Collection items from colonial contexts in the Württemberg State Museum – a first check

The collections of the Württemberg State Museum are comprised of around 1.25 million objects ranging from the Stone Age to the present day. The collections span a variety of disciplines and are in the care of three departments: archaeology; art history and cultural history; and popular and everyday culture.

Subject matter of the first check

Within the framework of a four-month-long first check, around 60 objects from the collections of the Württemberg State Museum will be examined with regard to their colonial context. In the course of the project, it will be determined whether existing suspicions are substantiated and if more extensive provenance research is required. The objects to be examined come from different regions (Asia, Africa, Central America, and Oceania) and span a good one and a half millennia (Late Antique to the twentieth century). The focus is on objects from the arts and crafts sector, some of which can be documented as early as the 16th century in Württemberg, while others were acquired in the period around 1900 or later.

Procedure

At the beginning of the first check, the objects are examined for provenance markings by means of a visual inspection. The next step is to search for further sources that provide information regarding the provenance and the circumstances of acquisition. The availability of sources is not without its problems. While the inventory books largely survived the Second World War, other documents - such as correspondence and acquisition files - were burned during the war. Therefore, it will be necessary to look beyond the surviving in-house documentation to ascertain whether relevant sources can be found in the holdings of external - especially regional – archives. In conclusion, the first check will determine the need for further research on collection items from colonial contexts at the Württemberg State Museum.

Transparent documentation

The results of the investigation will be made available via an appropriate portal. The data generated will be prepared in such a way that it can be exported as well as accessible to an international audience.

© Landesmuseum Württemberg.