Seneschal
  • Jenna Childslayer

Opening

Seneschal

  • Alienor: Welcome back! I’m now mostly recovered, but have been sick and out of commission for a long stretch of this winter, so I don’t have much to report.

Exchequer

  • Zahra: Our financial reports for this quarter have been filed with the kingdom.
  • Mathghamhain: I’ll follow up with you about posting the summary portions of that report to our website as required by Corpora.

Chatelaine

  • Angelica: My office has been very quiet. No direct emails or contacts with newcomers.
  • If you notice someone new show up at an event or in one of our social media channels, please let me know so I can welcome them!

Arts and Sciences

  • Ibrahim: Our workshop this fall was a success; largesse was delivered to the royals.
  • I look forward to resuming museum visits; my schedule doesn’t alway allow me to join, but it’s great that we’re taking advantage of the opportunity our city provides.
  • If anyone missed our canton’s trip to the Cloisters’ exhibit “Rich Man, Poor Man,” this week is your final chance before it closes. 

Herald

  • Mathghamhain: I have filed my quarterly report with the kingdom heralds.
  • Our canton name change was finally accepted and registered in December. 
  • I’m sorry that process took so long; the College delayed the passage by five months in order to debate and then establish a new policy allowing branches to retain their old names during a change.

Webminister

  • Mathghamhain: I have filed my quarterly report with the kingdom webministry.
  • I’ve updated the branch name on the web site, and worked with the webministry to migrate it to the new domain name.
  • All officers should now be able to send and receive email using the new domain name.
  • Email to the old domain name can still be received, perhaps for the next year or so.
  • Officers, when filing your next report to your kingdom counterparts, please remind them of the name change and ask them to switch your office address in their address book, office-related mailing lists, and office-related Google Drive permissions.
  • I still need to switch the populace and officer mailing lists to use the new domain names.

Upcoming Activity

  • Mathghamhain: I had planned to organize an outing to the Met’s “Africa and Byzantium” exhibit during January, but illness prevented it — let’s select a new date.
  • Saturday, February 24 seems like it would work for a bunch of us; I’ll announce it.
  • Alienor: The largesse workshop in November was really pleasant; I’d love to do more of these casual shared group activity days (rather than formal classes as such).
  • Angelica: Yes, that would be lovely.
  • Ibrahim: My building has a street-level garden that could be used for a craft night.
  • Alienor: Would people like to resume dancing when it’s warm enough outdoors? 
  • Zahra: Yes, definitely.
  • Angelica: We could also consider early music concerts. There’s a Gothic early music series at St Malachy’s in midtown on Thursday afternoons.
  • Mathghamhain: I reached out to the WHIDC about the Fort Tryon medieval festival they typically hold on the last weekend of September or first weekend of October.
  • I haven’t heard back yet, but in past years they didn’t really get moving on this until the spring, so it’s too early to know whether they’re going to hold it again this year.

Events Elsewhere

  • Ibrahim: On March 2, Crown A&S Championships (Quintavia — Worcester, MA) will also have an option for non-competitive display.
  • Ronan: On March 23, at Mudthaw (Settmour — NJ), a friend of ours is receiving an award. (Probably not transit friendly, but maybe could car service from NJ Transit?)
  • Also considering going to Coronation, on April 6 (Concordia — Schenectady).
  • Jenna: On May 18, Lions End Schola will host the provincial A&S championship (Glen Head); the site is easily accessible by transit.

Closing

  • The meeting was adjourned at 7:30, followed by a few minutes of socializing.

Appleholm Registered

Heraldry

Our branch name change is now official!

Appleholm, Canton of. Branch name change from Whyt Whey, Canton of. The branch’s previous name, Canton of Whyt Whey, is retained as an Ancient Branch Name.

October 2023 Letter of Acceptances and Returns

Thanks to everyone who helped us through the process of considering a possible change, brainstorming alternatives, and building consensus around our new name — and also to the many folks who helped establish the original canton and built up our shared history, which will not be forgotten.

We’ll be transitioning our website and email addresses to a matching internet domain soon, so that we can head into the new year under our new identity.

Name Change Imminent

Heraldry

Our canton name change is expected to be made official some time this month — the date is unpredictable but should be somewhere between one and three weeks from today.

I’m sorry it’s taken so long! There was a delay introduced to allow the College of Arms to modify their policies and procedures so they could retain records of our former appellation as our “ancient name.”

Once that goes through, I’ll work on getting the website updated to match it. And if folks would be interested in t-shirts / pint glasses / etc with the canton name and badge, just let me know!

— Mathghamhain, Canton Herald

Hispanic Society Gallery Visit

Arts & Sciences

Thanks to everyone who came out to join us at the Hispanic Society museum today, as well as the post-gallery coffee and chit-chat.

It’s a small exhibition, with a very eclectic mix of items on display, but the “courtyard” is a lovely space and it was interesting to see the admixture of European, Mesoamerican, and East Asian elements in the sixteenth-century artifacts.

We look forward to seeing you all on our next gallery outing soon!