By Kirsty Gilchrist and Heather Munro
At the Scottish Maritime Museum, a large percentage of our collection is formed of industrial objects of significance. This requires us to take specific actions and follow certain rules regarding conservation.
When caring for the industrial objects in our collection, we follow best practice as laid out by the Industrial Museums Scotland trusted AOC Archaeology Group. This organisation provides guidebooks that contain expert advice about preventative conservation and caring for museum collections.
Regular monitoring and light cleaning or dusting by the collections team and visitor services staff gives us an idea of the current condition of items. We keep on top of this by maintaining a housekeeping log that is available for all staff members to consult.
Most of the smaller items in our collection are not handled often. This is in line with industry guidelines and expected practice for museums. When handled, any dirt or natural oils on our skin is transferred to the surface of an object, sort of like fingerprints lingering on a phone screen. This can degrade objects over time, so handling should always be minimised.
Our primary goal is to create a stable environment for objects so that they can be preserved in museum collections for as long as possible. We do this by storing our collection in acid free tissue paper and boxes in our temperature-controlled archive store. This helps to reduce deterioration as much as possible. When we do need to handle objects, for instance to put them on display for a new exhibition, nitrile gloves are sometimes worn depending on the material of the object. These gloves act as a barrier between our skin and the object and reduces the level of contact being made. However, we do not wear gloves when handling paper objects as our hands will not cause much damage when clean and dry, and increased dexterity is important to avoid accidently creating tears on a page. To reduce our use of single-use plastic, it is important that we remain aware of when the use of gloves is or isn’t necessary. Contrary to the portrayal of curators in movies, we would never wear white cotton gloves, as these are ill-fitting and make it difficult to handle an object safely. We also monitor any changes noticed when handling an object based on previous records. We can note these changes in our database, along with photographs of the object being examined.
Larger items in our collection, like machinery and vessels, and the objects on permanent display in museum cases are more vulnerable to deterioration than items in the archive store. This is because they are subject to various environmental factors that cannot be easily controlled, for instance in our museum buildings or as part of our displays outside. These factors include heat and light, which are not easy to control in our glass roofed Linthouse building.
Our cleaning rota requires us to re-assess the condition of the large objects of machinery every 6 months. This involves writing a condition report and photographing objects before and after cleaning takes place.
As curators, we are concerned with preventative conservation, which is intended to hold off deterioration and damage as much as possible. If an object is more severely damaged or deteriorates beyond our management, we would then consult a professional conservator in the required area of expertise. For instance, we recently enlisted professional help from AOC to clean the very large ship model of the Queen Elizabeth in our collection on loan, as it is fragile and requires a specialist to take time on minute details.
Some of the objects in our collection are the only surviving objects of their kind, which makes preventative conservation even more valuable. For example, Lady Guilford, which is located at the back of our Linthouse building, was commissioned in 1819 by the Marquess of Bute and is possibly the oldest surviving Scottish built boat.
SS Rifle, which is located near the machine pits, was used as a passenger ferry on Loch Arkaig in the 1860s and is the earliest example of a prefabricated screw steamer.
Other objects act as surviving evidence of significant Scottish maritime events. For instance, the dinghy Bass Conqueror beside our dinghy game was used by Kenneth Kerr in two attempts to break the record for the smallest vessel to be rowed across the Atlantic. In 1980, during his second attempt, the boat was recovered near Norway without Kenneth and sadly he was never seen again.
Staff at the Scottish Maritime Museum hope to make visitors aware of the importance of preserving these objects for future generations. We ask visitors not to touch any of these fragile objects during their time in the museum and tell these stories to stress the importance of our ongoing care and conservation processes.
Photographs:
© Author (2026) & © Scottish Maritime Museum
