Pitt-Rivers is known to have brought quite a few of his objects to meetings of various learned societies, to which he belonged, to display to other members and to illustrate his talks. See here for more information about this.

A list is provided below of all the objects exhibited at the Anthropological Institute form 1843 to 1891 in the Index to the Publications of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (1843-1891) including the Journal and Transactions of the Ethnological Society of London (1843-1871), the Journal of the Anthropological Society of London (1863-1871), the Anthropological Review; and the Journal of the Anthropological Institute (1871-1891) [p. 112-125] , compiled by George Bloxam and published in 1893 by the Anthropological Institute, London.

Abbreviations - J.A.S. = A.R. = Anthropological Review; J.A.I. = Journal of the Anthropological Institute; J.A.S. = Journal of the Anthropological Society; J.E.S. = Journal of the Ethnological Society, P.E.S. = Proceedings of the Ethnological Society; N.S. = New Series

In square brackets are the PRM, Oxford, accession numbers or Cambridge University Library catalogue of the second collection page numbers for each object.

'Exhibitions :-

... 8. Marble Armlet from Lukoja, on the Niger. (Figured) (Fox, A. Lane) J.E.S. N.S. i, 35-36 [1884.82.129]

9. Bronze spear, with a  Gold Ferrule and a Shaft of Bog Oak, from Lough Gur, County Limerick. (Fox, A. Lane)  (Figured) J.E.S. N.S. i, 36-38 [1884.119.348] ...

18. Worked Flints found at Stonehenge.  (Fox, A. Lane) J.E.S. N.S. ii, 1 [1884.132.240-253] ...

23. Stone Mullers from Tahiti and the West Indies (Fox, A. Lane) J.E.S. N.S. ii, 121 [1884.128.77, not matched] ...

81. Flint implements, etc, from Cissbury. (Fox, A.H. Lane) A.R. vi, J.A.S. p. xliv [?1884.125.153, 159; 1884.127.115; 1884.131.19-20; 1884.132.33, 51-55, 328]  ...

109. Worked Flint from Mexico (?) (Fox, A.L.) [no page reference given] [?1884.133.120] ...

117. Rough Stone Implement from Borneo (Fox, A.L.) [no page reference given] [1884.126.66] ...

125. Artificially Distorted Skulls from Vancouver's Island (Fox, A.L.) J.A.I. i, P.E.S. p. xxxii [1884.86.2, 1884.86.4] ...

141. Stone Celts from the Shevaroy Hills  (Fox, A.L.) J.A.I. ii, 348 [1884.126.67, 68, 70] ...

148. Peruvian Pottery. (Fox, A.L.) [no page reference given] [not matched] ...

153. Bracelets and Necklace found near Thebes. (Fox, A.L.) [no page reference given] [cannot be matched] ...

176. Arrow-heads from the Rio Negro. (Fox, A.L.) J.A.I. iv, 311 [1884.140.670-701, 1884.140.702-736, 1884.140.737-742, 1884.140.743-767, 1884.140.770-784, 1884.140.785-810, 1884.140.1002-1005.]

177. Blow-pipe, Bow and Arrows from Costa Rica. (Fox, A.L.) J.A.I., iv, 363 [1884.15.40, and can't match] ...

197. Skulls, Poisoned Arrows, Shell and Stone implements from Mallicollo and Vanikoro (Fox, A.L.) J.A.I. vi, 199 [1887.33.28, 1884.126.240, 242, and can't match] ...

202. British Gold Coin found at Seaford (Fox, A.L.) J.A.I. vi, 297 [Can't match] ...

207. Terra-cotta Votive Statuettes from Tanagra (Fox, A.L.) J.A.I. vi, 310 [?1884.67.78-80, 82]  ...

226. Flint flakes from Egypt (Fox, A.L.) J.A.I. vii, 323 [?1884.132.39-40, 91-96]

227. Objects from Istria and Scinde (Fox, A.L.) J.A.I. vii, 364 [1884.104.24, 1884.140.584; ?1884.63.40] ...

230. Andamanese and Nicobarese Objects. (Fox, A.L.) J.A.I. vii, 434 [Can't be matched] ...

274. Ancient and Modern Locks. (Rivers, A.H. Pitt.) [no page reference given] [Can't be matched] ...

276. Carved and Painted Masks from New Zealand. (Rivers, A.H. Pitt.) J.A.I. xii, 197 [1884.65.41, no others listed] ...

287. Ancient Egyptian Boomerang. (Rivers, A.H. Pitt.) J.A.I. xii, 454 [If this refers to replicas then it might be one of 1884.25.30-32, or else Add.9455vol1_p58 /3] ...

