
Museum catalogue
The Museum is delighted to be able to offer online access to collections information through our online museum catalogue. This catalogue enables public access to the records stored in the Museum's centralised collections management database. Thousands of records are currently available online and the majority of these records have digital images attached.
The museum has over 5,000 objects in its care. You can read more about the history of the museum and its collections. Work is in progress to transfer earlier written records to the collection management database and from time to time the online catalogue is updated to reflect new records and images which have become available.
There are 9 collections currently available, covering some 6,235 items:
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Antarctic Collection (2,005 items)Objects relating to the history of exploration and science in the Antarctic, from the heroic age to the present day. |
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Arctic Exploration (23 items)Objects relating to the history of exploration and science in the Arctic, from the eighteenth century to the present day. |
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Arctic Material Culture Collection (1,039 items)Indigenous objects from Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Sápmi and Siberia. |
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Polar Art Collection (2,556 items)A unique range of polar artworks, including oil paintings, watercolours, sketches and prints |
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Edward Adrian Wilson (249 items)Edward Adrian Wilson - British Birds |
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Flag Collection (33 items)Collection of historic flags, many associated with the heroic age of exploration, including national flags, ship pennants, depot markers, and sledging flags. |
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Inuit Art Collection (228 items)Collection of art work by the indigenous peoples of northern Canada, Greenland and Alaska. |
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Kamchatka Catalogue (24 items)Catalogue of sketches, prints and other works on paper from the Siberian regions |
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Scrimshaw Collection (78 items)Scrimshaw, the name given to the wide variety of objects made or decorated by people involved with the whaling industry, and also to the process of making them. |
Related collections
The Institute's holdings of printed books can be searched online at the University of Cambridge Union Catalogue and additional printed collections through the SPRILIB catalogues. The catalogue of archival holdings is online via the Archives Hub.
Further information
Every effort has been made to ensure that the records are accurate. For additional information on any item, please contact the Curator.
Please note that the inclusion of a record in the catalogue does not mean that items are currently are on display in the Museum.
Photographs
To order a copy of any picture in the catalogue, please contact the Picture Library.
Publication quality photographs of museum objects can also be produced on request.
Your views
We would welcome your feedback on the catalogue and its contents.