The Museums...

[Kubur]

Hi Guys,

What do you think about that?
Do you see any mistakes??
http://www.vam.ac.uk/users/node/14926
So please, do not worry about the museums, they are all the same.

[kronckew]

why do i have a feeling that something else (pistol?) would fit better in the red carrier and the scabbard should have a somewhat different baldric attached to it's own rings. museums tend to be good at putting shoulder & arm armour down on legs and visa versa. V&A included.

at least it IS a khoumiyyah knife.

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by Kubur

Hi Guys,

What do you think about that?
Do you see any mistakes??
http://www.vam.ac.uk/users/node/14926
So please, do not worry about the museums, they are all the same.

This museum has a lot of rare examples of weapons and armor but their images are for the most part really horrible, how hard it it to properly photograph an item even if you can not correctly identify it.

Koummya, Dagger and sheath Morocco 19th century to 20th century. [Baldric] Red Moroccan leather suspension pouch and strap for a dagger (Koummya), tooled and embroidered with silver and gold wire.

[estcrh]

Here is a perfect example, a very rare pair of Indian armored shoes, so badly photographed that you can hardly see any details, there is no excuse for this, I can take a better photo with a cell phone.

Pair of armoured of brass and steel mail and plate on a padded leather foundation. The forefoot is composed of rows of chevron-shaped alternating rows of brass and steel cusped overlapping plates connected with mail. The sides of the shoes are composed of cusped alternating steel and brass plates. The shoes terminate in brass tips. Place of Origin, Bhuj, Kutch India (made), 19th century (made), Leather with brass and steel.

[Kubur]

Originally Posted by kronckew

why do i have a feeling that a powder flask spout down or something else would fit better in the red carrier and the scabbard should have a somewhat different baldric attached to it's own rings. museums tend to be good at putting shoulder & arm armour down on legs and visa versa. V&A included.

at least it IS a khoumiyyah knife.

Yes
The best would be to put a pistol...

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

I would not be so upset . The idea may be to have clients visit the museum rather than do it online...The picture isnt so bad...It gives the right impression... On the subject of the Baldric for a dagger... The Moroccan system for carrying weaponry was certainly on a sling as Nimcha were carried thus. It would be nice to slot this Koumya onto Koumya at Library.

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

I would not be so upset . The idea may be to have clients visit the museum rather than do it online...The picture isnt so bad...It gives the right impression...

I do not agree at all, except for private collections which receive no public funds museums are custodians of the items that have in their collections. Many museums have so many items that they do not ever show the majority of them, they just sit, not ever photographed in a storage room. The least they can do is to make a dedicated effort to accurately describe and photograph the items they hold.

The Indian armored shoes are extremely rare and the image is small and clearly not detailed at all, and this is after I edited it. No one can learn much from the images provided, any unpaid intern could certainly take and upload a much better group of photos in a matter of minutes, there is absolutely no excuse for their lack of effort.

Here is another example, this is just pathetic. No effort was made to take a good image of this green nephrite jade horse head hilt, in a matter of seconds I was able to remove most of the red from the awful photograph, anyone could do this.

[VANDOO]

THERE ARE MANY FACTORS THAT LEAD TO MISTAKES IN MUSEUM COLLECTIONS, DATA BASES AS WELL AS DISPLAYS. FIRST AND FOREMOST THEY ARE RUN AND MANAGED BY HUMANS SO PERFECTION IS NOT POSSIBLE.
SOME ITEMS MAY BE DONATED TO THE MUSEUM LIKE THE DAGGER PICTURED IN A PISTOL SCABBARD TOGETHER WITH THE WRONG INFORMATION. THE FELLOW MAKING THE DISPLAY MAY KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT WHAT HE IS MAKING A DISPLAY OF BUT JUST PICKS OUT THINGS HE THINKS WILL LOOK NICE. SOMEONE MAY EVEN HAVE PUT THEM TOGETHER BECAUSE HE FOUND THEM IN THE SAME STORAGE BOX.
CURATORS HAVE CERTAIN FIELDS WHERE THEY HAVE SOME EXPERTISE BUT CERTAINLY NEVER KNOW EVERYTHING. THEY OFTEN HAVE TO DEAL WITH FIELDS THEY KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT SO OFTEN TRUST WHAT LITTLE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON ITEMS AND PERHAPS DON'T HAVE OR TAKE THE TIME TO RESEARCH EVERY ITEM FULLY.
ONE BIG PROBLEM WITH MUSEUM MANAGEMENT IS OFTEN POLITICS GET INVOLVED AND THE DIRECTOR MAY NOT BE THE TYPE OF INDIVIDUAL WHO REALLY CARES OR HAS THE KNOWLEDGE TO PROPERLY DO THE JOB BUT LIKES THE PRESTIGE OF THE JOB TITLE. THIS LEADS TO PROBLEMS FOR THE CURATORS AS WELL AS THE MUSEUMS REPUTATION. CURATORS WILL OFTEN DISPLAY WHAT THEY SPECIALIZE IN AND EXCLUDE OR NEGLECT OTHER FIELDS. IF IT WAS ME THE MUSEUM WOULD NO DOUBT HAVE TOO MANY CLUBS ON DISPLAY.
THE MAIN THING IS THE MUSEUMS ARE PRESERVING AND KEEPING THE COLLECTIONS TOGETHER AND ADDING TO THEM. PERHAPS OVER TIME IT WILL ALL GET SORTED OUT.

[Tim Simmons]

Yes more effort needed. Your green is a bit funny as bad as lots of red.

[Battara]

Originally Posted by estcrh

I do not agree at all, except for private collections which receive no public funds museums are custodians of the items that have in their collections. Many museums have so many items that they do not ever show the majority of them, they just sit, not ever photographed in a storage room.

I totally agree! That is why I have to go to the basement of the Field Museum in Chicago if I am ever to see any Filipino/Moro weaponry.

Also I like what you did to the jade khanjar - better than the "brown" green khanjar look.