APPLIED ART – COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Ceramics

European Ceramics

The European Ceramics collection comprises representative examples from the major continental porcelain factories, such as Meissen, Vienna Porcelain Factory, Tournai and Sevres.

British Ceramics

The collection contains 20^th and 21^st century studio ceramics, including the extensive Sandy Dunbar Studio Ceramics Collection, and we have a group of ceramics designed by artists e.g. work by Scottie Wilson, Eric Ravilious and Bruce McLean. Examples of British 20^th century factory wares have been acquired, including pieces designed by Gordon Mitchell Forsyth, Susie Cooper and Clarice Cliff and key factories such as Shelley, Denby and Hornsea. There are representative examples from the major English porcelain factories.

Scottish Historic Collection

The Scottish Historic Collection includes examples of transfer print wares, spongeware, hand-painted wares, work from the East Coast (particularly Wemyss) and Glasgow potteries, and Aberdeen’s Seaton Pottery.

Miscellaneous domestic and commercial wares

Holdings include miscellaneous domestic and commercial wares of local significance.

Glass

Miscellaneous Domestic Glass

Holdings include examples of commercial glassware such as lemonade and ink bottles, and stained-glass panels.

British and Continental Glass

The British and Continental glass collection includes a mixed collection of British and Continental glassware from the 17^th century to the present day, illustrating the development of stylistic techniques and decoration. Strengths lie in 18^th century British drinking glasses, the Cromar Watt collection of Venetian glassware and the Vaughan collection of Monart and Vasart glass. There are groups of European Art Nouveau and Art Deco glass and key examples of contemporary Scottish glass.

Metalwork

Domestic Silver

The domestic silver collection includes British domestic hollowware and flatware from the 17^th century onwards. Particular strengths are North East of Scotland silver and the study collection of Aberdeen silversmiths’ hallmarks.

20^th-21^st century Metalwork

Early 20^th century metalwork and enamelling, featuring important work by Arts and Crafts designers.

Jewellery

Mixed media group of material including precious metals, resins and plastics, gemstones, cameos, costume and mourning jewellery from 17^th century to the present day. We have a strong collection of Victorian local and Scottish jewellery, such as clan badges, granite brooches and Scottish semi-precious gemstone work. There is a small, but significant group of Arts and Crafts jewellery, including enamel and jewellery work by Aberdeen born James Cromar Watt (1862 – 1940). The designer jewellery collection has recent acquisitions of outstanding work by international makers, and we care for silversmith drawings and ephemera.

Portable Accessories including pill boxes, vinaigrettes, scent bottles, hand mirrors and other accessories.

Watches

Holdings include 19^th and 20^th century pocket watches alongside contemporary timepieces by Gordon Burnett and Marianne Forrest.

Fashion and Textiles

Fashion Design

This collection holds work by designers including Laura Ashley, Marion Donaldson, Kaffe Fassett, Mitzi Lorenz and Bill Gibb. The Bill Gibb Collection is a nationally significant collection of over 100 garments and is complemented by an archive of 2460 fashion sketches, working drawings and notes.

Historic Costume

This collection contains historic dress and accessories for adults and children, from the 1770s to present day. It mainly comprises middle class dress, with the emphasis on clothes worn, purchased or retailed in the local area. There is a group of occupational costume relating to local industries and trades, uniforms and regalia from local schools, regiments, societies and clubs, and civic robes. Notable acquisitions include the Peggy Walker Gift, Joan Burnett Collection, Stewart Collection of children’s clothing, and two collections of costume and accessories worn locally by Mrs. F. Farquharson of Invercauld and Mrs. Hamilton of Skene.

Costume Accessories

Holdings include footwear, bags, shawls, hats, gloves and stockings.

Costume Ephemera

Catalogues, magazines, sewing patterns, postcards and press cuttings are included in the collection, and photographs recording local people in fashionable and occupational dress. We also care for packaging and ephemera connected with local costume, fashion shops, dressmakers, tailors and milliners.

