Summary

Six printed exhibition labels from 'The Ape' case that were removed from display on May 12, 1998. The specimens had been acquired at different times from the ninteenth century through to the end of the twentieth century and labels appear to have been created when each specimen was added to the display. The resulting group of labels reveals the changing style, materiality and didactic interpretation over time, from the earliest hand-painted labels to professionally printed group / family context labels.

Physical Description

Rectangular signs, single-sided with black printed or handpainted text on brown textured card.

Significance

The labels in the Historic Exhibition Labels Collection illustrate the changing styles in didactic interpretation, aesthetics and approaches to audience engagement throughout the history of Museums Victoria. From the earliest days of the National Museum of Victoria in the mid 1800s through the various incarnations of the Applied Sciences collection through to the amalgamation of all the branches into Museums Victoria, the labels chart a course through the changes in audience needs and desires in Victoria and across the museums' various sites. There are beautiful examples of hand written nineteenth century labels, some examples of extremely long didactic panels from the early twentieth century, and rare and unusual fonts in the mid twentieth century. The collection also illustrates the transition from hand-written labels to the use of typewriters, then lettera set and ultimately printed labels, culminating in the large format digital print room being introduced at Melbourne Museum in 2000.

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