Collections
The McCord Museum is renowned for its rich collections of objects, images and documents from the past three centuries. The Museum was initially created to showcase the collection amassed by David Ross McCord, which centred on Indigenous peoples and key events in Canada’s past.
For a full century since then, the Museum’s collecting practices have sought to document the social dimensions of Montreal’s position as a hub of Canada’s economic and cultural life, as well as the vitality of Indigenous cultures. In 2013, the Museum’s holdings were enriched by the Stewart Museum’s outstanding collection of objects and documents covering five centuries of political, scientific and cultural history.
DRESS, FASHION AND TEXTILES
More than 27,000 garments and accessories | 960 online
Garments and accessories covering three centuries, worn by men, women and children in Canada, primarily in Montreal; fashion from Montreal designers, manufacturers and retailers; handmade domestic textiles, primarily quilts and coverlets.
PHOTOGRAPHY
More than 2,150,000 images | 83,300 online
Collection of vintage Canadian photographs including prints and glass negatives, stereograms, composites, painted photographs, daguerreotypes and other types of early photographic processes, family albums, vernacular photographs, documentary photographs, artist portfolios, cameras and photographic equipment from 1840 to the present day.
INDIGENOUS CULTURES
More than 16,000 objects | 5,800 online
Clothing and accessories, domestic objects, hunting and fishing equipment, weapons of war, objects used for transportation, ceremonial items, archaeological objects and works illustrating various forms of artistic expression.
MATERIAL CULTURE
More than 62,000 objects | 7,700 online
Furniture, silver, ceramics, glass, pewter and other metal objects, items related to food preparation, interior decoration, household management and tobacco, scientific instruments, terrestrial and celestial globes, toys and games, sports equipment, weapons, hunting and fishing tools, coins and medals.
DOCUMENTARY ART
More than 92,000 works / 30,800 online
Oil paintings, watercolours, lithographs, etchings, woodcuts, posters, press illustrations, sketchbooks, drawings and cartoons, dating from the 18th century to the present day.
ARCHIVES
More than 340 linear metres and 3,500 rare books / 1,300 objects online
Correspondence, diaries, minutes, books of account, contracts, maps and plans, dance cards, advertisements, menus and assorted other documents, all reflecting the histories of individuals, families, associations, administrations and businesses, events, and social customs and practices.
More about this collection
View objects online
See the short descriptions of more than 185 sets of documents