Historic textiles

This collection comprises Scottish needlework, needlepoint, lace, samplers and beadwork from the early 19^th century onwards. Needlework accessories and tools along with dressmaking and knitting patterns also form part of this collection. Notable acquisitions include The Harrower Bequest of Continental and British Lace dating from mid-17^th century, examples of local New Pitsligo lace and the collection of dressmaking tools and teaching aids donated by the Robert Gordon University.

Miscellaneous Domestic Textiles

A group of household and domestic textiles and furnishings.

Contemporary Textiles

Contemporary textiles by worldwide makers, including banners, tapestries, hangings and quilts.

Craft

Historic Asian Craft

Holdings include the James Cromar Watt bequest of Chinese lacquer, carvings in ivory, semi-precious stone and wood, bronzes, and cloisonné enamel. Japanese netsuke and okimono are also represented.

Other Craft

This is a broad mixed media collection which includes leatherwork, papermaking, lapidary, basketry, and woodworking and wood specialities such as marquetry and pyrography. The strength of the collection lies in its high-quality work with a Scottish emphasis.

Clocks

Small collection of timepieces including examples of 17^th, 18^th and 19^th century mantle, wall and longcase clocks alongside 20^th century clocks.

Furniture

This collection includes domestic, ecclesiastical and civic furniture.

Musical instruments

Historical organs, violins, pianos and a harp.

FINE ART – COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Paintings

Paintings range from the 15^th century (Sienese artist Vecchietta) to the present day. The collection contains British artworks from the 17^th to early 19^th century, including paintings by George Jamesone, William Mosman, Allan Ramsay, William Hogarth, Sir David Wilkie and Sir Henry Raeburn. There is wide representation of key 19^th and 20^th artistic styles and movements in our collection. We hold paintings by the Impressionists, Pre-Raphaelites, Glasgow Boys, Camden Town Group, Scottish Colourists, Edinburgh School, St Ives, Hague School, early British avant-garde artists and the Bloomsbury Group.

The collection includes works by key contemporary artists such as Peter Howson, Ken Currie, Alison Watt, Julie Roberts and Kevin Harman. We have an outstanding work by Francis Bacon, Pope I – study after Pope Innocent X after Velasquez. There are works by several celebrated local artists including Frances Walker, James Cowie, Joan Eardley and James McBey, and we own the major part of William Dyce’s known oil paintings.

Drawings and Watercolours

The majority of this collection dates from the 18^th century onwards and it showcases British artists. Amongst the watercolours are works by David Allan, Paul Sandby, JMW Turner, William Blake, Samuel Palmer, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Eric Ravilious, and more recently John Piper and John Bellany. Pre-Raphaelite works include watercolours by JE Millais and Edward Burne-Jones and a drawing by Simeon Solomon.

The collection contains drawings by several artists connected to Aberdeen, including artworks by William Dyce, figure studies by John Phillip, landscape drawings by James Giles and some 150 drawings by Joan Eardley. In addition to British works, we care for four exceptional illuminated pages from a Book of Hours, depicting Stations of the Cross. They are thought to be Flemish and created in the 15^th century.

Printed Materials

The earliest prints are mostly 18^th century engravings including portraits, the moral scenes of William Hogarth and early views of Aberdeen. French 19^th and early 20^th century artworks include prints by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Pierre Bonnard, Marc Chagall and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. The Etching Revival is represented with work by Francis Seymour-Haden, James Whistler, Walter Sickert and Muirhead Bone. Wood engravings, which saw such popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, are represented with over 250 prints. Printed works include sets of reproductions after works by Picasso and Matisse.

Modern movements in printmaking, specifically the rise in popularity of the screenprint, are reflected in works by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and RB Kitaj. More recently, Rachel Maclean, Chiho Aoshima and Scott Baxter are significant representatives of new techniques regarding digital printing. The Peacock Archive forms a large part of our print collection, and contains etchings, screenprints and woodcuts. Local printmaker and workshop, Peacock, has provided an example of every print produced there since 1987.

Art photography

We care for a collection of artist-photographs, including photopieces by Gilbert and George, Martin Parr, Jenny Saville, Francesca Woodman and Jane and Louise Wilson.

