Top 100 objects

Browse key artefacts from our properties across the country.

Displaying 1-20 of 97

Painting: Sergeant A Lawrence of the Dumbarton Volunteer Rifle Corps

In 1882, Sergeant Lawrence won the Queen’s Prize at Wimbledon – a top shooting prize.

Object number DUM178

Time Period: 19th century, Modern

Property Information: Dumbarton Castle

Object type: Painting

Harpoon

Harpoons like this were used by Scottish whalers in the Arctic in the early 1820s.

Object number TRH419

Time Period: 19th century, Modern

Property Information: Trinity House

Object type: Harpoon

Bottle time capsule

This time capsule was discovered below the floorboards of the entrance lodge at Stanley Mills during building work in 1990.

Object number STN001

Time Period: Modern

Property Information: Stanley Mills

Object type: Bottle

Wicker basket on wheels

Wicker baskets like this one were used to transport cotton made at Stanley Mills in the mid-20th century.

Object number STN027

Time Period: Modern

Property Information: Stanley Mills

Object type: Basket

Tape weaving loom

Narrow cotton tapes were made on looms like this at Stanley Mills from the 1930s to 1976.

Object number STN242

Time Period: Modern

Property Information: Stanley Mills

Object type: Loom

Incised stone

Pictish decoration has been carved into this stone block found in Orkney.

Object number GUR018

Time Period: Early medieval, Medieval

Property Information: Broch Of Gurness

Object type: Carved stone

Trebuchet ball

This heavy ball was made to be hurled at a castle’s defences from a siege machine known as a trebuchet.

Object number BTH/o/39

Time Period: Medieval

Property Information: Bothwell Castle

Object type: Trebuchet ball

Barrow

A large coke barrow used at Biggar Gasworks, South Lanarkshire, in the mid-20th century.

Object number BG.02.18

Time Period: Modern

Property Information: Biggar Gasworks

Object type: Barrow

Lion figure with shield

A lion with a wavy mane, its tongue sticking out a little, is carved into the outer face of this corbel.

Object number SPP002

Time Period: Late medieval, Medieval

Property Information: Spynie Palace

Object type: Carved stone

Grave slab - Gilbride MacKinnon

Used as a grave slab, this 14th-century stone bears a sculpture of Gilbride, chief of the Mackinnons.

Object number IONA207

Time Period: Medieval

Property Information: Iona Abbey

Object type: Effigy

Leabaidh (Box bed)

Cosy and private, this box-bed was built to provide a good night’s sleep at the Blackhouse, Arnol.

Object number ARN089

Time Period: Modern

Property Information: Arnol No 42 Blackhouse

Object type: Bed; Leabaidh

Cliabh (Peat basket)

Women used wicker baskets like this one to collect peat to use as fuel.

Object number ARN094

Time Period: Modern

Property Information: Arnol No 42 Blackhouse

Object type: Peat basket/Basket; Cliabh

Hatchment - Viscount of Strathallan

Used as a memorial to someone who had died, a ‘hatchment’ would carry the deceased’s coat of arms.

Object number INP001

Time Period: 19th century, Modern

Property Information: Innerpeffray Chapel

Object type: Hatchment

Hatchment - Clementina 11th Countess of Perth

A ‘hatchment’ was a memorial to someone who had died and would feature the deceased’s coat of arms.

Object number INP002

Time Period: 19th century, Modern

Property Information: Innerpeffray Chapel

Object type: Hatchment

Tapestry - The Unicorn is Found [R]

A modern version of the medieval Hunt of the Unicorn tapestry series graces the walls of the Royal Palace at Stirling Castle.

Object number STC189

Time Period: 21st century, Modern

Property Information: Stirling Castle

Object type: Tapestry

Photograph of distillery workers

A photo of the employees of Dallas Dhu Distillery, taken in the spring of 1920.

Object number DHU452

Time Period: 20th century, Modern

Property Information: Dallas Dhu Distillery

Object type: Photograph

Cross - MacMillan's Cross

Alexander MacMillan worked for Alexander MacDonald, Lord of the Isles, as the keeper of Castle Sween.

Object number KLM038

Time Period: Medieval

Property Information: Kilmory Chapel

Object type: Cross

Pirlie pig

A pirlie pig is a medieval version of today’s piggy bank.

Object number MEL469

Time Period: Late medieval, Medieval

Property Information: Melrose Abbey

Object type: Money collection box/Collection box

Cresset lamp

Inchmahome Priory would once have been bathed in a soft glow by lamps such as this one.

Object number INCM015

Time Period: Medieval

Property Information: Inchmahome Priory

Object type: Lamp

Portrait of Admiral Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan of Camperdown

Admiral Duncan (1731–1804) led the British fleet to victory against the Dutch at Camperdown in 1797.

Object number TRH038

Time Period: 18th century, Modern

Property Information: Trinity House

Object type: Painting

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