377. Models of Excavations in Cranborne Chase. (Rivers, A.H. Pitt.) J.A.I. xvii, 190 [as displayed at Farnham Museum, and now at Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum] ...

404. Skulls, and other Bones found at Hunsbury Camp, and at a Roman Villa at Llantwit, near Cardiff, (Rivers, A.H. Pitt.) J.A.I. xix, 182 [Pitt-Rivers' second collection catalogue only lists a vessels and a brick from Hunsbury, and nothing from Llantwit. Llantwit was a place he visited in his role as Inspector of Ancient Monuments see National Archives, Pitt-Rivers Workbook 39/4 page 19] ...

Of course, it should be noted that this list is not all the objects in the founding and second collections exhibited by Pitt-Rivers at the Anthropological Institute etc, it is the objects that were exhibited by him. He also used the AI as a source of new objects, purchasing objects that had been shown there by other people and a list of these has not been compiled. Some examples however, are

13. Stone implements from San Jose (Steffens, A.) J.E.S. N.S. i, 67, 68 [may be 1884.126.133]

15. Lepcha ornaments, weapons &c (Campbell, A) J.E.S. N.S. i, 157 [may be 1884.24.53]

34. Ethnological Objects from Loango (Walker, R.B.N.) A.R. iii J.A.S. p cxxiii [1884.17.3 etc]

45. Flint implements from Amiens and Abbeville (Hunt, J) [no page reference] [1884.122.476, 494, 497, 499, 501]

59. Flint implements from the Little Ouse (Prigg, H.) [no page reference] [Note: there are 21 stone tools from the Little Ouse in the PR founding collection, some of these might come from this source, but unfortunately the donor / purchaser's name is not given]

74. Ethnological Specimens from the Gaboon (Walker, R.B.N.) A.R. v J.A.S. p cxvii [1884.5.65 etc]

86 Fijian and African Ornaments &c (Wood, J.G.) [no page reference] [1884.7.12 etc, though seemingly not obtained until 1878]

182 Stone mining tools from Alderley Edge (Dawkins, W.B.) JAI v 2 [1884.127.11-15]

200. Iron Arrow heads and Spear heads from Southern India (Walhouse, M.J.) J.A.I. vi, 245 [1884.24.47]

246. Ethnological Objects from British Columbia (Dally, ---.) J.A.I. x, 74 [1884.5.12 etc]

262. Andamanese and Nicobarese Objects (Man, E.H.) J.A.I. xi, 294

This is likely to be the tip of the iceberg as many other objects were probably acquired by Pitt-Rivers after he heard a talk about them, or saw them, at an Anthropological Institute meeting.

Woodcut from Society of Antiquaries, vol 3, p. 395 It might be possible to compile such a list for other objects exhibited by Pitt-Rivers at other learned societies like the Society of Antiquaries, if similar Indices were compiled for them, this has not been ascertained. It is likely, however, that where papers in the Bibliography have titles like Lane Fox, A.H. 1868 [c]. ‘On a silver penannular brooch known as the Galway brooch’. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries in London 4 [1868] pp. 141-143, it is likely that the object was exhibited. For example, at the meeting on 13 December 1866, chaired by A.W. Franks (Director of the Society), Lane Fox [Pitt-Rivers] exhibited some objects:.

Lieut.-Colonel A.H. LANE FOX, F.S.A. exhibited two objects of bone mounted in bronze, and resembling in form an ordinary peg-top. One of them, which is represented in the accompanying woodcut, was 3 inches in height, and had a four-leaved flower engraved on the bronze plate at the top; the spike was also bronze (see woodcut). Of these objects he gave the following account:—"Eleven of these peg-top shaped articles were found' about three years ago by  (I believe) the clergyman of the place, under a flag in a field close to Castletown Bearhaven, Bantry Bay. I can obtain no further information about them, except that the eleven were disposed of as follows-:—Two are in the Royal Irish Academy Museum. The Rev. James Graves of Kilkenny has two. Mr. Windell, archaeologist, Cork, had two (by him they were believed to be chess men); three found their way to Belfast; and these are the remaining two. I have seen one exactly like these in a collection of Irish antiquities at Cork—the peg in this case was of silver instead of bronze, and it was believed by the owner to have been used for some game of the nature of chess."

Lane Fox, A.H. 1866 [c].  ‘On an ivory peg-top shaped object from Ireland’ Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries in London 2dS 3 [1866] pp. 395-396

To compare Pitt-Rivers' exhibited objects to a selected group of his peers see here.

Alison Petch, September 2011

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