Collection Highlights & Review Aims - NATIONALLY SIGNIFICANT COLLECTION RECOGNISED AS A - Culture Perth and Kinross
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Collection Highlights & Review Aims
WE ARE HOME TO COLLECTIONS THAT ARE
RECOGNISED AS A
NATIONALLY SIGNIFICANT COLLECTION
AWARDED BY MUSEUMS GALLERIES SCOTLAND
ON BEHALF OF THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT
Perth & Kinross Museum and Galleries holds one of the oldest collections in the UK. The permanent collections encompass fine and applied art, archaeology, social and local history, costume and textiles, numismatics, world cultures, archives, photography and arms & armour and feature some extremely rare and valuable objects and artefacts. St. John the Baptist Pilgrim Badge Circa 1206 – 1500 Circular badge depicting the head of St John the Baptist of the type sold as souvenirs at the shrine at Amiens Cathedral. It is complete with its four stitching rings intact; these enable the badge to be sewn on to a hat, cloak or tunic. The badge bears an inscription identifying it as the sign of St John the Baptist. The back of the badge is decorated with a crucifix design. St John the Baptist was the patron saint of Perth during the Middle Ages. Permanent Collection of Perth and Kinross Museums & Galleries (1995.1107) Purchased 1995
Join our curators as they uncover the secrets of the costume collection held at Perth Museum. Our Collections Review is a two year project to unlock the magnificent collections held at Perth Museum and Art Gallery. As part of this project the costume collection will be reviewed on open display in order to share our amazing collection, which spans five centuries and contains over 3000 items. See the processes behind the review project and feel free to speak to our curators and volunteers as they work.
Reviews are important collection management tools because they can help the museum to establish what is held in the permanent collection and where applicable, identify objects for education handling collections, loan or transfer. This ensures that the collection remains relevant and accessible to the museum’s audiences and at the same time makes the permanent collection and storage facilities stronger and more sustainable.
The overall aims of the Collection Review are to establish: • A strong, rationalised permanent collection. • An updated and improved handling collection. • The development of a long term plan for the care and use of the collection. • Better informed collections staff who can enable the collection to reach its full potential.
We have recently received funding to go through a major redevelopment of the museum, art gallery and all storage facilities. This will involve moving our stored collections out of their current stores and into a new location. With this in mind the collections review has taken on a new significance as it is now very important for us to know what kind of storage we will need and what support we will need for the move.
As part of the review, we are removing any non-conservation grade materials and replacing them with more suitable packaging. This is incredibly useful as it clears up the collection store, making it easier and more efficient to locate objects for future display or research.
The more we learn about our collection the better placed we will be to promote them and make them more accessible to our audiences.
Spotlight on the Collection The museum holds large and important collections of zoological, botanical and geological material. In numerical terms this is the largest part of the collection with 150,000 specimens. It is the 6th largest collection of natural history in Scotland. The richness of the collection is largely thanks to the founding of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science in 1867 and the opening of the Perthshire Natural History Museum in 1881.
