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Conference paper (unpublished)
Collecting and displaying Buddhist objects from South Asia at National Museums Scotland
he multidisciplinary displays at Scotland’s national museum in Chambers Street feature a substantial number of Buddhist objects, and particularly, small and larger-scale images of the Buddha. Although in different thematic galleries, they are primarily presented as objects of art with a religious connotation, an interpretative approach that was established in...Voigt, Friederike
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Conference paper (unpublished)
Taking the Buddha out of Buddhism: provenance of two Japanese Buddhist statues
National Museums Scotland have two large Buddhist sculptures in their collections: a statue of Amida Buddha that is on display in the Grand Gallery, and a statue of Sho-Kannon in the East Asia Gallery. Provenance research on these statues has shown that both were imported into the UK at the...De Raat, Marjolein
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Conference paper (unpublished)
Yellow flag with dragon patterns – a Buddhist object with imperial associations in the National Museum of Scotland
Yuanmingyuan, also known as the Old Summer Palace, is infamous for its destruction by Anglo-French military forces in 1860. Numerous imperial objects were looted and subsequently dispersed throughout various public, private and royal collections outside China. These imperial Chinese collections had a significant impact on the perception of Chinese art...Cao, Qin
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Book chapter
Museum Egg Collections
Birds' eggs are true wonders of the natural world: they are strong enough to protect the embryo as it develops, yet sufficiently fragile to allow the chick to hatch. Little wonder that the enormous diversity of avian eggs – the amazing range of shapes, sizes, colours and patterns – has...McGowan, Robert Y
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Journal article
‘Where is the damned collection?’ Charles Davies Sherborn’s listing of named natural science collections and its successors. In: Michel E. (Ed) Anchoring Biodiversity Information: from Sherborn to the 21st century and beyond
C. D. Sherborn published in 1940, under the imprint of Cambridge University Press but at his own expense, Where is the – Collection? This idiosyncratic listing of named natural science collections, and their fates, was useful, but incomplete, and uneven in its accuracy. It is argued that those defects were...Taylor, Michael A
museum, biology, Charles Davies Sherborn, taxonomy, collections, and geology
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Journal article
Making space for models: (re)representing engineering in Scotland’s national museum, 1854–present
The model-making practices and the role of engineering models on display within a British (and since 1999 Scottish) Government-funded, ‘national’, museum are examined. The changing curatorial perceptions of models and their role over the 160-year history of the Museum are analysed, as are the spaces in which, and the processes...Staubermann, Klaus ; Swinney, Geoffrey N
workshop practice, exhibition, curation, translation of scale, public engagement, and model-making
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Journal article
iCollections methodology: workflow, results and lessons learned
The Natural History Museum, London (NHMUK) has embarked on an ambitious programme to digitise its collections. The first phase of this programme was to undertake a series of pilot projects to develop the workflows and infrastructure needed to support mass digitisation of very large scientific collections. This paper presents the...Blagoderov, Vladimir ; Penn, Malcolm ; Sadka, Mike ; Hine, Adrian ; Brooks, Stephen …
workflow, database, georeferencing, Digitisation, collection, museum, and sites
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Journal article
Making sense of the senses across species boundaries: designing the Animal Senses gallery at National Museums Scotland
As one of a suite of natural science galleries in the National Museum of Scotland, Animal Senses presents a comprehensive overview of how animals have evolved senses as they have adapted to different ecological niches in order to find food or avoid predation. Using different sensory channels, they also have...Kitchener, Andrew C
animals, Senses, interpretation, exhibition, and communication
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Journal article
Perceptions of Scottish pottery: Nineteenth-century collecting in National Museums Scotland
The manufacture of domestic pottery in Scotland was an important industry producing vast quantities of wares for both the home and export markets. The industry reached its height in the nineteenth century, the era that saw the inception of international exhibitions and the establishment of industrial museums. Over recent decades...Hynes, Adrienne
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Journal article
Why collect Science?
In this critical assessment of the ‘museology of science’ I cherry-pick recent scholarship and practice to unpack the functions of science collections. Some practices (exhibition, engagement, study) have already attracted considerable attention, others not yet (storage); but all tend to be considered separately as case studies from particular institutions and...Alberti, S J M M
research, science engagement, exhibitions, science and technology museums, storage, and materiality
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Journal article
Geomagnetic instruments at National Museums Scotland
In 1981, the sole book about historic geomagnetic instruments was by Anita McConnell. Using it as a timeline, the Royal Scottish Museum’s temporary exhibition ‘The Earth is a Magnet’, was put on to co-incide with an international congress held in Edinburgh that year. The experience emphasised curatorial awareness that this...Morrison-Low, A D
Scottish geomagnetic history, curatorial practice, Temporary exhibitions, and Dr Anita McConnell.
