Oxford’s Cabinet of Curiosities: The Pitt Rivers Museum
Pitt Rivers Museum main floor
Every time I’m in Oxford, whether for work or pleasure, I have to visit one of my favourite cultural collections in the land: The Pitt River Museum.
Haida Totem standing at 11.36m
Tucked at the rear of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, the Pitt Rivers Museum is dedicated to anthropological and ethnographic studies. Its creation in the Victorian era was an important step in the advancement of these sciences, studying humanity, societies and their diversity.
The collection is displayed in a purpose built chamber completed in 1886, which is organised on a main open floor, with two storeys of upper galleries running along three sides of the room. Stepping into this chamber is a light year’s journey from the Jurassic period Natural History collection to a 19th century cabinet of curiosities. This term is put into sharp relief as all items are exhibited in period glass cabinet displays and many of their contents are described in hand written notes.
Dominating the chamber standing at 11.36m in height against the northern wall, is the largest object in the collection, a gigantic crest pole known as the Haida Totem. This dates from the 1880s and was created by the Haida community on what are now known as the Queen Charlotte Islands in Canada. Just like European crest figures related to family lineage, the totem features carvings of creatures representing stories and symbols associated with the chiefs of the Massett tribe. I bring up this comparison, as the Pitt Rivers Museum offers its visitors a unique example of a 19th century anthropological collection and how these objects were scientifically grouped.
Pan Pipes display
Lieutenant General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers developed a new method for excavating archeological artefacts which became very influential. Furthermore, he didn’t classify objects using the three-aged system (stone, bronze and iron), but used his own methodology based on his theories of cultural evolution. This meant grouping together objects from different cultures according to their shape and function, which he perceived to represent different stages of cultural evolution.
In the Pan Pipes cabinet the world map and lettering present the viewer with instruments from America, Africa, China and Europe. An even more fascinating display is named Bull Roarers, which are also musical instruments. These are made of weighted thin wooden slats attached to a cord, which are swung in a circular motion either on a horizontal or vertical plane. The roaring sound produced, may be modulated by the shape of the airfoil, cord length or spinning speed. Australian Aboriginal people would used these to communicate with spirits during ceremonies and to relay messages to others over distances.
On the left Australian Aboriginal decorated Bull Roarers
Until recently one of the highlights of the collection was its South American Tsantsa (shrunken heads), which were displayed in the Treatment of Dead Enemies cabinet. Just like the Lewis Chessmen at the BM, their celebrity status was raised, when a shrunken head named Dre, appeared in Harry Potter and the Prince of Azkaban, chatting to commuters and warning the driver on the night bus. During the 2020 pandemic these were removed and stored with other similar items, in an effort to address ongoing debates in regards to the ethical treatment of human remains.
The Tsantsa are by no means the only objects affected by controversy. On the first floor a whole wall cabinet showcases various artefacts collectively known as Benin Bronzes. This is a much smaller amount of items compared to the BM’s vast collection to be seen in the Sainsbury African Galleries, yet it comprehensively showcases plaques, heads, Oba ceremonial swords, ivories and other decorative objects. The Pitt Rivers Museum recently joined the Benin Dialogue Group, along with other western museums and representatives of the Edo State Government, the Royal Court of Benin and the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments. The aim of the group is addressing calls for repatriation of these artefacts, which were acquired in the aftermath of a punitive military expedition in 1897, in which the Kingdom of Benin was crushed and absorbed it into the Southern Nigeria Protectorate, as part of the British Empire.
However wondrous The Pitt Rivers Museum, the institution acknowledges its contents can also be cause for pain for people of different backgrounds, ethnicity and walks of life. On its website one can find its strategic plan which asserts the museum’s ongoing process of decolonisation. This aims to further research the provenance of objects in the collection, to be transparent in the relating of their history, addressing causes of repatriation when appropriate and redressing those communities affected by the legacy of their dispersed material culture.
In doing so, the Pitt Rivers Museum has to contend with the reality of a collection founded at the height of colonial imperialism, in which the exploitation of indigenous people and their resources became institutionalised. Augustus Pitt Rivers classification methods may have long gone been superseded, but preserving this time capsule of Victoriana in its original setting poses many challenges. Its existence has by default perpetuated a discriminatory systems which is still being challenged, but the museum’s governance is keen to be part of the ongoing debate about Britain’s imperial past.
From top, left to right: Wood carvings of human figures from across the world, Benin artefacts, Romanian egg shells paited with Orthodox icons, Benin artefacts
