A Different Perspective on the Collection

One of the great privileges of being a registrar of a diverse group of museums, is that I am exposed to so many varied items - paintings, prints, sculptures, textiles, Judaica, ship models, jewelry, and many others. Tens of thousands of items, each with their own unique story.

The National Maritime Museum’s collection began nearly 70 years ago. Over the course of this time thousands of items have been collected, and it is always interesting to learn about a particular work’s history, such as how it came to be in the collection (most were donated, but some were purchased), who were the donors, how did they come about to own these works, and under what circumstances were the items donated. For some items all this information was lost and we know nothing about the donors, other than perhaps their names. These historical details give us a fuller understanding of each item, and of the entire collection taken as a whole.

In this exhibit, I have sought out works not shown to the public in many years, if at all. The fact that they were not exhibited is not indicative of their insignificance. It may be due to many factors, but mostly because they did not fit easily into the themes of the museum exhibitions. At any given
point in time, a mere few hundred items are on display, out of a collection of many thousands.

Going over the collection I could have easily presented an entirely different exhibition. But I felt the items displayed here were all of interest, and together help give an overview of the diversity of the collection.

The museum’s collection emphasizes not only the journey, and the technology supporting that journey (ships, navigational instruments etc.), but also its purpose. Exploration, trade, curiosity, tourism, battle - all these aims can be found in the exhibition, and help give a broad overview of the collection. I take great pride in being able to present these works, and in highlighting my mission of properly safeguarding our treasured collections. I hope future generations reexamine individual pieces, find interest, and continue to explore.

Ron Hillel