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Journal article
When ivory came from the seas. On some traits of the trade of raw and carved sea-mammal ivories in the Middle Ages
Even if it played a part, it is not so much the lesser availability of elephant ivory as the Norse expansion in the Northern Atlantic that brought the success of walrus ivory throughout Western Europe and far beyond. The strength of demand did not only bring the extinction of the...Dectot, Xavier
trade, walrus, Middle Ages, Iceland, narwhal, Ivory, Greenland, unicorn, and khutū
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Journal article
The Janitor and his museum: John Wilson (1775–1832) and the teaching of ‘practical zoology’ in early nineteenth-century Edinburgh
A description by William Jardine of Applegirth of the state of taxidermy in early nineteenth-century Edinburgh draws attention to the agency of the University of Edinburgh’s Janitor, John Wilson, in contributing to the University’s Natural History Museum, in the building of his own private museum collection, and in the teaching...Swinney, Geoffrey N ; McGowan, R Y
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Journal article
Dismantling the master’s house: thoughts on representing empire and decolonising museums and public spaces in practice an introduction
Museums were both produced by and producers of the ideals that drove the growth of European empires. As such, many of the collections made during and since the colonial era are unique and powerful reflections of this history. Despite this potential, with few exceptions, object-focused critical histories of empire in...Giblin, John ; Ramos, Imma
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Journal article
A rediscovered Lower Jurassic ichthyosaur skeleton possibly from the Strawberry Bank Lagerstätte, Somerset, UK
An almost complete ichthyosaur from the historically significant collection of fossils amassed by Somerset geologist, Charles Moore, is described. Available information suggests that it was collected from the Lower Lias of Somerset, UK. However, inspection of the surrounding matrix, which seems to be a nodule, indicates that the specimen may...Srdic, Alexander ; Beardmore, Susan ; Lomax, Dean R
Ichthyosauria, Charles Moore, Strawberry Bank, CT-scan, Stenopterygius, and Leptonectes
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Journal article
Collecting and displaying the decommissioning of North Sea Oil and Gas at the National Museums Scotland
National Museums Scotland (NMS) has a long history of collecting industrial objects. Our predecessor museum, the Industrial Museum of Scotland, was founded with the intention of collecting the materials and processes of manufacture; that is, contemporary technologies and the tacit skills that went with them [1]. For a lot of...Swinbank, Ellie
museum, Scotland, decommissioning, industry, collection, and oil
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Journal article
The Tod Head lighthouse lantern. The conservation-restoration of a technical object that has been continuously modified over the years
This paper presents the conservation and reassembly of the Tod Head lighthouse lantern in the storage area of the National Museums Scotland. The Tod Head lighthouse was located on the Scottish east coast, north of Edinburgh. The lantern was dismantled in 2011 and sent to the National Museums Collection Centre....Grima, Marie
lighthouse, Fresnel, lantern, and Stevenson
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Journal article
Carlisle Museum's Natural History Record Bureau, 1902–1912: Britain's first local environmental records centre
Carlisle Museum's Natural History Record Bureau, Britain's first local environmental records centre, collected and collated records, mainly of birds but including also mammals and fishes, from amateur naturalists. It initially covered an area of 80 kilometres around Carlisle, and later from Cumberland, Westmorland and the detached portion of Lancashire north... -
Journal article
‘Tuesday Morning’, the schoolboy and Mann early medieval burials at Holm Park near Ballantrae, Ayrshire, Scotland
The rediscovery of human remains, correspondence and other unpublished excavation archival material in the Glasgow Museums collection of Ludovic McLellan Mann prompted the reappraisal of a short archaeological investigation undertaken in April 1931 at Holm Park, near Ballantrae, Ayrshire, by a schoolboy, Eric French and his biology teacher, William Hoyland....Finlay , Nyree ; Duffy , Paul ; Dene, Wright ; Maldonado, Adrián ; Cerón-Carrasco, Ruby
Inhumation burial, Mesolithic, Dog whelk shells, and Historiography
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Journal article
Small carnivorans, museums and zoos
Small carnivorans are generally poorly represented in zoos, probably because they are small, mostly nocturnal and solitary hunters. However, there is limited knowledge about the ecology and behaviour of a large number of these and many species are threatened with extinction or their conservation status is poorly known or even...Kitchener, Andrew C
museums , zoo, small carnivoran , research , taxonomy , conservation , collection, anatomy , and biobanking
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Journal article
Machine learning ATR-FTIR spectroscopy data for the screening of collagen for ZooMS analysis and mtDNA in archaeological bone
Faunal remains from archaeological sites allow for the identification of animal species that enables the better understanding of the relationships between humans and animals, not only from their morphological information, but also from the ancient biomolecules (lipids, proteins, and DNA) preserved in these remains for thousands and even millions of... -
Journal article
Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis in captive gorillas (Gorilla Spp.): Appearance and diagnosis
Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) is a disorder of unknown cause, in which new bone forms in soft tissues attached to the skeleton. Originally described in humans, in whom it is quite common, it is usually asymptomatic. New bone may completely bridge across joints, especially in the spine. However, it...Livingstone, Brian ; Kitchener, Andrew C ; Hull, Gordon ; Schwarz, Tobias ; Vijayanathan, Sanjay …
