Ethnographic collections from the University of Oxford at the Pitt Rivers Museum

Alison Petch,
Researcher 'The Other Within' project

The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English speaking world. There is no clear foundation date, but teaching is thought to have been underway by 1096, and it developed rapidly from 1167. The Oxford colleges began as medieval halls of residence or endowed houses. University, Balliol and Merton Colleges, established between 1249 and 1264, were the first to be set up. By 1355 Oxford had an great reputation for scholarship, Edward III praised it for its invaluable contribution to learning and the state.

The University was Royalist during the Civil War, Charles I holding a counter-Parliament in Convocation House. The University had a leading role in the Victorian era, especially in religious matters, with the Oxford movement. From 1878 academic halls were established for women, they were admitted to full membership from 1920. In 1884, the Pitt Rivers Museum was founded. It is now one of the foremost universities in the world, Oxford was ranked joint second in the world in the Times Higher Education Supplement’s World University Rankings 2007.

Items associated with the University itself:

• Proctors paraphenalia
• Teaching aides
• Models used in teaching and experimentation
• Items associated with the Pitt Rivers Museum's buildings
• Items associated with temporary displays in the Museum
• Clothing associated with the Oxford University Rifle Corps
• Miscellaneous item associated with New College

Items found on University property

1898.20.68 Stirrup
1901.12.1 Pin
1907.1.5-12 6 ointment pots and 3 phials
1907.26.9-11 Glass phials and ointment pot
1910.8.1 Comb
1911.29.9 Rapier blade
1911.29.56-58 3 clyster syringes
1911.29.88-93 6 ointment pots
1911.29.96 Stoneware jug
1911.29.106 Wine-bottle
1912.77.1 Stone lamp
1917.28.7 .1-2 Nutcracker
1923.47.25 Fragment of 'greybeard' pottery showing a coat of arms
1927.9.3 Wig-curler
1929.38.1 Pipe-bowl
1931.79.1 Trowel
1932.10.1 Clay pipe
1941.10.46-47 Key and pipe
1944.3.2 Clay tobacco pipe-bowl.
1994.53.1-2 Plastic tokens
2002.47.1 Whistle
2007.37.73-87, 309, 1962-1963; 1958 Bellmarks

1. Items associated with the University itself

1. Proctors of the University

We have several clothing items associated with the post of Proctor at the University, 1908.42.1 a symbolic purse; 1946.5.82, proctors' lawn bands worn in 1884; 1992.9.1-2 bow tie and bands, worn by a Curator of the Museum (Howard Morphy) when he was Junior Proctor 1991-2; and proctor's garments worn or donated by Marcus Banks, of the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Junior Proctor 2007-8.

1992.9.1-2 Proctor's bands worn by Howard Morphy

2. Teaching aides

The University's basic function is to teach students. The Museum has always been a teaching institution. The Museum's collections include some material used by past lecturers:

(a) 1944.1.13-86 Lecture aides

A series of drawings, pictures and charts used by staff at the Pitt Rivers Museum to illustrate their lectures to students. They were part of the teaching equipment of Henry Balfour (Curator of the museum) and Edward Burnett Tylor. Some were prepared by Alfred Robinson, who worked in the Oxford University Museum (of Natural History) as an assistant to Tylor. These aides are now cared for by the photographic and manuscripts department of the Museum. Further information about each picture can be obtained from http://pittweb7.prm.ox.ac.uk:16080/fmi/iwp/res/iwp_home.html
by searching for specific accession numbers, or by searching in the Oxfordshire database

(b) Glass lantern slides

In addition, there are glass lantern slides, used as lecture aides later on. These are part of the photographic collections and are not listed here but include material used in lectures by Henry Balfour, Beatrice Blackwood and Tom Penniman amongst others.
The Museum also has a projector used to show the slides, 1999.36.1 Projector
Glass slide projector of metal, presumably used in old lectures in the Pitt Rivers Museum. This artefact was found in 1999 in one of the curator/ lecturers rooms, after he retired.

