This month I thought I’d share some of our recent hands-on collections care work with you. And if you read to the end you’ll also be rewarded with a pair of slightly sweat-stained overalls once worn by Stirling Moss! Now that I’ve got you hooked…
There’s been a lot going on behind the scenes as Bryony and I have been condition checking all of the objects on display in the museum. We’ve been working our way round each display case, deinstalling it, condition checking everything and taking the opportunity to clean the inside of the cases.
Each object is assessed and its associated record is updated to reflect whether it is good, fair, poor or acute, along with a fuller description of its current overall condition. We also add a future review date so these objects can be monitored and checked again in a years’ time. This helps us keep an eye on any changes that might occur and enable timely intervention if there is any deterioration.
A priority level for any conservation treatment is assigned at the same time, guiding whether this is needed for the objects’ ongoing display or in the long or short term etc, which we can then plan in.
Though you are more likely to be looking at what’s inside a display case, the cases themselves can get a little dusty over time. Here you can see just how much difference cleaning the inside of them has made:
A lot of this work has informed and been worked into the action plan we’re producing as part of our Collections Care & Conservation Plan. This is one of the documents that is required for our museum accreditation submission, it guides our care and conservation of the collection and sets out our key objectives in this area over the next five years.
Accreditation and Spectrum have featured in a few Collections Corner blogs, and this is because they reach into everything that we do. As a little recap, Spectrum is the UK collections management standard and museums wanting to achieve Accreditation have to demonstrate that they meet, or have a plan to meet, the Spectrum standard for the nine primary procedures. Accreditation itself is the nationally agreed standard to ensure all museums are sustainable, focused and trusted, and provides a basis from which to run a successful and forward-looking museum.
The deadline for our first ever museum accreditation submission is fast approaching in a few months. We are on the final straight with the finish line very much in view!
Over the three years that you are given to work towards submitting your application, we’ve worked hard at AMHT to establish practices, create processes and implement the change that’s been needed to, hopefully!, successfully achieve Accreditation. There’s been so much to it beyond writing policies and procedures, but there is certainly a lot of paperwork!
You’ve waited very patiently, and maybe forgot all about these in the meantime! In our racing themed display case there are some very cool objects. There is a helmet worn by Roy Salvadori (of 1959 Le Mans fame, as you may know – if not check out the Le Mans blog!) and alongside them are a pair of overalls which once belonged to Stirling Moss. With writing lots of paperwork I don’t often get to be hands-on with the collection, so I take real joy in it when I am. Especially when I get to make a nice new padded hanger and get so up close to something so historically significant. The odd sweat stain included.
As we work our way along the final straight to our accreditation submission, the countdown is on!
