posted 04-27-2001 02:15 PM            

When anyone lends to a reputable museum, you are instantly in the hands of a creature known as a Registrar--who is in charge of the movement of all objects in and out of every space in the museum. Registrars are detail people, and they handle every aspect of the security and care of loan objects. A loan agreement is always created for any loan, and this is a legal contract, obliging the Museum to take care of the object as it would its own (better in fact--a museum cannot even clean a piece of silver it borrows without permission). Insurance can be handled either by the lender or the museum, but that depends on who wants what. Issues of transportation are also handled during a loan contract--how objects are to be brought to the museum and later returned. The museum usually lays out very clearly how, when and for what reason it is borrowing the object(s). The lender, in turn, is legally bound not to ask for a loan back until the loan term is up. Thus, a lender may in fact sell things that are on loan to a museum, but the new owner may not remove them until the contract loan period is complete.