Any idea what these are?

 

Do you remember seeing something like this in the museum before? No? Good. 

 

These structures are not made to be seen. They are object mounts which are carefully designed to present our collections from the best possible angle whilst visually disappearing into the background themselves. 

 

 

Designing and making such mounts for our often very delicate and valuable collections requires precise metal working skills, patience and a good eye for colour. 

 

The Conservation and Preservation team has several specialists in mount making. Dennis Hayler, our most experienced mount maker, makes most of the complex supports for three dimensional objects as seen in the images. Having joined the Museum more than 30 years ago he has fine-tuned skills. 

 

Dennis usually starts the process with a detailed discussion with the exhibition designers and curators to tease out how exactly they want individual objects to be displayed and which features they want to highlight. The side and angle an object is shown at can make a crucial difference to its visual impact. 

 

Based on his experience Dennis decides what type of mount is most suitable. Mounts can either be stand-alone, fixed to a backboard or even suspended. The object will either firmly rest on the supporting structure or be held securely by little flexible hooks or spokes. 

 

 

To provide sufficient strength, the base material of an object mount will often be metal, usually brass. After cutting out the basic shapes of the individual parts, these are annealed, which means they are heated till the brass turns to a dull red to release internal stress in the metal and keep it flexible. Dennis then solders the often minute individual parts together. The oxide layers formed on the metal during soldering are removed by dipping the semi-finished mount into an acidic solution. This so called ‘pickle’ has to be washed off carefully afterwards. Finally the mounts are ready to be filed and polished until any rough edges are removed. 

 

 

Dennis then coats the mounts in the paint agreed with the designer, which will usually match the baseboard or background colour of the showcase. Sometimes visible parts of the mount will also be re-touched to match the object. To finish of padding is often added to any parts directly touching the objects. 

 

 

Recently Dennis Hayler has made over 150 of these intricate structures for our new display in the Voyagers Gallery. One of the objects on display is a surgeon’s kit, which required 15 mounts to present the individual tools alone! 

See whether you can spot any of these next time you come to visit.   

 

 

See if you can spot the mounts and visit our free Voyagers Gallery