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.

在更广泛的英国背景下，埃塞俄比亚和苏格兰有着悠久但未被充分探索的共同历史。从第一个英国人到达埃塞俄比亚，即 1770 年苏格兰探险家兼收藏家金纳德的詹姆斯·布鲁斯 (James Bruce of Kinnaird)，到英国对马格达拉 (Maqdala) 的军事讨伐远征 (1867-1868 年)（其中包括卡梅伦苏格兰步枪），再到解放埃塞俄比亚的联合使命第二次世界大战期间，埃塞俄比亚摆脱了意大利的占领，英国几乎一直在埃塞俄比亚驻扎。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，而埃塞俄比亚统治者自 19 世纪初以来就向英国皇室赠送了埃塞俄比亚王室徽章。获取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集和展示的背景，改变了相关人员及其动机。NMS 收藏了 243 件埃塞俄比亚文物，包括 1770 年第一次探险和 1867 年马格达拉讨伐队的文物—— 8，为分析在激进的政治和行政变革时期与埃塞俄比亚文化的接触模式的转变提供了丰富的主要资料，但他们的收藏的历史以前从未被研究过。 NMS 收藏与英国的其他收藏一起，代表了埃塞俄比亚以外最重要的埃塞俄比亚文化遗产组合之一。来自东非和亚洲的殖民历史收藏数量正在不断增加。然而，英国在埃塞俄比亚的收藏仍未被探索，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。该项目提供了一个在非殖民环境中比较评估英国殖民时代收藏的机会。除了 NMS 自己的档案之外，我的研究还将利用大英图书馆陆军部档案、议事录议会档案以及相关记录以及在远征阿比西尼亚之后发布的记录，以便了解许多这些采购背后的军事背景。我还将重点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心收藏家——检查他多产的日记和素描本，以阐明 NMS 收藏中的物品。我的研究将在更广泛的范围内描述马克达拉事件。英国在埃塞俄比亚收藏的背景。这项研究将利用 YCBA 持有的詹姆斯·布鲁斯档案等资源，以阐明目前由 NMS 持有的布鲁斯收藏物品背后的历史。我还将努力寻找尽可能多的埃塞俄比亚原始资料，并且我将与埃塞俄比亚艺术的当代收藏家和经销商联络，以更多地了解当今在英国收藏埃塞俄比亚艺术的当代实践。而文献证据将成为重点对于这个学生身份，我将首先考虑我的研究对象。我将尽可能仔细地研究 NMS 的藏品，并将其置于埃塞俄比亚艺术史的更广泛背景下。我还将研究这些物品抵达爱丁堡以来所发生的情况，记录它们的存储、展示和人们对它们的反应的历史。我将研究多年来在 NMS 的画廊和展览中出现的物品，以及它们在这段时间的展示和解释方式。通过这个项目，我希望帮助人们对 NMS 的埃塞俄比亚藏品产生新的认识，并帮助同事们博物馆开发新的流程和最佳实践来研究、解释和保管这些重要而迷人的藏品。