Ricerca
Risultati della ricerca
-
Blog post
Viewing museum objects through a Cold War Lens – eye-opening possibilities
In museums, Cold War history is often hidden in plain sight. Objects are silently relevant. Timelines skip across well-known dates of the postwar period. Maps steer visitors’ eyes towards ‘hotspots’. Thematic exhibitions shake up narrative. Omission is the natural by-product of curatorial focus. Coupled with the false but detrimental view...Douthwaite, Jessica
-
Blog post
Object itineraries and tools of knowledge
One aspect of the data enhancement that forms part of the Tools of Knowledge project involves connecting the remodelled SIMON database with object data from partner institutions. Bringing in object data, as a first step, allows us to make more connections, undertake new kinds of analysis, and reveal new stories...Middle, Sarah
-
Blog post
The many lives of the Traprain Treasure’s Roman silver
One of the greatest treasures of our museum is the late Roman silver hoard from Traprain Law in East Lothian, which fills three display cases in the Early People gallery. Found in excavations in 1919, it’s been on display pretty much constantly since 1920. Now, more than a century after...Hunter, Fraser
Traprain Treasure, Silver, and Roman
-
Blog post
Capturing the present with 20th century photographic equipment
In the 20th century, camera technology was very different to the digital cameras we use today. As part of the Scotland 365 Youth Project, Julie Gibb explains how a group of young people used this older photographic technology to capture objects in the collection with a connection to their local...Gibb, Julie
National Museums Collection Centre, Scotland 365, and Photography
-
Blog post
Unwrapping stories revisiting the costume at Paxton House
Nestled on the bank of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, Paxton House is an eighteenth-century home and museum with exceptional collections. The Chippendale and Trotter furniture is recognised as being of international importance, and the building itself is Grade A listed. But what else lies hidden in storage?Tayor, Emily ; Murrell, Fiona Salvesen
-
Blog post
Flying without wings: The conservation of a DC-10 aircraft mode
How do you conserve a model aircraft? The DC-10 in our aviation collection was in need of repair to bring it back to its former glory. In this blog Suncana Marochini gives us a quick blow by blow of the conservation process. Prepare for lift-off, Suncana!Marochini, Suncana
Aviation , Aircraft, DC-10, and Conservation
-
Blog post
Dedicated collector: Michael Daniels and his Eocene birds
A stunning collection of over 700 bird fossils has been bequeathed to National Museums Scotland. Collected in Essex by Michael Daniels, the fossils date from 54-56 million years ago, the beginning of the Eocene period. They represent the early stages in the evolution of modern birds and contain many species...Kitchener, Andrew C
Conservation , Fossil Hunters , Palaeontology, Birds , Collections, Fossils , and Natural Sciences
-
Blog post
Collecting Scottish constitutional politics: 5 representative objects
Scottish politics is currently undergoing one of the most consequential and controversial periods in its modern history. Recently, important questions about the status of Scotland within a political union, the United Kingdom, have been posed. These politics are not only played out in formal debates and institutions, but in the...Vullinghs, Georgia
-
Blog post
‘Woman’s dress of dark blue cotton, Ukraine, c.1880’: the complex reality behind a simple description
Alongside the human cost of conflict, the nihilistic destruction of centuries of historic heritage in Ukraine has provoked alarm, outrage and offers of support across the international museum sector. At the outset of hostilities, we looked to provide practical support where we could. For example, in the supply of wooden...Breward, Christopher
Dress , Russia , Ukraine, Embroidery , and Textiles
-
Blog post
Collecting Collections: Brooches
Museums aren’t alone when it comes to collecting objects. Personal collecting, usually more rooted in identity or passion, can offer a glimpse into who people are and what makes them tick. Digital Media Content Manager Russell Dornan reflects on his brooch collection, what it says about his identity and shares...Dornan, Duncan
