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SUMMARY:Collecting and curating at Rothschild's Zoological Museum - Ella L
 arsson (University of Westminster)
DTSTART:20210524T120000Z
DTEND:20210524T130000Z
UID:TALK160219@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Joanne Green
DESCRIPTION:Showing little aptitude for the family business of banking\, L
 ionel Walter Rothschild (1868–1937) instead devoted himself to the creat
 ion of one of the largest private natural history collections the world ha
 d ever seen. A prolific collector during the late nineteenth and early twe
 ntieth centuries\, Rothschild's collection was kept within his purpose-bui
 lt museum at Tring\, Hertfordshire and contained some 2.5 million Lepidopt
 era\, 300\,000 bird skins\, 300 dried reptiles and over 1400 mammal skins 
 and skulls. These extensive research collections enabled Rothschild and hi
 s curators\, Karl Jordan (1861–1959) and Ernst Hartert (1859–1933)\, t
 o make a substantial contribution to the study of animal species and their
  distribution\, while the display collections fascinated the museum's many
  public visitors.\n\nIn this paper I will explore the logics and motivatio
 ns which influenced the creation and curation of Rothschild's zoological c
 ollection. I will begin with a discussion of what Rothschild acquired for 
 his collections and of the judgement criteria which informed his collectin
 g practices\, demonstrating the ways in which those criteria differed depe
 nding on a specimens' destination within the museum. I will then focus on 
 the museum's public galleries and examine the ways in which Rothschild's s
 cientific interests played out alongside his desire to inspire wonder\, pr
 ovoke aesthetic appreciation and convey personal stories about encounters 
 with animals in the field\, revealing the ways in which Rothschild's museu
 m straddled the boundary between a 'public' and a 'private' museum.
LOCATION:Zoom
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