By Jess Milhausen, Inventory Assistant, National Museum of Ireland 

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In a world where we learn to type before holding a pencil and where we communicate in emojis, historic museum labels can be fascinating objects on their own. Their beautiful cursive writing holds back to a time when good penmanship was essential in many disciplines.

However these original labels aren’t just beautiful relics from a bygone time, they can provide valuable information about when and where a specimen was collected and what the specimen was identified as. This information gives specimens the vital context needed to help interpret them. In natural history collections, we call the objects "specimens", as they are an example of an animal, plant, fossil, rock or mineral from a specific place and time.

Provenience and Provenance

One type of information these labels may provide is provenience, which is where an object was originally collected from. Sometimes this is referred to as the “in situ” location. This type of information is incredibly important to geologists, zoologists and archaeologists and without it the specimens often have very little scientific value.  

The labels can also provide information about the provenance, which is the history of where an object or specimen has been since it was collected. This is also called the chain of ownership custody. In the art world, who has owned a work of art can often increase the value of the piece, sometimes as much as who initially created it. While not always as important for natural history collections, provenance can still provide valuable information about the specimens. Museums who hold collections by groundbreaking scientists like Charles Darwin or Carl Linnaeus take great pride in the provenance of these specimens as they represent great accomplishments in the understanding of natural science. 

The Origin of Collections

Here in Ireland, the National Museum of Ireland – Natural History has inherited collections from institutions such the Royal Dublin Society. Many specimens in our Geology Collection still have their original labels from when they were part of the “Science & Art Museum Dublin” in 1878.  Some of the specimens were also once part the collection of Nathanael Gottfried Leske, who amassed an important collection of geological specimens in the 1700s. Knowing this information can be helpful in understanding who might have used these collection for defining scientific criteria and publishing academic research.

The labels can also provide information about what the specimen was originally identified as. In Zoology, it is not uncommon for identifications to change over the years. As advancements in genetics and DNA progress our understanding of biological diversity we are changing the ways we categorize the natural world around us.  

Label Logistics

While in most cases museums would not label specimens in the same way today, it captures a moment in time for collecting history. Nowadays, museums have other foci while labeling collections. Most museums use the smallest label possible, placed in a discreet location. Often only the object number is placed on the object. This can be a paper label affixed to the specimen or a number written directly on the object. Additionally, great care is taken to label objects with materials that are both archival quality and removable. This is so the label doesn’t cause damage to the specimen and so that future generations can remove it if necessary.

Read more about how the Registration Department manages collections data here!