Day 8

12 April

Ann-Rachael and I both work part time and we come in on alternate Tuesdays, so we swap the packing days we do every other week. So last week I was in the roller racking packing typewriters, and now in the metalwork store packing everything from ancient Greek mirrors to Nigerian leg guards.

Why store all the metalwork together? The store was a mix of archaeological material from the local area, ancient Greek and Roman metalwork, foreign metalwork from Nigeria to Tibet, English pewter and contemporary craft. Metalwork needs particular environmental conditions, so it’s easier to group everything together.

It makes it more difficult to pack, though! A shelf might contain a tiered Indian incense burner, a betel nut carrying box and several Buddhas – as well as an elephant with detachable palanquin!

Treasures included a beautiful Greek mirror, engraved on the back with female figures, and medieval gold dust measuring scales all the way from Constantinople. The Nigerian leg guards were less glamorous, but dramatic, and Jill and I were disturbed that once someone put them on they were never taken off.

Day 7

6 April

Each member of the curatorial team looks after different parts of the collection, and we rarely get the chance to work with our colleague’s collections, so today was a treat as I got to work with the social history collection in the largest store to be packed up, the Roller Racking. Ann-Rachael briefed me on what was to be packed, and I was presented with a bay of writing desks and typewriters, all sitting on the shelves unboxed. A lot of the objects we store are best stored unpacked on secure shelving – but that’s no good for a move where delicate parts could so easily get damaged, so each of those larger objects had to be individually packed.

Laren and I set to, and Laren got a most spectacular object to start on – an desk tidy with two ram’s horns forming the tails of silver dolphins that act as inkwells and a bell with striker in the middle. Very dramatic and tricky to pack. First, the horns and silver dolphins were padded with spider tissue – a very soft and strong acid-free tissue – then packed around again with ordinary acid-free tissue. The whole object was then wrapped in tissue, and then again in bubble-wrap and secured. It’s a long and laborious job, but once complete it’s safe and secure. On with the next 6 shelves!

I was also assisted by Ann and Beryl, regular volunteers, who made a start at tackling the doll’s house furniture in the next bay. These had to be packed and padded in their boxes, and the contents of each box checked against the inventory. Not as cumbersome as packing typewriters, but fiddly. They did discover some wonderful things – a shower, made, we think, from a pepper pot, a mangle whose handle turned, and a set of steps with the motto ‘Steps to Progress’ which seemed very fitting!