COLLECTOR'S ALLEY
"What's New": Recent Collections at Mystic by Stuart Parnes, Associate Curator Mystic Seaport Museum To those of us who work in museums, collecting is such a natural, fundamental activity, that we seldom stop to think about it or even remind ourselves of its importance. Though from day to day we may be teachers, designers, publishers or explorers, we are after all-collectors. Collecting can be an all-consuming passion. Some of us fill every working hour, and more than a few of our leisure ones, in the search for small pieces of the past. There are always embarrassing gaps in our museums' collections-missing artists, missing periods , missing styles, unusual materials, early examples, late examples-there is no end to the patching that we can do to the fabric of history. For collecting is the sine qua non-the noble activity that separates the museum from every other cultural and educational institution. To gather up artistically or historically significant objects so we may preserve and study them-that is our true calling. More than the construction of new galleries or the increase in numbers of staff and programs, it is the growth and refinement of our collections that is the true gauge of a museum's development. Unfortunately, our public is often unaware of our collecting- often not even sure what we collect, never mind how or why we collect it. It is this public on whom we depend for so much of our support, yet our museums have traditionally done little to help their understanding. What the public does learn about collecting is what makes the news. We all read about the record prices brought at auction for impressionist paintings or Chippendale furniture. And who is not dazzled when an institution like the J. Paul Getty Museum of California announces that it will pour millions upon millions into its search for collections? The somewhat less newsworthy truth is that most museum collecting is done quietly, methodically, year after year after year. A revealing look at one museum's ongoing collecting is now being offered in a new exhibition at Mystic Seaport's R.J. Schaefer Gallery. Entitled "What's New," the show presents a selection of nearly 100 artifacts that have come into the Seaport's collections during the past five years. The variety is impressive and surprising! Traditional maritime artifacts are of course included-navigational instruments, scrimshaw, ship portraits in oil and watercolor, and rigged models of astonishing detail. But Mystic's collections are far broader than this, and it is this unexpected breadth that is the real subject of the exhibit. SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984
A wide variety ofnew acquisitions will be and display in the "Whats New" exhibit at the R.J. Schaefer Gallery at Mystic Seaport Museum until April 29.
Sharing the spotlight are two full-sized sailing boats, a collection of tattooing gear, a Japanese robe brought back to America by a Portuguese whaleman, and a magic lantern projector complete with 19th century glass photographic slides of fishing and lifesaving activities. A few steps from a group of elaborate silver yachting trophies is a printed paper bag from a local Mystic ship provisioner, that through some small miracle has managed to survive since the 1890s. And there is much more. The exhibit raises some good questions: "Why does one museum want to collect all these different things?" Fine arts, decorative arts, boats, instruments, photographs, silver, textiles, models-the objects are linked by one common thread. In some way they each help Mystic Seaport achieve its stated purpose: "... to preserve materials , artifacts, vessels and skills relating to maritime history in order to enhance man's knowledge and understanding of the sea's influence on American life." "Did.you buy all these things?" Ah, if it were only true! Mystic Seaport, like most other museums in America today continues to rely on private collectors and benefactors to donate art, artifacts and funds for acquisitions. Few public institutions can any longer afford to compete at the auction block with commercial galleries, dealers and each other. Since 1929 when Mystic was founded, over 5,000 in-
dividuals have contributed objects to the growth of the museum's collections. Even over the past five years, when the staff has taken a far more active role in seeking out and purchasing needed artifacts, the great majority of important new material has come as gifts. ''What do you do with all this material once you get it?" Mystic's gallery space is sufficient to exhibit at most 10 percent of its collections. at any one time. The percentages vary, but the situation is basically the same in any museum . So why collect more than you can display? The size of a museum's collection should be limited only by its ability to preserve it. Proper storage is extremely expensive, as are the preservation and conservation efforts that may be required. But a collection's depth is its strength. A strong reserve collection not only provides the objects for changing exhibitions at home and loans to other museums, but it assures a rich and well preserved archive for research . The millions of pieces of our material culture that are preserved within museum walls are the primary source materials for generations of students and scholars to come. When "What's New" closes in April, most of the artifacts will return to storage, where they will remain for months or years until they are selected again for study or display. But meanwhile, the collecting will continue through purchase and donation . The search will go on as it must, for something old, something new. 45