Museums across the world are competing to find which contains the “best bum" as part of a weekly online battle between curators.
Yorkshire Museum, in York, England, launched the search on social media on Friday, with a picture of a Roman marble statuette with what appears to be a bite-sized chunk missing from its behind.
The tweet has since received hundreds of replies, with bottoms from a range of items, including statues, paintings, photographs, animals, skeletons, insects, and vehicles.
IT’S TIME FOR #CURATORBATTLE!💥 Today’s theme is #BestMuseumBum! This cracking Roman marble statuette depicts an a… https://t.co/8Z95hVpbuL— Yorkshire Museum (@Yorkshire Museum)1593162213.0
The museum has been running the “curator battle" throughout lockdown, giving museums worldwide the chance to display some of their most interesting objects to a global audience.
It introduced the latest contest with a tweet, which said:
“Today's theme is #BestMuseumBum!"
“This cracking Roman marble statuette depicts an athlete at the peak of fitness. It may have decorated the town house of one of Eboracum's wealthier residents. Has someone taken a bite out of this?"
The Royal Armouries, in Leeds, replied with a picture of its collection of Henry VIII's combat armors.
@YorkshireMuseum @museumbums Same derriere, different decade You can track Henry VIII's burgeoning bottom through… https://t.co/lOlwVPn3f6— Royal Armouries (@Royal Armouries)1593166881.0
It said:
“Same derriere, different decade."
“You can track Henry VIII's burgeoning bottom through our collection of his combat armours. The Tudor tubster went from a modest 32in waist in 1520 to a whopping 51in booty by 1540."
“A 60% increase in trunk junk."
@YorkshireMuseum @museumbums How about these bums of SUMO wrestlers in our collections? These bums were painted by… https://t.co/tvx97dfkPH— 太田記念美術館 Ota Memorial Museum of Art (@太田記念美術館 Ota Memorial Museum of Art)1593183180.0
International entries included the Ota Memorial Museum of Art in Tokyo, Japan, with its paintings of sumo wrestlers by artist Katsushika Hokusai.
It commented:
“How about these bums of sumo wrestlers in our collections?"
“These bums were painted by Hokusai."
Cape Fear Museum in Wilmington, North Carolina, was one of many to offer a saucy seaside postcard as its entry.
@YorkshireMuseum @museumbums Imagine getting this in the mail! #BestMuseumBum #CuratorBattle #MuseumfromHome https://t.co/gbaSdo9TGV— Cape Fear Museum (@Cape Fear Museum)1593181506.0
Tweeting a picture of the card, which features a man waterskiing naked apart from a cowboy hat and boots, the American museum said:
“Imagine getting this in the mail!"
A spokesman for the York Museums Trust said:
“We have been running the curator battles throughout lockdown and they have proved really popular."
@YorkshireMuseum @museumbums Oh how we're enjoying the competition for #BestMuseumBum! And we give you this juicy,… https://t.co/66pYg3LHBE— Whipple Museum (@Whipple Museum)1593167463.0
“It is a chance for museums big and small to share their objects under a given theme to create what essentially become global online exhibitions."
“We have run a variety of different themes over the weeks but best museum bums is proving one of the most popular yet – it's great to see museums around the world sharing their cheekiest objects."
And boy, did they deliver.
@YorkshireMuseum @museumbums We raise your athlete and instead give you the bum of a drunken fish. Yes you heard me… https://t.co/NYbq1cCUIz— York Art Gallery (@York Art Gallery)1593162557.0
@YorkshireMuseum @museumbums We'll have a crack at this😉🍑 Pert and perfectly formed at 4000 years old, introducing… https://t.co/k6Ph32VHM3— Valence House (@Valence House)1593162866.0
@YorkshireMuseum @museumbums For today’s #CURATORBATTLE (or perhaps #CURATORREBUTTAL?) theme of #BestMuseumBum, we… https://t.co/q90nwUFeZp— Wallace Collection (@Wallace Collection)1593175719.0
@YorkshireMuseum @museumbums 💥 #BestMuseumBum themed #CURATORBATTLE today💥 The Cowdray Engraving shows the sinking… https://t.co/V4sOJPzK9M— The Mary Rose (@The Mary Rose)1593163075.0
@YorkshireMuseum @museumbums Is it getting hot in here, or is it just me? This Valentine’s Day card was sold at Fe… https://t.co/Jpym5vUQ66— York Castle Museum (@York Castle Museum)1593162318.0
@YorkCastle @museumbums Gotta love the 80s #BestMuseumBum #CuratorBattle https://t.co/NwnXX4DScC— Yorkshire Museum (@Yorkshire Museum)1593165397.0
Yorkshire Museum issues a new curator battle on its Twitter feed every Friday.