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Journal article
An exhibition like no other
IN AUTUMN 1961, THE DOORS OF GOLDSMITHS’ HALL opened for an exhibition like no other. This, according to the late Graham Hughes, Art Director of the Goldsmiths’ Company and curator of the show, was to be ‘an art exhibition of a high order, intended to raise the standing of jewellery...Rothwell, Sarah
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Blog post
Confronting 200 years of Egyptological histories and legacies
2022 is a landmark year in Egyptology. It’s been 200 years since the decipherment of hieroglyphs, which unlocked access to written sources from ancient Egypt, and 100 years since the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, whose splendour further fuelled global Egyptomania. Many have celebrated these milestones, but it is...Maitland, Margaret
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Book chapter
‘Found in store’: Working with source communities and difficult objects at Durham University’s Oriental Museum
Rachel Barclay Lauren Barnes Gillian Ramsay Craig Barclay Helen Armstrong Durham University’s Oriental Museum is often described as a ‘hidden gem’. Opened in 1960, today it is home to world-class collections of more than 35,000 objects from across North Africa and Asia. Originally envisioned as a teaching and research resource...Barclay, Rachel ; Barnes, Lauren ; Ramsay, Gillian ; Barclay, Craig ; Armstrong, Helen
Colonialism, Asia, Durham University , Africa , Oriental Museum, and collections
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Video
My Job at the Museum - Enabler
Enablers are part of the team who help people learn more about the museum’s collections by delivering workshops, events and activities. This job is all about People and Communication. Would your pupils like to do a job like this? Many face-to-face aspects of the Enabler job role have changed during...Bull, Lucy
Museum, Enablers, Creative Careers Week, Workshops, Learning Team, Programmes, and Education
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Blog post
Weather at the Museum
COP27 is currently underway in Egypt, with various nations working to tackle the global challenge of climate change. In this post, our Principal Curator of Science Rebekah Higgitt showcases our historical weather recording instruments, how they were used and what they can tell us about the changing climate.Higgitt, Rebekah
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Presentation
Guest Curator at Craft Scotland Conference 2022 - The Power of Glass Symposium at the National Museum of Scotland
Sarah Rothwell is the Senior Curator of Modern & Contemporary Design, in the Department of Global Arts, Cultures and Design at National Museums Scotland (NMS). Where she is responsible for the British, European and other 'Western' glass, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery and industrial design circa 1945-present collections. Her research focuses on...Rothwell, Sarah
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Book chapter
Afterword: material reckonings with military histories
Looking at European developments from 2017 to 2019, the Afterword situates the volume among the resurgent interest in questions of contested histories, calls for restitution, and the resurgence of provenance research. It argues that given the varied ways European nations are addressing questions of colonial collections, it seems contradictory that...Lidchi, Henrietta
Post-Colonial Studies , Cultural History, Imperial/Colonial History , War Studies, and Museum & Gallery Studies
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Blog post
I don't do things by halves - The incredible conservation of the James Bruce drinking horn (Part 1)
Last year I encountered the most challenging object in my career as conservator so far – the James Bruce drinking horn. Dirty, cracked and broken into two distinct parts it was a long way from its original condition over 250 years ago. This is the story of the horn’s incredible...Messerschmidt, Lydia
Legacies Of Empire, Ethiopia, Conservation , and War
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Blog post
I don't do things by halves - The incredible conservation of the James Bruce drinking horn (Part 2)
Nearly a metre in length, 250 years old and broken into two shattered halves, the James Bruce drinking horn represented an epic challenge in my conservation career. This is the conclusion of the horn’s incredible conservation journey.Messerschmidt, Lydia
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Blog post
Collecting Stories: How objects came into collections
Our new Collecting Stories gallery at the National Museum of Scotland looks the development of the National Collection and explores how and why we have acquired objects over two centuries and continue to do so today. John Giblin, Keeper of Global Arts, Cultures and Design, tells us more.Giblin, John
