Canada’s largest museum cannot account for 2,234 items that are supposed to be in its collections, according to documents obtained by TorontoToday.
Driving the news: Among the missing artifacts are 136 oracle bones, used in medieval China to see the future; 10 harpoons, a spear-like object used in fishing; and historic clothing including 40 dresses, 24 skirts, 11 belts, 10 coats, four waistcoats, and three underskirts.
- When asked how 10 harpoons could go missing, the museum’s chief of collections care said, "I guess if we knew how they went missing, they wouldn't be missing.”
Why it matters: The British Museum has also faced issues with tracking down historically and culturally significant pieces, owing to outdated and informal record-keeping that leads to mismatched records or untraceable artifacts. Hundreds of items disappeared after 2013.
- The museum’s former director, Hartwig Fischer, accepted responsibility and resigned last year. It later came out that items from its collection were being sold on eBay.
Bottom line: Museums are working hard to fix inventory systems that don’t meet modern standards (the ROM says it has stricter controls than the British Museum), but as long as no foul play is suspected, a missing item could easily turn up in a drawer the next day.—SB