Sculpture and installations

The sculpture collection primarily spans the 19^th to 21^st centuries. Sculpture by French artists includes work by Degas, Rodin and Bourdelle, and we have 19^th century works by British sculptors James Pittendrigh Macgillivray, the Brodie brothers, Edgar Papworth and Thomas Woolner. The 20^th century collection includes Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Sir Jacob Epstein, Ossip Zadkine, Eduardo Paolozzi, Anthony Caro and Gavin Scobie. Artists at the forefront of the Scottish contemporary art scene like Kenny Hunter, Christine Borland, Charles Avery, Henry Coombes and Sara Barker are represented. The collection includes installations such as works by Richard Long, Craig Richardson and Jim Lambie. We also have a collection of plaster casts from prehistory to the 18^th century. These include the most complete series of Parthenon sculptures after the British Museum, Celtic crosses, classical sculpture and sculpture of the Italian Renaissance.

Intangible work and New Media

This collection has particular emphasis placed on themes that are revelatory of the human condition such as Dalziel and Scullion’s Another Place, Julian Opie’s Sparkly Jeans and Top, Torsten Lauschmann’s Pandora’s Ball, Jacques Coetzera’s Room to Roam, the digital film by Conor Gault titled Le Fabuleux Destin, Rachel Maclean’s The Lion and the Unicorn, Susan Philipsz’s Two Sisters and Tracey Emin’s neon light piece, For You.

James McBey

Our McBey collection of paintings, sketches and prints spans the artist’s entire life and career. The collection includes early prints and his first oil painting, plus work from his time as an Official War Artist in the Middle East. His travels to Morocco, London, the USA and visits to Scotland are also represented. We have the world’s largest McBey archive thanks to the generosity of his friend and patron HH Kynett, and above all his wife Marguerite McBey who made several significant donations between 1959 and 2000. In addition to artworks, there are personal photographs, diaries, letters, newspaper cuttings and memorabilia.

Artist Memorabilia and Archives

Collection includes objects used or owned by an artist, such as William Hogarth’s paintbox and walking stick and the bowl his pug used to drink from, James McBey’s easel and etching tools, and Ian Hamilton Finlay’s sundial. We care for William Dyce’s letters, George Reid’s correspondence and a significant holding of John Phillip’s writings.

HISTORY – COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Archaeology

Pre-medieval

The collections include several Neolithic carved stone balls recovered from across North-east Scotland. There are Neolithic to Bronze Age axes and some Bronze Age weaponry such as swords, daggers and spear heads, much of which was acquired from private collectors. Collected Bronze Age domestic objects include beakers, one highlight being the Scotstown beaker. There is an important collection of flintwork from local excavations, including Mesolithic finds from the Dee valley and later examples dating to the Bronze Age.

Medieval

The strength of the collections lies in the substantial body of local medieval material, most of which was excavated in the city from the 1970s onwards. It is composed of pottery, metalwork, glass, wood, bone and leather objects and textiles, and is backed up by a substantial archive. Significant objects include bone dice and gaming pieces, an ice skate made of horse bone dating to the 1300s, and a wooden currach paddle found in the city centre, dating to the 1200s-1300s. There is also a small collection of human remains from local excavations.

Post Medieval

Much of the post-medieval archaeology collection is domestic objects (dating from 1600 onwards) found in excavations in the city such as buttons, pipes, glass bottles and pottery. Interesting pieces include a pipe clay wig curler dating to the 1700s found on the site of the Carmelite Friary in Aberdeen, and a bone toothbrush dating to the 1800s found in the city centre.

Numismatics

Currency, coins, and banknotes

The core of the numismatics collection is the two complete medieval coin hoards, and part of a third (amounting to over 3500 coins). As would be expected for this period, the majority were issued in England. These are supplemented by a much smaller collection of Scottish issued coins from the medieval period and around 350 post-1707 machine struck UK coinage and just under 1000 non-UK coins from various periods. The most significant post-Medieval material are the banknotes and cheques issued by NE Scotland banks.

Medals

There are around 750 medals including commemorative, prize and military medals, mostly dating from the 1800s to present day but with some as early as the 1600s. Many are locally relevant. These include exhibition medals, City Burgess and other badges. There are examples of foreign medals, notably those belonging to James Maurice Frost who was born in Aberdeen and rose the to rank of Brigadier-General in the Imperial Ottoman Artillery, with the rank of Pasha during the 1880s.