Black History Month , National Museum Of Scotland, Galleries , Colonial Histories And Legacies , and Collecting Stories
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Exhibition-related event
Bernat Klein
Bernat Klein had a visionary career spanning four decades, from the 1950s until his retirement in 1992. Based in the Scottish Borders, his radical use of colour blending and texture – inspired by the Scottish Borders landscape – transformed haute couture, home-made fashions and interior design. Lisa Mason will discuss...Mason, Lisa
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Book chapter
Equestrian tiles and the rediscovery of underglaze painting in Qajar Iran
The thirteen articles in this volume were originally given as presentations at the symposium of the same name organized in June 2018 by the Musée du Louvre and the Musée du Louvre-Lens in conjunction with the exhibition The Empire of Roses: Masterpieces of 19th Century Persian Art. The exhibition explored...Voigt, Friederike
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Journal article
Synchrotron tomography of a stem lizard elucidates early squamate anatomy
Squamates (lizards and snakes) include more than 10,000 living species, descended from an ancestor that diverged more than 240 million years ago from that of their closest living relative, Sphenodon. However, a deficiency of fossil evidence1,2,3,4,5,6,7, combined with serious conflicts between molecular and morphological accounts of squamate phylogeny8,9,10,11,12,13 (but see...Tałanda, Mateusz ; Fernandez, Vincent ; Panciroli, Elsa ; Evans, Susan E ; Benson, Roger J
Skeleton, Herpetology , Phylogenetics , and Palaeontology
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Book chapter
Following the Threads of 19th-Century Edinburgh Science
Starting work at National Museums Scotland in 2020, while access to collections and archives was limited, prompted me to see what I could learn of 19th-century Edinburgh’s scientific circles from the life of a “genial and kindly” Scottish participant in the 1874 transit of Venus expeditions. I first encountered him...Higgitt, Rebekah
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Blog post
Air Personnel of Colour: Recovering their experiences in Scottish wartime aviation
A new project looks to recover and reconstruct the presence of personnel of colour within the RAF in Scotland during the two world wars. PhD researcher Isobel Westbury will explore the diversity of people connected to flying in Scotland during this period and talks us through the aims, and her...Westbury, Isobel
Wartime Experience , War , World War Two, Aircraft , World War One , Black History Month , Research , and Colonial Histories And Legacies
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Lecture
Unwrapping the Galloway Hoard
The Galloway Hoard contains an unusual variety of materials and artefact types beyond the silver bullion so often found in Viking-age hoards. The find included heirlooms, ecclesiastical items (one of which names a previously unknown Northumbrian bishop), and the rare preservation of organic materials wrapping parcels and distinct groups. A...Goldberg, Martin
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Newspaper article
We’re revisiting our stories of Empire in museums and galleries - Dr John Giblin and Dr Yahya Barry
Across the UK, galleries, museums, libraries and archives hold collections which tell many millions of stories. Some of these are better known than others, while some are yet to be properly explored.Giblin, John ; Barry, Yahya
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Podcast
The Galloway Hoard
Listen in as Dr Adrián Maldonado and Dr Tim Carlisle discuss: ‘What is a hoard?’ and ‘what makes The Galloway Hoard so unique?’Maldonado, Adrián ; Carlisle, Tim
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Lecture
A shot in the arm for QR Codes in museums
QR codes in museums & galleries draw strong reactions from many in the GLAM community. The COVID pandemic has given these little black & white squares shot in the arm, but how can museums ensure they’re used considerately and enhance the visitor experience? Adam Coulson has been testing out how...Coulson, Adam
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Lecture
Place, from a distance: using digital media to go local
Objects in a museum’s collections are often a natural focus for digital media activities – but what about the places the objects come from?International audiences have long been fascinated with Scotland’s historic landscapes and communities. Domestic audiences, partly due to pandemic lockdowns making knowledge of ‘the local’ more integral to...Weinczok , David
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Video
Robert Burns on film
As part of Burns&Beyond 2021 celebrate the life and works of Robert Burns with curator Dr Calum Robertson and objects from our collection.Robertson, Calum
Music and performance, Belief, Military, Books and printing , Film , Scottish History and Archaeology , and Ceramic and glass
