Nature of replication: Natural History Museums & the circulation of casts and models

复制的性质：自然历史博物馆

• 批准号: 2078105
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2018 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2078105
• 关键词: Nature; replication; Natural; History; Museums

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, plaster casts, models and replicas were key to sharing unique and rare specimens between museums for scientific scrutiny, museum display and as 'backups' to the originals. In many types of museum the status of such materials in the hierarchy of objects was low and, as studies in classical archaeology have shown, contested. The status of such reproductions in the context of natural history museums has never evaluated, but is likely to have operated differently from examples in the art historical world. This project will address this lacunae in scholarship. Today these cast may give us an insight into the ideas and objects that were being shared, as well as telling us about the techniques and networks used to produce and disseminate casts, models and replicas. Many are now deserving a status as museum objects in their own right or invaluable in instances where the original objects have been lost or destroyed. In some cases these objects are the only remnants of ideas and interpretations where archives do not exist. This area is very poorly researched and, due to the comparatively low value perception of these objects, not much is known about the network of technicians, artists, modellers and salespeople who spread these objects to almost every museum. This project would look at the cultures of casting and modelling to explore the different techniques used in manufacture, key individuals who sold them, existing catalogues, invoices and correspondence in museum archives and the networks of museum curators who commissioned, swapped and shared this material. The value of casts, models and replicas in the past and in modern museums will also be examined, looking at questions like should they be accessioned objects? Do they have a role in museum displays? What is the value of such objects? Can this history be informative for developing new curatorial approaches to 3D replicas? Starting with examples from the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, which holds the 'Oxford dodo', one of the most replicated museum objects in the world, alongside other examples of specimens which were and still are displayed and produced as casts and replicas, this project will piece together the history of cast production as way of sharing ideas as well as examining how museums can best record, promote and display these sometimes second class objects today.

在十九世纪和二十世纪初，石膏模型、模型和复制品是博物馆之间分享独特和稀有标本的关键，用于科学审查、博物馆展示和作为原件的备份。在许多类型的博物馆中，这种材料在物品等级中的地位很低，正如古典考古学的研究所表明的那样，存在争议。这种复制品在自然历史博物馆中的地位从未被评估过，但很可能与艺术史世界中的例子不同。这个项目将填补这一学术空白。今天，这些演员阵容可能会让我们深入了解正在分享的想法和对象，并告诉我们用于生产和传播演员阵容、模型和复制品的技术和网络。许多文物现在本身就配得上博物馆文物的地位，或者在原始文物丢失或被毁的情况下具有无价的价值。在某些情况下，这些物品是不存在档案的想法和解释的唯一残余物。这一领域的研究非常少，而且由于人们对这些文物的价值认知相对较低，人们对技术人员、艺术家、造型师和销售人员的网络知之甚少，他们将这些文物传播到几乎每一家博物馆。这个项目将考察铸造和造型的文化，以探索制造过程中使用的不同技术、出售这些材料的关键个人、博物馆档案中现有的目录、发票和信件，以及委托、交换和分享这些材料的博物馆馆长网络。过去和现代博物馆中的铸件、模型和复制品的价值也将被审查，研究诸如它们是否应该被纳入文物等问题。他们在博物馆的陈列中扮演了角色吗？这些物品的价值是什么？这段历史能为开发3D复制品的新策展方法提供信息吗？从牛津大学自然历史博物馆的例子开始，牛津大学自然历史博物馆拥有世界上复制最多的博物馆物品之一，以及其他标本的例子，这些标本过去和现在仍然作为铸件和复制品展示和生产，这个项目将把铸件制作的历史拼凑在一起，分享想法，并研究博物馆如何最好地记录、宣传和展示这些今天有时是次要的物品。