Amy Johnson recently wrote:

>I am writing a paper for a museum exhibition
>class about the use of real vs reproduction or
>replica artifacts used in exhibits....Also I'd like
>to know some museum people's view on this
>topic.

From 1990 to 1995, the late-Victorian Texas
Capitol was restored to its turn-of-the-century
appearance. Prior to the existence of the State
Preservation Board, the agency responsible for
the building and contents, many of the original
antiques were removed from the building for
various reasons.

To recreate the interiors of ten of the most
important historical areas, over 1,000 pieces of
furniture were painstakenly reproduced based
on originals (ca. 1888) from the Capitol
collection of artifacts. We call them
Reproduction Capitol Historical Artifacts
(RCHAs for short).

The reproduction pieces are labeled and
tracked like all collection items. The labeling is
unique to this collection though--an "R"
precedes the accession number and we brand
all items so that they can not be confused in the
future with original items from the collection.

Without this collection of reproduction artifacts,
we would not be able to adequately interpret
many of the grand rooms inside the Capitol. As
long as the reproductions are marked
appropriately, I think they are valuable
interpretive tools (and, in our case, vital to
building occupants since our collection also is
used by legislative personnel).

Please let me know if you have additional
questions. Best of luck on your paper.

Ali
Ali Turley
Assistant Curator/Curator of Education
Texas Capitol
State Preservation Board
201 E. 14th Street, Suite 950
Austin, Texas 78701
512/475-4982
512/475-4886 facsimile
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