Online Museum Collection Information

Search Overview
Keyword Search
Advanced Search
Use Keyword Search with Advanced Search to Refine Results
Database Fields Queried by Advanced and Keyword Searches
Contact Information

For Terms of Use and general information, see Online Museum Collection Information.

Search Overview

Keyword and advanced searches review a broad range of fields, as indicated in part by the names of the Advanced Search fields. They also search Description, although that field will only be shown in the results if it has been modified for web use. Date searches must be done using the relevant Advanced Search fields. See the table Database Fields Queried by Advanced and Keyword Searches. Here are a few hints:

• Click "Search the Winterthur Museum Collection" to return to the database opening screen (with category thumbnails) or, after searching, click the red arrow to return to the previous screen.

• Click the box by "Only records with images" to exclude records without images from a search.

• Enter Object Name as singular, as records are typically for individual objects. Example: Quilts returns no results. Quilt returns several hundred results.

• Keep multi-word search terms simple. Searches look for records in which an individual field contains all the listed search terms.

• Try alternative spellings for search terms. Example: A search for coffeepot returns no results. One for coffee pot returns well over a hundred results.

• Searches are not case sensitive.

• Use quotation marks (phrase search) to refine searches and find records with the identical word sequence in a single field.

• These characters and punctuation marks are ignored or converted to spaces during searches: (), +, -, ; (semi colon) and, (comma) as well as !, @, $, %, ^, &, and *. Example: Musician+accordion, musician; accordion, and musician, accordion are all treated the same as musician accordion and retrieve the same results.

• Of, the, a, and, in are ignored during searches, except when using a phrase search (multiple words surrounded by double quotes).

• Each object is assigned to only one Category (such as Ceramics or Furniture). If you do not find an object in one Category grouping, try another Category to which it might be assigned.

• You can further refine a completed search. If your search yields too many results or the results are not what you wanted, simply change the information in the keyword field and/or the advanced fields and click Search.

Keyword Search

For a keyword search, use the primary search box at the top of the screen.

Hint: Keep search terms simple. Multi-word searches only find results if all words are in a single field in a record.

Example: A search on plate England creamware is unlikely to get useful results because plate is an object name, England is a place of origin, and creamware is a material, and this information resides in separate fields.

Example: A search for sugar bowl will return many records. It will find all those with the object name sugar bowl as well as those having a description of a bowl with a texture like sugar.

Hint: Separate each keyword by a space. Most punctuation marks and extra spaces will be ignored.

Hint: Use quotation marks (phrase search) to refine your searches and find records with the identical word sequence in a single field. Phrase searching is useful when looking for the exact title of an object.

Example: “Quilting Frolic”

Hint: When searching for dates and date ranges, use the “Earliest Year” and “Latest Year” search fields under Advanced Search rather than the keyword search.

Advanced Search

Click on “Advanced Search” below the keyword search box to have more search options and additional control over queries. Enter a term or multiple terms into relevant fields. See the table Database Fields Queried by Advanced and Keyword Searches.

Searching for dates and date ranges: The “Earliest Year” and “Latest Year” search fields are set to search for specific years or can help search for date ranges. To find records for dated objects, enter the date in either the Earliest Year or Latest Year field. To search for objects associated with a date range, enter the earliest and latest years of the range in the appropriate fields.

Searching on museum object numbers: Enter the number into the keyword search box or the Museum Object Number search box. Follow this format, using zeroes as placeholders, ####.####.###.

Example: Enter 1953.0178.002 (not 53.178.2) to find the painting The Quilting Frolic.

Hint: Separate multi-word search terms by a space. Such searches look for records in which the corresponding individual field contains all the listed search terms. Try combining keyword and advanced searches to narrow your results.

Example: A search with Boston Massachusetts in the Place of Origin field will yield poor results as the database field for City is separate from that for State, Country, etc. A more successful search might include Boston in the keyword search field and Massachusetts in the Place of Origin field. (One might further refine the search by selecting Furniture from the Category field list.)

Hint: Use quotation marks (phrase search) to refine searches and find records with the identical word sequence in a single field.

Example: Phrase searching is useful when looking for an exact title such as “Quilting Frolic”.

Hint: Multi-part objects may have more than one record, each with a letter at the end of the object number. To be sure to find all parts of an object, however, keep searches simple and do not enter a letter. If you do not get the result you are looking for, try entering just the first two segments of the number (####.####). Alternatively, try a search using descriptive terms in the appropriate fields, rather than the object number.

Example: The number for The Quilting Frolic painting is 1953.0178.002 A and the number for its frame is 1953.0178.002 B. Each has its own record. Entering 1953.0178.002 will search and show results that include both parts.

Example: To see all records for the 70-piece Society of Cincinnati dinner and tea service, enter 1963.0700 without the third number segment.

Use Keyword Search with Advanced Search to Refine Results

As the keyword search field is set not only to search on the fields included under Advanced Search, but also on non-listed fields (such as Description), it can be used to help refine searches.

Example: To find Winterthur’s ceramic plates decorated with the Boston State House pattern, enter Boston State House in the keyword search field, plate in the Object Name or Title field, and select ceramics from the Category field list.

Example: A search on Washington in the keyword search will give several hundred responses, as it is looking for that term in any field. Revise the search by entering Washington in the keyword search and print in Object Name or Title to get all prints which have some connection to Washington.

Database Fields Queried by Advanced and Keyword Searches

FIELDS SEARCHED ONLY BY KEYWORD	FIELD DEFINITION
Subjects	• If identified, the person, topic or theme with which the object is associated. Examples: George Washington or Abolition.
Object Description	• The detailed description of the object that supplements information recorded in other fields. Results will only display available Web Descriptions, even though hidden Descriptions also are searched.

See table below for all the other fields also searched by keyword.

ADVANCED SEARCH FIELD	FIELD DEFINITION
Object Name or Title	• One or more words that describe an object type in basic terms (such as side chair, painting, or cup). • The accepted or proper title of an object such as the title of a painting or book.
Place of Origin	• The place(s) where the object was made. These terms include more general locations (Continent or Region) and, if known, more specific locations (City or State/Province). Example: The fabric of a dress may be made in London, England (primary place of origin) and the dress cut and sewn together in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (secondary place of origin).
Earliest Year (YYYY)	• Specific date or earliest date for the manufacture or creation of an object. Note: Dates and date ranges are not searchable via the keyword search box. • Date marked on an object. • Publication date for a work.
Latest year (YYYY)	• Specific date or latest date for the manufacture or creation of an object. Note: Dates and date ranges are not searchable via the keyword search box. • Date marked on an object. • Publication date for a work.
Creator	• The names of the people or manufacturers that created the object and the makers’ roles (e.g., painter, cabinet maker, weaver).
Technique	• Method(s) used in the manufacture of an object (e.g. woven, molded, carved).
Museum Object Number	• The unique number assigned to an object by the museum (such as 1953.0700.001), also known as the accession number. These numbers are used to reference objects in publications, museum object files, the collection database, and imagery.
Category	• A grouping of objects. Each object in the database has only one category. See drop-down list in Advanced Search “Category” field.
Credit Line/Donor	• Text describing the source from which the museum acquired an object. For donations, credit line reflects the acknowledgement requested by the donor.
Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label	• Type and description of marks, signatures, inscriptions, and/or labels on the object, often with placement of those features also listed.

Contact

For general inquiries: Museum Collection (MuseumCollection@Winterthur.org)
For image requests: Photo Services (PhotoServices@Winterthur.org)
For technical support: Webmaster (Webmaster@Winterthur.org)