Sneak Peek Behind the Scenes!

While Banting House NHSC continues to welcome our many visitors and prepare for our upcoming World Diabetes Day celebrations, we are also hard at work behind the scenes! Banting House has collected many artifacts over the years and like all museums, we need to keep them organized!

One of my ongoing projects is reorganizing the art collection. Banting House has long been a place of inspiration for visitors to the museum and there have been many artists who have created renderings and depictions of the architecture of the house including those done by Edward Roche in 1981 and David Harrington in 1998 for example! I enjoy examining these pieces because while each depiction of Banting House is unique in its use of medium and perspective, the architecture does not change.

Edward Roche, Banting House, ink on paper, 1981.

The house itself was built in 1900 and is a 2-and-a-half-storey, yellow-bricked late-Victorian house. The yellow bricks that are used in the architecture of the building were commonly used in the late 19^th and early 20^th century in Southwestern Ontario. They were made from calcium-rich clay mixed with limestone, and are a distinctive feature of architecture throughout Southwestern Ontario! What I love most about Banting House, is that it is more than just the home of Sir Frederick Banting. It is also evidence that London was an emerging and growing city in the early 20th century. Today, the architecture continues to be a beautiful reminder of a past that existed not so long ago.

David Harrington, Banting House, print, 1998.

For those who are museum and cultural heritage enthusiasts, I encourage you to explore your cities. In my experience, pictures are not they only relics that can tell a story of a thousand words!

Photograph of Banting House c. 2008.

This post was written by Jessica Baptista, Museum Interpreter at Banting House NHSC. Jessica recently graduated with a B.A.H. in History from Queen’s University and is currently pursuing her Masters of Museum Studies graduate degree from the University of Toronto.