National Museums of Scotland
Encyclopedia
National Museums Scotland is the organization that runs several national museum
s of Scotland
. It is one of the country's National Collections, and holds internationally important collections of natural sciences, decorative arts, world cultures, science and technology, and Scottish history and archaeology.
in Edinburgh
, opened in 1996. It is not currently open to the public because a new reception and conservation building is under construction. A new storage building is planned to house the textile and costume collections in one location. This will include the recently acquired Jean Muir
Collection of 20th century costume and accessories.
The Museum of Piping is located in the National Piping Centre
in Glasgow
, and displays the piping collections of National Museums Scotland.
s. It is a non-departmental public body
, funded by the Education and Lifelong Learning Directorate of the Scottish Government.
It cares for many of Scotland's museum collections of national and international importance (listed above), and provides advice and expertise to other museums across the country.
National museum
A national museum is a museum maintained by a nation.The following is a list of national museums:-Australia:*Australian National Aviation Museum*Australian National Maritime Museum*, Sydney*Australian War Memorial*Museum Victoria...
s of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It is one of the country's National Collections, and holds internationally important collections of natural sciences, decorative arts, world cultures, science and technology, and Scottish history and archaeology.
List of national museums
- The National Museum of ScotlandNational Museum of ScotlandThe National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland, was formed in 2006 with the merger of the Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the Royal Museum next door, with collections covering science and technology, natural history, and world...
, comprising two linked museums on Chambers StreetChambers Street (Edinburgh)Chambers Street is a street in Edinburgh, Scotland, at south of the Old Town. The street is named after William Chambers of Glenormiston, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh who was the main proponent of the 1867 Edinburgh Improvement Act, which gave permission for the street's construction.-Notable...
, in the Old Town of Edinburgh:- The Museum of Scotland - concerned with the history and peopleScottish peopleThe Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
of Scotland - The Royal Museum - a general museum encompassing global geology, archaeology, natural history, science, technology and art
- The Museum of Scotland - concerned with the history and people
- The National Museum of Costume, at Shambellie House, New AbbeyNew AbbeyNew Abbey is a village in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It is around south-west of Dumfries. The summit of the prominent hill Criffel is to the south....
, Dumfries and GallowayDumfries and GallowayDumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It was one of the nine administrative 'regions' of mainland Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government etc. Act 1973... - The National Museum of Flight, at East FortuneEast FortuneEast Fortune is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, located 2 miles north west of East Linton. The area is known for its airfield which was constructed in 1915 to help protect Britain from attack by German Zeppelin airships during the First World War. The RNAS airship station also included an...
, East LothianEast LothianEast Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh.... - The National Museum of Rural LifeNational Museum of Rural LifeNational Museums Scotland and partners have developed the National Museum of Rural Life, previously known as the Museum of Scottish Country Life, which is based at Wester Kittochside farm, lying between the town of East Kilbride in South Lanarkshire and the village of Carmunnock in Glasgow.- The...
, at Wester Kittochside farm, in South LanarkshireSouth LanarkshireSouth Lanarkshire is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of the former county of Lanarkshire. It borders the south-east of the city of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns and smaller villages....
(previously the Museum of Scottish Country Life, previously the Scottish Agricultural Museum) - The National War Museum, at Edinburgh CastleEdinburgh CastleEdinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...
Other collections
The main storage building at the National Museums Collection Centre, at GrantonGranton, Edinburgh
Granton is a district in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland. Granton forms part of Edinburgh's waterfront along the Firth of Forth and is, historically, an industrial area having a large harbour. Granton is part of Edinburgh's large scale waterfront regeneration programme.-Name:Granton first appears...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, opened in 1996. It is not currently open to the public because a new reception and conservation building is under construction. A new storage building is planned to house the textile and costume collections in one location. This will include the recently acquired Jean Muir
Jean Muir
Jean Elizabeth Muir, CBE, FCSD was an English fashion designer .-History and early career:...
Collection of 20th century costume and accessories.
The Museum of Piping is located in the National Piping Centre
National Piping Centre
The National Piping Centre is an institution in Glasgow, Scotland, dedicated to the playing of the bagpipes, to include not only the Great Highland Bagpipes, but also the Scottish smallpipes and Irish uileann pipes, as well as other traditional musical instruments.The institution includes practise...
in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, and displays the piping collections of National Museums Scotland.
Trustees
National Museums Scotland is Scotland's national museum service, governed by a board of trusteeTrustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
s. It is a non-departmental public body
Scottish public bodies
Public bodies of the Scottish Government are organisations that are funded by the Scottish Government. It includes executive and advisory non-departmental public bodies ; tribunals; and nationalised industries....
, funded by the Education and Lifelong Learning Directorate of the Scottish Government.
It cares for many of Scotland's museum collections of national and international importance (listed above), and provides advice and expertise to other museums across the country.
