Model Lives: The Changing Meanings of Miniature Ethnographic Models from Acquisition to Interpretation at the Horniman Free Museum 1894-1898 Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Leicester by Ryan Nutting School of Museum Studies June 2017 Model Lives: The Changing Meanings of Miniature Ethnographic Models from Acquisition to Interpretation at the Horniman Free Museum 1894-1898 Ryan Nutting Although many contemporary museums possess collections of miniature ethnographic models, few scholars have explored how these objects emphasize ideas of intellectual control. This thesis examines the use and interpretation of miniature ethnographic models in the late nineteenth century. I demonstrate how the interpretation of these objects reinforced British intellectual control over the peoples of India and Burma during this period by focusing on four sets of miniature ethnographic models purchased by Frederick Horniman in the mid-1890s and displayed in the Horniman Free Museum until it closed in January 1898. Building on the theories of miniature objects developed by Susan Stewart and others, scholarship on the development of tourist art, late nineteenth-century museum education theories, and postcolonial theories the thesis examines the biography of these objects between 1894 and 1898. By drawing on archival documents from the museum, articles about Horniman and the museum from this period, and newspaper articles chronicling Horniman’s journal of his travels between 1894 and 1896, this thesis traces the interpretation of these miniature models from their purchase through their display within the museum to the description of these models by visitors to the museum, and in each case shows how these models embodied notions of intellectual control over the peoples of India and Burma. Where previous studies have focused on only one or two of these phases of objects’ lives this thesis demonstrates that all three phases of these models’ lives (collection, display, and visitor interpretations) within the period reveal aspects of colonial control. Consequently, this thesis provides a basis for further work on investigating how late nineteenth-century collectors and museums utilized objects to both construct knowledge and implicitly highlight aspects of colonial control. 2 Acknowledgements I am extremely grateful to the staff of the University of Leicester’s School of Museum Studies and Victorian Studies Centre as well as the staff of the Horniman Museum and Gardens for all of their help and guidance on this project. I would especially like to thank my supervisors Dr Dudley and Dr North, as well as Dr Unwin, Dr Sandell, Dr Watson, Prof. MacLeod, Prof. Pearce, Barbara Lloyd, Bob Ahluwalia, and Christine Cheesman at the University of Leicester. I would also like to thank Dr Kerlogue, Adrian Murphy, Katherine Doyle, Helen Williamson at the Horniman Museum and Gardens and the staff of the Lewisham Local History and Archives Centre for the assistance they provided to me over the course of this project. I would also like to thank my family and friends for their support and for encouraging this project, including Bayard and Alice Haugen, Brian and Trudy Haugen and family, Brenda and Todd Nutting, John, Laura and Alissa Nutting, and Shelby, Joe, Petra, Gretta, Leo, and Marta Veliz. I also thank my friends including Dr Amy Barnes, Dr Will Buckingham, Irene Campolmi, Lauren Fensterstock and Aaron T. Stephen, Dr Petrina Foti, JT Framsted, Heather Hauptli, Dr Amy Hetherington, Dr Ching-Yueh Hsieh, Dr Elee Kirk, Dr Cintia Velazquez Marroni, Rachael and Enoch Marshall, Dr Gudrun Whitehead and, of course, Dr Stephanie Bowry, as well as numerous teachers and museum volunteers for all of their support and encouragement. Finally, I thank Viv, David and Tim for their kindness and hospitality. 3 Dedicated to everyone who helped me on this journey 4 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... 3 Table of Contents .................................................................................................................... 5 List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 2: Miniature Models as Curios ........................................................................ 62 Chapter 3: Miniature Models as Educational Tools .............................................. 112 Chapter 4: Decoding the Orient Through Miniature Models ............................. 152 Chapter 5: Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 200 5 List of Figures Figure 1.1 Set of twenty papier-mâché heads ................................................................ 18 Figure 1.2 Papier-mâché head depicting the Chhipa caste ....................................... 20 Figure 1.3 Papier-mâché head depicting the Nai caste ............................................... 21 Figure 1.4 Papier-mâché head depicting the Kanaujia caste .................................... 22 Figure 1.5 Clay figure depicting a shopkeeper .............................................................. 25 Figure 1.6 Clay figure of a man ............................................................................................ 26 Figure 1.7 Carved wooden painted figure of Shan Woman ....................................... 28 Figure 1.8 Carved wooden painted figure of Shan Man .............................................. 29 Figure 1.9 Carved wooden painted figure of Burmese Hboongee .......................... 30 Figure 2.1 The three page receipt Horniman received from F. Beato ................... 88 Figure 3.1 The Horniman Free Museum Elizabethan Bed-Chamber c. 1890 ... 115 Figure 3.2 The exterior of the Horniman Free Museum c. 1896 ........................... 119 Figure 3.3 Horniman Free Museum Reception Room c. 1896 ............................... 130 Figure 4.1 The Horniman Free Museum Ethnographical Saloon c. 1892 .......... 168 Figure 4.2 Carved wooden painted figure of Old Burmese Woman .................... 195 Figure 4.3 Carved wooden painted figure of Old Burmese Man ........................... 196 6 Chapter 1: Introduction By his own admission, tea merchant and Member of Parliament Frederick Horniman (8 October 1835 - 5 March 1906) began collecting objects at an early age. The son of tea merchant John Horniman, Frederick began working for his father by 1852 and took over the company, with his older brother William, in 1868.1 Although running W.H. and F.J. Horniman & Co., described as the largest tea company in the world in 1891, Horniman found time for his other passion: collecting.2 An interview with him dated 7 May 1892 reinforced this idea when it stated, “Mr. Horniman has been a great traveller, has seen many men, and many lands; but his principal occupation and delight when taking a short holiday has been to perpetuate the result of his journeys by many interesting trophies.”3 This description of Horniman’s collecting activity only scratches the surface of the types of objects the Horniman Free Museum exhibited prior to its closure in 1898. This collection, ranging from ethnological materials, natural history specimens, live animals and insects, and geological materials showcased Horniman’s desire to feature objects that interested him and objects that the museum could to use educate the public. This thesis focuses on four sets of miniature ethnographic models Horniman purchased between 1894 and 1895 that the museum used for the latter purpose. Whether they are toys, models, or replicas, the study of miniature objects receives relatively little attention from academic scholarship.4 Sheenagh Pietrobruno confirms the lack of scholarship on these objects by stating that “just a handful of American and European writers from a variety of fields have examined the connotations of the 1 Michael Horniman, “Horniman, Frederick John (1835-1906), Tea Merchant and Founder of the Horniman Museum, London,” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 12 October 2016. 2 Horniman 3 “Workers and Their Work- No. XXXV: Mr. Frederick Horniman and His Museum,” Pearson’s Weekly 7 May 1892: 663, Pearson's Weekly. Y/T LONDON 1892. 108'. MLD 119. 4 As I further describe below, this study focuses on miniature models and does not include other type of miniature objects including toys or miniature paintings. 7 miniature.”5 Here Pietrobruno notes that it is not just museum scholars, but rather a variety of academic disciplines which have ignored exploring the meaning behind miniaturization. Similarly, Christopher Evans acknowledges that the study of miniature models “has received scant attention” in the conclusion of his work on models by acknowledging the study of miniatures.6 Additionally, Claire Wintle states that the ubiquity of miniature models in museums demands further attention.7 This thesis addresses this gap in the scholarship by researching four sets of miniature models during the late Victorian period in order to understand how these objects represented the views of their collector, collecting institution, and museum visitors. Specifically, this work examines four sets of miniature ethnographic models purchased by Horniman in Asia and placed on exhibition in the Horniman Free Museum