Papers by Rachel Hand
Entangled Histories: How the Irish Collected the World (forthcoming)
The Ethnographic Collections of the National Museum of Ireland, 2025
Book proposal: This book seeks to highlight some of the difficult imperial histories and legacies... more Book proposal: This book seeks to highlight some of the difficult imperial histories and legacies embedded in the Ethnographic Collection of the National Museum of Ireland and enable dialogue with source communities as well as Irish audiences. Ethnographic material acquired as part of the British Empire, represents the duality of Irish participation with the structure and practices of Empire and Ireland’s own experience as Britain’s oldest colony. From the late 18th to the early 20th century Irish explorers, soldiers, colonial officers, and administrators enforced British rule abroad against a backdrop of calls for self-governance, the repeal of the Union, rebellion, and civil war. Irish emigrants contributed to the advance of the colonial frontier. Trophies gathered from battlefields in South Africa, Sudan and Ethiopia and taken during sanctioned looting of the royal palaces of Benin, Nigeria and Kumasi, Ghana, were displayed as symbols of their victory and evidence of the ‘civilising’ power of the Empire.
However, expeditions also depended on local experts for supplies and were reliant on what Indigenous people were prepared to trade. Indigenous artists actively engaged with colonial markets and enriched pre-contact art forms with trade-goods and created portable souvenirs. Diplomatic gifts also drew Western visitors into their own networks of influence. The collections therefore also offer insights into Indigenous creativity and innovation, as well as resistance. Elements of shared experiences of Empire and colonial rule form part of the collections of Sir Roger Casement and Sir Thomas Grattan Esmonde, adding to our understanding of the tensions of Ireland’s own colonial experiences. Examining the Collection through a modern biographical lens as part of decolonising practices reveals the multi-layered identities of the collectors, the objects themselves and their creators.
Proposed outline
Part I offers in-depth histories of the institutions whose collections were transferred to the Dublin Museum of Science and Art in 1877, reconnects donors and traces objects’ journeys to the museum, as gifts, loot, military and missionary collecting.
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Creation of Dublin’s museums
Chapter 2 The Museum of Trinity College
Chapter 3 The Hibernian Marine Society Museum
Chapter 4 The Royal Dublin Society Museum
Chapter 5 The Royal Irish Academy Museum
Chapter 6 Kilkenny Literary and Scientific Institution Museum
Part II is divided geographically and focuses on the individual donors and artists and the life histories of specific objects, their contexts and uses. Some of pieces of dislocated cultural heritage are much more than objects and can embody ancestors.
Chapter 10 Oceania
Chapter 11 Africa
Chapter 12 North America
Chapter 13 South America and the Caribbean
Chapter 14 Asia
Conclusion
References and Bibliography
References and Bibliography
The division and distribution of Polynesian barkcloth now cared for in the National Museum of Ire... more The division and distribution of Polynesian barkcloth now cared for in the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin. Research has reconnected these to their 'sister' pieces in the National Museums, Scotland.
The National Musuem of Ireland, Dublin, holds over 200 objects which may have been collected on t... more The National Musuem of Ireland, Dublin, holds over 200 objects which may have been collected on the second and third voyages of Captain James Cook. These were given by Surgeon James Patten and Captain James King, and two recently identified additional donors, Captain John Williamson and carpenter George Barber.
This paper examines their acquisition and display in the museum of Trinity College, Dublin from the foundation of the College museum in 1777 until their transfer to the newly established Dublin Museum of Science and Art, (now the National Museum of Ireland).
Exhibit Ireland: Ethnographic Collections in Ireland, edited by Séamas Ó Síocháin, Pauline Garvey & Sdam Drazin, 2012
Based on a paper presented in 2007 at the Irish Anthropology Association conference, 'The Globe i... more Based on a paper presented in 2007 at the Irish Anthropology Association conference, 'The Globe in a Glass Case'.
The history of the ethnographic collections of the Museum can be divided into four distinct phases.
Phase I -the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Anglo-Irish cabinets of curiosities were displayed in private houses or for members of select antiquarian and philosophical societies. Public access to these collections increased throughout the nineteenth century and the Irish antiquities became a symbol of wider Irish nationalist sentiment attached to ownership of the past.
Phase II from 1877 to 1922, included the transfer of these Dublin based collections into public ownership through the creation of the Science and Art Museum, Kildare Street, Dublin. Irish and overseas material, particularly from Europe and Asia, including foreign ethnographic material, was actively collected as part of the museum's emphasis on public education in the arts and industrial development.
Phase III was marked by the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, and the consequent shifts of emphasis and gradual neglect of the ethnographic collections. The 1930s saw Irish archaeological materials rise in importance, becoming vibrant symbols of national pride and identity. For various reasons ethnographic acquisitions fell, becoming static in the 1950s and was seen by some as an uncomfortable and unwelcome reminder of an imperialist past.
