Numismatics, Norman England and other Tricky Issues: Thematic display and marginalised collections
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2019-12-16

Thematic interpretation of artefacts has the potential to bring to light items which are otherwise not often displayed, as well as revealing unexpected aspects of well-known collections. All too often, however, in planning for a thematic display artefacts which are less familiar to curators are not considered, as they do not immediately suggest themselves for the chosen theme. In these times of few subject specialist job roles, thematic display schemes therefore run the risk of compounding the marginalisation of particular object types or time periods.
 
This paper is drawn from the findings of my recently-submitted PhD thesis. My doctoral research examined the English coinage of William the Conqueror and William Rufus, focussing on collections held in UK museums. The examination ended up revealing something of a ‘double whammy’ of marginalisation, suggesting that both numismatic collections and the Norman period of English history are becoming less visible in the British heritage sector. The paper will discuss this issue, and suggest some new ways to consider unfamiliar collections and bring them to light through thematic displays.


Anja Thompson-Rohde, Bramley House Library / University of Nottingham Museum


Speaker biography
Anja studied Archaeology and Ancient History for her undergraduate research in the 1990s, and then Museums and Heritage Management as a postgraduate. She has just submitted her PhD thesis to the University of Nottingham; her viva examination is likely to be just a couple of days before the SMA conference! In the interim she has held various curatorial and collections management positions in museums, including ten years at Derby Museums Trust, and two years for the Portable Antiquities Scheme as Finds Liaison Officer for Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. She is about to start work as Librarian for Special Collections and Conservation at Bromley House Library in Nottingham, and she also has a casual role as Museum Numismatist and Collections Officer at the University of Nottingham Museum.