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Description: | The ethnography collection is based on part of a key donation made in the late 1860s by Joseph Mayer, a Liverpool goldsmith. In addition to Ancient Egyptian artefacts, the collection of 15,000 items contains British, Greek, Roman and Egyptian antiquities and European medieval art. Subsequent acquisitions date mainly from 1890-1930 and also in the 1950s from institutions such as Norwich Castle Museum and the Wellcome Foundation. The present collection contains material from Africa (particularly West and Central), the Americas (with important collections from the Arctic, Northwest Coast of North America, Mesoamerica, and the Amazon), Oceania (mainly New Guinea, Fiji, the Solomon Islands and New Zealand) and Asia (including material from China, Japan, Tibet, the Indian sub-continent, and South East Asia). The Asian material with over 12,000 items is of particular national significance and the ethnology collection as a whole is one of the most important in the country. The Islamic collection (c.1,000 objects) includes ceramics, metalwork, glass, arms and armour, and textiles, mainly from Iran, Syria and Egypt.
The African collection of over 10,000 artefacts covers most regions but is particularly strong in material from the central and Western parts, with key donations from Liverpool shipping engineer, Arnold Ridyard between 1895 and 1916. A 16th century bronze Queen Mother head is one of the highlights of a group of 40 Benin items included in his material. Other notable items include Kongo minkisi or 'power figures' from the lower Zaire River area, masks and shrine figures from south-east Nigeria, Duala masks from Cameroun, textiles and ceramics from Ghana and society masks worn by Mende and Sherbro women from Sierra Leone. Another large collection of 1,000 Nigerian ceramic and other items collected in the 1950s was acquired from engineer Jack Leggett.
The Americas collection (c.8,000 artefacts) has been developed around material donated by Joseph Mayer. Highlights of the Arctic material include material from Baffin Island (e.g. an 1822 map) collected in the 1900s by Rev JW Bilby. Other items include Inuit and Aleut model kayaks, hunting equipment, clothing and soapstone sculptures. Material acquired from Dr Charles Newcombe in 1901 is important among the Northwest Coast collections. There are also more recent works by leading contemporary Native American artists. There is a significant collection from Mesoamerican collection, notably excavation material from Belize and Mexico acquired by Dr Thomas Gann at the turn of the 20th century. The collections span a huge date-range from the Postclassic period of around 1,000-1540AD (Maya ceramics, jades and lithics) to Contemporary Guatemalan textiles. There are also Aztec, Zapotec, and Huastec artefacts. Amazonian ceramics, mainly from north-eastern Peru, are an internationally important part of the Amazon material which also features featherwork and body ornaments from Huitoto, Shuar, and Karajá and material from the 1910 expedition to the Putumayo region collected by team member Henry Lex Gielgud.
The Oceanic collections (c.6,000 items) contain many items from Fiji and the Solomon Islands, including a large collection of barkcloth. There are also substantial collections from New Zealand and New Guinea, some of the later material acquired as examples of 'primitive art' in the 1960s by anthropologists.
The 3,000 items from China account for the largest part of the Asian material and around half are ceramics. Chinese trade material is mostly 19th century in date and reflects Liverpool's close links with the export trade from China. There are also c.300 textiles and objects associated with Buddhism. Japanese collections were mainly collected locally in the late 19th and early 20th century by collectors such as Randal Hibbert and F W Mayor and include swords, sword fittings, decorative metal work and examples of lacquer work. The 2,000 items from India include arms and armour, manuscripts, ceramics, ivories, jewellery, sculpture and textiles. Objects from Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, Ladakh, and Sikkim include items given by key figures in Anglo-Tibetan history such as Sir Charles Bell and date from 12th to 20th centuries. Artefacts are wide-ranging and include religious and ritual objects, paintings, bronzes, arms and armour, musical instruments, jewellery, nomadic and domestic items. More than half of the 2000 items from South East Asian are from Burma and include lacquer ware, manuscripts, woodcarvings, ivory and textiles. There are also items such as shadow puppets, textiles, sculpture and weapons from Java and baskets, musical instruments and pottery from Borneo. | Subjects: | World culture African political & world cultures Ethnography Religious People | Source: | Cornucopia - Discovering UK Collections | Address: | William Brown Street
Liverpool,
L3 8EN | FAX: | 0151 478 4390 | Telephone: | 0151 207 0001 | Identifier: | oai:www.cornucopia.org.uk:2107 | Go to resource |
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