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Book
The pasts and presence of art in South Africa: Technologies, ontologies and agents
In 2015, #RhodesMustFall generated the largest student protests in South Africa since the end of apartheid, subsequently inspiring protests and acts of decolonial iconoclasm across the globe. The performances that emerged in, through and around #RhodesMustFall make it clear how analytically fruitful Alfred Gell’s notion that art is ‘a system...Wingfield, Chris ; Giblin, John ; King, Rachel
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Book chapter
Leedsichthys problematicus: Arthur Smith Woodward's ‘most embarrassing enigma’
The link between the renowned palaeoichthyologist Arthur Smith Woodward and the similarly lauded marine reptile collector Alfred Nicholson Leeds may seem an unlikely one, but they formed a close family friendship during their professional acquaintance. Amongst the many fish specimens described by Smith Woodward from Leeds’ Oxford Clay collection, the...Liston, Jeff
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Book chapter
The officers' mess: an anthropology and history of the military interior
This chapter uses a model of British Army organisational culture and historical analysis to examine the nature of the ‘military interior’ – specifically the public rooms in the officers’ mess and the artefacts found within. The authors seek to combine their expertise to create a broader understanding of how military...Kirke, Charles ; Hartwell, Nicole M
Post-Colonial Studies , War Studies, Museum & Gallery Studies , Cultural History, and Imperial/Colonial History
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Book chapter
Mementoes of power and conquest: Sikh jewellery in the collection of National Museums Scotland
This chapter traces the historical trajectory of pieces of jewellery and personal effects in the collection of National Museums Scotland which once belonged to the last Sikh ruler of Panjab, Maharaja Duleep Singh (1838–93). Deposed from the throne after the Second Anglo–Sikh War, exiled and deprived of his possessions, religion...Voigt, Friederike
Post-Colonial Studies , War Studies, Imperial/Colonial History , Cultural History, and Museum & Gallery Studies
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Book chapter
Proud symbols of the prospering rural seamen: Scottish Church ship models and the Shipmaster’s Societies of North East Scotland in the late 17th century'
Britain's emergence as one of Europe's major maritime powers has all too frequently been subsumed by nationalistic narratives that focus on operations and technology. This volume, by contrast, offers a daring new take on Britain's maritime past. It brings together scholars from a range of disciplines to explore the manifold...Greiling, Meredith
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Book chapter
Excellent judgement: bark painting in National Museums Scotland
Museums across Great Britain and Ireland hold Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (collectively referred to as ‘Indigenous’) cultural heritage of exceptional value which is largely unknown, rarely seen and poorly understood. Gifted, sold, exchanged and bartered by Indigenous people, and accepted, bought, collected and taken by travellers, colonists, explorers, missionaries,...Morphy, Howard ; Denner, Antje ; Blakeman, Bree
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Journal article
The Graham Gadd collection of furniture ephemera
National Museums Scotland recently received a donation of furniture related items from RFS member Graham Gadd.Jackson, Stephen
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Journal article
Emmeline Hastings: otherworldly jewels
I remember the day I first encountered the work of Emmeline Hastings. It was in the wonderfully titled Not Too Precious exhibition of 25 international artists, who, as curator Dr Elizabeth Goring stated in the introduction to the catalogue, represented those makers who were ‘dedicated to using materials for their...Rothwell, Sarah
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Journal article
Mary Anning of Lyme Regis, and the Great Storm of 1824
During the Great Storm of 1824, the house and fossil shop of Mary Anning (1799-1847), fossil collector of Lyme Regis, in Cockmoil Square, was supposedly flooded. The popular but physically unlikely story is probably based on misreading Anning's report of flooding in her brother Joseph's premises, and copying a tale...Taylor, Michael A
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Journal article
Exhibition Review: Mary Quant, Curated by Jenny Lister and Stephanie Wood for The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), London, England and V&A Dundee, Scotland, 27 August 2020–24 December 2020
Curated by Jenny Lister and Stephanie Wood for The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) London, England and Dundee, Scotland. Reviewed by Georgina RipleyRipley, Georgina
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Book
Dividing the spoils: Perspectives on military collections and the British empire
At a time of heightened international interest in the colonial dimensions of museum collections, Dividing the Spoils provides new perspectives on the motivations and circumstances whereby collections were appropriated and acquired during colonial military service. Combining approaches from the fields of material anthropology, imperial and military history, this book argues...Lidchi , Henrietta ; Allan, Stuart
Post-Colonial Studies , War Studies, Museum & Gallery Studies , Cultural History, and Imperial/Colonial History
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Book chapter
Developing a modern diorama: changing habitats in Scotland since the end of the last Ice Age
Dioramas were once a commonly used tool for communicating the natural world to museum visitors, but in the second half of the twentieth century they fell out of fashion despite their effectiveness in interpretation. This decline was probably caused by lack of funding and space, a decline in numbers of...Kitchener, Andrew C.