(c) Models used in teaching and experimentation

1948.10.53 Experimental boomerang
Accession Book Entry - Dr Ruth Turner, ... Oxford - Oxford Experimental boomerang used by Sir Gilbert White on New College Ground in mathematical experiments, hard wood, varnished, 15" across, equal armed [insert] one up turned at an angle of about 10 degrees [end insert] (Sir Gilbert White was Director-General of Indian Observatories from 1904 (?) to 1924).
No biographical details have been found to date about this Gilbert White, or his mathematical experiments
1985.18.19-20, 1985.18.23: 2 Model boomerangs and a model kite bow
Accession Book Entry - 1985.18 H. BALFOUR - FOUND UNENTERED. [1985.18] .19 ENGLAND - OXFORD (?) Bull roarer, lecture model made by H. Balfour of light wood, one side painted black. Hole at one end with string attached. This end has broken off. L = 17 cm Max width 2.9 cm.
Accession Book Entry - 1985.18 H. BALFOUR - FOUND UNENTERED [1985.18].20 ENGLAND - OXFORD (?) Bullroarer, made by H. Balfour as demonstration piece. Of light wood, unstained. String attached. L = 17 cm Max. Width 2 cm.
Accession Book Entry - 1985.18 H. BALFOUR - FOUND UNENTERED [1985.18] .23 [.1 - 2] ENGLAND - OXFORD Model of a kite bow, made by H. Balfour. Bow made of split reed, buzzer of split quill. L. of bow 38.7 cm. L. of buzzer 37.5 cm.
As well as using pre-prepared pictures and charts in lectures, Henry Balfour also showed real objects from the Museum's collections and also made models as here. Not only did the models demonstrate specific types of artefacts that the Museum might not have in its collections, but by constructing the models, Balfour could learn a great deal about how the artefact was constructed, and how it could be used (you cannot use actual museum specimens to experiment with, as you have a duty to care for and conserve them for future generations). Models were an essential part of museum work in Balfour's eyes. These items would have been made before 1939 when Balfour died.
There are other models in the Museum's collections which were also used for teaching but are not listed here.

3. Items associated with the Museum's buildings

1946.8.129-130 Lamps and 1952.4.17-21
Accession Book Entry - British Medical Association of 1904 - 1946.8.129 - British - Carbon filament electric lamp used in the lighting system given to the Museum when the British Association was entertained in 1904 - Robertson ?patent or firm
Accession Book Entry - British Medical Association of 1904 - ... - 1946.8.130 - British - Tungsten filament electric lamp - 20W, 100 volts - Mazda, B.T.H. Patent
[1952.4.17-21] Accession Book Entry - Pitt Rivers Museum, Univ. of OXFORD. Five electric light bulbs kept when the wiring was changed from D.C. to A.C. These were in use from 1904, when the British Medical Association wired the building as a token of thanks for hospitality received... - Carbon filament bulb enclosing vacuum. Invented before 1900.
Buiilding of the Pitt Rivers Museum began in 1884 but it was only lit by electrical when the British Medical Association paid for electrical lighting to be installed in 1904. When this system became redundant the Museum decided to accession examples of the lights and bulbs used. The Annual Report for 1904 records:
The most important event of the year has been the installation of electric light in the Museum, through the generosity of the Executive Committee of the British Medical Association, by whom the complete installation was presented to the University, in recognition of the facilities and hospitality accorded by the University on the occasion of the meeting of the Association held in Oxford during the summer of 1904. The main lighting is effected by four 1000 c.p. arc lamps, controlled in pairs by two switches; and in addition, 48 incandescent lamps, each with separate switch, are disposed on the columns in both Galleries and Court, in order to light the peripheral portions where the shadows are darkest. The system is a very satisfactory one, and so far has worked very well. Efficient working in the Museum after dark has been rendered possible, and the facilities for using the collections have been greatly extended.
2006.78.1-2 Commemorative trowel and tankard
2006.78.1 Trowel, presentation box and lid used to 'top out' the new research building at the Pitt Rivers Museum. The ceremony took place on 9th February 2006. The trowel was presented to Dr Hood by Sir Robert McAlpine, the builders. John Hood, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, donated it to the Museum to commemorate the occasion. The trowel has a dark wooden handle approximately 82 mm long. The blade and neck of the trowel is made of silver plated metal. The upper side of the trowel blade has been inscribed with 'Presented by Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd to Dr John Hood Vice Chancellor Oxford University on the occasion of the "Topping Out" Pitt Rivers Museum 9th February 2006.' The underside of the blade is inscribed with 'SWATKINS' 'SILVER PLATED' 'MADE IN ENGLAND'
2006.78.2 is the ceremonial tankard also presented by McAlpines to Dr Hood and then donated to the Museum to commemorate the same topping out ceremony. The base of the tankard has been stamped with the maker's mark and an inscription. The front of the tankard has been inscribed with 'Presented by Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd to Dr John Hood Vice Chancellor Oxford University on the occasion of the "Topping Out" Pitt Rivers Museum 9th February 2006.' The tankard was used during the Topping Out ceremony to drink beer.