Maritime History

Aberdeen Harbour

Many archaeological objects in the collection reflect trade and industry due to the importance of Aberdeen Harbour as a trading port. For the more modern period there are engineering patterns, diving equipment used in harbour maintenance. Around 90% of material relating to the Harbour is photographs (over 500) and paintings (over 1000).

Energy industries

The offshore energy industries are a core part of displays at Aberdeen Maritime Museum, where the public can learn about its history, development and future. The 1300+ collection is strong in regards to contemporary offshore oil and gas technical activities, models of ships and oil platforms, and artworks of life and work offshore. The collection contains objects relating to the Piper Alpha Oil and Gas Platform Disaster of 6th July 1988, including maquettes produced as part of the production of the Piper Alpha Memorial.

Fishing

As a primary industry of NE Scotland, fishing is well represented with models, photographs, company records and paintings relating to life and work in small fishing communities, trawling, fish processing, fisheries research and the environmental impact of fishing (around 1500 items). The collection is comprehensive in regards the operation of the fishing fleet, including significant material relating to Richard Irvin showing all aspects of fitting a fishing fleet, and includes models of the prototype fishing vessel that performed anti-mine work in WW1.

Shipbuilding

Shipbuilding and its associated activities are strongly represented with a diverse range of objects, concentrated mainly on three shipyards – namely Hall, Hall Russell, Lewis, and a lesser extent Duthie. It contains ships’ plans (over 14000), photographs (over 4000 records), paintings and over 300 models and half-hull models. There are also drawings, workmen’s tools, specification books, shop floor design notebooks and photographs relating to the shipyards. The development of this collection is supported by a catalogue of 3500 ships’ histories, actively researched by our longstanding volunteers and accessible online.

Shipping

Records of locally owned ships using Aberdeen’s harbour stretch back almost 1000 years. The physical material in the care of AAGM is mainly drawn from the late 1700s to late 1900s and contains around 1600 items. Most items are from the mid-1800s to mid-1900s, and are particularly related to the North of Scotland Orkney & Shetland Steam Navigation Company which provided the lifeline link to Northern Isles, as well as cruises aboard the first purpose built cruise liner St Sunniva 1. Material related to other operators such as Duthie, Thomson, etc whose vessels operated on the global stage carrying goods and people all around the world are also held.

Whaling

Whaling was a very short term industry in Aberdeen compared to Dundee or Peterhead, and the collection is correspondingly small (around 130 items), including ship models, harpoons and scrimshaw. The links between whaling, whalers and the exploration of the Arctic and Antarctic are not so well represented, nor is the economic boost whaling gave to local shipbuilding and from investment in the industry by local businesses.

Industrial history

Granite industry

This important industry, defining the granite city, is preserved in an extensive selection of hand tools, images, catalogues and business records, as well as samples and some small items of cut stone. It is stronger for the monumental industry albeit with few examples of ‘finished’ work or largescale machinery and with limited material directly related to quarrying.

Manufacturing: The collections record a variety of Aberdeen manufacturers from “Tinny” Robertson’s through to Ogston & Tennant soap manufacturers. The following were major employers historically, and/or have been a focus or interest for previous collections development:

Chemicals and gas

An extensive collection over 1700 photographs, working notebooks and plans record the history of Aberdeen Gasworks and the Sandilands Chemical works. There are few objects from the works but there is a representative selection of domestic and commercial gas appliances, with associated literature. There is little contemporary material relating to the small-scale production or use of chemicals and gas in Aberdeen such as cleaning product manufacture, or chemicals for offshore use.

Craft Trades

This collection for traditional skilled trades is focussed on woodworking, plumbing, and shoemaking with hand tools, examples of work and supporting photographs, oral histories and ephemera (over 700 items).

Engineering

Over 4400 engineering drawings, plans, catalogues, images as well as some of the smaller items such as tools represent the civil, mechanical and electrical trades over the past two hundred years. Firms represented include William McKinnon, George Cassie, and JM Henderson.

