Exchanging Objects : : Nineteenth-Century Museum Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution / / Catherine A. Nichols.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Berghahn Books Complete eBook-Package 2021
• VerfasserIn: Nichols, Catherine A.,
• Place / Publishing House: New York ;, Oxford : : Berghahn Books, , [2021]; ©2021
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Series: Museums and Collections ; 12
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (268 p.)

As an historical account of the exchange of “duplicate specimens” between anthropologists at the Smithsonian Institution and museums, collectors, and schools around the world in the late nineteenth century, this book reveals connections between both well-known museums and little-known local institutions, created through the exchange of museum objects. It explores how anthropologists categorized some objects in their collections as “duplicate specimens,” making them potential candidates for exchange. This historical form of what museum professionals would now call deaccessioning considers the intellectual and technical requirement of classifying objects in museums, and suggests that a deeper understanding of past museum practice can inform mission-driven contemporary museum work.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Illustrations and Tables -- Acknowledgments -- List of Abbreviations -- Chronology. Lists of Relevant Smithsonian Institution/ US National Museum Personnel -- Introduction. A Bowl’s Journey, There and Back Again -- Part I. The Museum through the Lens of Specimen Exchange -- Chapter 1. The Smithsonian and the Museum: Specimen Exchange as a Bridge between Joseph Henry’s Research Institution and Spencer Baird’s Grand Cabinet -- Chapter 2. Spencer Baird’s US National Museum and Early Trends in Exchanging Anthropological Duplicates (1861–1880) -- Chapter 3. Networking the US National Museum: Exchanging Anthropological Duplicates (1882–1920) -- Chapter 4. Giving and Receiving: Specimen Exchange between Curators, and the Shaping of Anthropological Collections -- Part II. The Duplicate -- Chapter 5. Duplicates: Specimens in Motion -- Chapter 6. Catalogs, Classifi cation, and Contingency: Designating Duplicates -- Conclusion. Museum Pasts and Futures -- Appendix. Smithsonian Institution/USNM Table of Distributed Specimens (1854–1880) -- Bibliography -- Index