4. Items associated with temporary displays in the Pitt Rivers Museum2001.48.1-3 Installation pieces and study

Professor Mamoru Abe ... 2001.48 Series of studies for his installation Voices and also two pieces from his Pitt Rivers installation. The press release for the installation said:
"VOICES an installation by Mamoru Abe in the Natural History Museum and Pitt Rivers Museum. 4 May to 7 June 2001. Mamoru Abe is currently Visiting Professor at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, University of Oxford. Since being in Oxford he has been inspired and excited by the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Natural History Museum. Voices is a response to the myriad influences and atmospheres he has felt and listened to while visiting the museums. The hammered sheets of steel that are the main components of the exhibition are like handwritten texts: pages inscribed with calligraphy of physical energy, using heat like ink to make them indelible. Their placement throughout the museum is crucial. They hover and shield, focus and reflect the astonishing collections and the buildings that house them. The voice of these sculptures is quiet and stern, but rich and bright with the resonance of their surroundings." Brian Catling, Professor of Fine Art Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art.

5. Clothing associated with the Oxford University Rifle Corps

1919.22.3 Busby
Accession Book Entry - 1919 Rev. C.V. Goddard, Baverstock Rectory, Salisbury. - Busby or Shako of the Oxford University Volunteer Rifle-corps, 1880.
A busby is a tall fur cap, with or without a plume, having a bag (generally of cloth, and of the colour of the facings of the regiment) hanging out of the top, on the right side; worn by hussars, artillerymen, and engineers; hence, one who wears a busby. ' and a shako 'A military cap in the shape of a truncated cone, with a peak and either a plume or a ball or ‘pom-pom’. (Not now worn by British soldiers.) (as defined by OED on-line). The difference between the two forms of headgear appears to be that one is taller and made of fur. It is not clear which is a better description of this artefact. The Oxford University Rifle Volunteer Corps formed in 1859 [of 3 companies], in 1881 it became a battalion of the Oxfordshire Light Infantry. Cecil Vincent Goddard (1858-1933) was an Anglican clergyman who lived and worked in Dorset, Wiltshire, and Bournemouth.
http://www.army.mod.uk/uotc/oxford/history.htm shows an image of someone wearing this type of headgear from the corps.
See also 1969.26.1 below, another helmet used by the corps.
Further reading
www.oua.ox.ac.uk/holdings/Officers%20Training%20Corps%20OT.pdf
http://www.army.mod.uk/uotc/oxford/history.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busby
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shako
1969.26.1 Helmet
Accession Book Entry - G. Mrs K.D. Taylor, ... Langport, Somerset. England, Oxfordshire, Oxford. Helmet of the Oxford University Rifle Volunteers, of green stiffened cloth, with crowned badge, four-armed surround to top ventilation hole and right chin strap attachment of tinned brass. Chin strap and left attachment missing. Height 19 cm.
See also 1919.22.3 for another helmet used by the corps. See www.oua.ox.ac.uk/holdings/Officers%20Training%20Corps%20OT.pdf and http://www.army.mod.uk/uotc/oxford/history.htm

