English purchased items founding collection

Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers. 1998.271.66
English artefacts purchased by Pitt Rivers and donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1884

Alison Petch,
Researcher 'The Other Within' project

Pitt Rivers did not purchase a large number of items for the founding collection from England (that we know about), a total of 118 (out of a total of 6,272, or roughly less than 2 per cent). The recording of details for artefacts in the founding collection from before 1884 was not consistent, however, so other items might have been purchased, but the detail not noted.

Of the 118 artefacts known to have been purchased from dealers or sale rooms for the English part of the founding collection, a very large majority were purchased at one time, the Medhurst collection of artefacts from the Weymouth area from Sothebys, probably in 1879. A total of 94 artefacts are known to have been obtained then, 80 per cent of the known purchased English artefacts from the founding collection.

	Accession number	Who purchased from?	What was it?	What price paid? £	When?
1	1884.2.1	Sothebys	Key from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
2	1884.2.2	Sothebys	Key from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
3	1884.2.22	Unknown	Iron padlock	Unknown	1867
4	1884.2.23	Unknown	Iron padlock	Unknown	1867
5	1884.5.35	Sothebys	Spoon from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
6	1884.5.44	Sothebys	Spoon from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
7	1884.5.49	Sothebys	Spoon from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
8	1884.27.87	Sothebys	Revolver [Nelegan collection]	Unknown	Sale 8.4.78
9	1884.30.53	Unknown	Shield Umbo [Meyrick collection]	Unknown	Unknown
10	1884.30.54	Unknown	Shield Umbo [Meyrick collection]	Unknown	Unknown
11	1884.35.40	Anthropological Institute	Jar	£40 with other AI objects	Unknown
12	1884.37.14	Sothebys	Vessel	Unknown	1879?
13	1884.37.15	Sothebys	Vessel	Unknown	1879?
14	1884.37.16	Sothebys	Vessel	Unknown	1879?
15	1884.37.23	Sothebys	Vessel	Unknown	1879?
16	1884.37.29	Unknown	Vessel	Unknown	?1881
17	1884.37.30	Unknown	Vessel	Unknown	?1881
18	1884.37.31	Last, Shrewsbury	Vessel	Unknown	1870
19	1884.37.32	Last, Shrewsbury	Vessel	Unknown	1870
20	1884.37.41	Unknown	Vessel	Unknown	?1881
21	1884.37.54	Sothebys	Vessel from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
22	1884.37.55	Sothebys	Vessel from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
23	1884.37.56	Sothebys	Vessel from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
24	1884.37.57	Sothebys	Vessel from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
25	1884.37.58	Sothebys	Vessel from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
26	1884.37.59	Sothebys	Vessel from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
27	1884.37.68	Unknown	Vessel	Unknown	1879
28-33	1884.46.14-19	Sothebys	Comb from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
34	1884.50.2	Sothebys	Horse shoe from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
35	1884.67.72	Williamson	Figure	Unknown	?1879
36	?1884.76.140	Unknown	Bead	Unknown	1881?
37-38	1884.76.137, 138	Sothebys	Beads from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
39-40	1884.79.56-57	Sothebys	Fibuli from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
41	1884.80.21	Sothebys	Belt ornament from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
42	1884.82.112	Sothebys	Arm ornament from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
43	1884.104.79	Auction Mart near Bank of England	Pottery whorl	Unknown	1865
44-47	1884.105.3-6	Sothebys	Needles from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
48	1884.116.116	Mr Bolton, Cockermouth	Strike-a-light	Unknown	Unknown
49-80	1884.118.144-175, 178	Sothebys	Bone tools from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
81	1884.118.176	Sothebys	Weaving comb from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
82-83	1884.118.177, 179	Sothebys	Antlers from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
84	1884.119.105	RUSI museum	Axe	Unknown	Unknown
85	1884.119.584	Sothebys	Vessel from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
86-92	?1884.119.612-617, 634	Sothebys	Unidentified object from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
93-96	1884.119.618-620, 1884.120.47	Sothebys	Bed feet from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
97	1884.120.13	Sothebys	Axe from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
98	1884.120.34	Sothebys	Adze from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
99-100	1884.120.45, 48	Sothebys	Spearheads from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
101-104	1884.121.4, 12, 13, 18	Sothebys	Blades from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
105-106	1884.121.29, 31	Sothebys	Tool from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
107	1884.121.30	Sothebys	Pin from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
108	?1884.123.36	Unknown	Stone axe	Unknown	1879?
109	1884.123.473	Bryce Wright	Stone tool	Unknown	Unknown
110	1884.125.305	Bryce Wright	Stone tool	Unknown	Unknown
111	1884.127.65	Bryce Wright	Stone tool	Unknown	Unknown
112	1884.133.17	Unknown	Stone tool	2/-	Unknown
113	1884.140.485	Sothebys	Bone tool from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
114	1884.140.557	Sothebys	Bone tool from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
115-117	1884.140.563-565	Sothebys	Unidentified objects from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?
118	1884.140.646	Sothebys	Buckle from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?

In addition there are the following possible objects that were purchased and might have formed part of the founding collection but have not yet been located and accessioned:

Accession number	Who purchased from?	What was it?	What price paid? £	When?
-	?Bryce Wright	Stone with cup holes	Unknown	1879?
-	Anthropological Institute	Casts and mask of Coleridge's head [probably destroyed]	Unknown	1881?
-	Anthropological Institute	?Death Mask Charles James Fox [probably destroyed]	Unknown	1881?
-	Anthropological Institute	?Death Mask Lord Brougham [probably destroyed]	Unknown	1881?
-	Anthropological Institute	?Death Mask Cromwell [probably destroyed]	Unknown	1881?
-	Sothebys	2 Bone tools from Medhurst collection	Unknown	1879?

ENGLAND: THE OTHER WITHIN

Analysing the English Collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum

Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers. 1998.271.66
English artefacts purchased by Pitt Rivers and donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1884

Alison Petch,
Researcher 'The Other Within' project

Themed Articles

Purchased English artefacts

ENGLAND: THE OTHER WITHIN

Analysing the English Collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum

Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers. 1998.271.66English artefacts purchased by Pitt Rivers and donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1884

Alison Petch, Researcher 'The Other Within' project

Themed Articles

Purchased English artefacts

Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers. 1998.271.66
English artefacts purchased by Pitt Rivers and donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1884

Alison Petch,
Researcher 'The Other Within' project