Historic Nantucket, July 1974, Vol. 22 No. 1

Report of the Whaling Museum THE CONSERVATION of works of art and antiquities entrusted to its care is certainly one of the primary responsibilities of museum management. Since the Association has been especially active in this area during the past year, it seems appropriate to begin this report with a brief account of such progress made at the Whaling Museum.

Most importantly, the museum's entire art collection has been reviewed by experts in conservation and, in accordance with priorities established with their help, the Association has pressed forward to implement their recommendations. Since last fall, eighteen of our oil paintings, watercolors and prints have received professional care at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the New England Document Conservation Center in North Andover, Mass. In addition, virtually all of our other art-on-paper has been rebacked with museum quality, acid-free rag board.

This is a preventive measure designed to minimize further de­ terioration until items requiring more extensive attention can be scheduled to receive it.

Ship models, scrimshaw, whaling irons and gear, and miscel­ laneous artifacts also require regular maintenance and repair but there is nothing out of the ordinary to report in these cate­ gories. Competent volunteers have offered to make minor repairs on certain ship models under the expert direction of Charles Sayle, and we are hopeful that this project will move ahead after the regular season has closed.

The Whaling Museum is rightfully proud of its outstanding collection but this does not mean that there isn't plenty of room for improvement, both as to quantity and quality. This was brought home to us a short while ago when a number of items on loan were placed on sale by the owner. Fortunately, the Associa­ tion was able to buy several of the better prints, and to avoid an unacceptable downgrading of the collection. The owner very gen­ erously made a special price for our benefit and we are deeply grateful.

A brief passage from the 1973 report of Ernest S. Dodge, Director of the Peabody Museum in Salem, Mass., is very much to the point. Mr. Dodge wrote as follows: "The hard core of any museum is the richness and extent of the collections within its areas of specialization. Collecting in those fields of interest must always continue. Any other policyfor a museum ivould mean its slow death." (Emphasis supplied.)

Friends have responded generously on many occasions to urgent exhibit needs made known to them through the pages of this quarterly. It happened most recently early this year when