6. Miscellaneous item associated with New College

2005.93.1 Fire bucket
Europe, UK, England, Oxford. Leather fire bucket formerly used at New College, Oxford. Found unentered during the leather vessels re-storage project at the Osney stores. The label on the object states that it was donated by the Warden and Fellows of New College in 1905.
A label attached to the object stated:
One of the old leathern fire-buckets, sewn, formerly used in New College, Oxford Pres. by The Warden and Fellows of New College, 1905.
Fire bucket made of leather. The base of the vessel is rounded and stitched. The body tapers out from the base to the mouth. The vessel has been stitched together with yarn and then possibly tarred or some waterproofing applied. At the mouth of the bucket there are two rings which have been attached to the vessel. A handle is attached to these rings from one side of the bucket to another. The bucket is black brown in colour and the leather or the waterproofing has cracked in places. On one side of the bucket has been painted 'New Coll No 17' in lighter brown paint (possibly much lighter at one time). William Archibald Spooner was the Warden of New College in 1905. He was well-known for his verbal confusions.
Further reading:
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36219 [Spooner]

2. Items found on University property

Many of the other items associated with the University were found on its premises. These include:

1898.20.68 Stirrup

Accession Book Entry - June H. BALFOUR Esq. Old fashioned lady's stirrup, found in excavating foundations of New Radcliffe Library, Univ. Museum, 1898.
Henry Balfour was the Museum's Curator (Director). The building was probably the library now known as the Hooke Library, to the south of the Radcliffe Science Library, on South Parks Road. The form of the stirrup was not that which was common in 1898.

1901.12.1 Pin

Accession Book Entry - PROF. F. YORK POWELL. M.A. Ch.Ch. [Christchurch] - Hand-made pin probably 150-200 years old, found in an old book in the Ch.Ch. library, Oxford.
Frederick York Powell (1850 - 1904) was a historian and Regius Professor of Modern History from 1895. He was based at Christ Church. In a letter to the Museum's Curator (Director), Henry Balfour, he writes:
Christ Church, Oxford. 19 12 01 Dear Balfour, This pin is hand made. I found it concealed in an old [insert] Ch Ch libr [end insert] book and judge it to be nearly 150 - 200 years old. It can ?hardly be later than 150, so I send it you for your collection as an old English pin. Hoping you will have a happy Xmas with all health & wealth I am yours faithfully F York Powell.
Why the pin was in the book is unknown. Pins were often used to attach several paper documents together. The Museum has a large collection of pins from various cultures, countries and times, 523 just from England, 1,019 in total. Pins were usually made by drawing a piece of metal into wire, then cutting the wire into lengths and welding heads (larger rounds or ovals of metal) into place as a head. This was laborious work if done by hand, however, the invention of new industrial processes in the eighteenth century and machines which manufactured pins made the process much more straightforward. By the mid-nineteenth century most pins were made by these industrial processes. Adam Smith (before 1723-1790), the political economist, even commented on the trade of pin-maker:
To take an example, therefore, from a very trifling manufacture; but one in which the division of labour has been very often taken notice of, the trade of the pin-maker; a workman not educated to this business (which the division of labour has rendered a distinct trade), nor acquainted with the use of the machinery employed in it (to the invention of which the same division of labour has probably given occasion), could scarce, perhaps, with his utmost industry, make one pin in a day, and certainly could not make twenty. But in the way in which this business is now carried on, not only the whole work is a peculiar trade, but it is divided into a number of branches, of which the greater part are likewise peculiar trades. One man draws out the wire, another straights it, a third cuts it, a fourth points it, a fifth grinds it at the top for receiving, the head; ... Those ten persons, therefore, could make among them upwards of forty-eight thousand pins in a day. Each person, therefore, making a tenth part of forty-eight thousand pins, might be considered as making four thousand eight hundred pins in a day. But if they had all wrought separately and independently, and without any of them having been educated to this peculiar business, they certainly could not each of them have made twenty, perhaps not one pin in a day; that is, certainly, not the two hundred and fortieth, perhaps not the four thousand eight hundredth part of what they are at present capable of performing, in consequence of a proper division and combination of their different operations. [Adam Smith, 'An Inquiry into the Nature And Causes of the Wealth of Nations', 1776, taken from http://www.adamsmith.org/smith/won/won-b1-c1.html]

Further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pin_%28device%29
Clifford F. Pratten 'The Manufacture of Pins', Journal of Economic Literature vol 18 no. 1 (Mar. 1980) pp. 93-96

