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ducollections.bsky.social
Durham University Collections
@ducollections.bsky.social
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Collections from @durham-university.bsky.social museums, art collection, biosciences, archives and special collections. Not monitored 24/7. @dulib.bsky.social

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Durham University Collections @ducollections.bsky.social · Jan 13
Hello #Bluesky! Let us introduce ourselves...

We're Durham University Collections, home to collections from our museums, art collection, biosciences, archives and special collections. Posting about amazing items, research, conservation and all things museums and archives!

Great to see you all 👋
A selection of objects from Durham University collections on a yellow and blue background.
ducollections.bsky.social
Exhibition: 'The View from Here': Contemporary Art from the Middle East and North Africa.
Exploring ideas of heritage, memory and identity through digital assemblage and collage, at Leighton House (until 1/3/2026) showcases voices from an array of cultures and landscapes.
An image of a gallery with colourful art works with 2 people viewing them with interest.
December 16, 2025 at 3:20 PM
ducollections.bsky.social
Did you guess? This is Nigel! He's not actually a reindeer but the nearly complete skeleton of an extinct Irish elk (Megaloceros giganteus). One of the largest species of deer to ever exist! 

DURNS.2024.1 

#DUCollections
Colour image of a very large Irish Elk skeleton, displayed in front of a red brick internal wall. 
December 12, 2025 at 2:24 PM
ducollections.bsky.social
Clue number 4! Can you work out what this item is? We are prepared to admit the festive connection is a little tenuous but if Santa is looking for a backup for Rudolph... 

#DUCollections
Colour image of the skeleton of the hind quarters of an animal. 
December 11, 2025 at 5:01 PM
ducollections.bsky.social
Clue number 3! Can you work out what this item is and his connection to the festive season? He is very old. If you left a carrot out for him on Christmas Eve, he might not recognise it...

#DUCollections #OlderThanCarrots
Close up colour image of the skeletal hoof of an animal.
December 10, 2025 at 2:31 PM
ducollections.bsky.social
Clue number 2! Can you work out what this item is and his connection to the festive season? I think you’ve already guessed he is part of the Biosciences collection! Another hint – he is very tall! #DUCollections #biosciences
Close up colour image of the skeleton of the knee joint of an animal.
December 9, 2025 at 2:38 PM
ducollections.bsky.social
We are getting into the festive spirit with a seasonal puzzle for you! 🌲🌲🌲A picture a day to work out what this item is. What connection does he have to the festive season? And bonus points for Durham students and staff...what is his name?

#DUCollections
Close up colour image of an organic, brownish, ridged material with a leaf-like pattern.
December 8, 2025 at 4:06 PM
ducollections.bsky.social
StopGap was a Durham Town-Gown student magazine, ‘focusing on local and student issues and Arts with the intention of highlighting the huge GAP which exists between the two communities.’ Although intended to be monthly, only one issue was published. 

@durham.ac.uk
Drawing of two men, one a student dressed in a blazer and tie commenting ‘The June Ball is only £50 this year’, the other a member of the local community dressed in a band t-shirt and jeans next to a newspaper board stating ‘All job centres closed until further notice’. 
December 3, 2025 at 4:46 PM
ducollections.bsky.social
Summary lists of all 284 boxes of uncatalogued material in the Sudan Archive have now been made available online for the first time in the Summary Guide! This is a significant milestone to make all our collections as accessible as possible.

libguides.durham.ac.uk/asc-sudan-ar...
Image of a 3-penny facsimile of 'Gordon's Last Despatch', sent by General Charles Gordon out of the besieged city of Khartoum, Sudan, in December 1884 
November 28, 2025 at 10:30 AM
ducollections.bsky.social
To celebrate #LumiereDurham, a spectacular Light Art festival we have scoured the collections for images of light.

