Put an everyday item on a see-through tabletop, such as a cup, key, notebook, tool, or article of clothing. Spend a few minutes writing down what you see rather than researching its origins or inquiring about its owner. This brief distance between observation and interpretation is the fundamental principle of museum description. An appropriate object description will enable another individual to recognize the item without relying on an uncertain narrative about its age, production, usage, or cultural importance.
Start with the object’s type, materials, form, size, construction, and hue. Instead of noting that the cup is “old and valuable,” indicate that it is a small clay object with a curved body, single handle, pale glaze, and black line around the top. “Old” must be demonstrated; “valuable” is an opinion, not a physical attribute. Descriptive clarity strengthens the reliability of a catalogue entry and provides subsequent researchers with the groundwork for researching provenance, dating, and object history.
Descriptions of marks and wear patterns should likewise be neutral. A black area is not definitely burn damage, and a fracture does not mean someone dropped the object. Instead, note its location, dimensions, form, and look: “A patch of dark brown, around two centimeters in diameter, near the bottom of the cup, with irregular edges.” A description of condition can detail damage types, such as scratches, missing sections, discoloration, reattachment, or texture variations, without determining the source of the wear. Leave investigation of the mark to those skilled in conservation practices.
Uniformity is as vital as detail. Apply consistent sequence of measuring dimensions in each entry, for example, measuring height, width, and depth, and use a measurement unit. Use a single object designation and apply that throughout the catalogue record, photo caption, and location note. If material identification is uncertain, employ “appears to be” or record the generic group, and refrain from claiming a choice as a certainty. Something can be called a metal object without committing to silver, and a woven thing can be called textile before fiber identification.
When the descriptive account of what can be seen is complete, split a page into three categories: known data, potential interpretations, and pending inquiries. “The top of the cup is surrounded by a strip of blue paint” is known data. “It might have been created for household application” is a potential interpretation. “Who made it?” and “Was the handle reattached?” are pending inquiries. This separation prevents supposition from silently infiltrating the permanent record and identifies areas requiring further investigation. Use photographs to corroborate a description, and take pictures from various identical angles and with an identification tag and measuring bar.
Read the description without looking at the item. Decide if a person would be able to tell which one is the described one if they had a bunch of the same type. Look for non-specific descriptions, such as nice-looking, rare, historical, genuine, or damaged. Then make sure that you describe each detail that you see. A good museum description does not need to be dramatic; it needs to be accurate, uniform, and restrained, and give room for future data to shed light on the object’s story.