Eighteenth-Century Chukchi Quivers in Cambridge, Dublin, and Göttingen’
Journal of Museum Ethnography, no. 24, pp. 167-8 6, 2011
The National Musuem of Ireland holds material collected on the Cook voyages of exploration, which... more The National Musuem of Ireland holds material collected on the Cook voyages of exploration, which includes a rare Chukchi quiver that could have been acquired on Cook’s third voyage. Throughc omparisons with the only other known Cook voyage example in the Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, Cambridge, and another late eighteenth century piece in Gottingen, I interrogate the voyage documenation and biographies of all three quivers.
Apolo Kaggwa (1864-1927), the Katikkiro (or prime minister) of Buganda in the British Protectorat... more Apolo Kaggwa (1864-1927), the Katikkiro (or prime minister) of Buganda in the British Protectorate of Uganda, gave traditional royal and religious objects to the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge through the Rev John Roscoe of the Church Mission Society.
The reasons behind his donation are unclear. Was he demonstrating his ability to engage with the museum as an enlightened and cultured Christian individual, an equal partner in empire and Anglicanism, or did he see his donations to MAA as trophies of Christianity, symbols of its evangelising success?
Part of Trophies, Relics and Curios?: Missionary Heritage from Africa and the Pacific, which explores the British Missionary movement through a range of artefacts, photographs and archival documents, and sheds an oblique light on the histories of British Missionaries in Africa and the Pacific, and the
ways in which their work is remembered in different parts of the world today.
Books by Rachel Hand
Collecting in the South Sea: The Voyage of Bruni d’Entrecasteaux, 17911794, 2018
Bronwen Douglas, as ever, dedicates this book to Charles, Kirsty and Ben, Allie and Andrew, Jean ... more Bronwen Douglas, as ever, dedicates this book to Charles, Kirsty and Ben, Allie and Andrew, Jean and Owen, whose enduring love and support make everything possible Wonu Veys dedicates it to her mum and grandmother, to Paul, and to her colleagues and mentors whose enthusiasm, patience, and support made this project possible Billie Lythberg dedicates it to her family, collaborators, and mentors, without whose unwavering curiosity and generosity such projects would simply not eventuate CONTENTS Abbreviations Preface and Acknowledgements PART 1 -PROLOGUE 1. History -Contexts, Voyage, People, Collections Bronwen Douglas The 'Effets' (effects) plates Bronwen Douglas 2. Ethnohistory -Collecting and Representing Bronwen Douglas PART 2 -ARTEFACT COLLECTIONS 3. Object Trajectories, Webs of Relationships Fanny Wonu Veys 4. Musée du quai Branly -Jacques Chirac, Paris Bronwen Douglas bwar-Kanak hache-ostensoir, ceremonial axe Bronwen Douglas sisi fale-Tongan coconut fibre waist garment
Book Chapters by Rachel Hand
Collecting in the South Sea. The Voyage of Bruni d’Entrecasteaux 1791-1794. Leiden: Sidestone Press., 2018
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Papers by Rachel Hand
However, expeditions also depended on local experts for supplies and were reliant on what Indigenous people were prepared to trade. Indigenous artists actively engaged with colonial markets and enriched pre-contact art forms with trade-goods and created portable souvenirs. Diplomatic gifts also drew Western visitors into their own networks of influence. The collections therefore also offer insights into Indigenous creativity and innovation, as well as resistance. Elements of shared experiences of Empire and colonial rule form part of the collections of Sir Roger Casement and Sir Thomas Grattan Esmonde, adding to our understanding of the tensions of Ireland’s own colonial experiences. Examining the Collection through a modern biographical lens as part of decolonising practices reveals the multi-layered identities of the collectors, the objects themselves and their creators.
Proposed outline
Part I offers in-depth histories of the institutions whose collections were transferred to the Dublin Museum of Science and Art in 1877, reconnects donors and traces objects’ journeys to the museum, as gifts, loot, military and missionary collecting.
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Creation of Dublin’s museums
Chapter 2 The Museum of Trinity College
Chapter 3 The Hibernian Marine Society Museum
Chapter 4 The Royal Dublin Society Museum
Chapter 5 The Royal Irish Academy Museum
Chapter 6 Kilkenny Literary and Scientific Institution Museum
Part II is divided geographically and focuses on the individual donors and artists and the life histories of specific objects, their contexts and uses. Some of pieces of dislocated cultural heritage are much more than objects and can embody ancestors.
Chapter 10 Oceania
Chapter 11 Africa
Chapter 12 North America
Chapter 13 South America and the Caribbean
Chapter 14 Asia
Conclusion
References and Bibliography
References and Bibliography
This paper examines their acquisition and display in the museum of Trinity College, Dublin from the foundation of the College museum in 1777 until their transfer to the newly established Dublin Museum of Science and Art, (now the National Museum of Ireland).
The history of the ethnographic collections of the Museum can be divided into four distinct phases.
