Although the museum has been temporarily closed since June 2023, the conservation team hasn’t stopped working behind the scenes. Many projects are well underway to support the museum’s exciting public offer when we reopen in 2025, and the conservation team can’t wait to see people enjoying the collection as much as we do!
One of the first tasks on the agenda is the re-installation of our beloved Kodak gallery. We decanted (removed all the objects from) part of the gallery in July 2023 to allow the building work on our new lift. The objects closer to the entrance of the gallery were temporarily removed as the work would be dusty and the vibrations could move objects within their showcases.
For the last few months, a great deal of work has been done to improve the catalogue records, assess the condition of objects, and to plan for the return of a staggering 372 objects to the gallery!
Out of those 372 objects, here I’ll show you a group of teeny-weeny ones. These everyday objects are Victorian optical curiosities that contain a Stanhope lens, which allows you to view tiny microphotographs (only a few millimetres square) incorporated inside them.
Bottom row, left to right: Linen tape measure in turned bone cylinder, ivory carved bone cross, miniature opera glass in ivory with brass mount, miniature ivory elephant.
The process of bringing an object from the stores to display starts by locating the object and improving its information on our database. Documentation officers and curators add details such as title, author, materials, dimensions and weight to each digital record. A physical label with the object’s unique number and barcode is added to each object.
In conservation, I start by taking photographs to capture the object’s condition that go along side written descriptions and annotated images, which are added to the database. Often objects need treatment, but in most cases only minor surface cleaning is needed.
The next step typically is assessing if the objects need special mounts to support them while on display. For this gallery installation however, most objects already have their mounts as we are primarily returning objects back to their places.
The objects are ready to go, all packed in boxes and ready to be moved to the gallery!
Installation planning also includes a good deal of project management skill, and collections-related tasks are only one part of a big operation. As far as installing objects in a gallery goes, I need to think about which object will be installed on a given day, whether I have an installation team allocated per day, and ensuring the showcases are cleaned and all the relevant equipment is ready. Installation periods can be intense, with tight schedules—it is particularly important to look after ourselves and have plenty of tea breaks throughout.
We’ll be starting to get objects back into the gallery very soon, and I look forward to sharing some images and tales in the next Blog from the Basement.