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Book chapter
Introduction
At a time of heightened international interest in the colonial dimensions of museum collections, Dividing the Spoils provides new perspectives on the motivations and circumstances whereby collections were appropriated and acquired during colonial military service. Combining approaches from the fields of material anthropology, imperial and military history, this book argues...Lidchi, Henrietta ; Allan, Stuart
Post-Colonial Studies , War Studies, Imperial/Colonial History , Cultural History, and Museum & Gallery Studies
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Book chapter
Seeing Tibet through soldiers' eyes: photograph albums in regimental museums
In his ‘Notes on Photography’ dated 1860 Captain Henry Shaw of the Royal Engineers itemised the uses to which photography could be applied for military and scientific purposes. He notes that over time, capturing scenes, places and persons would prove of personal interest to the photographer and more generally, justifying...Henrietta , Lidchi ; Rosanna, Nicolson
Post-Colonial Studies , War Studies, Imperial/Colonial History , Cultural History, and Museum & Gallery Studies
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Book chapter
Indigenising folk art: eighteenth-century powder horns in British military collections
Engraved power horns are a well-known aspect of the material culture of the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763), also known in North America as the French and Indian War. In looking at collections in military museums across the UK it emerged that powder horns were a distinctive form of material culture...Lidchi, Henrietta ; Allan, Stuart
Post-Colonial Studies , War Studies, Museum & Gallery Studies , Cultural History, and Imperial/Colonial History
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Book chapter
Forward titled: The National Trust's Tapestry Collection
From the Middle Ages, tapestries with figurative or other ornament were used by royalty and aristocrats to furnish their palaces and houses. While often observed as two dimensional art, they are three dimensional structures requiring specialist skill to maintain and conserve them. Since the vast majority of tapestries are on...Wyld, Helen
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Book chapter
Collecting European antiquities as part of the Scottish antiquarian tradition
"Amid this medley, it was no easy matter to find one's way to a chair, without stumbling over a prostrate folio, or the still more awkward mischance of overturning some piece of Roman or ancient British pottery. And, when the chair was attained, it had to be disencumbered, with a...Sheridan, J A
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Lecture
Collecting Covid-19 part 2: Exploring the methodological approaches and practices to collecting objects and how they changed in 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic continues, but it wasn’t the only event of 2020 that has impacted and shaped our view of the world as movements like Black Lives Matter gained traction and statues of slave owners were toppled. Over two seminars we will look at the ways museums have been recording...Miles, Ellie ; West, Rosamund Lily ; Laurenson, Sarah ; Goggins, Sophie
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Lecture
Archie Brennan, Tapestry Goes Pop!