Collecting , LGBTQIA+, Collections , Jewellery , Brooch , LGBT History Month , and Global Arts Cultures And Design
-
Blog post
GeoCASe 2.0 and the evolution of data from physical specimen to the digital
As Principal Curator of the National Museums Scotland’s (NMS) 200 year old ‘Earth System collection, a collection of 70000 minerals, rocks and meteorites, one of my responsibilities is to ensure the collection puts its best foot forward into the Digital Era. So for the past few years, I have lead...Walcott, Rachel
-
Blog post
The value of broken things: fragments from the Bronze Age
The value of an object is often framed in terms of its completeness. As individuals and as a museum, we like pristine things and try to keep them that way. If something breaks, we repair it. If it is broken beyond repair, we may replace it. And yet, sometimes it...Knight, Matthew
-
Blog post
Dressed to kill? A 16th century doublet in historical context
A dazzling Renaissance silk doublet is now on display in the Fashion and Style gallery at National Museums Scotland. In this blog Helen Wyld, Senior Curator of Historic Textiles, and Calum Robertson, Curator of Modern and Military History, take a deep dive into the history of the doublet, and its...Wyld, Helen ; Robertson, Calum
-
Blog post
Breaking the Ice: When Hugh MacDiarmid met Yevgeny Yevtushenko
In October 1962, the world stood on the edge of an abyss as the United States and the Soviet Union prepared for nuclear war over the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba. Five months earlier, the charismatic Soviet poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko broke the political pack ice of the Cold War...Gledhill, Jim
Russia , Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Hugh MacDiarmid , Poets , Poetry , Cold War , and USSR
-
Blog post
Park Life
Carys Wilkins, assistant curator in Modern & Contemporary Design at the National Museums Scotland, explores how the pandemic has influenced furniture design, in particular the park bench & in turn the museum’s acquisitions programme.Wilkins, Carys
-
Blog post
Jurassic World Dominion: Bringing dinosaurs to life
Jurassic Park‘s impact is undeniable. And not just on pop culture: the ‘Jurassic Park effect’ inspired an increase in public interest in palaeontology, funding for research and the development of new technology. With Jurassic World Dominion arriving in cinemas, the long run of the iconic film series comes to an...Dornan, Russell ; Brusatte, Stephen
Prehistory, Palaeontology , Natural Sciences , Dinosaurs , Fossils , and Geology
-
Blog post
An elite education: discovery of an ancient Athenian ephebic list
A stone monument with an ancient Greek inscription in the collections of National Museums Scotland was recently discovered to be a previously unknown, unpublished Athenian ephebic list. Principal Curator Margaret Maitland and the Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections project team explain the significance of this find, and what it tells...Maitland, Margaret
World Cultures, Archaeology , Ancient Greece , and Research
-
Blog post
Embroidered crucifixion
Thanks to a generous donation from benefactor Leslie Durst, we have acquired an exquisite seventeenth-century embroidery with a surprising history of secret Catholic devotion. This small panel embodies entwined stories of religious faith, skilled workmanship, and the mythology of a doomed Queen. Senior Curator of Historic Textiles Helen Wyld reveals...Wyld, Helen
Embroidery , Global Arts Cultures And Design , New Acquisitions , and Textiles
-
Blog post
Visiting the ancient dead: Pictish reuse of a Bronze Age grave at Golspie, Highland
This blog is from a series produced as part of the AHRC funded Boundary Objects Project , a partnership between Historic Environment Scotland , National Museums Scotland and the Universities of Manchester and Reading. We often think of the graves of the dead lying undisturbed and untouched until they are...Knight, Matthew G ; Maldonado, Adrián
-
Blog post
Conserving the Galloway Hoard: a silver brooch goes under the microscope
The Galloway Hoard was in the ground for nearly 1,000 years. That brings all kinds of conservation challenges, as Galloway Hoard Project Artefact Conservator Mary Davis explains. Learn what it takes to preserve Viking-Age treasures, and what the conservation process tells us about the objects and people who used and...Davis, Mary