WACKY inventions, eccentric artwork and unusual heirlooms are sought for an exhibition on eccentricity at an Oxford museum.

The Museum of the History of Science, in Broad Street, is currently showing off some of the forgotten items in its archive.

Now curators are asking the public to dig out their own treasures, whether they be scientific inventions, pieces of art, or even just strange and inexplicable objects.

The museum’s acting director Stephen Johnston said: “We were absolutely astonished at these extraordinary, curious, wonderful things that we found.

“They were objects we weren’t expecting to find and the thought is that most people will probably have similar strange and wonderful things.

“We wanted to give people a chance to put them on show for everyone to see.”

Among the items on display are a box of dust and cartoons presenting scientific experiments from the 18th and 19th centuries.

A special plinth is currently being constructed to display items loaned by the general public, with that part of the exhibition due to start on Monday, August 1, and run until Sunday, October 16.

Audience development officer Laura Ashby said: “We have never done anything like this before. It means anyone can exhibit something or send in their ideas.”

The first item to go on display has already been selected, a Lego plaiting machine created by Oxford Brookes University art student Alex Allmont.

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If you have something to be considered for the exhibition, visit mhs.ox.ac.uk.