Vote for Hertfordshire’s Museum Object of the Year
What do you get if you put together a 19th-century French death mask, an anthropic rock dog called George and a love token made from hooves and horns? To discover an array of unusual and eccentric historic objects, providing a great opportunity to learn more about the exciting variety of artefacts hosted at Hertfordshire’s museums, why not take a look at the objects and cast your vote?
Staff and volunteers from each of the local museums have chosen one cherished object from their collections to enter into the competition to become the new Hertfordshire Museum Object of the Year for 2024.
Although visitors to Hertfordshire’s museums will be familiar with many of the collections on display, limited space means a great deal of fascinating objects held in our museums are kept in storage. The annual competition is a chance to highlight many of those lesser-known artefacts.
Twenty museums from across the county have entered the competition and the winning object will be picked by you in a public vote. The winner will be announced on Thursday 15 February 2024.
Councillor Caroline Clapper, Executive Member for Education, Libraries and Lifelong Learning at Hertfordshire County Council said, ‘Museums serve as a beacon of knowledge, a sanctuary of art, and a place for history. They are a place where people come together to learn, appreciate, and be inspired. The annual museums Object of the Year competition is a good way for museums to showcase their collections to a wider audience and it is great to see more museums than ever before taking part.
‘The entries for the Object of the Year Competition always provide a fascinating insight into Hertfordshire’s museums and snapshots of life in Hertfordshire through the ages. This year we are delighted to have 20 more fabulous objects to showcase and look forward with anticipation to see which one captures the public’s imagination in 2024.’
Past Objects of the Year have included Charlie the Chimp, a mechanical toy from Watford Museum, the oldest toilet roll in Letchworth, a pampered and much-loved pooch Champion Wolverley Chummie from the Natural History Museum at Tring and a 1970’s Bond Bug toy car (one of the Corgi Whizz Wheels Range) from the Garden City Collection in Letchworth.
The current title holder is a set of four wooden swans which sat for 100 years on wooden gallows across Waltham Cross’s High Street and are now on display in Lowewood Museum.
The Object of the Year will be decided by public vote and you can find out more about the objects and cast your vote here: Hertfordshire Association on Museums website (https://www.hertfordshiremuseums.org.uk/).
Voting closes at midnight on 5 February 2024.
Hertfordshire museums opening times and details can be found here Museums in Hertfordshire (hertfordshiremuseums.org.uk)