Spotlight on the Collection Inuit Polar Bear Carving 19th century This is a walrus ivory tusk carved in the shape of a polar bear. It is a simple elegantly carved piece which skilfully exploits the curvature of the tusk to reflect the stature of a polar bear standing to its full height when reared on its back legs. The carving is probably a 19th century piece made for the tourist market. There is a long tradition of Inuit polar bear carvings, mainly associated with Inuit shamans. Bears were often the most important assisting spirit for a shaman. Permanent Collection of Perth and Kinross Museums & Galleries (A1980.146) Donation
Spotlight on the Collection Takerheb 760-525BC (25th-26th Dynasty) Both Mummy and sarcophagus were acquired as a gift from the Alloa Society of Natural Science and Archaeology in 1936. They were presented to the Society on 5th May 1896 by Mr William Bailey, who purchased them from the Curator of the Government Museum, Cairo. In June 2013 as a part of the Ancient Egyptian Animal led Bio Bank project, the Mummy and coffin were given a full radiographic evaluation at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital by members of the KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology. Translation of the hieroglyphs on the coffin indicate that her name was, ‘ta-kr-Hb’, and that the coffin is likely to come from outside the metropolis, most likely in a city located on the east bank of the Nile in Upper Egypt known as Akhmim. Permanent Collection of Perth and Kinross Museums & Galleries (23/1936)
Spotlight on the Collection The White Dress John Duncan Fergusson (1874-1961) 1904 Oil on canvas John Duncan Fergusson was a major figure in the 20th century group known as the Scottish Colourists. This painting is one of a number of early imposing full length portraits which reveal the strong influence of artists such as Edouard Manet and James Abbott Macneill Whistler. The sitter is Jean Maconochie; documentary evidence in the Archive alludes to a deeper romantic relationship between Fergusson and Maconochie beyond their professional relationship as artist and model. Permanent Collection of Perth and Kinross Museums & Galleries (23/1936) Donated by The J.D. Fergusson Art Foundation 1991
Spotlight on the Collection Tahitian Mourner’s Costume Early 19th century Tropical bird feathers, pearl shells, turtle shell, coconut shell and barkcloth This is an example of the costume or ‘heva’ worn by the chief mourner following the funeral of an important Tahitian person. For the duration of the mourning, the mourner was allowed to kill or maim anyone who came within his or her striking distance. There are no more than five such complete costumes surviving in the world. This costume was amongst a number of objects collected by David Ramsay, a Perth-born doctor who sailed to Australia as a ship’s surgeon and settled there. He donated his collection to the Perth Literary and Antiquarian Society in 1842. Permanent Collection of Perth and Kinross Museums & Galleries (1977.1415) Dr. David Ramsay 1842
Spotlight on the Collection Waking John Everett Millais (1829-1896) 1865-67 Oil on canvas Born in Southampton, John Everett Millais showed immense talent as an artist from a very early age. He studied at the Royal Academy Schools in London and co-founded the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood when he was only nineteen years old. Millais often used his own children as models and ‘Waking’ is a portrait of the artist’s daughter, Mary (b.1860). Allegedly, Millais was interrupted while he was painting this picture, leaving his studio to greet an unannounced guest. In his absence, Mary jumped out of the bed, mixed some drab colours to her liking and applied her own brushstrokes to her father’s canvas. Permanent Collection of Perth and Kinross Museums & Galleries (1/149) Donated by Mr. Melville Gray 1935
Spotlight on the Collection The Wilds of Assynt David Young Cameron (1865-1845) 1936 Oil on canvas Cameron was a 20th century romantic and he considered this painting his masterpiece. The painting was purchased from the artist in 1936 to grace the walls of the then newly opened Perth Art Gallery and Museum. Cameron instructed his agent to hang the painting against a backdrop of red cloth to bring out the vibrancy and contrast of the rich colouring of the work. Permanent Collection of Perth and Kinross Museums & Galleries (2/28) Purchased from the artist 1936
Spotlight on the Collection Glass Model of Jellyfish Blaschka of Dresden Circa 1880 Glass This is an example of a glass model of a sea creature which was made for natural history museums all over the world by the Blaschkas. Leopold (1822-1895) and Rudolph (1857- 1939), his son, had a workshop in Dresden, Germany which operated from the 1870’s to 1930’s. Both skilled glassworkers, they used clear and coloured glass, wire and glue to create life-like models of sea creatures such as this jellyfish. This model is one of a series of fourteen models showing the different life stages of the jellyfish. The set of models was bought from the Blaschkas by the Perthshire Natural History Museum in the 1880s. Permanent Collection of Perth and Kinross Museums & Galleries (1994.559.1B) Purchased from Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka 1880
Spotlight on the Collection Eastre – Hymn to the Sun John Duncan Fergusson (1874-1961) 1924 Plaster Eastre is an early Germanic goddess of spring and fertility. Although this depiction is thought to have begun as a portrait of Margaret Morris, Fergusson’s lifelong partner, any resemblance to her is secondary as the artist gradually moved away from conveying specific likenesses of models. Instead he wanted to invest his work with a timeless symbolism. Altogether there are three plaster sculptures sharing the title, Eastre by Fergusson. One is the original from which Fergusson cast the finished piece in brass. The others including this one, portray female heads that were perhaps intermediate stages towards the realisation of the finished work. Permanent Collection of Perth and Kinross Museums & Galleries (1992.435) Donated by The J.D. Fergusson Art Foundation 1991
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