Tag Archives for collections

Impala Trophy Head – A Conservation Treatment Summary

Written by Greta Kelly, Conservation Practice MSc Student at Cardiff University.

During my studies on the Conservation Practice MSc at Cardiff University I had the opportunity to do a placement with the natural science conservation department at Museums NI. As part of this I assisted in an ongoing project to conserve and stabilise a number of trophy heads in the museums stores. The trophy head that I worked on was an impala skull, mounted on a wooden shield, dated to the 1930s.

Before beginning any conservation, I carried out a condition assessment of the skull and shield, to determine what treatment would be needed. The skull was generally in good condition, with no identifiable breakages or loss. The teeth while still in their sockets, were loose, and there was slight delamination at the base of the right horn. There was extensive surface dirt on the teeth, horns and skull, including inside the skull.

Before cleaning images of the impala skull. Image credit: Greta Kelly

The wooden shield was in good condition, with just some surface dirt. However the two metal hooks which looped through the zygomatic arches to hold the skull in place, were not providing sufficient support, allowing the skull to move about on the shield and putting it at risk of damage.

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Collaborating with External Partners to address Colonial Legacies and Challenge the Secondary School Curriculum in Liverpool.

Written by Olivia Beavers, National Museums Liverpool, World Museum & Sonal Mistry, Freelance Scientific Illustrator.

Just over a year ago, Sonal approached me with a request to access the vertebrate zoology collection for her Master’s thesis, which explored scientific illustration through natural science specimens. Collaborating with Sonal has helped the vertebrate zoology department to address colonial legacies and provide more context to the collections through thoughtful scientific illustration.

Olivia – World Museum

World Museum’s vertebrate zoology collection has a historic relationship between artists and specimens. Edward Lear and John Gould were just two of many illustrators who sketched and painted specimens within the 13th Earl of Derby’s zoology collection.

With so many specimens stored behind the scenes and many untold stories of collectors and colonial legacies to be explored, curators are often considering new ways to get this information across to the public. Sonal contacted the museum as a Masters illustration student asking to collaborate with the vertebrate zoology department for her thesis. I supervised Sonal’s Master’s illustration thesis project, where she produced scientific illustrations to help improve the interpretation of vertebrate zoology specimens on display. After an initial walk around the gallery with Sonal, I handed out some questionnaires to gain a sense of the public’s opinions of the information that was already available. Sonal and I went through the different illustration styles and worked through which styles would be best suited to our audience for each topic. One of the recurring points that we noticed from the questionnaires was a plea for more information for older visitors and more colour.

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Twisted Tales of Gallery Oldham’s Collection of Fish Casts

Written by Patricia Francis, Natural History Curator, Gallery Oldham. 

So, what’s a fish cast? Fish are particularly difficult creatures to preserve. Fish taxidermy is tricky as even a freshly dead specimen rapidly loses it colour and can quickly start to decay. Fish skin is thin and tears easily and obtaining the work of an experienced fish taxidermist is very expensive while fluid preservation involves the use of chemicals which alter the skin colouration.

Dace (1932-54 )

Modelling or casting is often chosen as an alternative way to represent the animal rather than using the actual fish skin as taxidermy does. A cast now might be made using a resin but historically plaster has been used. Then comes the clever bit, accurate painting of the cast to appear like the living animal.

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The Okapi: Biology, Conservation, and Why this Elusive Species matters to Collections

Written by Emma Winnard, Sixth form student studying A-level Biology, Chemistry, and Geology, with a strong interest in zoology, botany, and museum collections.

The okapi (Okapia johnstoni) is one of the most distinctive large mammals in the world, yet it remains one of the least well understood. Endemic to the dense tropical forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the okapi occupies an ecological niche that is both geographically restricted and extremely difficult to study directly. As a result, much of what we know about the species has been built not only from limited field observations, but also from museum specimens, archival records, and associated botanical and habitat material held in natural science collections.

This is what makes the okapi such a useful example for thinking about collections. When an animal is rarely seen, difficult to survey, and increasingly threatened, preserved specimens and older records can become far more than historical curiosities.

A pair of okapi in a lush forest setting. The species’ striped legs and dark coat help break up its outline in the dappled light of dense forest habitat.
© Photo by Brett Aukburg, via Pexels. Pexels Licence.

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Scott Wilson’s Iʻiwi: Colouring the Past

Written by Dan Gordon, Keeper of Biology, The Great North Museum: Hancock.

Sometimes you come across something in the stores that catches your eye. Something a little puzzling, maybe something hiding in plain sight, or in a drawer you’d never had cause to open before. For me, the specimen in question was a bright red bird. Clearly historic by its beady glass eyes, but seemingly lacking any other provenance, and identity unknown. The appearance was striking, with bright scarlet feathers and a long, curved bill like a scimitar. This made identifying it the easiest step – an I’iwi (ee-EE-wi) one of the Hawaiian Honeycreepers, and a little surprising, given its rarity. It sat alone, without context, among a flock of other small birds, drawing your eye as a patch of scarlet amongst the browns and greys. A mystery, then.

NEWHM : 2016.H5 – I’iwi (Drepanis coccinea) collected by Scott B. Wilson 1888. All images credited to The Natural History Society of Northumbria.

A bit of digging in the archives began to shed some light. Two of a Honey-Eater from Keauhou, Kona – Presented per J. Hancock by Scott Wilson Esq. looked like a likely candidate. One of a pair, collected from the Big Island, Hawaii, reached us here in 1889. The Natural History Society of Northumbria were keen collectors of specimens from all over the world at that time, but this one seemed unusual. Who was Scott Wilson, and why might he have sent them here?

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