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University of Plymouth PEARL https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk 04 University of Plymouth Research Theses 01 Research Theses Main Collection 2013 Collecting En Route: An Exploration of the Ethnographic Collection of Gertrude Emily Benham Cummings, Catherine http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/3138 Plymouth University All content in PEARL is protected by copyright law. Author manuscripts are made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the details provided on the item record or document. In the absence of an open licence (e.g. Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher or author. This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the author's prior consent. 1 2 COLLECTING EN ROUTE: AN EXPLORATION OF THE ETHNOGRAPHIC COLLECTION OF GERTRUDE EMILY BENHAM by CATHERINE CUMMINGS A thesis submitted to the University of Plymouth in partial fulfilment for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Humanities Faculty of Art History 2013 3 4 Catherine Cummings Collecting En Route: An Exploration of the Ethnographic Collection of Gertrude Emily Benham. Abstract In the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century the collecting of objects from colonized countries and their subsequent display in western museums was widespread throughout Western Europe. How and why these collections were made, the processes of collection, and by whom, has only recently begun to be addressed. This thesis is an exploration of the ethnographic collection of Gertrude Emily Benham (1867-1938) who made eight voyages independently around the world from 1904 until 1938, during which time she amassed a collection of approximately eight hundred objects, which she donated to Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery in 1935. It considers how and why she formed her collection and how, as a an amateur and marginalised collector, she can be located within discourses on ethnographic collecting. The thesis is organised by geographical regions in order to address the different contact zones of colonialism as well as to contextualise Benham within the cultural milieu in which she collected and the global collection of objects that she collected. An interdisciplinary perspective was employed to create a dialogue between anthropology, geography, museology, postcolonial and feminist theory to address the complex issues of colonial collecting. Benham is located within a range of intersecting histories: colonialism, travel, collecting, and gender. This study is the first in-depth examination of Benham as a collector and adds to the knowledge and understanding of Benham and her collection in Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery. It contributes to the discourse on ethnographic collectors and collecting and in doing so 5 it acknowledges the agency and contribution of marginal collectors to resituate them as a central and intrinsic component in the formation of the ethnographic museum. In addition, and central to this, is the agency and role of indigenous people in forming ethnographic collections. The thesis offers a foundation for further research into women ethnographic collectors and a more nuanced and inclusive account of ethnographic collecting. 6 Table of Contents List of Acronyms………………………………………………………10 List of Figures………………………………………………………….11 Acknowledgements…………………………………………………….15 Author’s Declaration…………………………………………………...17 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………...21 Ethnographic Collectors………………………………………………..24 Benham as Collector…………………………………………………....28 Implications of the Study……………………………………………….31 Methodology……………………………………………………………33 Framework……………………………………………………………...36 Structure and Scope of the Study………………………………………40 Conclusion……………………………………………………………...46 Chapter 1. Mapping the Terrain Introduction…………………………………………………………….47 1.1 Collectors and Collecting…………………………………………..50 1.2 Motivations: The Extended-Self and Immortality………………….53 1.3 Collecting as Materialisation…………………………….................58 1.4 Ethnographic Collecting……………………………………………59 1.5 The Return of the Subject…………………………………………..63 1.6 Magpies, Plunderers and Trophy Hunters………………………….67 1.7 The ‘Real Thing’: Authenticity and Value…………………………73 1.8 A Gendered Discourse……………………………………………...77 1.9 The Social Life of a Collection……………………………………..82 1.10 Literature on Gertrude Benham…………………………………...83 Conclusion……………………………………………………………...84 Chapter 2. Gertrude Benham En Route Introduction…………………………………………………………….87 2.1 Benham: An Imperial Lady Traveller……………………………...88 2.2 Benham and The Royal Geographical Society (RGS)……………..95 2.3 Collecting Natural History………………………………………...105 