Join Lisa Mason, National Museums Scotland’s Assistant Curator in Modern and Contemporary Fashion and Textiles, and Kate Grenyer, Exhibitions Curator at Dovecot Studios, for a behind the scenes look at Dovecot’s upcoming exhibition co-curated by National Museums Scotland, Archie Brennan: Tapestry Goes Pop! Enjoy an exclusive preview into the world...Mason, Lisa ; Grenyer, Kate
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Exhibition
Katherine Coleman: All year round 28 November - 23 December exhibition catalogue
Born in Sutton Coldfield in 1949, Katharine is a freelance glass engraver and designer. She was taught point, drill and copper wheel engraving on glass by Peter Dreiser at Morley College, Lambeth from 1984-7 and continues to explore these techniques at her workshop in Clerkenwell. Katharine engraves on clear lead...Watban, Rose ; Coleman, Katherine
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Doctoral thesis
Making music of the world accessible: three significant non-Western music collections in European Museums
This sub-thesis presents a study of non-Western music collections held in three separate European museums. The museums under investigation are the Horniman Museum in London, the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam and the National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh. It surveys how these museums acquire, research interpret and exhibit non-Western music collections in...Moloney, Kylie
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Doctoral thesis
Alexander, 10th Duke of Hamilton (1767-1852) as patron and collector
This thesis examines the patronage and collecting of Alexander, l0th Duke of Hamilton, premier peer of Scotland, son-in-law of the maniacal collector William Beckford, and arguably the greatest collector in the history of Scotland. Using archival evidence from many sources, it begins with investigations of the Duke's early collecting of...Evans, Godfrey
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Blog post
Collecting the present
Contemporary collecting has been a hot topic for many museums for several years now. Curators have adopted several different approaches to ensuring their institutions are responsive and capturing the important issues of the time so that present and future visitors are better able to understand and learn from the experience...Breward, Chris
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Learning object
Introduction to the documentation of fossils and other Natural Science collections
Until March 2021 we will be working with museums across Scotland to increase engagement with natural science collections. With generous funding from the John Ellerman Foundation, this project will advance curatorial expertise and improve collections care with the aim of enhancing the impact of locally held natural science materials for...Bearsmore, Susan ; Thomson, Jo
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Blog post
Stories in stone the lost history of Indian sculpted deities
Friederike Voigt explains how research carried out 200 years ago has helped her piece together the lost history of sculpted deities brought to Scotland from IndiaVoigt, Friederike
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Blog post
Artistic expressions of today: Sustainability and consumption
Over the last year, we have acquired several artefacts that discuss how the impact of the pandemic and wider socio-political subjects have inspired the creation of some remarkable works of art, craft and design that reflect these times. Sarah Rothwell, Senior Curator of Modern & Contemporary Design, concludes our mini-series...Rothwell, Sara
Jewellery , Sustainability, Contemporary Collecting, Contemporary Jewellery, and Climate
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Blog post
Artistic expressions of today: Communication
Over the last year, we have acquired several artefacts that discuss how the impact of the pandemic and wider socio-political subjects have inspired the creation of some remarkable works of art, craft and design that reflect these times. Sarah Rothwell, Senior Curator of Modern & Contemporary Design, continues our mini-series...Rothwell, Sarah
Contemporary Art , COVID-19, Contemporary Collecting, and Ceramics
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Newspaper article
Climate change: The answers to our greener future might just lie in the past
Climate change information is everywhere: billionaires write books about it, and social media is aflame. A bewildering array of data and opinions assault us from all sides, but as a science curator, my favourite place to learn about our environment is in museums.Alberti, Samuel J M M
Edinburgh, Scotland, and Climate Change
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Journal article
Capturing decorative art - the work of Frances Priest
Within this article I hope to highlight and explore the progression of the practice of Edinburgh-based ceramic artist, Frances Priest, through works held by National Museums Scotland, and her most recent public commission for the city's Royal Edinburgh Hospital. I shall discuss her enduring passion for The Grammar of Ornament,...Rothwell, Sarah
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Journal article
Luffia lapidella (Goeze, 1783) (Lepidoptera: Psychidae) proved to be the host of Choeras gielisi van Achterberg (Braconidae: Microgastrinae), new to Britain
Choeras gielisi is recorded from Britain for the first time, on the basis of two female and two male specimens reared solitarily from sexual and parthenogenetic forms of the Luffia lapidella at different sites. These rearings, the first with clear host detemination, provide strong evidence that the type specimen of...Shaw, Mark R
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Lecture
Celebrating Black Fashion
How are progressive changes within the fashion industry being documented through exhibitions and contemporary collecting? Join model and broadcaster Eunice Olumide as she shares her experience of a transforming industry with museum curator Georgina Ripley. Eunice and Georgina will also discuss Eunice’s recent book How To Get Into Fashion, focussing...Olumide , Eunice ; Ripley, Georgina ; Burkinshaw, Mal
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Blog post
John J Deas: Scotland's typewriter pioneer
When the first typewriters went on sale in Scotland in 1876, these American-made machines were little known novelties with few obvious customers. It took forward minded retailers to see the value in typewriters. One of the most successful was John J Deas of Dundee who pioneered the sale of typewriters...Inglis, James ; Taubman, Alison
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Book chapter
The Importance of Place
The fourth edition of European Glass Context presents 62 glass artists from 31 European countries whose works of art are craft masterpieces, site-specific or politically charged. This exhibition catalogue is a hybrid where print on paper and augmented reality converge: the artists are presented through images, texts and films about...Rothwell, Sarah
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Conference paper (unpublished)
Material constructions: making, outré and taste in late 19th century dress
Late nineteenth-century Europe and North America experienced some of the most accelerated wealth gains the modern industrial age has known. Overtly and purposefully expressed through access to and making of material culture, this paper will consider how this wealth and the luxurious transience of fashionable dress expressed the leisure, social...Taylor, Emily
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Interactive resource
Fashioning the past in the present
Our panel explored how clothes tell stories on stage and screen. From how accurate costumes allow actors to connect with their characters to when it might be necessary to take liberties for entertainment.Wallis, Mark ; Romero, Stefan ; Taylor, Emily
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Interactive resource
What’s up with Bridgerton’s wardrobe?
