Why maritime museums display fewer ship models

Should maritime museums put more of their ship-model collections on display?

Greater access can support detailed study, provided secure cases, sufficient space, and conservation safeguards protect irreplaceable models.

One panelist objects to the number of ship models kept in storage and to exhibition labels reduced to brief bullet points. A detailed model can reward hours of inspection of its rigging and fittings, even while casual visitors spend only a moment with it. Other contributions stress the space needed for groups of children and the difficulty of protecting irreplaceable objects from visitors. Robust display cases are proposed as a way to improve access, although they do not remove every conservation concern. The Discovery Museum in Newcastle, the German Naval Memorial near Kiel, and the Swedish Maritime Museum in Stockholm supply contrasting examples of accessible model displays.