The Dunedin Museum of Natural Mystery

The Dunedin Museum of Natural Mystery The Dunedin Museum of Natural Mystery is a small private museum which opened on March 23rd, 2018

The Museum is open this Friday and over the weekend from 10-5 as usual. We'd love to see you!!!! We will be closed next ...
19/06/2026

The Museum is open this Friday and over the weekend from 10-5 as usual. We'd love to see you!!!!
We will be closed next Friday (26th) and over the weekend(27/28th)while some of the staff attend a conference but open normal hours after that.
(Photo shows the curator brass rubbing at Southacre Church in Norfolk in England in 1979. He still has the brass rubbing).

I think we've probably all seen those pictures of World War Two German soldiers (particualry officers) with scars on the...
11/06/2026

I think we've probably all seen those pictures of World War Two German soldiers (particualry officers) with scars on their faces? It's almost become a movie trope. I used to think they got these scars fencing without face masks and fencing is something I know a bit about but I was wrong.

'Mensur' or 'academic fencing was something very different from modern fencing where particpants can move as freely as they want on the piste (a designated 14-meter-long by 1.5-to-2-meter-wide surface marked with specific lines for starting and stopping play, which acts as the primary boundary for all fencing bouts(contests)).

In Mensur fencing bouts the participants were not allowed to move and if you did you were deemed a coward. The aim of the bout was not to win but inflict injury. Two men (often University students) would face each other wearing little protection apart from eye,nose and neck guards and slash at each other until they'd decided they'd wounded each other enough to satisfy both tradition and etiquette. If someone challenged you to a bout you had to accept or you were soft.

Rather than being a sporting competition the tradition was closer to getting a tattoo which proclaimed your status and your interests. What do you think? Are duelling scars 'attractive' or is this whole process just utter madness? I know what I think!

The museum is open tomorrow (Friday) from 12-5 and over the weekend from 10-5 as usual.

Thanks to all of the people who recently started ‘following’ this unusual little museum! The post below is about a recen...
10/06/2026

Thanks to all of the people who recently started ‘following’ this unusual little museum! The post below is about a recent mural I did in South Dunedin as part of Ebb and Flow- the recent street art festival in South Dunedin. Thank you very much for the invite. Since I returned to my hometown, Dunedin, in 2017 I’ve painted over 60 wall pieces. Most are unsigned, most are in black and white and nearly all feature animals. It’s too cold to paint now but message me if you’re interested in a mural - inside or out.

Not many people know that Dunedin is ground-zero for the 'invention' of plastic surgery with two of the most famous pion...
08/06/2026

Not many people know that Dunedin is ground-zero for the 'invention' of plastic surgery with two of the most famous pioneering plastic surgeons ever - Harold Gilles (1882-1960) and his cousin Archibald McIndoe(1900 –1960)- both coming from this city.

They became famous for their work in World War One and World Two respectively and are credited with inventing a number of techniques which helped to revolutionise the process of this kind of surgery. Harold's work also led to the development of s*x reassignment surgeries.

Harold was born at Transit House (named after the Transit of Venus) at 44 Park Street - a large bluestone building only about 200 metres away from this museum. His father, Robert Gillies (1836-1886) was a notable figure in the early Dunedin business scene and 'a gentleman of scientific endeavour.'

After World War One Harold went into private practice and he was particualry keen on fishing. We have a painting at the museum (thank you Anna Ferens) he did in Iceland which was painted during a fishing trip in 1936. It was a good day because he caught 14 salmon. Anna found the painting at Wanaka Wastebusters - where his wife retired to after his death.

Although it has a heritage plaque(see photos) the building is pretty run down and seems to be being used as a student flat. Despite this many traces of its former glory remain. Does anyone know if there are any plans to restore this significant local landmark?

I have started selling some of my original drawings from my weekly cartoon strip in the Otago Daily Times via the Otago ...
06/06/2026

I have started selling some of my original drawings from my weekly cartoon strip in the Otago Daily Times via the Otago Museum shop. Each drawing is a one-off - they are not prints.They will be for sale in the Otago Museum shop from next week. Prices range from $100-150.

I have decided to stop making bone art for sale. I will continue to make the odd piece for the museum but this latest fi...
04/06/2026

I have decided to stop making bone art for sale. I will continue to make the odd piece for the museum but this latest finished piece may be the last new work offered for sale. It’s ‘Blackbacked Gull Circle #7’ - sixteen Blackback skulls set in a floating circle in a wall hanging box made from recycled native timber ( flooring from an old house). Thanks are due to Eric Neuman - my faithful wood expert! Note -Blackbacked gulls are not protected). The museum will be open today from 12-5 and from 10-5 over the weekend.

I sold this wall hanging sculpture to a person in Wellington at the NZ Art Fair over ten years ago. They got in touch to...
01/06/2026

I sold this wall hanging sculpture to a person in Wellington at the NZ Art Fair over ten years ago. They got in touch to tell me they were moving and were going to try and sell it. The auction closes in ten days. Like a number of these round works from this period it contains a moa tibia ( the long brown bone at lower centre) and an ex medical human femur ( top left). I think this may have been the last work I made with a human bone in it.

I used to teach screen printing at art schools and Polytechnics in Wellington and for most classes I would expose a rand...
31/05/2026

I used to teach screen printing at art schools and Polytechnics in Wellington and for most classes I would expose a random image as an example of how to create a photo-screen. I’m not sure why I chose this antique etching of an antique e***a bulb and I forgot I’d given a t-shirt to my buddy, scientist Dr Craig Hilton, with this image on. We do have a couple of antique e***a kits in the museum’s collection if you’re feeling blocked up! Note that this e***a had a bone nozzle😃

Address

61 Royal Terrace
Dunedin
9016

Opening Hours

Friday 12pm - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm
Sunday 10am - 5pm

Telephone

+64210329906

Website

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