Costume Institute Collection Database Available Online

Tag : costume

Information on More than 29,000 Objects in Preeminent CostumeCollection Available Online
From a fourth-century B.C.E. bronze pin to a 2006 Rodarte gown, TheCostume Institute's vast holdings are now available to researchers,scholars, students, and fashion aficionados on The MetropolitanMuseum of Art's website. Visit www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/the_costume_institute and select Collection Database to view the collection.
"Improving access to the collection has been a priority for thedepartment since the inception of this project in 2000," saidHarold Koda, Curator in Charge of The Costume Institute. "Given thefragility of historical costume, we do not have a permanentexhibition space. In the past, researchers needed privateappointments to reference the collection. Now anyone with anInternet connection can explore the vast majority of our holdings,making us one of the first major costume collections to offer sucha comprehensive online resource."
Over the past eight years, information on 29,432 objects from the31,000-piece costume collection has been formatted and digitized aspart of a museum-wide effort to enhance access to the Met'sencyclopedic collections. As a work in progress, most of TheCostume Institute objects included in the database have imagesavailable for viewing, and more will be added on an ongoing basis.Many objects are currently shown in high resolution with zoomcapability, with others to follow. As new acquisitions areaccessioned, they will be entered into the database on a regularbasis.
The addition of The Costume Institute's records to The MetropolitanMuseum of Art's Collection Database is made possible in part by TheJohn and Annamaria Phillips Foundation; Jane Hays Butler, Paul D.Schurgot Foundation; and by an anonymous donor.