1907.1.5-12 6 ointment pots and 3 phials

Accession Book Entry - H. BALFOUR, Esq. Jan. - 6 thickly-glazed druggist’s ointment pots and three small druggist’s phials of glass, XVI or XVII century, dug up 10 - 12 feet from surface in silting of an ancient trench or deep ditch, in digging foundations for the New Forestry Department opposite the University Museum, 1907. (Jan.)
Balfour was obviously handed the artefacts soon after they were dug up and decided to accession them into the collections. The building for which the foundations were going to be built still exists on the corner of Parks Road and Museum Road. Druggists (apothecaries, pharmacists) sold and prepared medical drugs. They used the pots to make or store ointments which were used for a variety of skin and other medical conditions. The glass phials were presumably designed to hold liquids. We have ointment pottery jars from London, in the collections.

Some of these artefacts have more detailed descriptions, provided by a card catalogue written for all medical-related accessories in the museum around the end of the 1930s:
[1] 1907.1.5 Case 2 Drawer 3 Pots for medical ointments etc ... - Description: Medical ointment (?) pot Glazed: light coloured (pinkish white) cylindrical shape, constricted and flaring rim, short flared foot, open top, slightly irregular glazing Height c 7 cm diameter of top 4.7 cm diameter of base c 4.6 cm Locality: Oxford Foundations of new Forestry Dept 1907 10 ft deep How Acquired: Pres. by H. Balfour 1907 [Drawing]
[2] 1907.1.6 Case 2 Drawer 3 Pots for medical ointments etc ... - Description: Medical ointment (?) pot Glazed, blueish white in colour, of sub-cylindrical shape, narrow, constricted and flared, rim, short flared foot, wider than the rim, open top. Chip out of one side of rim. Height: 4.3 cm diameter of top c 2.8 cm diameter of base 3 cm Locality: Oxford foundations of New Forestry Dept 1907 10 ft deep How Acquired: Pres. by H. Balfour 1907 [Drawing]
[3] 1907.1.7 Case 2 Drawer 3 Pots for medical ointments etc ... - Description: Medical ointment (?) pot Glazed, cream coloured, sub-cylindrical shape, narrow * flared rim and short flared foot, open top. Height 5.2 cm diameter of top c 3.5 cm diameter of base 3.5 cm * and constricted Locality: Oxford foundations of New Forestry Dept 1907 10 ft deep How Acquired: Pres by H. Balfour 1907 [Drawing]
[4] 1907.1.8 Case 2 Drawer 3 Pots for medical ointments etc ... - Description: Medical ointment (?) pot Glazed blueish * white in colour, of sub-cylindrical shape, narrow, constricted and flared, rim short flared foot wider than the rim, open top, rim broken on one side, smooth glazing Height c 4.7 cm diameter of top 2.9 cm diameter of base 3 cm *glaze slightly pink in colour in a few places and there is a patch of pink glaze at the bottom of the pot. Locality: Oxford Foundations of New Forestry Dept 1907 How Acquired: Pres. by H. Balfour 1907 [Drawing]
[5] 1907.1.10 Case 2 Drawer 3 Pots for medical ointments etc ... - Description: Druggist's phial, XVI or XVII cent Small phial of dark green glass, of four-sided shape with rounded angles, thin, rather short neck, flared rim, base concave. Height c 6.6 cm width of rim c 2 cm width of phial c 3.7 cm Locality: Foundations of new Forestry Dept 1907 10 ft deep How Acquired: Pres by H. Balfour 1907 [Drawing]
[6] 1907.1.11 Case 2 Drawer 3 Pots for medical ointments etc ... - Description: Druggist's phial, XVI or XVII cent Small phial of globular shape - rather asymmetrical - made of thin glass of a greenish tint, iridescent, thin neck and flared rim, base concave piece broken out on one side. Height c 6.2 cm width of rim c 2.2 cm diameter of phial c 4.8 cm Locality: Foundations of new Forestry Dept 1907 10 ft deep How Acquired: Pres by H. Balfour 1907 [Drawing]
[7] 1907.1.12 Case 2 Drawer 3 Pots for medical ointments etc ... - Description: Druggist's phial, XVI or XVII cent Dept Oxford 1907 Very small phial of green iridescent glass with remains* of an outer coat of pink short neck with flared rim, body somewhat square shaped. Height c 2.7 cm diameter of rim c 1.6 cm width of bottle c 2.2 cm *scaling away of outer surface Locality: Foundations of new Forestry Dept 1907 10 ft deep How Acquired: Pres by H. Balfour 1907 [Drawing]

