Exploring Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford
If you’re ever in Oxford then an hour or two at the Pitt Rivers anthropological museum is definitely well spent. Not a lot has changed here since Victorian times, and this is part of the pleasure. Shrunken heads from west Africa sit alongside intricately stitched fur Inuit suits from the Arctic, all in big glass cabinets, and in a half light to protect everything from UV light. Most artefacts were collected by explorers in the 1700 and 1800s, although the museum also holds the 20th Century explorer, Wilfred Thesiger’s photographic collection. Indiana Jones would certainly feel home at the Pitt Rivers! www.prm.ox.ac.uk
Cheating slightly, I’ve ‘cut and pasted’ the museums description of their collections:
‘Pacific island objects, including a magnificent Tahitian mourner’s costume, collected during Captain Cook’s Second Voyage in 1773-74; Hawaiian feather cloaks in brilliant shades of red and yellow; a wide range of handwoven textiles and looms; a collection of ceremonial brasses and ivories from the Kingdom of Benin; a fine group of early masks worn by actors in Japanese Noh dramas; more masks from Africa, Melanesia and North America; sculpture from all over the world in wood, pottery, metal and stone; boats, ranging from full-sized sailing craft to model canoes; baskets in all possible shapes and sizes; pottery from Africa and the Americas, including many pre-Columbian pieces; costumes from North America including Inuit fur parkas, Plains skin shirts decorated with porcupine quills, painted coats from the Northeastern Woodlands and a range of decorated moccasins; magic objects including amulets and charms; jewellery and body decoration; locks and keys; tools and weapons; musical instruments.’
