We are delighted that we have achieved all of the outcomes of this project. Tullie now has a clearly defined and approved process for deaccessioning objects from the collection, and the process has made room for more relevant acquisitions.
160 objects have received a Non Key Decision Notice from Cumberland Council, with a further 119 currently progressing through the disposals workflow.
Many objects within the disposal batches were rehomed internally within the organisation, through direct transfers to the education handling collection. Some of these items had been on long-term loan to the learning department since the 1990s, and others are fresh acquisitions that can help the learning team structure new handling boxes that are available for loan to local schools and for use in outreach sessions.
Transfers to other museums included an army uniform travelling over the road to the Cumbria Museum of Military Life, a farmer’s smock joining the collection of the Museum of English Rural Life in Reading and a Roman altar to the Senhouse Museum in Maryport.
Several large, mass-produced objects from the Social History collection joined the prop store at the Green Room, a local amateur theatrical society. Items such as typewriters and vacuum cleaners will feature in future productions and be of greater public benefit than hidden in the museum’s stores.
A large proportion of objects disposed from the Costume collection were rehomed with Tullie Textiles, the museum’s community creative workshop series. These textiles were either acquired without relevant context or were deteriorated in condition beyond viable conservation. They can now be reused creatively and have a second life beyond the museum store.
The project team have also presented learnings from the project to sector colleagues, including the Museums Development North ‘Celebrating Museums’ event; Museums Development North ‘Transforming Collections’ workshop programme; Rural Museums Network ‘Chewing the Cud’ seminar series; Cumbria Museums Directors Group meetings, and an article in the Social History Curators Group Spring newsletter.
The project would not have been possible without the support of the John Ellerman Foundation, the expert advice and guidance of disposals expert Dr Jenny Durrant and the hard work of both postholders: Project Curator Claire Dean and Project Assistant Lewis Scullion.