This illustration is titled ‘The City with the Moon and the Tower’, and was created in Japan and printed c. 2011
DUROM.2012.64

#DUCollections
A digital illustration of a city street with stone frontage western style houses overlooking a stone flagged street. Gas lantern style street lights line the street on both sides. In the foreground are various large flowers in white, blue, red and yellow. There are several human figures in the street, mostly wearing long capes, big hats and carnival masks in various styles. The main figure in the centre of the image is a young child wearing a top hat and an oversize shirt pulled up over its mouth and nose. In the background at the end of the street is a large, angular structure rising up into the sky and tipped with a point like a corkscrew. Suspended in the sky above this is a large circular gold and red disc covered with regular geometric patterns and faintly resembling a clock face.
November 13, 2025 at 1:22 PM
ducollections.bsky.social
There’s only a few days left to experience the wonder of storytelling through our MA students’ exhibition, Telling Tales, at the Oriental Museum. This family-friendly exhibition will be closing; 9th of November. 
Unable to make it? Check out our online exhibition and audio guide. #TellingTales
A poster with the text: Telling Tales: Making Stories Come to Life. It has illustrations of a Javanese puppet, the Soga Brothers, woodblock prints, a blue-white ceramic, a scary Noh mask, a blue Peking Opera face painting, a musician playing a horn, an orange robe with a golden dragon and a colourful shadow puppet. 
November 3, 2025 at 3:13 PM
ducollections.bsky.social
💀Happy Halloween!💀 This Danse Macabre woodcut by Michael Wolgemut reflects 15th-century Europe's obsession with death and the afterlife. Found in the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle. 📖 Ref: SA 0166 #DanseMacabre #NurembergChronicle #RareBooks #MedievalArt
Woodcut illustration of the Danse Macabre, showing skeletal figures dancing.  
October 31, 2025 at 4:04 PM
ducollections.bsky.social
Friday 7 November our Conservation team will be running an annual takeover of our social media for #AskAConservator day! Conservators around the world will be discussing their work and sharing how they care for collections. Ask us questions and follow the hashtag to see who else is participating.
A Conservator cleaning the books and historic interior in Cosin’s Library using a soft, dry brush and a museum backpack vacuum on a low suction to remove the surface dirt.  
October 31, 2025 at 12:09 PM
ducollections.bsky.social
Only one week left to see ‘Beasts and Legends: Adventures through North East Folklore’ - a great way to get ready for the spooky season! #BeastsandLegends #DUCollections
The cauld lad, a boar and the Lambton worm as shadows hovering over the shadow of a soldier with a sword. The shadow is attached to a small boy standing in a doorway.  
October 30, 2025 at 2:53 PM
ducollections.bsky.social
#NationalCatDay - and we’re remembering one very special feline: Tinkerbelle who lived with the Poor Clares Darlington from 2007-2013. 
More than a pet — a quiet companion in the cloister, a curious presence, and a gentle soul who made her mark in quiet ways. 
#DUCollections
An artistic photo of a brown tabby named Tinkerbelle lounging on a concrete sidewalk, looking off into distance from 2007. A brown tabby named Tinkerbelle rolled over onto her back on a concrete sidewalk with a pen written label of July 2013, A nun, holding a brown tabby named Tinkerbelle up to a camera and waving the cats right paw from 2007. Artistic photo of a brown tabby named Tinkerbelle laying sideways on a concrete sidewalk. 
October 29, 2025 at 11:44 AM
ducollections.bsky.social
👻 Ainsley’s Durham Almanac (1887) tells of Flass Well, haunted by Janet Ramshaw’s ghost. Since 1789, locals have spotted her eerie form and heard strange shrieks, keeping people away at night. Would you dare visit? 📖 Ref: XL 059.4281 AIN/15 #DurhamGhosts #DUCollections
Open book displaying the beginning of a story alongside an illustration of a man walking away from a well. 
October 28, 2025 at 10:40 AM
ducollections.bsky.social
Artist Dinah Kelly has created a unique jewellery series inspired by the heritage of the indigenous Berber (Amazigh) people of North Africa.
They are on display in Enchanted Objects – Adornment and Personal Protection from Amulets to the Mobile Phone at the Oriental Museum until 9th November.
Dinah installing jewellery
October 22, 2025 at 12:58 PM
ducollections.bsky.social
Can you spot the skeleton? 💀 Skeletons appear in resurrection imagery, like in Elementa Philosophica de Cive (1647). This volume has pencil marks in the religious section, possibly by Bishop John Cosin! 📚 Ref: Cosin T.5.57 #HiddenSkeletons #RareBooks
Bookplate featuring religious imagery depicting a resurrection scene.  Bookplate featuring religious imagery depicting a resurrection scene. 
October 21, 2025 at 10:27 AM
ducollections.bsky.social
Happy #NationalFetchDay! 

