Otto Finsch History Specimens
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PORTFOLIO Best known today for his involve- briefl y at the Royal Hungarian University (now ment in the German colonial annexation of the Eötvös Loránd University), supporting northeastern New Guinea and the Bismarck himself through the preparation of natural Archipelago, Friedrich Hermann Otto Finsch history specimens. In 1858 he moved on to (1839–1917) was a self-taught ornithologist, Rustschuk (now Russe, Bulgaria), remaining ethnologist, and museum curator. He was rec- there for the better part of two years tutoring ognized in his own lifetime as a “perceptive students and studying the region’s bird life. observer” and “collector par excellence,” but Finsch returned to Germany in 1859 and, after struggled to gain traction for his interpretations failing to fi nd satisfactory employment, moved of Pacifi c peoples and societies among his for- FIG. 1: Dr. Otto Finsch. to the Netherlands. From 1861 he pursued his From Otto Finsch, Samoafahrten. mally trained peers (Luschan 1897: 76; Schmeltz Reisen in Kaiser Wilhems-Land und interest in ornithology as assistant to German 1894: 268). The town of Finschhafen in Papua English-Neu-Guinea …, Leipzig: ornithologist Hermann Schlegel (1804–1884), Ferdinand Hirt & Sohn, 1888, New Guinea’s Morobe Province still bears his frontispiece. then director of the Rijksmuseum van Natu- name, as do several bird species and a crater on the moon (the latter designated posthumously in his honor by the International Astronomical Otto FINSCH Union in 1976). Finsch was born in 1839 in the Prussian prov- ince of Silesia in Bad Warmbrunn, a spa town Images of the Pacifi c, 1879–1885 (now Cieplice Śląskie-Zdrój in southwestern By Hilary Howes Poland). He was the youngest son of Moritz Finsch (1800–1883), a glass painter and trader, FIG. 2 (below): urlijke Historie (now Naturalis) in Leiden. In and Mathilde Finsch, née Leder (1810–1891). The Samoa. 1864 he became curator of the ethnological and From Otto Finsch, Samoafahrten. From an early age, Finsch began sketching the Reisen in Kaiser Wilhems-Land und natural history collections of the Gesellschaft English-Neu-Guinea …, Leipzig: local landscape, fl ora, and fauna, as well as vis- Ferdinand Hirt & Sohn, 1888, p. 5. Museum in Bremen, a role he held for fi fteen itors to the town’s public baths, foreshadowing years. He undertook several expeditions while FIG. 3 (right): what were to be lasting interests in natural his- Watercolor by Otto Finsch employed in Bremen, visiting North America in tory and ethnology. He also learned to stuff bird (1892–97): Gilbert Islands 1872, Lapland in 1873, and Western Siberia in skins and sold them as curiosities to local busi- man with shark-tooth 1876. nesses and tourists. He had little formal educa- trident. Also while in Bremen, Finsch published ex- Watercolor on paper (mount tion, attending only the local elementary school, missing). tensively on ornithological and other topics. His Courtesy of the Division of but received informal encouragement and sup- Anthropology, American Museum 1865 Neu-Guinea und seine Bewohner (New of Natural History, New York. Finsch port from the school’s head teacher, the local Archive, tray 2. Guinea and Its Inhabitants) was to prove a par- priest, and the physician responsible for visitors ticularly prescient publication: The fi rst Ger- to the baths. man-language monograph on New Guinea, it In 1857 Finsch broke off a commercial ap- included geographical, geological, zoological, prenticeship to his father and traveled to Pest and botanical information, together with de- (now Budapest, Hungary), where he studied scriptions of New Guinea’s indigenous inhabi- 130 XXIII-2 Portfolio Finsch E+F.indd 130 14/02/19 14:26 131 XXIII-2 Portfolio Finsch E+F.indd 131 14/02/19 14:26 PORTFOLIO tants. As this work preceded Finsch’s fi rst visit to New Guinea by more than a decade, he was dependent entirely on others’ accounts for his information. In 1878 Finsch resigned from his position in Bremen to take up a travel grant from the Alex- ander von Humboldt-Stiftung. This foundation, established shortly after Humboldt’s death in 1859, had already funded expeditions to South America and Africa, but Finsch was the fi rst traveler to receive fi nancial support for a voyage to the Pacifi c. His initial proposal for a year’s travel to Micronesia eventually expanded to over three years, from mid 1879 to late 1882, and took him to Hawai‘i; the Marshall, Gilbert, and Caroline Islands; Nauru; New Ireland; New Britain; New Zealand; Australia; southeastern New Guinea; Indonesia; and Sri Lanka. During his travels, Finsch pursued the ethos of “salvage anthropology,” assembling extensive collections of stuffed birds and animals, preserved plants, fossils, cultural artifacts, and human remains while consistently emphasizing their rapid dis- appearance and the urgent need “to save what it was still possible to save, before the ever-increas- ing infl uence of trade and mission had utterly destroyed the last vestiges of the former natural life of these islanders” (Finsch 1882: 553–554). The