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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
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Journal article
Collecting COVID-19 at National Museums Scotland
This opinion piece discusses National Museums Scotland’s first responses to collecting COVID-19. Drawing on perspectives from social history, biomedical science and military history, this short paper contextualizes COVID-related collecting within the contexts of the organization’s programme of contemporary collecting and the nation’s ongoing socio-political journey.Laurenson, Sarah ; Robertson, Calum ; Goggins, Sophie
Scotland, Contemporary collecting, social history, military history, and medical history
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Blog post
From Scotland with love: the origins of Ian Fleming and James Bond
Bond. James Bond. These three words are some of the most famous in cinematic history. For almost 60 years and across 25 films, the Bond movies have grown into one of the most recognisable and profitable film franchises of all time. Scotland – its people and its places – has...Robertson, Calum
Film, James Bond , and National War Museum
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Blog post
Exchange: Exploring experiences of empire, migration and life in Britain
Over the last year, the ‘Exchange: Community-Led Collections Research’ project has helped galleries, libraries, archives and museums to work with South Asian, African and Caribbean diaspora organisations to answer research questions identified by these community groups. National Museums Scotland and Royal Museums Greenwich, London, worked as a hub to gather...Barry, Yahya
Scotland's Material Heritage, Exchange , Black History Month , Colonial Histories And Legacies , and Partnerships
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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
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Book
Little black dress: a radical fashion
In 1926, Coco Chanel designed a simple, short black dress described in American Vogue as 'the frock that the entire world will wear'. This lavishly illustrated book with contributions from experts explores interpretations of the 'LBD' throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.Ripley, Georgina
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Lecture
Chasing threads: where next for the Galloway Hoard?
Join Dr Adrián Maldonado as he summarise the main findings from this seminar series, address some recurring audience questions, and discuss the gaps in our knowledge which still remain about the Galloway Hoard. Buried at the beginning of the 10th century in Dumfries and Galloway, the Hoard lay undisturbed for...Maldonado, Adrián
Online Community Seminars, #scotland, Online Seminars, #vikings, Online Events, #history, #heritage, and #gallowayhoard
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Conference paper (unpublished)
Late antique Scotland: The earliest Christians in Galloway
This paper will cover the evidence for the arrival of Christianity in south-west Scotland, in particular focusing on new research on Kirkmadrine and Whithorn. It is argued that the missionary model for conversion to Christianity is insufficient, and explores other archaeological evidence for contacts between this region and the late...Maldonado, Adrián
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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
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Book chapter
Foreword
The late Roman silver hoard from Traprain Law is one of the treasures of National Museums Scotland and has excited international attention since its discovery a century ago.Breward, Christopher
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Book chapter
Introduction
On 12 May 1919, a workman was digging on the Iron Age hillfort of Traprain Law in East Lothian, some 30km east of Edinburgh in south-east Scotland [p1]. The work had only restarted for a fortnight: excavations had been in abeyance for three years in the turmoil of the Great...Hunter, Fraser ; Kaufmann-Heinimann, Annemarie ; Painter, Kenneth
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Book chapter
'I have had a great day': A O Curle and the discovery of the Traprain Treasure
The recovery of the Traprain Treasure was by far the greatest moment in Alexander Ormiston Curle's antiquarian career [Illus 1.1]. It is safe to assume that at the outset of the work in East Lothian on behalf of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, he had no expectation of such...Clarke, David
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Book chapter
Insights from unidentified fragments
Alexander Curle's published catalogue consists of 152 entries, which correlate directly with National Museums Scotland catalogue nos GVA 1-152. His entry 144 is for a 'collection of irregularly-shaped fragments of undecorated, thin pieces of plate which has probably broken off platters or other flat dishes.Hunter, Fraser