Created by American costume designer Ellen Mirojnick, the costumes of Netflix hit series Bridgerton (of which there were some 7,500 pieces) unapologetically play with notions of historical accuracy. Utilising brash colours, almost absurdly high waistlines, zip fastenings, modern fabrics and machine embroidery, they also deviate from social norms and etiquette...Gernerd, Elisabeth ; Miranda, Cat ; McLeod, Miriam
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Lecture
Alexander, 10th Duke of Hamilton and Hamilton Palace: the awe inspiring demonstration of exalted status of the premier peer of Scotland and some final additions from the Beckford bequest
This year’s Beckford Lecture ‘Alexander, 10th Duke of Hamilton and Hamilton Palace: the awe inspiring demonstration of exalted status of the premier peer of Scotland and some final additions from the Beckford bequest’ will be given by Dr Godfrey Evans. Dr Evans is Principal Curator of Decorative Arts, National Museums...Evans, Godfrey
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Lecture
Post-Palissian Ceramics: moving beyond the master
French lead-glazed moulded ceramics are present in many museum collections today but their dating and attribution is often uncertain. This talk will use the collections of the British Museum and National Museums Scotland as its starting point, to summarise past scholarship and to look to the future for these objects....Blakey, Claire ; King, Rachel
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Lecture
The Renaissance Reimagined: Minton, Majolica and Maiolica
From about 1850 the Renaissance Revival inspired the design of both architecture and the decorative arts in Britain, prompting Minton & Co. to bring the arts of the period to the Staffordshire potteries. The lecture will focus on a subgroup of revivalist ware inspired by Italian Renaissance maiolica through the...Blakey, Claire
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Blog post
The Roaring Twenties 2.0
The 1920s in the West is perceived as a decade of economic prosperity following the impact of the First World War and the Spanish flu. Remembered for social, artistic and cultural dynamism, the 1920s ushered in modernity via new technology and trends: from cars to cinema, fashion to music, and...Ripley, Georgina
COVID-19 , Art And Design , 1920s, and Jazz Age
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Video
NMS Earth Systems collection virtual tour
Virtual tour of the Earth Systems collection at National Museums Scotland. Shown as part of the Scottish Geology Festival 2021.Brown, Emily ; Walcott, Rachel ; Davidson, Peter ; Gooday , Bob
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Poster (unpublished)
Battling Booklice
Jackson, Joseph ; Jeanne , Robinson ; Whiffin , Ashleigh L
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Lecture
Making sense of silver: the hacking of the Traprain Treasure
RSE Project: Narratives of Roman Scotland in the Digital Age. Organisers: Manuel Fernández-Götz, Chiara Bonacchi and Rebecca JonesHunter, Fraser
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Journal article
Review of: Alejandro Jiménez-Serrano and Juan Carlos Sánchez-León: Le Premier Nome du sud de l’Égypte au Moyen Empire, Fouilles de la mission espagnole à Qoubbet el-Haoua (Assouan) 2008–2018
At the First Cataract of the Nile in southern Egypt, the sandstone hill of Qubbet el-Hawa is the site of a large necropolis, most notably home to the tombs of local ruling officials (c. 2345–1795 BCE), as well as other burials dating up to the Roman period, a Coptic church...Maitland, Margaret
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Audio
Calligraphy and Middle Eastern Literature
Friederike Voigt is Principal Curator at National Museums Scotland, responsible for the collections from West, South and Southeast Asia. Much of her research centres around the museum’s acquisition history and its relation to the collecting interests of Scots in the 18th and 19th centuries. She is a specialist in 19th...Voigt, Friederike
Festival, Muslim, Islam, and Literature
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Conference paper (unpublished)
Egyptian-Nubian Cultural Connections: Reconsidering the Qurna Burial Group at National Museums Scotland
Maitland, Margaret
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Conference paper (unpublished)
Expert investigators: Uncovering unacknowledged Egyptian contributions to archaeology in 19th century archives
Narratives about early Egyptology have typically been framed in terms of the heroic efforts of adventurous collectors and brilliant scholars, few of whom acknowledged the debt owed to the Egyptians upon whose local knowledge and labour they relied. However, the innovative Scottish archaeologist Alexander Henry Rhind (1833–1863), in summarizing the...Maitland, Margaret
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Journal article
A survey of Roman, medieval and post-medieval coin finds from Scotland 2011–15
