British Collecting in Ethiopia 1769 to 1960: Explorers, Missionaries, Military Expeditions, and Royal Gifting

1769 年至 1960 年英国在埃塞俄比亚的收藏：探险家、传教士、军事探险和皇家礼物

• 批准号: 2320782
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of St Andrews
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2320782
• 关键词: British; Collecting; Ethiopia; 1769; 1960

Ethiopia and Scotland, within a wider British context, have an extended, but underexplored, shared history. From the arrival of the first British person in Ethiopia, the Scottish explorer and collector James Bruce of Kinnaird in 1770, to the British military punitive expedition to Maqdala (1867-1868), which included the Cameronian Scottish Rifles, to the joint mission to free Ethiopia from Italian occupation during WWII, Britain has had a near-continuous Ethiopian presence. Objects are vital sources for illuminating this relationship. Explorers, missionaries, diplomats, and military expeditions collected Ethiopian objects, while Ethiopian rulers have gifted British royalty Ethiopian royal regalia since the early 19th century. Acquisition and display of these objects could represent domination, facilitate diplomatic relations, or demonstrate cultural knowledge. Political changes, and the development of anthropology, shaped the context of collecting and display, altering the personnel involved and their motivations.The NMS collection of 243 Ethiopian objects, including those from the first exploration in 1770 and the punitive expedition to Magdala in 1867-8, afford rich primary sources for analysing shifting patterns of engagement with Ethiopian culture over a period of radical political and administrative change, but the history of their collection has not been studied before. The NMS collection, together with other collections in the UK, represents one of the most significant assemblages of Ethiopian cultural heritage outside of Ethiopia. There is a growing body of colonial collecting histories from east Africa and in Asia. However, British collecting in Ethiopia remains unexplored because Ethiopia wasn't colonised and thus rarely figures in British imperial histories. This project presents an opportunity to comparatively assess British colonial era collecting in a non-colonial setting.'As well as NMS's own archives, my research will draw upon the War Office Archive at the British Library, the Hansard parliamentary archive, and the associated records and accounts published following the Expedition to Abyssinia, in order to understand the military context behind many of these acquisitions. I will also focus on the Scottish war artist and correspondent William Simpson - himself a keen collector of Ethiopian objects - examining his prolific diaries and sketchbooks to shed light on the objects in the NMS collection.My research will situation the events at Maqdala within the wider context of British collecting in Ethiopia. This research will draw upon resources such as the the James Bruce archive held by the YCBA, in order to illuminate the history behind the objects from Bruce's collection which are now held by NMS. I will also strive to find as much Ethiopian source material as possible, and I will liaise with contemporary collectors and dealers of Ethiopian art to understand more about the contemporary practice of collecting Ethiopian art in the UK today.While documentary evidence will form a key focus of this studentship, I will consider the objects first and foremost in my research. I will study the collection at NMS as closely as possible and situate it within the broader context of Ethiopian art history. I will also carry out research into what has happened to the objects since their arrival in Edinburgh, charting the history of their storage, display, and the responses to them. I will examine which objects have appeared in NMS's galleries and exhibitions over the years, and the ways in which they have been displayed and interpreted during this time.Through this project I hope to help shine a new light on NMS's Ethiopian collections and help colleagues at the museum to develop new processes and best-practices for studying, interpreting and caring for these important and fascinating collections.

埃塞俄比亚和苏格兰，在更广泛的英国背景下，有一个延伸的，但探索不足，共同的历史。从1770年苏格兰探险家和收藏家金奈尔德的詹姆斯布鲁斯（James Bruce of Kinnaird）第一个到达埃塞俄比亚的英国人，到英国对马克达拉（Maqdala）的军事惩罚性远征（1867-1868年），其中包括喀麦隆苏格兰步枪队（Cameronian Scottish Rifles），再到二战期间将埃塞俄比亚从意大利占领中解放出来的联合使命，英国几乎一直在埃塞俄比亚存在。对象是阐明这种关系的重要来源。探险家、传教士、外交官和军事探险家收集了埃塞俄比亚的物品，而埃塞俄比亚统治者从世纪初开始就把埃塞俄比亚的皇家王权赠送给英国皇室。获得和展示这些物品可以代表统治，促进外交关系或展示文化知识。政治变革和人类学的发展塑造了收藏和展示的背景，改变了参与的人员和他们的动机。国家博物馆收藏了243件埃塞俄比亚文物，包括1770年第一次探险和1867-8年对抹大拉的惩罚性远征，提供丰富的原始资料，用于分析在激进的政治和行政变革时期与埃塞俄比亚文化接触的变化模式，但其收藏历史却从未被研究过。NMS收藏品与英国的其他收藏品一起，代表了埃塞俄比亚境外最重要的埃塞俄比亚文化遗产组合之一。从东非和亚洲收集殖民历史的人越来越多。然而，英国在埃塞俄比亚的收藏仍然没有被探索，因为埃塞俄比亚没有被殖民，因此很少出现在英国帝国的历史中。这个项目提供了一个机会，比较评估英国殖民时代收集在非殖民地设置。“除了NMS自己的档案，我的研究将借鉴大英图书馆的战争办公室档案，Hansard议会档案，以及远征阿比西尼亚后出版的相关记录和账户，以了解这些收购背后的军事背景。我还将关注苏格兰战争艺术家兼记者威廉·辛普森（William Simpson）--他本人也是埃塞俄比亚物品的热衷收藏家--研究他多产的日记和素描本，以阐明NMS收藏品中的物品。我的研究将把马克达拉事件置于英国在埃塞俄比亚收藏的更广泛背景下。这项研究将利用资源，如詹姆斯布鲁斯档案馆举行的基督教青年会，以照亮背后的历史，从布鲁斯的收集，现在举行的NMS的对象。我也将努力寻找尽可能多的埃塞俄比亚源材料，我将与埃塞俄比亚艺术的当代收藏家和经销商联系，以了解更多关于收集埃塞俄比亚艺术在英国今天的当代实践.虽然文献证据将形成这个学生的一个关键重点，我会考虑对象首先在我的研究.我将尽可能密切地研究NMS的藏品，并将其置于埃塞俄比亚艺术史的更广泛背景下。我还将对这些物品到达爱丁堡后发生的事情进行研究，绘制它们的存储，展示以及对它们的反应的历史。我将研究这些年来在NMS的画廊和展览中出现过哪些物品，以及这些物品在这段时间里的展示和解释方式。通过这个项目，我希望帮助NMS的埃塞俄比亚收藏品重新焕发光彩，并帮助博物馆的同事们开发新的流程和最佳实践来研究，解释和照顾这些重要而迷人的收藏品。