It is first time Jersey Heritage has undertaken a ‘deaccessioning’ project, although the process is standard practice with museums around the world. The Museums Association, the governing body for museums across Britain, describes deaccessioning as ‘an everyday and necessary part of collections management’.

Helena Kergozou, Jersey Heritage’s Senior Registrar, explained that any collection items not being kept were either in very poor condition and beyond repair, or an unnecessary duplicate of something in the collections.

Helena said: “This is a very large project and the first time we have undertaken the deaccessioning of our collections. We are being extremely careful and following a strict set of checks and balances before making any final decisions about what stays and what goes. This includes involving our Conservation team and partners who own some of the collections in our care, such as the Société Jersiaise.

“In the past, the acceptance process for collection items was not as rigorous as it is today. Items were sometimes accepted regardless of their condition or whether they were a useful addition to our existing collections. For example, we have 199 chairs, many of which are duplicates and some of which arrived broken. We also have ten bathtubs, including some that are beyond repair. We have slimmed down these collections, and many others, and the pieces that we are deaccessioning are being offered to other heritage organisations or charities to use, or they will be recycled. Only as a last resort will a piece be scrapped altogether, for example, a wooden chair riddled with woodworm.”

Helena added: “All over the world, museum collection stores are overflowing with objects, and we are no different. We have over 300,000 pieces and it is essential that we have adequate space to properly store these pieces; each one helps us to preserve and share Jersey’s incredible story. It is also vital that we create room for future pieces to be added.”

Jersey Heritage’s museum collections were originally started by the Société Jersiaise in 1873 and have built up over the last 150 years. During this time, attitudes towards collecting have changed a great deal. Some items in the collections have little or no provenance, no Jersey connection or were in a poor condition when they were accessioned.

Stuart Fell, President of the Société Jersiaise, said: “The Société is very pleased to support Jersey Heritage in its ongoing deaccessioning project. Many of the items in the museum collections were accumulated by the Société since the late 19th century and some of these are now in very poor condition or have no significant value as museum pieces. It makes good sense that such objects should be withdrawn from the collections and disposed of in an appropriate manner. Jersey Heritage’s approach to this project is meticulous, and I am taking a personal interest in reviewing all the items that are suggested for deaccessioning. An important benefit of this process is that the Société is now reconnecting with its unique collections and is able to see the significant potential that they hold in supporting the Société’s work in the future.”

To find out more about the deaccessioning project, go to www.jerseyheritage.org/research-and-collections/deaccessioning-project/