Papermaking

Stoneywood, Aberdeen was the last of the many papermills in the city. This and other Aberdeen mills are strongly represented with photographs and plans of works and machinery, images of workers (and some oral testimonies) to papermaking frames, samples of raw and finished materials, ephemera, to transport tokens and items associated with workers welfare (over 500 items).

Printing

Around 150 printing items ranging in date from 1700s to late 1900s. Star items are a 1700s hand press and the last hot-type edition of The Press and Journal.

Textile industry

Crombie Grandholm Mills is represented by noteworthy samples of fabrics supplied to the allied forces in the First World War, fabrics that went into the fashion trade in the 1900s and barrows used in the mill. This material is currently on loan. There is a significant collection associated with Richards’ Broadford Works, including oral histories, samples and associated photographs showing the processes.

Transportation and Storage

There are around 150 items relating to Gandar Dower and the early development of the Airport at Dyce, and 1800 items, mostly ephemeral and archival, relating to railway travel in the 1800s and early 1900s. There are around 65 objects from Aberdeen Corporation Tramways Department. The collection includes around 145 items relating to the Post Office, centred on the material from the Crown Street Head Office and covering the 1800s and 1900s. It includes ephemera, signage, scales and many of the areas of the public interface with the postal service.

Retail, accommodation and food services

There are around 600 items relating to local shops, hotels, restaurants and pubs, predominantly from the late 1800s to about 1980, in addition to a largely complete interior of Davidson & Kay chemists amounting to around 3000 items. It includes ephemera, signage, some fixtures and fittings and moveable display accessories.

Professional, scientific, and technical

Photography

There is a good balance of professional and amateur equipment but weak pre-1880s and post-1960s items. Highlight of the collection is a major archive of 2300+ George Washington Wilson photographs and ephemera, and the large collection of glass and film negatives, slides and photographs depicting life in work in the city.

Medicine and Healthcare

The 10,000+ medical collection reflects medical science and practise in hospital, community and domestic settings. The Kenneth A. Webster Nursing Collection focusses on professionals other than medical doctors and encompasses the whole of NE Scotland. The George Shepherd Pharmaceutical Collection contains the contents of Davidson & Kay, Aberdeen chemists.

Metrology

There are 240 metrology items, including the city’s official weights and measures from the 1800s and early 1900s. It also includes examples of working measures associated with various trades and activities in Aberdeen such as pharmaceuticals. The collection is weak post-1945.

Social History

Personal and Family Life

Collection comprises mainly personal items used by individuals. There are numerous personal photographs and papers, letters, diaries and memorabilia as well as personal accessories for writing, grooming, toiletries and cosmetics and the consumption of alcohol (e.g. hip flask) and tobacco.

Domestic life

The domestic life collections include a broad range of fittings and appliances for the domestic supply of services such as heating, lighting, water, sewage and drainage. Domestic appliances used for cleaning and maintenance and cooking are complemented by material relating to the preparation, serving and storing of food, including recipe and cookery books (800+ records).

Home entertainment is represented with over 100 items including radios, televisions and video players, phonographs and personal computers. There is a particularly strong collection of mid-1900s valve radios and related ephemera such instruction manuals and magazines. Archival or ephemeral material held includes legal documents, accounts, rent books and loose family photographs, mostly as part of larger collections relating to local individuals.

Leisure and recreation

Collecting hobbies such as scrap books, cigarette cards, philately and postcards are represented, alongside a range of dolls, toys and games from the early 1800s to early 2000s. The health and sporting pursuits of many Aberdonians were fostered by local companies such as Pirie’s at Stoneywood and the collections contain good examples of trophies and other memorabilia associated with such organisations. There are examples of sporting equipment and related ephemera, mostly golfing and fishing, and some objects relating to His Majesty’s Theatre and the Music Hall.

 

Faith groups

This collection is dominated by local Christian churches, and is further represented by 28 items of church silver. There are 480 communion tokens (late 1600s to late 1800s) from churches and congregations in NE Scotland and the Highlands, with a number issued across Scotland by a denomination. Also examples of Maundy money (from the 1600s) and modern Maundy Money purses. Buddhist robes and related items were gifted in 2015 but broader representation remains a priority.

