Cribbage board carved from Titanic wreckwood.

Collections

Keeping Heritage Alive

The mandate of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is to create for all an awareness, appreciation and understanding of Nova Scotia's marine heritage through collection, preservation, research, interpretation and exhibition.

The Collections Unit at the Museum plays a significant role in fulfilling this mandate, maintaining and developing the collection, preserving artifacts and objects, and conducting research in order to develop exhibits and facilitate interpretation.

Preservation

The Museum preserves artifacts by keeping them in a carefully monitored environment. More active conservation is carried out by curatorial staff. The Museum has a full-time boatbuilder to restore and conserve the small craft collection and conservation and restoration work is on-going aboard CSS Acadia.

Conserving our Maritime Heritage

The collection of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, a part of the Nova Scotia Museum, represents the marine history of Nova Scotia in all of it breadth and diversity. The collection belongs to the people of Nova Scotia and is largely developed through the generosity of many individuals.
The Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian merchant marine, Nova Scotia small craft and shipwrecks are subjects well represented in the collection, much of which dates from 1850 to the present. The collection includes over 32,000 objects some of which are on display.
  •  Visible Storage allows you to view hundreds of artifacts including sailors' souvenirs, tableware, lanterns, Canadian Naval ships badges, octants, sextants and telescopes.
  • The Museum has the largest collection of ship portraits in Canada.
  • The Museum also has an important small craft collection displayed in the Small Craft Gallery and two Boat Sheds.
  • Other notable artifacts in the Museum collection include the First Order Fresnel Lens from Sambro Island Lighthouse and the shoes from Titanic’s “Unknown Child.”
  • The Museum follows policies and procedures to develop and care for its collection which are outlined in the Collections Management and Collections Conservation Policies of the Nova Scotia Museum.