Exchanging Objects
Nineteenth-Century Museum Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution
Published on 1. July 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
268 pages
978-1-83695-069-1 (ISBN)
Description
As an historical account of the exchange of "duplicate specimens" between anthropologists at the Smithsonian Institution and museums, collectors, and schools around the world in the late nineteenth century, this book reveals connections between both well-known museums and little-known local institutions, created through the exchange of museum objects. It explores how anthropologists categorized some objects in their collections as "duplicate specimens," making them potential candidates for exchange. This historical form of what museum professionals would now call deaccessioning considers the intellectual and technical requirement of classifying objects in museums, and suggests that a deeper understanding of past museum practice can inform mission-driven contemporary museum work.
Reviews / Votes
"This is an excellent and important contribution to scholarship...(Nichols) has also done a fine job of explaining how a focus on duplicate exchange transforms our entire (mis)understanding of museums as places only for accumulation and preservation." * Ira Jacknis, Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of AnthropologyMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Bibliography; Index; 36 Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
402 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-83695-069-1 (9781836950691)
DOI
10.3167/9781800730526
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Catherine A. Nichols
Exchanging Objects
Nineteenth-Century Museum Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution
E-Book
04/2021
1st Edition
Berghahn Books
€24.49
Available for download
Catherine A. Nichols
Exchanging Objects
Nineteenth-Century Museum Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution
E-Book
04/2021
1st Edition
Berghahn Books
€33.99
Available for download
Person
Catherine A. Nichols is an Advanced Lecturer in Cultural Anthropology and Museum Studies at Loyola University Chicago, where she serves as Director and Curator of the May Weber Ethnographic Study Collection. Previously she was the Assistant Curator at Arizona State University's Museum of Anthropology. Her work on exchanges at the Smithsonian Institution and Field Museum has been published in Museum Anthropology, Museum and Society, and History and Anthropology. In addition to curatorial work, she is currently developing critical digital projects with museum databases and archival systems.
Content
List of Illustrations and Tables
List of Abbreviations
Chronology
Lists of Relevant Smithsonian Institution/USNM Personnel
Acknowledgements
Introduction: A Bowl's Journey, There and Back Again
Part I: The Museum Through the Lens of Specimen Exchange
Chapter 1. The Smithsonian and the Museum: Specimen Exchange as a Bridge between Joseph Henry's Research Institution and Spencer Baird's Grand Cabinet
Chapter 2. Spencer Baird's U.S. National Museum & Early Trends in Exchanging Anthropological Duplicates (1861-1880)
Chapter 3. Networking the National Museum: Exchanging Anthropological Duplicates (1882-1920)
Chapter 4. Giving & Receiving: Specimen Exchange Between Curators & the Shaping of Anthropological Collections
Part II: The Duplicate
Chapter 5. Duplicates: Specimens in Motion
Chapter 6. Catalogs, Classification and Contingency: Designating Duplicates
Conclusion: Museum Pasts and Futures
Appendix
Bibliography
Index
List of Abbreviations
Chronology
Lists of Relevant Smithsonian Institution/USNM Personnel
Acknowledgements
Introduction: A Bowl's Journey, There and Back Again
Part I: The Museum Through the Lens of Specimen Exchange
Chapter 1. The Smithsonian and the Museum: Specimen Exchange as a Bridge between Joseph Henry's Research Institution and Spencer Baird's Grand Cabinet
Chapter 2. Spencer Baird's U.S. National Museum & Early Trends in Exchanging Anthropological Duplicates (1861-1880)
Chapter 3. Networking the National Museum: Exchanging Anthropological Duplicates (1882-1920)
Chapter 4. Giving & Receiving: Specimen Exchange Between Curators & the Shaping of Anthropological Collections
Part II: The Duplicate
Chapter 5. Duplicates: Specimens in Motion
Chapter 6. Catalogs, Classification and Contingency: Designating Duplicates
Conclusion: Museum Pasts and Futures
Appendix
Bibliography
Index