Civic and community life

Around 2500 items represent community organisations such as education providers, friendly societies, local government and emergency services. Organised labour is represented by an important collection of Trade Union banners associated with the Aberdeen trades including shipbuilders and boilermakers, bakers, Papermakers friendly society, carpenters etc. as well as the Offshore Industry Liaison Committee (now the Rail Maritime and Transport Union).

Wartime

Around 700 locally significant objects reflect mostly civilian life during wartime, including ration books, gas masks and ephemera. Military experience is centred on around 150 military medals. This is strongest for the Second World War, but covers the late 1800s to mid 1900s.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2023

Licence: CC BY-NC

The collections in the care of Aberdeenshire Council’s Museums Service are an amalgam of several independent collections, the earliest dating back to 1828 in the case of the collection once resident in Banff Museum. Consisting of some of the finest archaeological objects in Scotland, including the Iron Age Deskford Carnyx and the Gaulcross Hoard of Pictish silver, the collection was complemented by donations of arms and armour from the Duke of Fife and the natural history collection of noted Scottish naturalist Thomas Edward, who was also the former curator of Banff Museum.

Adam Arbuthnot, a merchant from Peterhead, began collecting archaeology, numismatics and objects from world cultures in the first half of the 19^th century, and James Kerr of Inverurie was an avid collector of archaeology and ephemera.

Aberdeenshire Council’s Museums Service also holds a collection of agricultural material purchased in 1994 by Banff & Buchan District Council from Adamston, Huntly, and collected by the late Hew McCall-Smith. This was supplemented by the purchase and relocation of Hareshowe Croft in 1990, to form the core collection located at Aden Country Park, Aberdeenshire. The collection was awarded Recognised Collection of National Significance status in 2008.

The enthusiasm of Aberdeenshire collectors has resulted in an eclectic and diverse collection that encompasses the length and breadth of the history of north-east Scotland, including farming, fishing, whaling, archaeology and the county’s unique contribution to cultural and economic development world-wide.

In 1975, all museums were transferred to local authority control, and in 1996 became the responsibility of Aberdeenshire Council. Live Life Aberdeenshire (LLA), the Council’s new and innovative way of delivering high quality cultural and sports services, including museums, was created in 2019. All reserve collections have been relocated to Aberdeenshire Council’s Museums Service Headquarters in Mintlaw since 2004, allowing ease of access by staff and communities alike.

The collections have been available to the communities in which they were collected since their creation and have long been appreciated and accessed by those communities, an ethos which Aberdeenshire Council’s Museums Service is committed to uphold.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2020

Licence: CC BY-NC

Fine and Applied Art

For ease of consideration the Art collection has been divided into sub-headings:

a) Fine Art – includes paintings (oils and watercolours), drawings (pencil, ink, charcoal and pastel) and prints.

b) Applied Art – includes sculpture, silver, glass, ceramics, furniture, horology, metalwork and some miscellaneous domestic and religious material.

Fine Art

The core of the Fine Art collection largely comprises the former burgh collections. While there are four pre-19th-century portraits, the greatest concentration is on 19^th– and early 20^th-century Scottish painting, particularly portraits, maritime paintings and a few landscapes, and some contemporary 20^th– and early 21^st-century material by Aberdeenshire artists.

Oil Paintings

This group comprises portraits (mainly of former Provosts), maritime paintings, landscapes, still life and some genre paintings. Important names in this group include Sir David Wilkie, Robert Brough, Joseph Farquharson, James Giles, George Sherwood Hunter, R. Gemmell Hutchison, Norman Macbeth, John Phillip, Sir George Reid and George Fiddes Watt. Aberdeenshire Council’s Museums Service holds the only collection in public hands in Northern Scotland of works by the Peterhead artist James Forbes, the teacher of John Phillip. Several contemporary paintings by Aberdeenshire artists were acquired pre-2015.

Watercolours and Drawings

This is a small group, the most significant of which are the 18^th-century portraits by James Ferguson, and the series of watercolours of Peterhead painted in 1795 by Montague Beattie. There is a small number of contemporary watercolours and drawings by Aberdeenshire artists.