Coins from 235 locations across Scotland are listed and discussed.Savage, Carl E ; Freeman, Emily A ; Paul, Ella B
Archaeology, Medieval, Numismatics, Coins, Post medieval, and Roman
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Journal article
Unusual Roman Iron Age burials on the Links of Pierowall, Westray, Orkney
Antiquarian accounts and surviving finds allow two Iron Age cist-burials found in the late 18th century on the Links of Pierowall on Westray, Orkney, to be reconstructed, although no details of the bodies survive (but both were most probably inhumations); the unusual finds have not previously received full attention. One...Graham-Campbell, James ; Hunter, Fraser
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Journal article
Hugh’s printing protégé becomes his publisher. The story of Alexander Strachan or Strahan, publisher of The Life and Letters of Hugh Miller.
I am researching Hugh Miller’s unusual publishing arrangements, including the frequency with which his firm, Miller & Fairly, printed his books for their Edinburgh publishers before and after his death. The obvious exception is Peter Bayne’s family-approved The Life and Letters of Hugh Miller (1871), printed in London for Strahan...Taylor, Michael A
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Blog post
Royal roundel acquiring the James V / Marie de Guise armorial roundel
An ‘attic sale’ of objects from Dunrobin Castle gave National Museums Scotland the opportunity to acquire four armorial roundels. One of these roundels depicts the combined coat of arms of Marie de Guise and James V, parents of Mary, Queen of Scots. Dr Anna Groundwater discusses this roundel’s symbolism, its...Groundwater, Anna
New Acquisitions , Scottish History, Marie De Guise , John Knox , Edinburgh , and Mary Queen Of Scots
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Journal article
Bill measurements aid sub-specific identification of Great Spotted Woodpeckers in Britain
Wing length has been used by researchers to separate the resident British subspecies of Great Spotted Woodpecker from migrants from Fennoscandia, though some degree of overlap exists with this character. In this study, specimens at National Museums of Scotland (NMS) show that bill shape aids subspecific identification, confirming that Fennoscandian...Dougall, T W ; McGowan, R Y
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Conference paper (unpublished)
The ethics of collecting COVID-19
The health crisis of the years 2020 and 2021 will remain deeply engraved in everyone's memory. In France, the world of museums has been strongly impacted in its activities, its cultural programming and the reception by its audiences. However, direct employment in public sector museums has certainly been less affected...Goggins, Sophie
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Blog post
The Traprain Treasure silver replicas
Every so often an archaeological discovery comes along that grips the imagination of the public. This fascination with the past has driven a production line of replicas, making ‘ancient’ artefacts available for those that wish to own a piece of history. The replicas of the remarkable Roman silver hoard from...McGill, Lyndsay
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Conference paper (unpublished)
From Edo to Edinburgh: Curating Japan at National Museums Scotland
The conference will explore cultural connections between the visual and material cultures of Scotland and Japan. It will bring together academics, independent researchers, curators, archivists and artists to share new research in the area, as well as to exchange ideas, and engage in lively discussions related to the shared art...Boyd, Louise
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Journal article
The Caquetoire Chair in Scotland
Jackson, Stephen
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Journal article
Collecting Covid
Rothwell, Sarah
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Journal article
Dating the publication of Hugh Miller’s The testimony of the rocks (1857)
Assessing the precise publication dates of nineteenth-century books is difficult. Common problems include inadequate, inaccurate and confusing title-page information, and misleading advertisements. It is better to use multiple lines of evidence rather than a single source. The first Scottish and English edition of The testimony of the rocks, by Hugh...Taylor, Michael A ; O’Connor, R ; Overstreet, L K
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Journal article
The unusual printing and publishing arrangements of Hugh Miller (1802–1856)
John Johnstone was an Edinburgh printer and publisher, from 1849 in partnership with Robert Hunter. In 1839, Johnstone and the printer Robert Fairly established a separate firm, Johnstone & Fairly, to publish the Witness, a newspaper edited by the geologist Hugh Miller. The firm became Miller & Fairly in 1844...Taylor, Michael A
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Conference paper (unpublished)
