Exploring the DAR Museum Collection

The DAR Museum is announcing an improved online object catalog for learning more about the museum collection. All the objects you will see have been donated or purchased with funds donated to the Friends of the Museum Fund.  Enjoy finding paintings, furniture quilts, clothing, tools, musical instruments and more. There are currently 6,500 museum collection records that you can access online. Records are continually added, so keep checking to see new additions. 

To start exploring, go to dar.org and select the Museum page. Click on Collections and then choose Search the Collection. The first screen is the Home Page which has photos of collection highlights.  Click on any photo to see information on that object.

To discover more about other objects that are in the collection, go to the menu bar at the top of the Home Page and click on Browse.  An alphabetical list of object names will appear.  The number next to each name is the number of records for that type of object.  Click on an object name, such as armchair, to open a list of these records.  The resulting list is arranged by the catalog number assigned to each object.  Clicking on any photo jumps to a screen with detailed information on that object. Use the back arrow at the top left of your screen to return to the list of all object names.

To find objects using specific information, select Search from the menu bar across the top of the screen and you’ll move to the Advanced Search screen.  Enter a term in one of the fields to start searching. Try adding Virginia in the Place Made field or Wedgwood in the Artist/Maker field. To start a search, click the gray Search Collection button below the list of field choices.

To locate something in a period room, use the Search Box in the upper right corner and enter “Ohio Room” or “New York Room”  and click the Search button on the right side of the box. This produces an inventory list of everything in the period room. Use the menu on the left side of the screen if you wish to download or print the list.

The Search Box may also be used for general searches using a word or phrase that could appear anywhere in a record.

If you know an object’s catalog number, scroll down the Advanced Search screen and find Go to Object, enter the number in this box and click Get Object to find the object and see the description. Try looking up number 2004, the blue sofa on display in the Study Gallery.

Searching the DAR Museum catalog is easier than you think, and you might find treasures you didn’t know we had. Enjoy!