All donation proposals are first reviewed by the museum’s Collections Committee at the recommendation of the curators and the director. The Collections Committee meets quarterly to review donation proposals. To learn more about our object donation process, please contact the museum’s registrar.
Museum staff cannot provide object authentication or appraisal. Information about such appraisals, as well as information about caring for many kinds of objects, can be found through the Appraisers Association and the American Society of Appraisers, Smithsonian Artifact Appraisal site or the Getty Research Institute’s Appraisals Research Guide.
Similarly, museum staff can not recommend a conservator. However, here are some resources that may help:
Cultural Heritage: Caring for your Treasures
Cultural Heritage: Finding a Conservator
Contact
McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture
The University of Tennessee
1327 Circle Park Drive
Knoxville, TN 37996-3200
865-974-2144
mcclungmuseum@utk.edu
In your correspondence, if possible, please include photographs of the object and as much information about the provenance as you can (such as where it was purchased, how it was received, how you came into its possession, etc.).