Joshua,
You are right on the money.
I would say that the loan was "closed" not cancelled. We think of
"cancellations" (of a loan) and "transfers" (from an agency) as different
actions. We would have considered this a "long-term" loan and hopefully,
over the years, there has been some communications between the museum and
the lender about the loan. You should now have a signed deed-of-gift and the
method of acquisition is still a gift. Parenthetically, the painting was
"converted" to an accession - not "transferred." Since it is still a gift,
any credit line should now say "Gift of ... " and not "Converted from ... "
or ...

It became an object belonging to the museum in 2005, so the 2005 catalog
number is appropriate. However, all of the information and provenance dates
back to the time of the loan.

Hope this helps. Now is the time to wrap up all 2005 accessions and
paperwork. Donors will need the museum's paperwork (countersigned
deed-of-gift, etc.) for their own record keeping for tax deductions, etc.

Happy New Year!
Bernie


Bernard F. Gallagher
Collections Documentation Specialist
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History
Collections Documentation Services, Room 1025
Washington, DC 20560-0606
202.633.3357
[log in to unmask]
>>> "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]> 01/04/06 8:52 AM
>>>
A painting loaned to our museum in 1970 was recently donated to our 
museum.  I would think that it would be cataloged as being received in 
2005, and not 1970.  I would cancel the loan, and note that it was 
transferred to collection in 2005 with the appropriate catalog number. 
What would you suggest?

Best wishes for the New Year.

Joshua K. Blay
Museum Curator
Historical Society of Berks County

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