Treasures in tins: historical packaging in natural history collections

Abstract

Historical packaging that utilises unusual or readily available items rather than modern conservation grade materials to store specimens is commonplace in many museum collections. It can be an additional, and fascinating, source of information about specimens and can expand on the time, place and historical context in which they were collected. Whilst now recognised as unsuitable storage media, such packaging does offer data relevant to scientific research as well as the culture and history of specimen collection. Information about the packaging itself should therefore be preserved in association with the specimens. This article documents some discoveries of historical packaging at the Natural History Museum (London, UK) and makes recommendations for an approach to documenting historical packaging as an integral part of re-storage projects. It also touches upon some of the conservation issues associated with historical packaging and highlights its potential use as a novel outreach tool which can develop a greater understanding of the history of museum collections