ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the growth and changing contents of the Museum’s collections as well as how, where, why, and when it has been displayed. Apart from serving to identify changes in the sources of the collection, particularly in the balance between donations and purchases, this will also allow for an examination of who has been responsible for the choices that have been made about not only what is in the collection but also about which parts of it should be on display at any given time. The relationship between new elements in the collection and the accumulated inheritance of the past will also be considered in the context of arguments about the role and functions of material assemblages within the context of the museum. The relationship between these issues and the social, political, and economic environments within which the museum has been functioning will serve as the organising element in this discussion.
