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Spoliation reports
This institution also provides a list of works with incomplete provenance during the period 1933-1945.
NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM
National Maritime Museum
Romney Road
Greenwich, LONDON SE10 9NF
Contact for all enquiries about Holocaust or WWII Spoliation:
Angela Doane, Assistant Director Collections
Tel 020 8312 6534
Fax 020 8312 6661
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF COLLECTION
Includes the National Maritime Museum Galleries, Queen's House and the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. Collections include paintings, books, manuscripts, prints and drawings, ships plans, photographs, scientific instruments, models and artifacts. Collection totals 1.9M objects and flat art and 4.5 miles of manuscript material.
1. OVERALL PLANS
A. Areas which could contain looted items
Oil paintings collection (4165 items); Prints and drawings collection (60,000 items); Aspects of instrument collection.
B. Areas excluded and why
No areas have been specifically excluded from research. However, the NMM collection is vast (over 2 million items), and multidisciplinary, and its resources are limited.
C. Target areas and timetable for research
Curatorial advice has been taken across collections on which areas might be prioritised. The results were:
- Oil Paintings - 394 oil paintings. All paintings acquired between 1933 and 1945, plus all Dutch and some other non-British works acquired subsequently. Now complete.
- Instrument collection - German instruments acquired in Holland and eastern countries invaded by the Nazis within the period in question.
- Prints and Drawings - focusing on Dutch works, and works acquired within the period. The plan for this work will be complete by December 2000. The collection numbers over 60,000 items.
D. Areas considered a lower priority and why
Photographs collection, and others where items are by their nature reproductions/multiples.
2. RESEARCH CARRIED OUT OR BEING CARRIED OUT IN TARGET AREAS.
A. Processes and sources for initial checks from information readily to hand
National Maritime Museum archive sources, including original correspondence files, Caird Catalogue, acquisition ledgers, National Maritime Museum paintings dossiers.
B. Description of checks being carried out beyond desk research
British Library (sale catalogues), research in Witt Library, Christie's and Sotheby's archives and works checked against Art Loss Register. Requests for help from some relevant dealers have not yet come to fruition.
3. INFORMATION REGARDING PROGRESS IN TARGET AREA
A. No. of items in target area
394 Oil Paintings
B. No. of items where provenance has been tested satisfactorily.
180 tested satisfactorily 4 found to be outside terms of original target area 7 war trophies
C. No. of items where initial checks on provenance are still being made from internal sources and information readily to hand.
None
D. No. of items for which initial research can be taken no further and additional information is being sought from external sources
16 of possibly suspect origin (see list of works)
143 for which we have gaps in provenance (list available on request)
44 for which we have found no provenance information at al (list available on request)
4. INFORMATION ON MAKING GENERAL ENQUIRIES OR ABOUT COLLECTIONS
A. Contact for all enquiries about Holocaust or WWII Spoliation
Angela Doane, Director of Collections
Tel 020 8312 6534
Fax 020 8312 6661
B. Details of Published catalogues and how to get access to them
1988 Concise Catalogue of Oil Paintings is available in libraries.
Prints and Drawings collection (60,000 items) is available via the museum's website. These and other catalogues can also be consulted in the NMM (Caird) Library, along with access to the Museum's collections information system. Sources relating to the history of the Museum, and original acquisition records may be consulted by appointment in the NMM Archive and Records Centre. NMM records are governed by the Public Records Act. Detailed object records and associated information such as dossiers can be consulted by appointment with the relevant curatorial staff.
C. How to make enquiries about collections
Please see details above for the Spoliation contact.
NMM switchboard 020 8858 4422
D. Press office contact
Sheryl Twigg Tel: 0208-858-4422
E. Address of the Institution
National Maritime Museum
Romney Road
Greenwich, LONDON SE10 9NF
F. Website