Objects of Culture: Ethnology and Ethnographic Museums in Imperial Germany

296 Pages·2002·4.34 MB·English

by  H. Glenn Penny

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OBJECTS OF CULTURE
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OBJECTS OF
CULTURE
ETHNOLOGY AND
ETHNOGRAPHIC
MUSEUMS IN
IMPERIAL
GERMANY
H.(cid:1) Glenn
Penny(cid:1)
The
University
of(cid:1) North
Carolina Press(cid:1)
Chapel Hill
and London(cid:1)
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© 2002 The University of(cid:1) North Carolina Press(cid:1)
All rights reser(cid:1)ved(cid:1)
Designed by April Leidig-Hig(cid:1)gins(cid:1)
Set in Monotype Garamond by Copperline Book Ser(cid:1)vices(cid:1)
Manufactured in the United States of(cid:1) America(cid:1)
Earlier versions of(cid:1) some of(cid:1) the materials in this book have ap-
peared in the following publications:(cid:1)“The Civic Uses of(cid:1) Science:(cid:1)
Ethnology and Civil Society in Imperial Ger(cid:1)many,”(cid:1)Osiris 17 (July(cid:1)
2002):(cid:1)228–52;(cid:1)“(cid:1)‘Beati possedentes’:(cid:1)Die Aneignung materieller
Kultur und die Anschaffungspolitik des Leipziger Völkerkunde-
museums,”(cid:1)Comparativ: Leipziger Beiträge zur Universalgeschichte und
vergleichenden Gesellschaftsforschung 10 (May–June 2000):(cid:1)68–103;(cid:1)
“Science and the Marketplace:(cid:1)The Creation and Contentious(cid:1)
Sale of(cid:1) the Museum Godeffroy,”(cid:1)Pacific Arts 21/22 (July 2000):(cid:1)
7–22;(cid:1)“Fashioning Local Identities in an Ag(cid:1)e of(cid:1) Nation-Building:(cid:1)
Museums,(cid:1)Cosmopolitan Traditions,(cid:1)and Intra-Ger(cid:1)man Competi-
tion,”(cid:1)German History 17,(cid:1)no.(cid:1)4 (1999):(cid:1)488–504;(cid:1)and “Municipal(cid:1)
Displays:(cid:1)Civic Self-Promotion and the Development of(cid:1) German(cid:1)
Ethnographic Museums,(cid:1)1870(cid:1)–1914,”(cid:1)Social Anthropology 6,(cid:1)no.(cid:1)2(cid:1)
(1998):(cid:1)157–(cid:1)68.(cid:1)
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for per(cid:1)manence and(cid:1)
durability of(cid:1) the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book(cid:1)
Longevity of(cid:1) the Council on Librar(cid:1)y Resources.(cid:1)
Library of(cid:1) Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data(cid:1)
Penny,(cid:1)H.(cid:1)Glenn.(cid:1) Objects of(cid:1) culture:(cid:1)ethnology and ethnographic(cid:1)
museums in Imperial Ger(cid:1)many / H.(cid:1)Glenn Penny.(cid:1)
p.(cid:1)cm.(cid:1) Includes bibliog(cid:1)raphical references and index.

 0-8078-2754-1 (cloth:(cid:1)alk.(cid:1)paper)

 0-8078-5430-1 (pbk.:(cid:1)alk.(cid:1)paper)

1.(cid:1)Ethnological museums and collections(cid:1)—(cid:1)Germany—(cid:1)History.

2.(cid:1)Ethnology—(cid:1)Germany—(cid:1)History.(cid:1) I.(cid:1)Title.

.  2003(cid:1) 305.8'0074(cid:1)—(cid:1)dc21(cid:1) 2002007922

cloth(cid:1) 06(cid:1) 05(cid:1) 04(cid:1) 03(cid:1) 02(cid:1) 5 4 3 2 1 (cid:1)
paper(cid:1) 06(cid:1) 05(cid:1) 04(cid:1) 03(cid:1) 02(cid:1) 5 4 3 2 1 (cid:1)
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For my mother and
in memory of(cid:1) my father(cid:1)
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments(cid:1) xi

Introduction(cid:1) 1

 Modernist Visions and Municipal Displays:

The Founding and Development of(cid:1) German

Ethnographic Museums(cid:1) 17

 The International Market in Material Culture(cid:1) 51

 The Cultures of(cid:1) Collecting and the Politics

of(cid:1) Science 95
 The Audience as Author:(cid:1)Museums in Public(cid:1) 131

 Museum Chaos:(cid:1)Spectacle and Order

in Ger(cid:1)man Ethnographic Museums(cid:1) 163

Conclusion(cid:1) 215

Notes(cid:1) 221

Bibliography(cid:1) 253

Index(cid:1) 277
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ILLUSTRATIONS
Adolf(cid:1) Bastian(cid:1) 20

Benin bronze casting(cid:1)—(cid:1)a warrior and his

companions(cid:1) 72

Benin bronze casting(cid:1)—(cid:1)memorial head of

royalty(cid:1) 73

Benin bronze casting(cid:1)—“set”(cid:1)of(cid:1) bronze

figures(cid:1) 74

Ivory tusks from Benin(cid:1) 76

Bella Bella (Heiltsuk) canoe(cid:1) 82

Nootka eagle mask(cid:1) 82

Kwakiutl mask of(cid:1) the crooked beak(cid:1) 83

Indian exhibit,(cid:1)1912(cid:1) 155

Floor plan of(cid:1) the Hamburgisches

Museum für Völkerkunde,(cid:1)1893(cid:1) 173

Cabinets in the Hamburgisches

Museum für Völkerkunde,(cid:1)1905–10(cid:1) 174

Permanent display in the Hamburgisches

Museum für Völkerkunde,(cid:1)1905–10(cid:1) 174

Grassi-Museum in Leipzig(cid:1) 176

Right side of(cid:1) the vestibule in the

Grassi-Museum(cid:1) 177

Central stairwell in the Grassi-Museum(cid:1) 178

Floor plan of(cid:1) the Museum für Völkerkunde

Berlin(cid:1) 184

Museum für Völkerkunde Berlin(cid:1) 188

Entering the Museum für Völkerkunde

Berlin,(cid:1)1887(cid:1) 189