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Re: Why originals should never leave the premises



>>> tberry@WCNET.ORG 06/29/00 12:29PM >>>
This is partly venting and partly advice to the unwarned.

3 1/2 years ago, an arrangement was made to let an out-of-state party that
was known to be trustworthy and of good repute borrow a few items from our
collections. When the party's representatives arrived to make their
selections, they were given free rein by the volunteer on hand to take
anything they wanted. Because everyone was in a hurry, nothing was written
down; the only evidence of what had happened was the blank spot on the
wall where a framed print had been removed.

When I started here two years ago, I was apprised of the situation by our
Managing Director and given the task of getting what we could back. Finally,
after countless phone calls and endless stalling by the borrower, it showed
up on UPS today.

First problem - sounds of broken glass from one of the three boxes. The
irreplaceable framed print had been laid on top of other artwork in a flat
box, with only a measly sheet of foamcore for protection. The glass that
formerly covered the print was pulverized, and the print was damaged by the
glass. There are two very obvious nicks and abrasions on the image; in one,
the glass somehow peeled the colors from the paper. The print can
be repaired, but it will probably need an art conservator to do it.

Fortunately, nothing else was damaged, even though shards and bits of glass
were mixed into everything. Very clearly a lousy job by whoever packaged it,
and UPS would never approve a claim for such a poor packing job. The UPS
driver offered to take it back to his center for damage inspection, but
after waiting 3 years and 7 months there was no way he was leaving with it
again.

Second problem - while our contact at the borrower's office was nice enough
to provide an inventory of what he sent back, we have no way of knowing if
it's everything he left with way back when. Further, he had materials from a
number of sources, so who knows what ended up where.

Third problem: One of the items sent was a presentation album of
captioned photographs, arranged so that the caption on the back of one
page matched the photo on the page facing it. That is, they used to,
until the borrower removed some of the photos, and there's no realistic way
of ever getting them matched up correctly again.

This is why one should never allow original materials to leave the premises
except under the strictest control.

Best wishes (which is a lot nicer than AAAAAUGH!),

Thomas Berry, Archivist
Historical Construction Equipment Association
16623 Liberty Hi Road
Bowling Green, Ohio 43402
Phone 419-352-5616
Fax 419-352-6086
tberry@wcnet.org 
http://www.bigtoy.com 

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