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Pitt Rivers Museum

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Staff and Maasai visitors in Pitt Rivers Museum

Museums and Decolonisation: Stories from the Pitt Rivers Museum

Sign up for a series of lectures exploring how ethnographic and world cultures museums can create active discussion around key issues facing society today.

Virtual Tour

Wander the galleries with a virtual visit to the Museum.

Rainbow letters spelling Hope projected onto dark front of Museum of Natural History

Radical Hope, Critical Change

Join us to reimagine museum practice.

Double portrait of Kesang Ball in modern and traditional dress

Online Exhibitions

Discover our past exhibitions through images and videos.

View from above of colourful textiles being laid out on table

Online Collections

Browse the object and photograph collections online.

Objects in the 'Messy Realities' project

Research

Find out about some of the exciting research projects going on behind the scenes.

Museum Donation Box with carved wooden figures

Please make a donation to support the work of the Museum

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Plastic Fantastic

Follow the Conservation Team as they use modern 3D printing techniques to replicate historic musical instruments in the collections and recreate the music first played hundreds of years ago on the original ivory recorders.

Watch here

Conservation case study: Noh theatre masks

The Museum holds a collection of 52 Noh theatre masks. Many had suffered from shrinkage of the wood resulting in...

The Museum holds a collection of 52 Noh theatre masks. Many had suffered from shrinkage of the wood resulting in cracking and loss to the gofun top layer. A total of 102 hours of conservation...

The Museum holds a collection of 52 Noh theatre masks. Many had suffered from shrinkage of the wood resulting in cracking and loss to the gofun top layer. A total of 102 hours of conservation work was needed to...

The Museum holds a collection of 52 Noh theatre masks. Many had suffered from shrinkage of the wood resulting in cracking and loss to the gofun top layer. A total of 102 hours of conservation work was needed to get them ready for display.

Detail of the neck of shirt (1893.67.5) before conservation

Conservation case study: Blackfoot shirts

In 2010, five historic Blackfoot hide shirts travelled from the Pitt Rivers Museum to Alberta, Canada, for handling...

In 2010, five historic Blackfoot hide shirts travelled from the Pitt Rivers Museum to Alberta, Canada, for handling workshops and exhibitions. The combined conservation treatment time...

In 2010, five historic Blackfoot hide shirts travelled from the Pitt Rivers Museum to Alberta, Canada, for handling workshops and exhibitions. The combined conservation treatment time to prepare the shirts for travel...

In 2010, five historic Blackfoot hide shirts travelled from the Pitt Rivers Museum to Alberta, Canada, for handling workshops and exhibitions. The combined conservation treatment time to prepare the shirts for travel was 303 hours.

Three stitched tools on a black material

Conservation case study: Edo oni figures

The Museum's two oni figures stand just over 1m tall. Over time, their paint had begun to peel and the kimono...

The Museum's two oni figures stand just over 1m tall. Over time, their paint had begun to peel and the kimono was very fragile with considerable damage. It took nearly 200 hours...

The Museum's two oni figures stand just over 1m tall. Over time, their paint had begun to peel and the kimono was very fragile with considerable damage. It took nearly 200 hours of conservation work to get...

The Museum's two oni figures stand just over 1m tall. Over time, their paint had begun to peel and the kimono was very fragile with considerable damage. It took nearly 200 hours of conservation work to get them ready for display.

Detail of willow shaving layers (inau) on quiver (1910.68.12)

Conservation case study: Ainu hunting quiver

While the quiver was being assessed in the conservation department, it became apparent that the object had numerous...

While the quiver was being assessed in the conservation department, it became apparent that the object had numerous signs of wear and repair suggesting its long-term use. It took 126...

While the quiver was being assessed in the conservation department, it became apparent that the object had numerous signs of wear and repair suggesting its long-term use. It took 126 hours of conservation work to...

While the quiver was being assessed in the conservation department, it became apparent that the object had numerous signs of wear and repair suggesting its long-term use. It took 126 hours of conservation work to get it ready for display.

Stroud cloth on war bonnet (1954.8.140) with felted wool gap-fill

Conservation case study: Lakota war bonnet

This war bonnet was made by the Oglala Lakota, one of the tribes comprising the 'Great Sioux Nation.'...

This war bonnet was made by the Oglala Lakota, one of the tribes comprising the 'Great Sioux Nation.' Over time, many of the materials had begun to deteriorate and weaken...

This war bonnet was made by the Oglala Lakota, one of the tribes comprising the 'Great Sioux Nation.' Over time, many of the materials had begun to deteriorate and weaken due to damage caused by insect...

This war bonnet was made by the Oglala Lakota, one of the tribes comprising the 'Great Sioux Nation.' Over time, many of the materials had begun to deteriorate and weaken due to damage caused by insect attack and the accumulation of Museum dust.

Detail of headdress (1886.1.1637.6) before construction

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Conservation

The case studies on this page document the work of the Museum conservators who are responsible for safeguarding...

The case studies on this page document the work of the Museum conservators who are responsible for safeguarding the 300,000 artefacts in the Museum's collections for the futur...

The case studies on this page document the work of the Museum conservators who are responsible for safeguarding the 300,000 artefacts in the Museum's collections for the future.