Earlier this year, the Powell-Cotton Trust was awarded funds from the UK Government via Arts Council England to make major and necessary repairs to our leaky roof.
This means that for the duration of the works, all items on the walls and in the cases need to be removed in order to protect them.
When you next visit you will notice things are looking a little bare around here! We have emptied the cases in Gallery 2 and 3, removed 100 skulls from the walls, and taken down the shields and spears that were on the ceiling.
This means not only we can protect them during the works, but also gives us a good opportunity to clean, preserve, and learn about these collections. In some cases, the artefacts have been on display for over 100 years.
Are the dioramas being protected too?
Yes! Our dioramas are being protected in situ. They are too delicate to move but we have engaged with specialists to make sure the dioramas are kept safe.
How do you move delicate artefacts including an elephant’s head?
When you have a tricky item to move, how do you go about it? We started by trying to gather as much information as we could about the specimen. There are many challenges to consider:
How old is it?
How heavy is it?
How is it mounted?
Is it delicate or damaged?
How to protect the items around it?
Where to store it?
We spoke to other museums who had undertaken similar projects and asked them to share their experiences with us. Luckily, we’re not the only ones to have faced this unusual task!
Once we had done our research, it was time to bring in the experts. We worked with art handlers who had the knowledge and tools to bring him down safely, and our talented onsite maintenance team created a crate to keep him safe during the roof works.
What do we know about this elephant?
Accession Number: NH.SOM1.85
This male African Forest Elephant was shot by Percy Powell-Cotton on 29 January 1896 during a hunting trip to parts of Somalia and Ethiopia. The head has been on display in the Museum for over 125 years.
Percy had the Elephant’s head mounted as a trophy in 1898 by Edward Gerrard & Sons, one of the biggest taxidermy companies in the UK at the time. The work cost £10 (equivalent of just over £1,000 in 2024).
Several of the other animals Percy collected on this trip were mounted by Gerrards and are displayed in the ‘Trophy Head’ case in Gallery 2, including the Hyaena (17) and Warthog (15).
Did you know?
The Elephant head was already on mounted display in Galleries 2 and 3 before the rest of the Museum existed. We can’t move him out of the Gallery now because the rest of the Museum has been built around these original galleries. The corridors and doors are too small for him to be removed.
