Photograph by Sebastian Widmann

This stuffed bobcat--the feline responsible for giving Los Gatos its name--is just one of many eclectic items on display at Forbes Mill.

Forbes Mill unearths a treasure trove

By Shari Kaplan

Do rusting farm tools, stuffed wildlife, kaleidoscopes, paintings, silken scrolls and a finial from the old Lyndon Hotel have anything in common?

Not really, nor would they likely ever be found under the same roof--under normal circumstances. But from now through Aug. 27, these and many other items may be seen at Los Gatos' Forbes Mill Regional History Museum in an eclectic, eccentric exhibit titled 35 Years of Collecting Los Gatos. The number represents how many years the Los Gatos Museum Association has been in existence.

"We've been doing a lot of cleaning and reorganizing and we've just been finding all this cool stuff," says Laura Bajuk, executive director of the LGMA, which runs Forbes Mill as well as the Los Gatos Museum of Fine Art and Natural History at 4 Tait Ave. Art, artifacts and other items from the permanent collections of both museums are in 35 Years of Collecting Los Gatos.

"The only criteria for getting into the show is if it's funky or interesting or if it would provoke a response from someone like 'what's the museum doing with that?' " Bajuk explains with a smile.

Joining her in going through the "cool stuff" and selecting items for the exhibition was LGMA intern Matthew Woodside, who has also been aiding Bajuk in cataloging the more than 900 items that now are in the computer database of the LGMA's ever-growing collection.

Although the exhibit does not show nearly that amount of pieces, it still took the help of several other LGMA members and friends to get off the ground. Research was done by Pat Dunning, explanatory texts by Kathryn Morgan, design by Catherine Politopoulos and installation by John Illingworth.

"Some people come in here and breeze right through, while others stay here for an hour and read all the captions," Bajuk says of the exhibition.

There is indeed much to see. Visitors entering the museum are likely to first notice the stuffed bobcat to their right--the wildcat that gave Los Gatos its name, or the stuffed owls perched on a rafter overhead. Nearby on a wall is weathered local farm equipment: a scythe, wooden stirrups, an animal trap and some saws. Close by hangs a series of paintings by Olaf Palm titled Faces of the American West.

Artwork by the late artists George Dennison and Frank Ingerson, who lived and worked together for 55 years in the hills above Los Gatos, are also on display, including a self-portrait. The two were well-known for a closeness of style that made it difficult to distinguish who had produced what among their art collection. It included metalwork, leathercraft, weaving and sculpting as well as painting.

Other areas dedicated to local individuals include Asian art and silk scrolls donated by the late LGMA benefactor Rosalie Burns; dozens of hand-carved wooden birds of all types, made by the late Los Gatan Paul Arthur Prink; and a photographic history of Edward Loftus and his family, who once lived on Chestnut Avenue. Loftus once represented the United States in the royal court of Siam, now Thailand. There's also a display of memorabilia from the old Los Gatos Grammar School and Los Gatos Union High School, including a certificate for excellent penmanship earned by the late Victor Booher, Los Gatos' "Mr. Clean."

Some items are stand-alones. Bajuk has no idea why they are in the LGMA's archives, but likes them all the same. Among them are parasols and a rat-hunting knife from Burma, Sicilian folk art, a large whale vertebra and an old welder's helmet dredged from the San Francisco Bay and covered in a gleaming array of geometric halite crystals.

Forbes Mill Museum is at 75 Church St. Hours are noon to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. For more information, call 408.395.7375.

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