Cataloging Every Item in the Williams Residence, from Spoons to Sofas

When the Collection’s 533 Royal Street campus, which includes the Williams Residence, closed to the public for renovations in 2023, HNOC saw an unprecedented opportunity. Here was a chance to take stock of the contents of the Residence, assess preservation needs, and get a better sense of our holdings relating to the Williamses and their day-to-day lives. The building was chock-full of the couple’s possessions; in addition to the items on display, a multitude of objects were stored behind the scenes. Even the oven was full of pots and pans! Our registration and preparation departments took on the huge task of carefully packing every item in the Residence and relocating the entire collection to off-site storage.

It was at the Collection’s storage facility that our job as catalogers began. Along with Decorative Arts Curator Lydia Blackmore and Associate Registrar Kylie Hewitt, we began creating descriptive records of each and every item in the Residence—well over 3,000 objects in total. Museum objects are generally cataloged when they come into our collection, but most of the items in the Williams Residence had never undergone such recordkeeping. We began in July 2023, starting with the Williamses’ sprawling collections of china and silver, and we're still at it. Later we will move on to cataloging glassware, textiles, and furniture. The process is predicted to take a total of five years.

Many of these objects sat in storage in the Residence for decades, so the first task is often to give them a good cleaning. This can be painstaking, dirty work that requires a variety of tools including polishing cloths, toothbrushes, and even toothpicks. Once an item is sparkling, we mark it with a unique accession number so that a given spoon, for example, can be differentiated from other, similar spoons. These marks are entirely removable and do not harm or permanently alter the objects. Then it’s time to create or update the item’s catalog record.

For most of the objects we handle, there is no existing information in our records; we're starting from scratch. We create a record in our cataloging system, Axiell Collections, that summarizes what we know about an object: its dimensions, materials, maker, date, a physical description, and any background we might have about how the Williamses acquired it.

When older cataloging information does exist, it is often incomplete or not sufficiently descriptive. For example, one old catalog record simply described a set of china as gold and white—but the Williamses owned three different sets of gold and white china, and we had no way to tell which one went with the catalog record. Our updated catalog records will include a greater level of detail, eliminating this kind of confusion for future staff and researchers.

When cataloging is complete, we photograph each object, wrap it carefully in archival tissue, and return it to storage. Then we retrieve the next box from the shelves, and the process begins again.

It’s difficult to imagine taking on a project of this magnitude without the aid of technology. Digital photography and cataloging software help us create accurate, complete records of each item with minimal lag time. And technology has been useful in researching the provenance of objects so that we can accurately describe them; with the help of online databases, Katherine has become adept at identifying silver makers’ distinguishing marks.

Technology also comes in handy when we encounter an item we can’t immediately identify. One pair of small objects had previously been cataloged as corncob holders, but that didn’t seem quite right based on their appearance—and we couldn’t envision Leila Williams, by all accounts an elegant and graceful hostess, eating corn off the cob! We uploaded a photo of the items to Google Lens, a visual search engine, which matched it with other photos of similar items. We discovered that our mystery objects weren’t corncob holders at all, but rather strawberry hullers.

The Williamses’ style was eclectic. Working with interior decorator Marc Antony, Leila furnished the home with objects that reflected the couple’s love of history and travel. Many objects were repurposed: a column capital became a table base, while a vase became a lamp. The result is a unique blend of the personal, the local, and the international.

The Williamses were a sociable couple, regularly hosting events and family holidays. Their extensive collections of silver, china, and glassware reflect their wealth and the high style in which they entertained. One large set of silver includes more than 167 pieces. The objects tell the story of their use in the Williamses’ everyday lives—the wear on some items suggests they were favorites that the couple used regularly. Other objects are in pristine condition, indicating that they were not as frequently used, if at all.

Kemper and Leila Williams cared deeply about preservation and worked diligently to ensure that their home and personal possessions would serve to educate the public. Our careful research and description, coupled with the physical conservation these items undergo as a part of the cataloging process, will aid museum staff in telling the story of the Williams Residence and our founders’ lives there for generations to come.