A different view #25

There are many ways to look at the objects in the MoDiP collection.  With this series of posts I want to highlight the interesting views of objects that we may ordinarily miss.  These include the underside of an object, the surface pattern, or traces of manufacturing processes.

Title:  Roland Cartier lenticular mules
Designer: Unknown
Manufacturer: Roland Cartier
Object number: AIBDC : 001720

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

Did you Know? #32

Did you know that all of our past exhibitions are available for loan to other museums?

All of our past exhibitions can be viewed on our website.

To find out more about the process have a look at  the loan exhibitions page.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

BXL photographic archive #0094

In 2010, MoDiP was donated a large archive of images relating to a single company. Bakelite Xylonite Ltd, also known as British Xylonite Ltd or BXL, was possibly one of the first British firms to successfully manufacture a plastics material in commercial quantities. The company was established in 1875 and after a long history went into liquidation in the late 2000s. The images we have in the collection are concentrated around the 1960s through to the 1980s and show us glimpses of the manufacturing process, products and the company’s employees during this time. We plan to share an image each week to give a flavour of the archive. If you want to see more you can view the whole collection on our website.

This week’s image shows Bakelite Polyethylene granules.

To get a better view of the image and find out more have a look at it on our website http://www.modip.ac.uk/artefact/bxl--0449

We are still working on the documentation of the archive, some of the images we know more about than others. It would be fantastic if we could fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge, if you know anything about the company or specific images it would be good to hear from you.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

What is this?

MoDiP has the kind of collection that you may think you are very familiar with. We have objects which we all use every day, and some pieces which are more unusual.

By looking at this distorted image are you able to guess what the object is? What do you think it could be used for?

Post your answer in the comments below or to find the answer click here and you will be taken to the MoDiP catalogue.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

A different view #24

There are many ways to look at the objects in the MoDiP collection.  With this series of posts I want to highlight the interesting views of objects that we may ordinarily miss.  These include the underside of an object, the surface pattern, or traces of manufacturing processes.

Title:Zyliss juicer
Designer: Unknown
Manufacturer: Zyliss
Object number: AIBDC : 000624

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

Did you know? #31

Did you know that different plastics have different properties?

Some can be opaque whilst others can be translucent or crystal clear. Here are some examples from the MoDiP collection:

Opaque

Urea formaldehyde yarn holder AIBDC : 0_6460

Phenol formaldehyde tobacco jar AIBDC : 0_6459

Polypropylene salad spinner AIBDC : 005577

Translucent

Polyvinyl chloride shoes AIBDC : 001692

Styrene acrylonitrile bowl AIBDC : 0_6447

Polymethyl methacrylate  AIBDC : 004404

Colourless

Polymethyl methacrylate salt grider AIBDC : 000619.1

Polycarbonate stool AIBDC : 006157

Polystyrene salad servers AIBDC : 006266

To find out more about the properties of different plastics have a look at our curator's guide to plastics.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

Guess the object

MoDiP has the kind of collection that you may think you are very familiar with. We have objects which we all use every day, and some pieces which are more unusual.

By looking at this distorted image are you able to guess what the object is? What do you think it could be used for?

Post your answer in the comments below or to find the answer click here and you will be taken to the MoDiP catalogue.

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)

A different view #23

There are many ways to look at the objects in the MoDiP collection.  With this series of posts I want to highlight the interesting views of objects that we may ordinarily miss.  These include the underside of an object, the surface pattern, or traces of manufacturing processes.

Title: Triangular combined salt and pepper pot
Designer: Unknown
Manufacturer: Unknown
Object number: AIBDC : 0_6442

Louise Dennis (Assistant Curator)