>Are there any museums which have a policy (formally or informally) of
>saving exhibition props/ dressing after an exhibition's life-span by either
>putting them into a collection, or recycling for future exhibitions?
>
>Does anyone have any experience that they would share with me?
>
>Jane Bovill
>
At the Queensland Museum, (at least, in the Social History and Geology
sections, which are the only ones I have knowledge of) we will tend to save
display labels for particular objects, and either place them in the
appropriate object file or keep them with the object itself. Larger, general
information labels are usually not saved as there is no convenient way of
storing them, or keeping track of them in storage. We certainly would not
register them. Purchased props (e.g. incidental cutlery and china for a
domestic diorama) would normally not be registered during the display,
although when it comes down we would make an individual Keep/Toss decision
on each piece, and register what we keep. Collectable objects purchased
specifically for display will be registered before they go on display.
Props, labels, and dressing that are not retained in the collections will
either be recycled or discarded - in any case it loses it's identity.

We have found it useful to keep a couple of small displays poised for
action, as it were, when the display section finds they have an empty case
for three weeks and wants to fill it quickly. The geology section has
preserved all the fittings and labels for a display of crystal gold which
can be installed in a standard case in about 2 hours - most of that time is
spent getting the stuff out of the vault.
Peter Volk               |"I am not stupid, I am not expendable
Queensland Museum        | and I am not going." - Avon (Blakes Seven)
Australia                |
[log in to unmask]  | I speak for myself, not my employer.