Art, Artefact, or 'Curiosity': Revealing the History of Collecting Pre-Columbian Ceramics in UK Museum

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Pre-Columbian ceramics, notably those from Peru, are found in museums of all sizes across the UK. Whilst Britain had little formal colonial jurisdiction in South America, it nevertheless exploited its natural assets and removed its cultural heritage. This research examines patterns of ceramic collecting within this imperialist context and what it reveals about museum histories more broadly. It links existing fractional sources with data generated through a new national survey to reveal trends in collecting praxes, cataloguing taxonomies, and curatorial proclivities. Museum documentation, exhibitions, and publications, as well as external sources, such as press and other reports, will be analysed for evidence of colonial privilege, racist narratives, and problematic provenance. Thus, this timely research will test the efficacy of data as a tool both to challenge assumptions and facilitate decolonising practice, thereby repositioning these ceramics within the 21st-century museum.