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

在更广泛的英国背景下，埃塞俄比亚和苏格兰有着漫长但未被发掘的共同历史。从1770年第一个英国人、苏格兰探险家和收藏家詹姆斯·布鲁斯(James Bruce)于1770年抵达埃塞俄比亚，到英国军事惩罚性探险队(1867-1868年)前往马克达拉(Maqdala)(包括卡梅伦苏格兰步枪)，再到二战期间将埃塞俄比亚从意大利占领下解放出来的联合任务，英国几乎一直有埃塞俄比亚人的存在。物体是阐明这种关系的重要来源。探险家、传教士、外交官和军事探险队收集了埃塞俄比亚的物品，而埃塞俄比亚的尺子自19世纪初以来一直赠送给英国王室埃塞俄比亚王室的王冠。获得和展示这些物品可能代表统治、促进外交关系或展示文化知识。政治变化和人类学的发展塑造了收藏和展示的背景，改变了参与其中的人员和他们的动机。NMS收藏了243件埃塞俄比亚文物，包括1770年第一次探险和1867-1867-8年对马格达拉的惩罚性探险，为分析在政治和行政剧烈变化时期与埃塞俄比亚文化接触的变化模式提供了丰富的原始资料，但这些藏品的历史以前从未被研究过。NMS的藏品与英国的其他藏品一起，代表了埃塞俄比亚以外最重要的埃塞俄比亚文化遗产集合之一。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品仍然没有被开发，因为埃塞俄比亚没有被殖民，因此很少出现在英国帝国历史上。这个项目提供了一个机会来比较评估英国殖民时代在非殖民环境下的收藏品。除了NMS自己的档案之外，我的研究还将参考大英图书馆的战争办公室档案、议事录议会档案以及阿比西尼亚远征后发布的相关记录和记述，以了解许多这些收藏品背后的军事背景。我还将关注苏格兰战争艺术家兼通讯员威廉·辛普森-他本人也是埃塞俄比亚文物的狂热收藏家-检查他多产的日记和素描本，以阐明NMS收藏品中的文物。我的研究将在英国在埃塞俄比亚收藏的更广泛的背景下了解Maqdala的事件。这项研究将利用青年队拥有的詹姆斯·布鲁斯档案等资源，以阐明布鲁斯收藏的物品背后的历史，这些物品现在由NMS持有。我还将努力寻找尽可能多的埃塞俄比亚原始材料，我将与当代埃塞俄比亚艺术品收藏家和交易商联系，以更多地了解当今英国收藏埃塞俄比亚艺术品的当代做法。虽然文献证据将成为此次留学的主要重点，但我将在研究中首先考虑这些物品。我将在NMS尽可能仔细地研究这些藏品，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、展示和反应的历史图表。我将研究这些年来在NMS的画廊和展览中出现的物品，以及在这段时间里它们被展示和解释的方式。通过这个项目，我希望帮助NMS的埃塞俄比亚收藏品获得新的曙光，并帮助博物馆的同事开发新的程序和最佳实践来研究、解释和照顾这些重要而迷人的收藏品。

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.