Thoughts on presenting your mollusc collection

Conchological collections (i.e. specifically of shells, rather than for studying the animals they belong to) were popular amongst 18th century natural historians. I saw two enormous and elaborate displays in the National Museum of Denmark recently - they were largely 'cabinets of curiosities' designed to impress one's friends and provoke conversation. You might not want to go as far as turning over a wing of your house just yet.

Public domain image of the C18th Leverian Museum.

My favourite Victorian mollusc collector suggests a series of flat boxes in a drawer. I've seen student collections like this and the shells are certainly well protected. It's also easy to stick labels to the boxes. It troubles me though that somebody examining the shells could muddle up the box lids (and consequently the identification) - perhaps the labels are best inside. You could leave the boxes unlidded, or use ones with clear plastic or glass lids. You might be able to fashion something from a deep picture frame, or buy a wooden display box made for jewellery or trinkets. You'll probably need to be a bit creative (or have deep pockets).

Another method would be to put the specimens into lidded glass or plastic tubes. The identification (on a piece of card) could be inserted inside the tube. It's traditional to use a wisp of cotton wool to cushion the specimen. I've got some tubes you might like. Then you'll need to think of something to put your tubes in (perhaps so they're arranged taxonomically).

It's probably best not to use a method that involves glueing your specimens down, because they won't be available for close examination and identification.

I recently read an article about The Curse of Cotton Wool to the staff at the University of Cambridge Museums, and it made me wonder whether there might be good snail-displaying solutions in using foam or tissue paper.

Another possibility could be to use small zip-lock plastic bags - perhaps not beautifully aesthetic, but certainly cheap and easily label-able. You could attach them to a board. Or use them to keep your shells safe in their boxes.

Naturally your collection will bear all the usual what, where, when and who information on each label - perhaps along with a note of the habitat where you found your snail (all of this will be easy to extract from your notebook, with a bit of luck).

CC image by Dysmachus

Being clumsy it worries me slightly to see these shells rattling around free-range - what if they got dropped on the floor and you had to identify them all over again? In this instance I think I'd be inclined to dab a tiny spot of white paint on each one and give them an identifying number to match one on their label. You may think this overly paranoid.

Visually, I think I prefer tubes - but those aren't going to be much use for a gigantic razorshell or a freshwater mussel. Perhaps you'll be inspired by pictures of the 100,000-strong collection at the Burke Museum in Seattle. There's a video too (insanely long, but you can flick through to see the range of displays).

Have a look at this page to see a marine mollusc collection that got a good mark,

and for more presentation inspiration the terrestrial snails collections here, 
and here
and here.