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Collections
ARCHAEOLOGY/ETHNOLOGY
 This
collection encompasses over 2 million prehistoric and historic specimens
from nearly 100 years of excavation and over 2,000 ethnographic objects.
Archaeology specimens are recognized as the definitive systematic research
collection for the study of New Jersey prehistory and one of the most
important collections for regional study of northeastern North America.
Developed overwhelmingly through professional excavations by Museum staff
and archaeologists from universities and consulting agencies, the collections
provide data on the entire span of human occupation of New Jersey from
prehistoric to historic 19th century. The Museum's archaeology collection
is the preferred repository for collections excavated within New Jersey
by state and federal projects. The ethnographic collection consists of
items brought back to New Jersey by residents who traveled as diplomats,
military officers, missionaries, and enthusiastic tourists in the 19th
and early 20th centuries. Most specimens represent the Delaware and other
North American Indian groups. The collection is particularly rich in examples
of Native American textiles, bead, and hide work. It includes a small
number of West African specimens, collected to interpret the New Jersey
African-American past, and a small selection of Asian objects collected
by New Jersey donors on business or pleasure trips during the late 1800s
through the 1950s.
CULTURAL HISTORY
 Museum
staff collects and interprets objects that help document and describe
the existence of people who have lived in New Jersey from the 17th century
to the present. Beginning in 1924 with the acquisition of a Belleek porcelain
teacup made by the famous Trenton firm, Ott & Brewer, the Cultural
History collection has grown to include over 12,000 artifacts encompassing
a wide range of subjects and materials. True to its beginnings, the collection
is particularly strong in documenting the history of New Jersey's important
ceramics industry, from examples of work by early earthenware and stoneware
potteries to fine porcelains from Trenton's renowned manufacturers. The
holdings also include choice examples of work from other industries once
prominent in the state, such as glass and iron making. The products of
New Jersey's craftsworkers are likewise well represented. Fine silver,
tall case clocks, furniture, baskets and woven coverlets all illustrate
the diversity and quality of work produced throughout the state. The textile
collection also includes outstanding New Jersey quilts and samplers from
the 18th and 19th centuries. Artifacts reflecting the state's agricultural
and maritime heritage, including a selection of New Jersey decoys, round
out the Bureau's holdings. The Cultural History Collection invites visitors
to discover and learn about New Jersey's extraordinary heritage through
exhibitions that draw upon these rich resources.
FINE ART
 The
Museum has collected over 10,000 paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures
and photographs, most acquired since 1965 when the Museum's mission was
expanded to include this area. The collection has a New Jersey focus within
the context of American art history. Its strengths lie in works by the
American modernists associated with Alfred Steiglitz, American abstract
artists of the 1930s and 1940s, contemporary American art, the complete
graphic outputs of Ben Shahn and Jacob Landau, and a comprehensive collection
of works by 19th and 20th-century African-American artists which is nationally
based.
NATURAL HISTORY
 These
collections are the oldest collections of the Museum. They cover 11 subcategories
of geological and zoological materials (including substantial holdings
in geology, malacology, ornithology study skins, and alcohol-preserved
specimens) and a collection of historically valuable glass lantern slides.
Specimens are distributed among 55,198 specimen lots. Notable collection
holdings include historic rock samples from New Jersey's iron, copper,
zinc, clay and sand industries, specimens from the Ellisdale site (the
first definitive Cretaceous mammals in eastern North America), Paleozoic
fossils of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Cretaceous/Tertiary
fossils, the Anderson Collection of New Jersey amphibians and reptiles,
fluorescent minerals from the Franklin/Sterling Hill ore bodies, the Kurtz
collection of New Jersey bird skins, and several hundred fossil Types.
The Museum is the only accredited, non-university aligned institution
in New Jersey engaged in active scientific research.
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Museum Hours:
MUSEUM
We have Re-Opened Our Doors Museum Hours are
Tuesday – Saturday, 9 am – 5 pm, Sunday, Noon – 5 pm.
PLANETARIUM
The Planetarium is closed due to construction. Watch this site for announcements about its reopening.
AUDITORIUM GALLERIES
Monday through Friday,
9 am to 4:45 pm;
Saturday, 9 am to 4 pm;
Closed Sunday and State Holidays
GALLERIES AT 225 WEST STATE STREET
Monday through Friday,
9 am to 4:45 pm;
Saturday, 9 am to 4 pm;
Closed Sunday and State Holidays
ADMISSION
Free (donations accepted).
GENERAL INFORMATION
(609) 292-6464
THE FRIENDS MUSEUM SHOP
The Friends Museum Shop is located at the Welcome Center of the State House Annex. The Shop is open from 10am to 4pm Monday through Friday. During December all State employees receive a 10% discount on all purchases. Friends members always receive a 10% discount on all purchases.
ACCESSIBILITY
All facilities are accessible to visitors with physical disabilities.
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Changing
Collections