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Book chapter
The technology of the Traprain Treasure
When the hoard was first found, according to Alexander Curle, the metal was greyish-brown and 'appeared to be embedded in a purple paste'.Troalen, Lore ; Lang, Janet
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Book chapter
Hacking the Traprain Treasure
The Traprain Law Treasure1 has traditionally been viewed as a group of late Roman silver that met an unfortunate fate. Most vessels had been completely distorted, often by multiple hacking phases, with fittings removed, rims severed, footrings pushed out of position and sometimes even split lengthwise. Many had been crushed...Hunter, Fraser
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Book chapter
Hacksilber in the Roman period and beyond
Although Alexander Curle was able to call on the Ballinrees (Coleraine) hoard from Northern Ireland as a parallel for the hacking of Traprain, it was not until Wilhelm Grunhagen's 1954 study of the Großbodungen hoard (Thüringen/Germany) [Illus 41.1] that Hacksilber saw serious study as a concept in the Roman period....Hunter, Fraser
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Book chapter
A context for the Treasure: Traprain Law and Rome's northern frontier
The discovery of the Traprain Treasure was the most dramatic moment in a spectacular and long-running excavation. While nothing else quite matched the excitement of this find, the results of work at Traprain Law redefined perspectives on the Scottish Iron Age and relations with the Roman world. This chapter will...Hunter, Fraser
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Book chapter
After the Traprain Treasure: Hacksilber hoarding in 5th/6th-century Scotland
After the supply of late Roman silver was cut off in the 5th century, this precious metal became a finite resource in northern Britain until new supplies were introduced during the Viking Age. In between these two periods of abundant supply, the chronology of silver use and recycling in early...Goldberg, Martin ; Blackwell, Alice
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Book chapter
The Treasure of Traprain: conclusions and questions
Tackling the Hacksilber hoard from Traprain Law is an imposing project. Not only in the primary publication by Alexander Curle a masterly analysis that has survived the test of time, but the sheer scale of the material is daunting. Our work suggests that the surviving 23kg consisted of 327 individual...Hunter, Fraser ; Kaufmann-Heinimann, Annemarie ; Painter, Kenneth
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Book chapter
Compositional data from the Traprain Treasure
Analysis of the Traprain Law Treasure was under-taken in the science laboratory of National Museums Scotland between 2008 and 2018. Ninety-three fragments of the silver were investigated by X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) and particle-induced X-ray emission analysis (uPIXE)Troalen, Lore ; Tate, Jim
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Book chapter
Technical case studies of particular vessel types
The objects in the Traprain Law hoard have been grouped according to their shape and function. The characteristics and construction of each major group are discussed below, with examples. Radio-graphs referenced here can be found in the Catalogue section.Lang, Janet ; Troalen, Lore
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Book chapter
Other hoards with Roman Hacksilber
This appendix offers background and analysis of all Hacksilber hoards, defined here as hoards with cut, folded or crushed Roman plate.Hunter, Fraser
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Book chapter
AA: Vessel fragments not allocated to types
Among the material not catalogued by Curl was a box of 'scrap' (see Chapter 31). It is presented here in the following categories: decorated elements; other unusual elements; feature sherds (rims, base); fragments with lathe grooves; body sherds and non-diagnostic material.Hunter, Fraser
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Abstract
Unwrapping the Galloway Hoard: Object Biographies in the Galloway Hoard
The stereotype of Viking-age hoards in Britain is that they are products of an international context of mobility, migration and raiding, buried at times of stress or under duress. Initially heralded as a ‘Viking’ hoard par excellence, the ongoing conservation and research on the Galloway Hoard from southwest Scotland continues...Goldberg, Martin ; Davis, Mary
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Book
The late Roman silver treasure from Traprain Law
Excavated from Traprain Law, East Lothian, Scotland, in May 1919, was one of the most spectacular discoveries of Roman silver ever made in Europe - and the biggest hoard of `hacksilver': 23kg, battered, crushed and chopped up. Blame for the destruction has hitherto been laid at the door of `barbarians'...Hunter, Fraser ; Kaufmann-Heinimann, Annemarie ; Painter, Kenneth