This 1850s ambrotype is the 100 000th object to be registered in the Images and Image Making collection.
Image: Museum Victoria
Source: Museum Victoria.
The museum’s History and Technology department reached a significant milestone in August with the registration of the 100 000th item from the Images and Image Making collection.
“It is fitting that the item MM 100000 is an ambrotype, one of the earliest forms of photography and a rare example at that,” said Lorenzo Iozzi, Senior Collection Manager of the Images and Audiovisual Collections. The ambrotype is a subtly tinted studio portrait of an unknown woman and it is nestled in an ornate leather, velvet and gilt case. It dates from 1850-1860, a period when ambrotypes were briefly very popular before being superseded by less fragile processes such as tintypes.
Collection registration is very much a collaborative effort between volunteers, collection managers, curators, and backlog teams. It invariably draws in other departments too, such as conservation and production services. It involves creating a catalogue record for each item that lists all the information known about the object, such as its date and place of creation, a description, how it was made and how it was acquired. The registration record also includes a copy image of the original item. As Lorenzo explained, “an essential part of preservation is cataloguing, since the degree to which something is registered is the measure by which people can access the item. The better the data that’s recorded, the more people can find the object.”
Registering the Images and Image Making Collection is not a small task - this collection comprises more than 300 000 images that record Victoria’s social and technological history. Within it are notable sub-collections including lantern slides, the H.V. McKay Collection recording the Sunshine Harvester Works and the Biggest Family Album. Additionally, it includes examples and equipment that illustrate the evolution of photography. The History and Technology department is in the process of rehousing the entire collection which entails introducing improved storage systems and access procedures.