Prints

This group falls into two distinct sections. One group is of 19^th-century prints, largely landscape views, nearly all of which are of Aberdeenshire scenes. The other group is a larger collection of late 20^th-century prints, mostly by contemporary artists from the North East.

Applied Art

The Applied Art collection covers a wide variety of objects and materials, of which the silver sub-collection (especially that of Banff) is of national importance.

Silver

This group of artefacts includes material produced in , Peterhead, Ballater and Stonehaven. The collection of silver is the largest in . Half of the known Banff silversmiths are represented in the collection. There is an important series of silver prize trophies associated with the mid-19^th-century Volunteer movement in Aberdeenshire.

Sculpture and Ceramics

There is a small number of sculptures and ceramics, some of which are by contemporary Aberdeenshire artists.

Furniture and Horology

This is a small collection, the most significant items being several 17^th-century chairs, the chair of Inverurie poet William Thom, and a few longcase clocks.

Metalwork

This group of material includes brass, copper, pewter and plated wares. It incorporates secular and religious material such as presentation gifts and trophies and community plate, mostly of local manufacture and association.

Natural Sciences

For ease of consideration the National Sciences Collection has been divided into sub-headings: the collection is composed of Vertebrate Zoology, Invertebrate Zoology, Botany and Geology.

Vertebrate Zoology

Taxidermy and Skeletal Material

This collection consists largely of British birds, mammals, some reptiles and fish, with some foreign species. Much of the material represents what survives of 19^th-century collections. Some 20^th-century specimens have been acquired for display purposes.

Bird’s Eggs

This is a small collection, largely of British birds, with some exotic species (e.g., ostrich). Legislation now prohibits the collecting of eggs of British birds; this collection will not expand in the future.

Invertebrate Zoology

This is the largest collection in Aberdeenshire Council’s Museums Service comprising several thousand specimens from various sources. The two principal components are mollusc shells and insects.

The mollusc shell collection is largely of foreign species; much comes from historical collections, and there is an extensive and high-quality late 20^th century collection. The historical collections reflect scientific collecting during the 19^th-century period of “Scots abroad”, while the modern collection has good accompanying data.

The insect collection derives from historical collections; no recent additions have been made to this section.

Botany

The botanical collection mainly consists of a small herbarium of Arctic plants collected by Captain Francis Rawdon Moira Crozier who accompanied Sir John Franklin on his last expedition, and a small miscellany of algae, plant specimens etc., collected in the 19^th century. There is a small collection of seeds, nuts and dried plant material collected in the 19^th century.

Geology

The collections of rocks, minerals and fossils are variable in quality.

Rocks

The rock collection consists of a few hundred specimens from Aberdeenshire, Britain and Europe. There is patchy coverage of local rock types, though there is a representative collection of granites.

Minerals

This collection contains a fairly representative group of minerals, suitable for display, education and research.

Fossils

The fossil collection includes representative specimens of the major fossil groups and has important Old Red Sandstone fish material. Much of the material, however, is not of display quality, although the Old Red Sandstone fish material has been the subject of research work in the past.

Human History

For ease of consideration the Human History Collection has been divided into the following sub-headings:

Farming; Social History; Archives; Costume and Textiles; Archaeology; Numismatics; Ethnography; Arms and Armour; Photography

Farming

The agricultural collections of the Aberdeenshire Farming Museum were awarded Recognised Collection of National Significance, designated by Museums Galleries Scotland, in 2008.

The collection is based on the original agricultural collection amassed at Adamston, Huntly by the late Hew McCall-Smith and purchased by Banff & Buchan District Council in 1984. The original collection was augmented by further acquisitions by the former North East Scotland Agricultural Heritage Centre (NESAHC), including the relocation to of the Hareshowe croft in 1990. The NESAHC collections were supplemented in 1996 by the agricultural collection of North East Scotland Museums Service (NESMS).

The collection presents an extensive view of farming and country life in North East Scotland over the last two to three hundred years, with a strong focus on the 19^th and 20^th centuries. The collection includes some important items such as the early wooden ox plough from the NESMS collection. The range of larger agricultural implements demonstrates the importance of the local burgh foundries to farming in Aberdeenshire.

