In a message dated 1/12/2005 2:56:44 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< There seems to be some confusion in our institution about the difference 
between an artifact and a prop, especially when thy are used in exhibits.  I've 
tried to explain the difference, but not always with success.  I think part 
of the problem stems from the company that designed and built some of the  
permanent  exhibits in new building.  Sometimes they went to flea markets and junk 
stores and bought "old stuff" to incorporate into their designs. Of course, 
that "old stuff"  tends to look like some of the artifacts from our collection 
that are also on display.  Does anyone have clear, simple definitions that I 
can share with our staff?    >>

I don't think you'll ever find such a definition.  Since virtually anything 
might be a potential collection artifact, especially in history museums, it's 
more a question of what the museum chooses to DECLARE is or is not a collection 
artifact.  A museum declares or defines an object as part of its permanent 
collection by accessioning it, cataloging it, and numbering and marking it 
appropriately.  If you're scrupulous and consistent about performing this 
fundamental museum operation, there shouldn't be any difficulty in distinguishing a 
collection artifact from a "prop" or other ancillary item--the "artifact" (long 
ago we used to say "specimen") bears a museum number and the non-"artifact" 
doesn't.  Some museums, nervous that an accessioned object might accidentally 
slip into an exhibit without its requisite number (and later get mistakenly 
tossed out as a presumed prop), have insisted that even "props" be clearly 
identified as such to avoid mixups.

One man's hunk of junk may be a museum's treasure.  The museum, in its 
curatorial wisdom, makes the call.  Sometimes it may be a very arbitrary decision.  
Frankly, I think that even an object contributed by an exhibit designer 
deserves to be marked and tracked and/or catalogued if it's going on exhibit, even 
if it's not going to be accessioned.  Your catalog record can specify that it's 
a low-value prop suitable for disposal if you wish.

Distinctions need to be made in some clear manner, but there's no clear, 
simple "definition" per se.

David Haberstich

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