Even in the peaceful world of the Poor Clares, Darlington, dogs brought joy and companionship. 

These archival photos show nuns sharing quiet moments with a furry friend—perhaps after a game of fetch? 

Poor Clares, Darlington Collection, MISC.2024/25:34 
#DUCollections
A side profile of a nun playing with a brindle boxer, standing on hind legs and grabbing a ball with his mouth. Nun playing ball with brindle boxer wearing a white cape, dog standing on all fours waiting.
October 17, 2025 at 1:12 PM
ducollections.bsky.social
Step into the spooky past with The Haunted Library (1880)! 👻 John F. Layson shares ghostly tales from a Newcastle library. Have you ever seen a ghost in ours? 👀📚 Explore the mystery! 📖 Ref: SC 10874 #HauntedLibrary #GhostStories #NewcastleHistory #DUCollections
Book cover illustration featuring ghosts, ghouls, and spooky imagery.
October 16, 2025 at 12:37 PM
ducollections.bsky.social
💀 Discover a skeleton working a printing press in the Peter Isaac Collection! Peter Isaac, an engineer turned printing enthusiast, focused on the English provincial book trade. The collection is being catalogued — more surprises to come! #RareBooks #PrintingHistory #Archives
Printed illustration of a skeleton operating a printing press. 
October 7, 2025 at 2:19 PM
ducollections.bsky.social
We’re kicking off the spooky season with an unexpected discovery - Bram Stoker’s signature in Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving (Vol. 1), part of the Virginia Surtees Collection. Not Dracula — but a glimpse into the world that helped inspire it. 🖋️📖 #BramStoker #ArchivesUncovered #Dracula
Open book showing a page with Bram Stoker’s handwritten signature.  Bram Stoker’s handwritten signature. 
October 2, 2025 at 10:17 AM
ducollections.bsky.social
Back to school or uni (or very nearly!) The change in the weather has got us thinking about what we did on our summer holidays!

In partnership with @rabycastleofficial we introduced local garden enthusiasts to gardening history resources and celebrated the famous ‘Raby Redcurrant’.

#RabyCastle
Several books on a table supported by cushions. Several people looking at a phone
September 26, 2025 at 3:58 PM
ducollections.bsky.social
Look👀what is on at The Oriental Museum-a new exhibition ‘Journey of a Century:From the Forbidden City to the Palace Museum’opening Friday 26 September. This photography exhibition takes you for a journey to the Forbidden City in the heart of Beijing-from imperial residence to global cultural icon.
View of the Palace Museum in the 1920s and 2025; Photos: © The Palace Museum; Image designed by Ziyu Zhou 
September 22, 2025 at 7:03 PM
ducollections.bsky.social
We’re excited to announce the addition of a new collection! The Graham Noble collection includes materials from legendary figures and moments from the history of Martial Arts! It offers a unique look into martial arts and its cultural influence. 
#DUCollections #MartialArtsArchives
Image of the Graham Noble archival collection on the shelf, including Lever-arch files with the following titles, left to right: Jui-Jitsu in the West, Ju-Jutsu and Judo in Japan, Judo and Goshinjutsu (Self-Defence), Jiu-Jitsu and Self-Defence Books, Judo, Western Traditions 
September 16, 2025 at 12:35 PM
ducollections.bsky.social
Artist Dinah Kelly uses found paper to make collages like this atmospheric example created during a trip to Morocco.  
You can see this in Dinah’s installation Enchanted Objects – Adornment and Personal Protection from Amulets to the Mobile Phone at the Oriental Museum until 9th November
A paper collage of the landscape of Morocco
September 10, 2025 at 9:57 AM