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

前哥伦布时期的陶器，尤其是来自秘鲁的陶器，在英国各地大大小小的博物馆里都能找到。虽然英国在南美几乎没有正式的殖民管辖权，但它仍然剥削了那里的自然资产，并带走了那里的文化遗产。这项研究考察了帝国主义背景下的陶瓷收藏模式，以及它更广泛地揭示了博物馆的历史。它将现有的零散来源与通过一项新的全国调查产生的数据联系起来，以揭示收集实践、编目分类和策展倾向的趋势。博物馆文件、展览和出版物以及外部来源，如新闻和其他报道，将被分析殖民特权、种族主义叙述和有问题的来源的证据。因此，这项及时的研究将测试数据作为挑战假设和促进非殖民化实践的工具的有效性，从而在21世纪的博物馆中重新定位这些陶瓷。

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.