Conclusion…………………………………………………………….115 Chapter 3. Benham: A Collector in North America Introduction…………………………………………………………...121 3.1 The Contact Zone: North America………………………………..122 3.2 Benham as Collector……………………………………………....128 3.3 The Floral and the Feminine ……………………………………...130 3.4 Beads and Baskets………………………………………………...135 3.5 Authenticity: Collecting the ‘Real Thing’………………………...141 3.6 The Zone of the Transcultural…………………………………….144 Conclusion…………………………………………………………….147 7 Chapter 4. Benham: A Collector in Oceania Introduction…………………………………………………………...157 4.1 The Contact Zone: Oceania……………………………………....159 4.2 Collecting in Fiji…………………………………………………..163 4.3 Collecting Tabua…………………………………………………..168 4.4 Headrests and Hair………………………………………………...175 Conclusion…………………………………………………………….183 Chapter 5. Benham: A Collector in Africa Introduction…………………………………………………………...189 5.1 The Contact Zone: Africa…………………………………………192 5.2 Taken Out of Africa……………………………………………….194 5.3 Imagining Africa…………………………………………………..197 5.4 Benham: Tramping, Camping, Collecting………………………...199 5.5 Collecting Goldweights…………………………………………...205 5.6 Collecting Necklaces…………………………...............................211 5.7 Art/Artefact………………………………………………………..216 Conclusion…………………………………………………………….225 Chapter 6. Benham: A Collector in Asia Introduction…………………………………………………………...233 6.1 The Contact Zone: The Himalayas and Tibet…………………….235 6.2 A Mem-Sahib who Walks Like a Goat…………………………...242 6.3 Botanizing in the Himalayas………………………………………243 6.4 Benham in Tibet: An Oriental Flâneuse…………………………..244 6.5 Collecting Tibet…………………………………………………...249 6.6 A Colonial Photograph: ‘A Woman of Formosan Savage’? ……..260 Conclusion…………………………………………………………….270 Chapter 7. A Collector and A Collection En Route Introduction…………………………………………………………...275 7.1 The Contact Zone: PCMAG………………………………………277 7.2 The Curator as Collector ………………………………………….286 7.3 A Collection En-Route……………………………………………289 7.4 Bringing the World to Plymouth or Bringing Plymouth to the World? ............................................................................................297 7.5 Beyond Benham/Beyond PCMAG………………………………..301 Conclusion…………………………………………………………….306 Chapter 8. Gertrude Benham: A Collector Introduction……………………………………....................................311 8.1 Locating Benham as a Collector………………………………......312 8.2 Collecting Objects and Empire……………………………………317 8.3 Gender: A Complex Location……………………………………..319 8.4 Motivations: I Collect Therefore I Am……………………………321 Conclusion…………………………………………………………….325 8 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………...327 Benham as a Collector………………………………………………...327 The Benham Collection……………………………………………….329 Future Possibilities…………………………………………………….332 Appendix 1. Gertrude Benham’s Eight World Journeys……………………………..337 Appendix 2. Gertrude Benham Collection: Geographic Chart……………………….341 Appendix 3. Gertrude Benham Collection: Object Type Analysis Chart……………342 Appendix 4. Transcription of Gertrude Benham’s Catalogue of Museum…………...343 Appendix 5. Gertrude Benham Collection: Database: The Americas………………..366 Appendix 6. Gertrude Benham Collection: Database: Pacific/Oceania……………..367 Appendix 7. Gertrude Benham Collection: Database: Africa………………………..370 Appendix 8. Gertrude Benham Collection: Database: Asia………………………….378 Appendix 9. Publication Journal of Museum Ethnography, Number 25, 2012…………………………………………………………………………………...388 Archival Sources …………………………………………………………………….396 References…………………………………………………………………………….399 9 List of Acronyms AHRC: Arts and Humanities Research Council BM: British Museum, London BMNH: British Museum Natural History, London CPRR: Canadian Pacific Railroad LMS: London Missionary Society MAA: Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge NHM: Natural History Museum, London NMAI: National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institute, Washington PCMAG: Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery PRM: Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford PWDRO: Plymouth and West Devon Records Office RAI: Royal Anthropological Institute, London RAMM: Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter. RGS: Royal Geographical Society, London UEA: University of East Anglia V&A: Victoria and Albert Museum, London 10 List of Figures Fig.1. Portrait of Gertrude Emily Benham (1867-1938)……………………………….19 Fig.2. World Map of the British Empire……………………………………………….20 Fig.3. Benham’s Catalogue of Museum ……………………………………………….20 Fig 4. Certificate of Election to the Royal Geographical Society……………………...86 Fig.5. Maireener Shell Necklace, Tasmania (1934.25.36)……………………………114 Fig.6. Seed Bag, Honolulu (1934.25.56)……………………………………………...114 Fig.7. Flax bag, New Zealand (1934.25.276)…………………………………………114