majority of these collections were incorpo- rated into Berlin’s Königliche Museen, although Finsch was permitted to keep “duplicate” speci- mens. He also meticulously documented his fi eld observations through journals, drawings, and FIG. 4 (above): spective, could co-exist with equally unequivocal photographs. He published widely on his trav- Mounted watercolor markers of civilization, including “regulated cul- by Otto and Elisabeth els, both in popular and specialist outlets. tivation of the soil,” “a great love of music,” and Finsch (1892–97): Finsch’s fi eld experiences substantially compli- Kaiser Wilhelms-Land. the use of “a medium of exchange corresponding cated his ideas about human physical and cultur- Ahnenfi gur: Finschhafen to [European] money” (Finsch 1883: 445). al difference. He became less confi dent, not only (Northeastern New Shortly after his return to Germany, Finsch be- Guinea. Ancestral fi gure: in the validity of “racial” diagnostics—skin color, Finschhafen). came involved with the Konsortium zur Vorbe- facial angle, cephalic index—favored by physi- Dr. O. Finsch: “Beiträge zur reitung und Errichtung einer Südsee-Insel Com- Völkerkunde der westlichen Südsee.” cal anthropologists, but even in the existence of Originalbilder, Taf. 27, I. pagnie (Consortium for the Preparation and Wohnstätten, Taf. XXVII. clear and constant distinctions between “races.” Hand inscribed on reverse: Establishment of a South Sea Island Company), Similarly, his initial assumption that the lifeways Wohnstätten, Taf. XXVII (S.240) / later the Neuguinea-Compagnie, a small group Neu Guinea / “Abumtau Gabiang” of “savage” peoples would display a series of Ahnenfi gur / Isuam, Finschhafen. of infl uential Germans interested in establishing Watercolor on paper in annotated characteristics consistent with their perceived cardboard mount. colonies in Oceania. Adolph von Hansemann Courtesy of the Division of developmental stage was tested to the breaking Anthropology, American Museum (1827–1903), the group’s head, engaged Finsch point by the Tolai of East New Britain, who con- of Natural History, New York. Finsch to lead an expedition to “the unknown or lit- Archive, box 31. vinced him over the course of seven months that tle-known coasts of New Britain, as well as the nakedness and cannibalism, seemingly unequiv- north coast of New Guinea to the 141st meridi- ocal markers of savagery from a European per- an, in order to locate harbours, establish friend- 132 XXIII-2 Portfolio Finsch E+F.indd 132 14/02/19 14:26 OTTO FINSCH FIG. 5 (right): Mounted watercolor by Otto Finsch (1892–97): Kaiser Wilhelms-Land. Gemeindehaus: Bilibili (Northeastern New Guinea. Meeting House: Bilibili). Dr. O. Finsch: “Beiträge zur Völkerkunde der westlichen Südsee.” Originalbilder, Taf. 31, I. Wohnstätten, Taf. XXXI. Hand inscribed on reverse: Wohnstätten, Taf. XXXI (S.239) / Neu Guinea / “Dschelum” Gemeindehaus / Insel Bilibili / Astrolabe Bai. Watercolor on paper in annotated cardboard mount. Courtesy of the Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, Finsch Archive, box 51. 133 XXIII-2 Portfolio Finsch E+F.indd 133 14/02/19 14:26 PORTFOLIO ly communication with the natives, and acquire land to the greatest possible extent” (Finsch 1888: 7). Posing as a group of scientists to dispel potential Australian suspicions about their inten- tions, Finsch and his fellow expedition members made six separate voyages between September 1884 and July 1885 in the misleadingly named steamer Samoa, resulting in the declaration of northeastern New Guinea and the Bismarck Ar- chipelago as German protectorates. In doing so, they became the fi rst Europeans to touch upon the Sepik River in New Guinea. Contemporary newspaper reports speculated that Finsch “would probably be appointed ad- ministrator of the annexed territory” (Anon. 1884a, 1884b, 1884c). This did not prove to be the case. He was offered, but refused, a contract as station director, objecting to the prospect of the Neuguinea-Compagnie vetting all his publi- cations and confi scating for its commercial ben- efi t any items of ethnographic interest he collect- ed. However, fi nding a more congenial position proved exceedingly diffi cult, and Finsch spent the best part of a decade following his return to Germany without formal employment. During this period he exhibited, cataloged, and illustrat- ed his collections, assisted by his wife, Elisabeth Finsch, née Hoffman (1860–1925), who helped prepare watercolors based on his fi eld drawings (Finsch 1899a: 73). Finsch also sold parts of his collections to what are now the American Mu- seum of Natural History in New York (from which collection his drawings and watercolors illustrate this article); the Field Museum in Chi- cago; the Luigi Pigorini National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography in Rome; the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Eth- nology in St. Petersburg; and the Weltmuseum in Vienna. He published a lengthy account of his travels in 1884–85, Samoafahrten (Journeys in the Samoa, 1888); a descriptive catalog of around 1,000 artifacts purchased by what was then the K.