Last year I did some work in museums and I would like to
share some of the incredible, personal objects that are kept away in the back
rooms.
Most museums have the vast majority of their objects out of
view from the public. This is an unfortunate but inevitable result of not
enough funding, not enough staff and a long history of each institution having
decades of donations from the public, slowly filling up the stores. Once an
item is accepted by a museum it becomes an accessioned object and is actually
legally protected and can never be destroyed, or released from that museum’s collection.
Each piece has unique number (unique only
to that institution as our regional museums are not connected through any
network) kept on their records with who donated it, when and a description of
the piece. Many of our museums were founded in the 19th century during
a time of philanthropy and enthusiasm for archaeology and history in general and
much of these collections date from then. Many of the objects have never been on display
which is such a shame because they are so interesting.
Cussions for newborns. Now extinct English tradition
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