Archives relating to this collection include some rural farming business material such as Barclay, Ross & Hutchison of Turriff. There is a good, though incomplete, run of the Transactions of the (Royal) Highland & Agricultural Society of Scotland from 1872 to 1968, as well as Clydesdale stud books and catalogues of important breeders and their herds of Aberdeen Angus cattle.

Social History

The social history collection covers a wide range of material including bicycles, prams, shop fittings, industrial machinery, ship models, medical, musical and scientific instruments, commemorative and ornamental items, toys and games, weights and measures, photographic and textile equipment, and everyday domestic material.

Much of the material has a specific association with Aberdeenshire, such as civic regalia and weights and measures. In particular, the maritime collections relate to the herring fishing, the whaling trade and harbour development.

Archaeology

The archaeology collection comprises material from North East Scotland, with a small collection of Egyptian and classical Greek material. The material from the North East is generally confined to individual items from Aberdeenshire.

In the past, individual finds came to the collection mainly by donation. The Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel (SAFAP) has allocated copious items to the collection in recent years.

The collection is strongest in Neolithic and Bronze Age material, with a large collection of flints of various ages, a significant collection of beakers and cinerary urns, and an important collection of carved stone balls. The most important parts of the archaeology collection comprise the Neolithic Ardiffery jet necklace (part of the Ardiffery/Greenbrae assemblage), the Iron Age Deskford carnyx, and the Pictish Gaulcross silver hoard (the latter two, on temporary loan to National Museums Scotland, are of national importance). The medieval period has been augmented by several excavation assemblages.

Arms and Armour

This is a varied collection of British and foreign firearms, swords and daggers, shot and powder flasks, and some armour. There are two significant sub-collections: (a) the arms and armour donated by the Duke of Fife; and (b) the Anderson Bey collection of North African and Afghan militaria formerly held by .

Costume and Textiles

This collection comprises costume, textiles and accessories. The collection comprises mainly ladies’ costume with some notable 19^th-century dresses, including a fair sample for the period 1850 to 1920, and for the 1960s and 1970s. There are also several banners, most notably the banner of the Banff Hammermen.

Numismatics and Paranumismatics

The core of this collection is the Arbuthnot Coin and Medal Collection. This is a representative collection which includes Greek, Roman, English, Scottish, and British coins, and 18^th– and 19^th-century commemorative medals, together with associated archive material related to its acquisition by Adam Arbuthnot. There is a more general collection which includes trade and church tokens, as well as miscellaneous material including beggars’ badges. The church tokens form a representative collection across Scotland.

The core of the commemorative medal collection is the Arbuthnot collection. There is a collection of military medals representing the Boer War, the First and Second World Wars, as well as a Waterloo Medal.

Photography

This collection holds over 17,000 catalogued images, as glass negatives, lantern slides, original photographs, postcards and flexible sheet negatives. Over half of this material relates to the Peterhead area.

The glass negatives primarily derive from the Shivas collection (959 images) of Peterhead and provide a record of the area between about 1860 and the 1950s. Original photographs and postcards provide a record up to the 1960s, supplemented by flexible negatives. The Broughall collection comprises 2,200 35mm and medium format negatives from the Peterhead area during the last two decades of the 20th century. The Morrison collection comprises 670 glass negatives and 45 black and white prints of farming scenes in the Foveran area between 1890 and 1920.

There are also two large collections from the Banff area: the Bodie collection of late 19th- and early 20th-century glass plates (1,500 – 2,000) which include rare glass plate negatives by Banff photographer George Bremner, and the Ritchie collection of early- to mid-20th-century roll film negatives with an excess of 500 glass negatives totalling approx. 8,500 images. Both collections are in the process of being catalogued to item level.

There is a need to maintain dialogue regarding the collecting of photographs with Aberdeenshire Libraries, Aberdeen City & Shire Archives, and various community heritage groups.

Ethnography

The Ethnography collection is based on the Arbuthnot collection and on other 19^th-century collections. The most significant section in the collection is the Inuit material, brought back by whaling ships in the 19th century; other items come from Africa, the Americas, Australasia and China.

Source: Collection development policy

Date: 2020

Licence: CC BY-NC