Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Meteoric iron used for keris's vs. for Indian weapons

B.I · 9th March 2005, 05:00 PM

well found, gene. i didnt realise that a picture was online, and i bet jens is kicking himself for not finding it first

i learnt sometime ago from the V&A pieces that you can find additional information from somthing as simple as an accession number. these are never random numbers, at least in british institutions and i think the US is the same.
this piece has the number
Purchase, F1955.27a-b
1955 is the year the museum aquired it, and F probably is the inititial of the person/sale it was aquired from. i'm sure a little back tracking could yield some more information. either that, or a phonecall to someone in the department to ask what the F stands for. it would be good to know where the dagger came from, as we can assume the museum hasnt held it too long.

9th March 2005, 05:00 PM	#104
B.I Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 485	well found, gene. i didnt realise that a picture was online, and i bet jens is kicking himself for not finding it first i learnt sometime ago from the V&A pieces that you can find additional information from somthing as simple as an accession number. these are never random numbers, at least in british institutions and i think the US is the same. this piece has the number Purchase, F1955.27a-b 1955 is the year the museum aquired it, and F probably is the inititial of the person/sale it was aquired from. i'm sure a little back tracking could yield some more information. either that, or a phonecall to someone in the department to ask what the F stands for. it would be good to know where the dagger came from, as we can assume the museum hasnt held it too long.