FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Gary White]

I love this Idea suggested by Bob Harman.

[Jordi Fabre]

Thread opened, please let us know your thoughts.

[Tobi]

A good idea and a very interesting aspect of our hobby. If you ask 100 collectors what is the best way to display minerals, you will get maybe 100 different answers, but the more interesting the topic is ;-)

I have some personal opinions concerning the style or "art" of displaying minerals that I would start this discusssion with. A "good" (in terms of my personal taste) display features the following aspects:

- Of course the light should be chosen well to present the specimens in the best possible way.
- I prefer a white surrounding instead of a black one ... and I hate mirrors because I like to see mineral specimens from the best perspective and not their backside and my face in the mirror ;-)
- Though many (private) collections are without labels, I think that labels are important and belong to a mineral collection, but they should look good and be uniform.
- The stands should not draw the attention away from the minerals.
- Many collectors say that specimens in a display should have a uniform size, I fully disagree and think that different sizes make a collection more attractive.
- A display should never be too crowded. This guideline helps you to discard minor specimens and make your collection better.

Just my two cents :-)
Tobi

[Gail]

Displaying minerals is highly personal. I would never feel comfortable telling anyone how they should display unless they ask. If it’s in their home then I’m just happy to see collections. If at a show, then I see what displays appeal to me and learn. Jim and I differ in our way of displaying minerals and therefore we leave each other be. Jim and our assistant put in one case, I put in a case with a guest who might have pottery, mining paraphernalia, art, beer steins, etc.
At home, I have certain cabinets that are geared towards my use. We have over 13,000 minerals in our collection, it’s a huge effort, but our custom made cabinets are very helpful.
Our desire, though, as a whole is to light key specimens to show them to their best.
I owned an art gallery for 30 years, lighting and display are a focus for me.
I am grateful and honored to see people’s collections.

Now Museums? Talk about diverse display methods! Most of my concerns are poor lighting or huge amounts of dust.

[Gail]

Our displays at home.

[Bob Harman]

When I suggested, in the recent Bob Kerr posting, that it might be interesting to discuss "the art of displaying", my suggestion had nothing whatsoever to do with personal in home displays.

As Bob K was discussing his ideas of the top Tucson display cases, my suggestion was meant only to discuss displays at shows.....Tucson, Denver, Munich....or smaller regional shows.....or the small local shows. There is a large difference in most displayers, displayed examples, and observers of the displays, at the big national shows vs smaller more local shows. The displays at these different shows tend to be very different and should be different (!) for the different observers......

Sorry if I did not make my original suggestion more clear. I might add more down the road, if others find the topic of interest. Bob

[Gail]

Thanks for clarifying Bob. I saw this was heading into home displays so was a bit concerned.

[Bergur_E_Sigurdarson]

I'm looking forward to seeing info in here. As well as discussion.
I'm sure we all realize that aesthetics are a matter of taste... and so while there may be overall agreeable beauty to certaing things, each person will have their take on it
(and obviously in their own home do as they please :-D )

The things I immediately thought could be presented were details on mounting... both basic "shelves" in display boxes as well as the bases/stands... I know many like the acrylic ones - but that is just part of the story. How do you place a specimen on an acrylic base... without damaging the specimen... without interfering with the display... and so on.

I would love if some people shared not just a picture of their labeling... but in such a generous community I can easily see some people sharing their templates.
As well as info on short-hand, to be able to have sufficient info on a small piece of paper.
Are people putting info on both sides?
Mineral only on front... location and more on back, etc.

In a classic display in a show... are labels the same as at home or is there good reasoning (aesthetically) for just having numbers and a list with full info.
Does it depend on how crowded or not the case is?
What arguments for and against... each way using examples of cases that have won awards!

There is also the question of geometry of setup... all small pieces... mix... order placed... this is classic stuff - that no doubt takes into account thing from other arts, like photography, paintings and sculpture.
Not to mention colours... themes...

I seriously doubt we come into this thread looking to find a single solution :-D
Having only attended a few shows and never set up a display I look forward to seeing more examples and reasoning behind each.

(even my at-home-display is non-existant at this time as I'm traveling and have no apt of my own right now)

[Gail]

I remember putting together wooden “risers” and fortifying them and going to a fabric store to pick out a neutral fabric to cover our risers. Phew. So many fabrics but many that won’t work. It had to be ample enough to hide the wood underneath yet “stretchy” enough to pull and staple. It was not difficult for me to stretch as I had been stretching canvas for oil paintings for many years.
We put in a display in Tucson and actually won an award. As Jim and I stood in front of our case, just beaming with happiness, a well known mineral dealer came walking by and said “Hate your fabric” and she kept on going. We laughed so hard because there wasn’t a single piece in our case we had bought from her. All was fine, great story at mineral gatherings.
Anyhow, we evolved our displays as the lighting changed. The temperature of the lights in some cases scared us as we were concerned about enhydros, tack and hot glued specimens. With more LED lights it helps. A combination of LED and halogen is optimal for us.

[Gary White]

Consistency in labeling is absolutely required for competitive displays. However I have found that my labeled acrylic bases (that were acquired over many years and through a couple of different vendors) were inconsistent in font style, size, abbreviations, and content. To correct this I began making text-box labels with a common font and frame using Microsoft products. These can be easily printed on ordinary paper with an inkjet printer. The paper labels can be laminated at most office supply or shipping stores to prevent moisture damage and to provide stiffness. Once trimmed these laminated labels can be applied to an acrylic base with double sided tape or simply placed on the display shelf near the mineral. I have received positive comments from several judges for legibility and uniformity. Example below.

[moosix]

A good idea and a very interesting aspect of our hobby. If you ask 100 collectors what is the best way to display minerals, you will get maybe 100 different answers, but the more interesting the topic is ;-)