Volunteer is our own 'small blessing'

This week, a chat with our project collections volunteer, Kristyn Maguire.

Where are you from Kristyn?

Australia, but currently living in Oxford.

Why did you volunteer at the PRM? 

I was interested in the Wellcome collection of amulets and saw the job vacancies for the ‘Small Blessings’ project when I was in Canada. I'd already decided to study in Oxford (MSc in Applied Landscape Archaeology) so I thought that if I could still be involved with the project in some capacity I could find out more about the development of belief systems and ritualistic behaviours by getting to see a wide range of amulets and objects from different cultures around the world.

What have you been doing at the Museum?
I’ve been volunteering up to two days a week for several months, trying to fit it around my working life. I’ve been assisting with the project documentation process. The cataloguers Alice and Rosanna take a photograph of every amulet (several thousand of them) and I’ve been optimising these in Photoshop - cropping, colour correcting and so on. I’ve been double-checking the file names to match the images to the records so people access the right image when they’re browsing the online database. I’ve also been transcribing some of the collector’s original catalogue entries into the database - again, so all the information is stored together.

What have you enjoyed most about being here?
I really like the Museum – it’s unique. It’s been fascinating going behind the scenes. I worked for almost two years in the museums sector in Canada so it’s been nice to build on my experience by continuing here in the UK where it’s so hard to break into the industry.

What will you do next?
I start my Masters course in October, part-time for two years. I then hope to do a PhD. I will be in Oxford for a while so I’d be open to any further voluntary opportunities here at the Pitt Rivers!

A museum cataloguer’s ‘tool-kit’

One of the main aims of the ‘Small Blessings’ project is to accession, catalogue, physically number, label, document, and improve the storage for around five-thousand amulets. 

In the process of doing this, we cataloguers have a ‘tool-kit’ that we draw upon to go about the practicalities of our job on a day-to-day basis. This tool-kit consists of things such as rotary pens to physically number the objects and write labels. Where there is a large enough non-porous surface available, we use an acetone-based liquid (not unlike nail varnish) to apply a clear barrier before letting it dry and writing the number on top. This means we are not writing onto the object itself and allows the number to be removed or altered in the future. Due to the nature of amulets – ‘small blessings’ that are designed to be worn close to the body – it is sometimes very difficult to number them like this because they are too small!

In a cataloguer’s tool-kit you’ll also find string, a tape measure, a magnifying glass, scissors, and some charming nitrile purple gloves! We also use a digital camera to create a visual record of each object.

But this tool-kit also includes immaterial qualities such as an eye for detail, an ability to describe concisely what you are looking at, and an awareness of the different materials and processes that were involved in making such a wide variety of amulets: from Roman Catholic reliquaries, to pendants carved out of lava from Mount Vesuvius, to a wolf’s tooth worn to prevent convulsions. 

Images of religious figures printed on paper and
carried in a policeman's amulet satchel from Germany.

It is incredibly important to complete all the above stages involved in cataloguing an object collection. This will allow staff, researchers, and the public to locate these objects in the future and hopefully be inspired to find out more about a particular amulet or the collection as a whole.

Rosanna & Alice

What's inside?

Over the next seven months the project team will be accessioning and documenting the objects inside these boxes. What will they find? 

The catalogue for this collection tells us that Adrien de Mortillet collected amulets from all around the world. There are amulets from Algeria, Bolivia and China, and from Egypt, India and Japan. Many of the amulets are from cities in Russia – Kiev and Moscow, Italy – Naples, Rome and Verona, and France – Paris, Toulouse and Tours. 

The catalogue also tells us that many of the objects are religious amulets. There are reliquaries (containers for relics connected with saints or other religious figures), rosaries (prayer beads), and ex-votos (votive offerings to saints or divinities). There are also many hamsas (the hand of Fatima) and fish (a traditional symbol of Christianity). 

Apart from these religious amulets there are also many folkloric amulets in the collection, including acorns, clovers and horseshoes. 

The variety of these objects is also reflected in the materials from which they are made. There are amulets made from stone, coral and pearl, from bronze, silver and gold, and from teeth, bone and skin. 

Charlotte