Museums and galleries - loans, donations, bequests

Contents

• What do the museums collect?
• What don’t the museums collect?
• Identifying an item’s provenance
• Other local museums
• What if the museum has one already?
• What happens when you offer something to the museum?
• Will the item be displayed in the museums?
• Financial donation to the museum
• Supporting the museums

What do the museums collect?

Derby museums collect material from the following specialist areas:

• Natural Sciences
• Archaeology
• Fine and Decorative Arts
• Social and Industrial History
• Costume and Textiles.

Derby museums collect objects, samples and information relating to the past, present and future of Derby and the surrounding area. We keep the collection on behalf of the people of Derby.

What don’t the museums collect?

Not everything can be collected. Storing, conserving and using collections is costly and requires considerable investment. It is important that only those items that can be used for display, education and study are collected. For this reason the museum often decides not to collect things that are offered to it. To ensure that the right things are collected, we have prepared a ‘collecting policy’ that gives guidance to curatorial staff about what should and should not be collected.

Identifying an item’s provenance

The most important thing when collecting anything is that it has a ‘provenance’. This is:

• the history of an item
• where it was made
• who used it and how it was used or
• where it lived, grew or was found.

Usually, we will not accept items without this supporting information. Items should have some relationship to Derby and the surrounding area. For the different specialisms the surrounding area has a slightly different definition. Please check with the curators for more information.

Other local museums

Derby museums do not, on the whole, collect material that should go to other museums. For example, Erewash Museum in Ilkeston would be expected to collect items from their area.  The exception to this is with natural science material, as Derby is the only museum service that collects Derbyshire material. The museum also works closely with other museums and institutions, regionally and nationally, to ensure that items are housed in the most appropriate place.

What if the museum has one already?

The museum service does not collect material that is a duplicate of something that is already in the collection, unless it has another use, is in better condition or has a better provenance. Often in the cases when a duplicate is collected, the one originally in the collection will be disposed of. Disposal is carried out according to nationally approved museum standards published by the Museums Association.

What happens when you offer something to the museum?

We appreciate all offers of items to the museum. Unfortunately, there is not the space in the museum or the funding to look after everything. A collecting and disposal group meet regularly to assess all of the things that are offered. If an object is accepted we will give it a unique number (Accession Number), document and conserve it before it is displayed, stored or used in anyway. If an object is not accepted it may, with the donor’s permission, be offered to other museums or institutions to whom it may be more suitable.

Will the item be displayed in the museums?

The museum cannot guarantee to display any item all of the time. This will depend on a number of factors including cost of conservation, security, suitability and the current exhibitions policy. We collect some items for future use, reference or for educational activities. We will tell the donor at the time of deposit the accession number and the immediate future of the item. If they would like to see it again, or to find out if the item is on display in the future, they should keep this number for reference.

If you have an item you think might be of interest to the museum service, please contact us.

Financial donation to the museum

If you are considering making a bequest, please contact the museum service’s director.

You can also support the museum service by giving by cheque.  Please make any cheques payable to: Derby City Council.  And post to us.  You can also contact us by telephone or email.

Supporting the museums

If you would like to help support the museums practically or financially, you may be interested in joining the Friends of Derby Museum.

The Friends of Derby Museums is a registered charity, founded in 1970. It is for anyone who believes in the cultural and educational values of museums, and wishes to turn that into practical support. The group aims to stimulate interest and public support for the work of the museums and to raise money to augment their routine funding.

The Friends of the Museums give the museum grants for specific projects. Many museum exhibits have been paid for by the Friends, and many more have had substantial payments from their funds. Amongst these have been The Derby Porcelain Pattern Books; Georgian Monteiths: Whitehurst clocks; silver shillings; cleaning of the paintings 'Romeo and Juliet' by Joseph Wright; and 'View of Derby from Abbey Barns' by Hofland.

Being a Friend is not all about fundraising. The small subscription entitles members to take part in an events programme covering informative talks on museum related subjects and visits to places of interest. As an established society we can often visit houses and historic sites, which are not normally open to the public.

If you are interested in joining contact us for further details.

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