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Abstract
Reproduction of archaeological material was a significant and serious enterprise for antiquarians and museums in the long nineteenth century. Replicas embed many stories and embody considerable past human energy. Behind their creation, circulation, use, and after-life lies a series of specific social networks and relationships that determined why, when, and in what circumstances they were valued, or not. Summarising the context of their production, circulation, and changing fortunes, this article introduces the ways in which replicas are important, and considers the specific benefits and aspects of a biographical approach to their study. Beyond the evidential, the study of existing replicas provides a historical and contemporary laboratory in which to explore the concepts of value and authenticity, and their application in cultural heritage and collections management, offering us a richer insight into the history of ourselves as archaeologists and curators.
La reproduction de sujets archéologiques était une entreprise sérieuse et importante pour les musées et les amateurs d'antiquités au cours du long XIXe siècle. Une série de réseaux et de rapports sociaux précis qui ont déterminé pourquoi, quand et comment on a assigné une valeur (ou non) à ces reproductions est à l'origine de la création, de la circulation, de l'usage et de la survie de ces représentations qui intègrent de nombreuses histoires et incarnent une énergie humaine considérable. Notre article résume le contexte, la circulation et le destin de ces reproductions, introduit les aspects qui les rendent importantes, et examine les avantages et éléments particuliers qu'une approche biographique peut apporter. En dehors des éléments probants, l’étude des copies sert de laboratoire historique et contemporain permettant d'explorer les notions d'authenticité et de valeur et d’étudier leur mise en pratique dans la gestion du patrimoine culturel et des collections de musées, ce qui enrichit nos conception de notre propre expérience d'archéologues et de conservateurs. Translation by Madeleine Hummler.
Für Altertumsforscher und Museen im langen 19. Jahrhundert war die Nachbildung von archäologischen Funden ein bedeutendes und beträchtliches Unternehmen. Solche Nachbildungen schließen viele Geschichten ein und verkörpern ein bedeutendes menschliches Arbeitsvermögen, deren Erzeugung, Verbreitung, Brauch und Nachleben auf einer Menge von spezifischen sozialen Netzwerken und Verbindungen beruht; diese haben bestimmt, warum, wann und wie denen ein Wert (oder kein Wert) zugewiesen wurde. Unser Artikel fasst den Kontext, in welchem sie erzeugt wurden, die Verteilung und das wechselnde Schicksal von Abgüssen zusammen; weiter wird die Begründung ihrer Bedeutung einbezogen und die Vorteile eines biografischen Vorgehens ausgewertet. Außer den nachweisbaren Belegen bildet die Untersuchung von überlieferten Abgüssen ein historisches und gegenwärtiges Testfeld für die Auswertung von Auffassungen von Wert und Echtheit sowie eine Gelegenheit, ihren Gebrauch in der Denkmalpflege und in Museumssammlungen zu bewerten. Diese Verfahren erlauben, wertvolle Erkenntnisse in die Geschichte unserer Tätigkeit als Archäologen und Kuratoren zu gewinnen. Translation by Madeleine Hummler.
Acknowledgements
This article builds on the findings of the ‘Archaeological Replication: Multiplying the Dividends’ research workshop, which took place in Aberdeen on 28–30 October 2013, with funding from the Principal's Interdisciplinary Fund of the University of Aberdeen and support from Professor Keith Dobney. As organizers, we are enormously grateful to the attendees for their active participation and engagement, including suggestions on how to improve this article: Pádraig Clancy, National Museum of Ireland; Professor Bonnie Effros, University of Florida; Dr Martin Goldberg and Dr Mhairi Maxwell, National Museums Scotland; Dr Stuart Jeffrey, Digital Design Studio, Glasgow School of Art; Professor Siân Jones, University of Manchester; Dr Tara Kelly, researcher; Professor Jarl Nordbladh, University of Göteborg; Dr Marjorie Trusted, Victoria and Albert Museum, London. We also thank Dr Raghnall Ó Floinn, National Museums of Ireland, and Professor D.V. Clarke, University College London, for their support, and Ulf Bertilsson, members of the Iona Community, Murdoch MacKenzie, Dr Anne Pedersen, National Museum of Denmark, for information. For feedback on earlier drafts of this paper, SMF also thanks Dr Christa Roodt; and Professors Linda Hughes, Julie Codell, and Ryan Tweney who participated in a workshop and mini-symposium on ‘Nineteenth-Century Replication and the Prehistory of Virtual Reality’ held at Texas Christian University on 7 November 2014 (sponsored by TCU-RCAF funding, Dean Andrew Schoolmaster, AddRan College of Liberal Arts, the office of the Provost and the Department of English at TCU). The EJA’s reviewers gave us more to think about, and we thank them for this. The Henry Moore Foundation funded our illustrations, The Strathmartine Trust the artwork for Figures and .
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Sally M. Foster
Sally Foster is Lecturer in Heritage and Conservation at the University of Stirling. After a PhD (University of Glasgow, 1990), she worked in cultural heritage management for many years before becoming a lecturer in archaeology, first at Glasgow and then Aberdeen. Her main interests are the archaeology of the Picts and their early medieval neighbours, biographical approaches to material culture, and cultural heritage practices and their implications, whence her interest in replicas. Address: Centre for Environment, Heritage and Policy, History and Politics, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland, UK. [email: [email protected]]
Neil G.W. Curtis
Neil Curtis is Head of Museums and Honorary Senior Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen. He studied Archaeology (Glasgow, 1986), Museum Studies (Leicester, 1988), and Education (Aberdeen, 1995). His research focuses on museums and archaeology in Scotland, concentrating on the long nineteenth century and the social and cultural roles of museums today, including repatriation and the treatment of human remains. Address: King's College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, Scotland, UK.