The inventory number is a bridge
Names change, attributions are revised and objects move; a stable identifier keeps records connected.
Object biography is a method of connection, not a licence to invent a complete life. At this stage, the task is to identify what the evidence securely relates, what the museum currently proposes and which interval remains unresolved.
Copy the identifier exactly
Inventory numbers can contain letters, punctuation, collection prefixes and older catalogue references. Photograph the label where permitted or transcribe it twice. Do not silently simplify the number. An exact identifier is the most efficient route from a gallery note to an institutional database, publication, conservation image or earlier catalogue, especially when several objects share a conventional name.
Treat the object name as an interpretation
Labels such as offering table, cosmetic vessel, model, ritual object or portrait compress scholarly decisions. Copy the current name, then note whether the label signals uncertainty. Earlier catalogues may use another term because evidence and disciplinary language changed. A revised name does not mean the object changed; it records a new proposal about function, subject or classification.
Keep several dates separate
Manufacture, use, deposition, excavation, acquisition, cataloguing, treatment and display all have dates or ranges. Put them on different lines. “New Kingdom” is not an excavation date, and an accession year is not proof of when an object left the ground. A clean chronology prevents museum history from being absorbed into the ancient period.
Read material vocabulary carefully
Stone, wood, copper alloy, faience, textile and pigment may be broad label terms or results of technical analysis. Do not make them more specific by sight. If a database revises limestone to a named stone or bronze to copper alloy, cite that record and its update date. Material identification is one part of an object’s documentary identity and can remain provisional.
Track old numbers without merging objects
Excavation numbers, journal entries, temporary museum registers and publication plates may all refer to the same object. Institutions sometimes list former numbers or bibliography. Copy the relation only when a reliable source makes it. Similar-looking fragments are not duplicates, and a shared caption in an old scan is not enough to merge identities.
Use dimensions as an identity check
Height, width, depth and weight can distinguish objects with similar names. Record units and whether a measurement includes a mount or reconstructed part. Small differences may reflect measurement convention rather than physical change. Dimensions help confirm a match across records, but they should be combined with identifier, image, material and provenance.
Cite the version you used
Collection databases change as research, digitisation and gallery movement continue. Save the page title, institution, stable URL, inventory number and access date. Do not imply that an online record is permanently complete. If a page has no stable object URL, cite the search route and exact identifier so another reader can repeat it.
Build an identity block
Write current object name, institution, inventory number, alternate number, material as labelled, date range, provenance wording and database access date. Keep direct observations below it. This block lets future readers separate a change in display or interpretation from confusion between two objects and makes later correction straightforward.
Compare label and database scope
A gallery label must be readable at a distance and may select only object name, date, material and provenance. A database can include bibliography, former numbers, dimensions, images and revision history. Neither is automatically more current. Date both, identify disagreements and prefer the institution’s explicit update or specialist record for a technical claim. The comparison shows how one object is described for different public and research uses.
Protect identifiers in photographs
If photography is permitted, take one frame that connects the label and object without obscuring other visitors, then a separate object view. Do not rely on filename order alone after a long visit. Rename the permitted image with institution and inventory number later, preserving the original file. Never photograph restricted records or bypass a rule to obtain an identifier; a written transcription and gallery location are sufficient.
Keep direct observation, label text, institutional documentation and your interpretation in separate sentences.