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 [log in to unmask]