Phase I -the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Anglo-Irish cabinets of curiosities were displayed in private houses or for members of select antiquarian and philosophical societies. Public access to these collections increased throughout the nineteenth century and the Irish antiquities became a symbol of wider Irish nationalist sentiment attached to ownership of the past.
Phase II from 1877 to 1922, included the transfer of these Dublin based collections into public ownership through the creation of the Science and Art Museum, Kildare Street, Dublin. Irish and overseas material, particularly from Europe and Asia, including foreign ethnographic material, was actively collected as part of the museum's emphasis on public education in the arts and industrial development.
Phase III was marked by the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, and the consequent shifts of emphasis and gradual neglect of the ethnographic collections. The 1930s saw Irish archaeological materials rise in importance, becoming vibrant symbols of national pride and identity. For various reasons ethnographic acquisitions fell, becoming static in the 1950s and was seen by some as an uncomfortable and unwelcome reminder of an imperialist past.
The reasons behind his donation are unclear. Was he demonstrating his ability to engage with the museum as an enlightened and cultured Christian individual, an equal partner in empire and Anglicanism, or did he see his donations to MAA as trophies of Christianity, symbols of its evangelising success?
Part of Trophies, Relics and Curios?: Missionary Heritage from Africa and the Pacific, which explores the British Missionary movement through a range of artefacts, photographs and archival documents, and sheds an oblique light on the histories of British Missionaries in Africa and the Pacific, and the
ways in which their work is remembered in different parts of the world today.
Books by Rachel Hand
Book Chapters by Rachel Hand
However, expeditions also depended on local experts for supplies and were reliant on what Indigenous people were prepared to trade. Indigenous artists actively engaged with colonial markets and enriched pre-contact art forms with trade-goods and created portable souvenirs. Diplomatic gifts also drew Western visitors into their own networks of influence. The collections therefore also offer insights into Indigenous creativity and innovation, as well as resistance. Elements of shared experiences of Empire and colonial rule form part of the collections of Sir Roger Casement and Sir Thomas Grattan Esmonde, adding to our understanding of the tensions of Ireland’s own colonial experiences. Examining the Collection through a modern biographical lens as part of decolonising practices reveals the multi-layered identities of the collectors, the objects themselves and their creators.
Proposed outline
Part I offers in-depth histories of the institutions whose collections were transferred to the Dublin Museum of Science and Art in 1877, reconnects donors and traces objects’ journeys to the museum, as gifts, loot, military and missionary collecting.
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Creation of Dublin’s museums
Chapter 2 The Museum of Trinity College
Chapter 3 The Hibernian Marine Society Museum
Chapter 4 The Royal Dublin Society Museum
Chapter 5 The Royal Irish Academy Museum
Chapter 6 Kilkenny Literary and Scientific Institution Museum
Part II is divided geographically and focuses on the individual donors and artists and the life histories of specific objects, their contexts and uses. Some of pieces of dislocated cultural heritage are much more than objects and can embody ancestors.
Chapter 10 Oceania
Chapter 11 Africa
Chapter 12 North America
Chapter 13 South America and the Caribbean
Chapter 14 Asia
Conclusion
References and Bibliography
References and Bibliography
This paper examines their acquisition and display in the museum of Trinity College, Dublin from the foundation of the College museum in 1777 until their transfer to the newly established Dublin Museum of Science and Art, (now the National Museum of Ireland).
The history of the ethnographic collections of the Museum can be divided into four distinct phases.
Phase I -the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Anglo-Irish cabinets of curiosities were displayed in private houses or for members of select antiquarian and philosophical societies. Public access to these collections increased throughout the nineteenth century and the Irish antiquities became a symbol of wider Irish nationalist sentiment attached to ownership of the past.
Phase II from 1877 to 1922, included the transfer of these Dublin based collections into public ownership through the creation of the Science and Art Museum, Kildare Street, Dublin. Irish and overseas material, particularly from Europe and Asia, including foreign ethnographic material, was actively collected as part of the museum's emphasis on public education in the arts and industrial development.
Phase III was marked by the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, and the consequent shifts of emphasis and gradual neglect of the ethnographic collections. The 1930s saw Irish archaeological materials rise in importance, becoming vibrant symbols of national pride and identity. For various reasons ethnographic acquisitions fell, becoming static in the 1950s and was seen by some as an uncomfortable and unwelcome reminder of an imperialist past.
The reasons behind his donation are unclear. Was he demonstrating his ability to engage with the museum as an enlightened and cultured Christian individual, an equal partner in empire and Anglicanism, or did he see his donations to MAA as trophies of Christianity, symbols of its evangelising success?
Part of Trophies, Relics and Curios?: Missionary Heritage from Africa and the Pacific, which explores the British Missionary movement through a range of artefacts, photographs and archival documents, and sheds an oblique light on the histories of British Missionaries in Africa and the Pacific, and the
ways in which their work is remembered in different parts of the world today.