Notable items in the national collections
The official website lists the following exhibits as being the highlights of its collections:- Dolly the sheepDolly the SheepDolly was a female domestic sheep, and the first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell, using the process of nuclear transfer. She was cloned by Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell and colleagues at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh in Scotland...
- Concorde G-BOAA (Alpha Alpha)
- Tea Service of the Emperor Napoleon
- Assyrian relief of King Ashurnasirpal II and a court official, from the North-West Palace of Ashurnasirpal at NimrudNimrudNimrud is an ancient Assyrian city located south of Nineveh on the river Tigris in modern Ninawa Governorate Iraq. In ancient times the city was called Kalḫu. The Arabs called the city Nimrud after the Biblical Nimrod, a legendary hunting hero .The city covered an area of around . Ruins of the city...
, excavated by Austen Henry LayardAusten Henry LayardSir Austen Henry Layard GCB, PC was a British traveller, archaeologist, cuneiformist, art historian, draughtsman, collector, author, politician and diplomat, best known as the excavator of Nimrud.-Family:...
in the 1840s; the medical pioneer James Young SimpsonJames Young SimpsonSir James Young Simpson was a Scottish doctor and an important figure in the history of medicine. Simpson discovered the anaesthetic properties of chloroform and successfully introduced it for general medical use....
gave the panel to the Society of Antiquaries of ScotlandSociety of Antiquaries of ScotlandThe Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body in Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum, Chambers Street, Edinburgh...
, who passed it into the national collection - Seringapatam sword, presented to David BairdSir David Baird, 1st BaronetGeneral Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet GCB was a British military leader.-Military career:He was born at Newbyth House in Haddingtonshire, Scotland, the son of an Edinburgh merchant family, and entered the British Army in 1772. He was sent to India in 1779 with the 73rd Highlanders, in which he...
by his field officers after the Battle of SeringapatamBattle of SeringapatamThe Siege of Seringapatam was the final confrontation of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War between the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Mysore. The British achieved a decisive victory after breaching the walls of the fortress at Seringapatam and storming the citadel. Tippu Sultan, Mysore's...
, in May 1799 - Silver travelling canteen of Prince Charles Edward Stuart
- Boulton & Watt engine
- Bute mazerBute mazerThe Bute Mazer, also known as the Bannatyne Mazer is a medieval communal feasting cup of a type known as a mazer. Dating to around 1320, it is the oldest Scottish mazer still surviving. The cup has long been associated with the Isle of Bute, on the west coast of Scotland...
(also referred to as the Bannatyne mazer) - Calcite crystal, found in 1927 at the New Glencrieff mine at WanlockheadWanlockheadWanlockhead is a village in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland nestling in the Lowther Hills one mile south of Leadhills at the head of the Mennock Pass, which forms part of the Southern Uplands...
on the Leadhills ore field, "an excellent example of a complex doubly terminated scalenohedral crystal" (see Dogtooth sparDogtooth sparDogtooth spar is a speleothem found in limestone caves that consists of very large calcite crystals resembling dogs' teeth . They are usually found near standing water, where crystals can grow for a very long time...
) - Hunterston broochHunterston BroochThe Hunterston Brooch is a highly important Celtic brooch of "pseudo-penannular" type found near Hunterston, North Ayrshire, Scotland, in either, according to one account, 1826 by two men from West Kilbride, who were digging drains at the foot of Goldenberry Hill, or in 1830. It is now in the Royal...
- Lewis chessmenLewis chessmenThe Lewis Chessmen are a group of 78 12th-century chess pieces, most of which are carved in walrus ivory...
- Monymusk reliquaryMonymusk ReliquaryThe Monymusk Reliquary is an eighth century Scottish reliquary made of wood and metal characterised by an Insular fusion of Gaelic and Pictish design and Anglo-Saxon metalworking, probably by Ionan monks. It has been said to be the Brecbennoch of St...
- Queen Mary harpQueen Mary HarpThe Queen Mary Clàrsach na Banrìgh Màiri or Lude Harp, is a Scottish Clarsach currently displayed in the National Museum of Scotland. It is believed to date back to the 15th century, and to have originated in Argyll, in South-West Scotland...
- Qurneh burial collection, discovered by Flinders Petrie on 30 December 1908, the only complete ancient royal Egyptian burial collection held outside Egypt
See also
- Museums in Scotland
- Scottish Publishers AssociationScottish Publishers AssociationThe Scottish Publishers Association , established in 1973 as the Scottish General Publishers Association with the support of the Scottish Arts Council, was the trade association of nearly 80 publishing companies in Scotland...
- Scottish Sports Hall of FameScottish Sports Hall of FameThe Scottish Sports Hall of Fame is the national sports hall of fame in Scotland, initiated on St Andrew's Day 2001. It is a joint project organised by sportscotland, the national governmental body for Scottish sport, and the National Museums of Scotland. It is also funded by BBC Scotland and...