Connecting to Collections Care

We have a historic vessel at our museum that is accessioned, and it recently underwent some restoration. New rigging and anchors were installed. Is it important to retain the old anchors and rigging even though those items are not accessioned individually? 

Thanks in advance,

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Lydia Rao
Collections Manager
Santa Barbara Maritime Museum
Santa Barbara CA
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I would talk to the folks at San Francisco Maritime to see what they do. Many if not all of their vessels are in their collection.

Emily

Emily Murphy
Curator
Salem Maritime National Historic Site
Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site

Sent from my iPhone

Hi Lydia, 
As the acting C2C Care community monitor, I'd like to thank you for posting this query to the community. Looking through our listing of care experts I don't find any with specific expertise with rigging for vessels, and it sounds like a complex issue. It seems like it would be important to document and/or describe the previous rigging and perhaps that has already been done. It sounds like a good opportunity for networking with other maritime museums on the West Coast. Meanwhile, I encourage any experts in this field to share their experiences.

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Karen Jones
Book and Paper Conservator
Freelance/Private Practice/Self-employed/Independent
Denver CO
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-09-2023 13:45
From: Emily Murphy
Subject: Restoring a Historical Vessel

I would talk to the folks at San Francisco Maritime to see what they do. Many if not all of their vessels are in their collection.

Emily

Emily Murphy
Curator
Salem Maritime National Historic Site
Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site

Sent from my iPhone

Original Message:
Sent: 8/10/2023 4:58:00 PM
From: Karen Jones
Subject: RE: Restoring a Historical Vessel

Hi Lydia, 
As the acting C2C Care community monitor, I'd like to thank you for posting this query to the community. Looking through our listing of care experts I don't find any with specific expertise with rigging for vessels, and it sounds like a complex issue. It seems like it would be important to document and/or describe the previous rigging and perhaps that has already been done. It sounds like a good opportunity for networking with other maritime museums on the West Coast. Meanwhile, I encourage any experts in this field to share their experiences.

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Karen Jones
Book and Paper Conservator
Freelance/Private Practice/Self-employed/Independent
Denver CO
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Hi Emily,

Great idea, I will reach out to them, thank you!

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Lydia Rao
Collections Manager
Santa Barbara CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-09-2023 13:45
From: Emily Murphy
Subject: Restoring a Historical Vessel

I would talk to the folks at San Francisco Maritime to see what they do. Many if not all of their vessels are in their collection.

Emily

Emily Murphy
Curator
Salem Maritime National Historic Site
Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site

Sent from my iPhone

Hi Lydia,

I used to work at the National Maritime Museum (France), and even if this is a Collections Management question, as a conservator I would suggest to keep those. I don't know the history of the vessel you have, but those pieces can always be a source of valuable technical and historical information that can be studied any time in the future. Even if we do our best making the most respectful restitutions during a restoration treatment, there is still some interpretation. 

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Nidia Navarro-Potel
Collections Care Conservator
Biltmore Estate
Asheville NC
(848) 252-9518
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Lydia,

One of The Mariners' Museum archaeological conservators here. I agree with Nidia Navarro-Potel, I would suggest to keep them as there can be technical and historical information in the original pieces that even the best reproductions won't have. Things like style of manufacturing, materials used, quality of manufacture, just to name a few (if you need to argue your case). I'd suggest just putting them in storage and documenting what location in the ship they originated from. 

Best of luck!

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Laurie King
Archaeological Conservator
The Mariners' Museum and Park
Newport News VA
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Hi Laurie, 

I will try and get some more information from the experts who removed the rigging and see if they can share some of these pertinent details. Thank you for your help!

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Lydia Rao
Collections Manager
Santa Barbara CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-12-2023 09:09
From: Laurie King
Subject: Restoring a Historical Vessel

Lydia,

One of The Mariners' Museum archaeological conservators here. I agree with Nidia Navarro-Potel, I would suggest to keep them as there can be technical and historical information in the original pieces that even the best reproductions won't have. Things like style of manufacturing, materials used, quality of manufacture, just to name a few (if you need to argue your case). I'd suggest just putting them in storage and documenting what location in the ship they originated from. 

Best of luck!

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Laurie King
Archaeological Conservator
The Mariners' Museum and Park
Newport News VA
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Adding on to what others have already wrote - is the vessel a designated historical national landmark? Institutions managing vessels with that designation are expected to follow certain guidelines to maintain that designation. Does it have any other special status that might have guidelines you need to follow? How old is it? The older it is, the more valuable original components are for researchers and conservators later on because there is usually less information about their manufacture. It is important to look at your collections policies and if this issue isn't addressed, it would be a good time to add that in since it will probably come up again. Components of an accessioned object, in my interpretation generally, should still be considered accessioned for legal purposes. Additionally, it is otherwise too easy for someone who doesn't know better to not consider the ramifications of throwing parts away (I speak from experience on this one unfortunately). If the decision ends up being that they will be gotten rid of, I would at the very least get someone who specializes in historic ship restoration to document the specs of those components.

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Alyssa Opishinski
East Greenwich RI
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Hi Alyssa,

Thanks for all these wonderful questions. It is not designated a historic national landmark; it is a sportfishing vessel from 1917, which has passed through multiple private ownerships for 80 years before coming to our museum. It has undergone many changes and restorations since then, some of which were documented and some which were not. We are holding onto the rigging, but believe it to be a more recent replacement, probably right before or after the boat came to the museum. I also agree that it's easier to hold onto parts than to have toss them and need them later. 

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Lydia Rao
Collections Manager
Santa Barbara CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-13-2023 13:12
From: Alyssa Opishinski
Subject: Restoring a Historical Vessel

Adding on to what others have already wrote - is the vessel a designated historical national landmark? Institutions managing vessels with that designation are expected to follow certain guidelines to maintain that designation. Does it have any other special status that might have guidelines you need to follow? How old is it? The older it is, the more valuable original components are for researchers and conservators later on because there is usually less information about their manufacture. It is important to look at your collections policies and if this issue isn't addressed, it would be a good time to add that in since it will probably come up again. Components of an accessioned object, in my interpretation generally, should still be considered accessioned for legal purposes. Additionally, it is otherwise too easy for someone who doesn't know better to not consider the ramifications of throwing parts away (I speak from experience on this one unfortunately). If the decision ends up being that they will be gotten rid of, I would at the very least get someone who specializes in historic ship restoration to document the specs of those components.

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Alyssa Opishinski
East Greenwich RI
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