Objects of Power: Australian Aboriginal breastplates and Scottish pastoralists
Clark, Ali
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Conference paper (unpublished)
Materialising Mary: challenging objects
ShBemss was established in 2020 as an opportunity for early modernists to share their research online during the challenging conditions of that year. This is an international seminar series, drawing speakers and participants from across the UK, Europe, North America, Australasia – and the network continues to grow! The series...Groundwater, Anna
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Conference paper (unpublished)
IGCP 735 (2021-2025): rocks and the rise of Ordovician life: filling knowledge gaps in the Early Palaeozoic biodiversification (Rocks n'ROL)
Deciphering the complex interactions between climate change, biodiversity and ecosystem structuration is a major societal issue for future generations. The geological record offers the unique opportunity to document the impact of environmental changes in the biosphere in the past, and thus to provide some clues for the future. In this...Lefebvre, Bertrand ; Candela, Yves ; Hariri , Khadija ; Ghobadi Pour , Mansoureh ; Raevskaya, Elena …
stratigraphy , biodiversity, IGCP project , palaeobiogeography, Ordovician , and databases
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Journal article
Jewellery and Covid-19
Over the last 18 months the pandemic has affected many areas of life, with society witnessing huge changes globally, and museums acquiring artefacts and works of art, design and crat that reflected and responded to the impact of covid-19. In my own organisation, the approach has focused on a range...Rothwell, Sarah
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Journal article
‘Where is the Ship Which From the Ceiling Hung?’ Ghost Ships: The ship models missing from Scotland’s churches
A recent survey of the surviving ship models in Scottish churches has identified an interesting chronological gap, an absence which has created the impression that ship models in Scotland’s churches are a nineteenth-century phenomenon. Existing older models from the seventeenth century have been dismissed as anomalies harking back to pre-Reformation...Greiling, Meredith
Shipmaster , Seafarer societies, ship models, Scottish churches, votive ships, and model-makers
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Lecture
Tools of Knowledge: Exploring the Scientific Instrument Trade with Digital Tools
The second edition of the Neuchâtel Seminar in History of Science and Technology – entitled Scientific Objects: Then and Now – aims to reflect on scientific objects and the problems raised by their study by working on two aspects in particular. On the one hand, the seminar will host retrospective...Higgitt, Rebekah
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Lecture
Nevil Maskelyne and the projects of 18th century astronomy
Focusing on the career and connections of the Fifth Astronomer Royal, Nevil Maskelyne, this talk will look at what astronomy was for in the 18th century. From his early voyage to St Helena to his long years at Greenwich, Maskelyne was an internationally significant figure who was involved with all...Higgitt, Rebekah
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Conference paper (unpublished)
Roman silver transformed: Hacksilber, its nature, uses and effects
Of the various forms of precious metal in the Roman world, Hacksilber is perhaps the least glamorous. These cut and crushed fragments of silver have received much less attention than intact plate or coinage. Yet they can cast fresh light on the ways in which precious metal was used in...Hunter, Fraser
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Lecture
Re-examining the Rubers Law hoard
In 1863 a hoard of bronze vessels and other items was found on the slopes of the hillfort of Rubers Law, near Hawick. Although it crops up in the literature, it has received only cursory attention. In the course of preparing it for display in the revamped Trimontium Trust museum...Hunter, Fraser
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Journal article
The Statue of a Sistrum-Player in Montrose and Her Position in an Early Ptolemaic Theban Priestly Family
This article is the publication of an indurated limestone standing statue, now in Montrose Museum (ANGUSalive M1980.4578), identified as a Sistrum-player. The statue was collected in 1834 by Dr James Burnes IV, a relative of the Scottish poet Robert Burns, during a journey from India to Scotland. Stylistic features of...Potter, Daniel M
Karnak, priesthood, Scotland, Thebes, prosopography, and Ptolemaic sculpture
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Journal article
Monumental Record
In 2013 archaeologists uncovered what has since been called ‘the greatest discovery in Egypt in the 21st century’: hundreds of papyrus fragments dating to the last years of King Khufu’s reign (c.2500 BC) at the oldest harbour in Egypt, a site on the Red Sea coast called Wadi al-Jarf.Potter, Daniel M