1907.26.9-11 Glass phials and ointment pot

Accession Book Entry - H. BALFOUR June - 2 early glass phials and glazed ware ointment pot (XVI or XVII cen), a more modern ointment pot and a brass thimble of early form, from excavations at Hertford College, Oxford.
There must have been a great deal of development in Oxford in 1907 or Balfour was particularly interested in obtaining items associated with pharmaceutical practise.
There is more detailed information available about these artefacts in the detailed medicine card catalogue drawn up in the 1930s:
[1] 1907.26.9 Case 2 Drawer 3 Pots for medical ointments etc ... - Description: Glass phial of light colour and iridescent, tubular in shape, but of asymmetrical make, short, small neck and flared rim, base rounded and concave. Length c 9 cm width across rim c 2 cm width of phial at shoulders 3.35 cm width at base 3.5 cm Locality: Oxford from excavations in Hertford Coll How Acquired: Pres by H. Balfour 1907 [Drawing]
[2] 1907.26.10 Case 2 Drawer 3 Pots for medical ointments etc ... - Description: Glass phial. Tubular in shape with short small neck and flared rim (flat and rather wide) base rounded and slightly concave Length c 14.7 cm max width across rim c 2.6 cm The phial is rather wider at the shoulders 3 cm than at the base 2.85 cm Locality: Oxford from excavations in Hertford Coll How Acquired: Pres by H. Balfour 1907 [Drawing]

1910.8.1 Comb

Accession Book Entry - H. BALFOUR Esq, Curator. Jan - [1 of] 2 old ivory double combs, one dug up in Balliol College, [the other at the Old Hermitage, Old Headington,] Oxford
Again Henry Balfour is the donor of this object which was presumably brought to him by someone at Balliol College. The comb might have been used in the medieval or earlier periods (in which case the Museum would consider it to be archaeological rather than ethnographic). A double comb has teeth on either side of the central spine. This comb is on display in Case L.51.A {Body Arts Hair Right} in the Lower Gallery of the Museum.

1911.29.9 Rapier blade

Accession Book Entry - PERCY MANNING, Esq, M.A., New College. July - Long blade of rapier dug up on site of Jesus Coll. new buildings in Ship Street, 1906. †
Additional Accession Book Entry - † Blade inscribed SAHAGUM.
Percy Manning (1870-1917) was an antiquarian and folklorist. He gave many items to the Pitt Rivers and Ashmolean Museums. Together with Thomas James Carter he collected many items from Oxfordshire. He studied at New College from 1888, and lived in Oxford until his death. He was a member of the Oxford Architectural and Historical Society, Oxford University Brass Rubbing Society (later known as the Oxford University Antiquarian Society) and the Society of Antiquaries. It may have been his well-known antiquarian interests which led to him being given the blade by someone at Jesus College.
The sword blade has a maximum length of 1035 mm. Ship Street runs along the north side of Jesus College. The meaning of 'Sahagum' is unknown.

See below for other items found in Jesus College some 6 years later.

Further reading:
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/57230 [Manning]

1911.29.56-58 3 clyster syringes

Accession Book Entry - PERCY MANNING, Esq, M.A., New College. July - 3 pewter squirts (?enemata-clysters), date c. 1700, found in cleaning out the latrines in All Souls College, 1896.
These items were donated by Percy Manning. [link to 1911.29.9 bit about Manning please] In other accounts the location where the 'squirts' were found is described as the 'necessaria'. These medical tools were used to give enemas. A clyster is described by the Oxford English Dictionary as being 'a medicine injected into the rectum, to empty or cleanse the bowels, to afford nutrition, etc; an injection, enema; sometimes, a suppository. As a secondary meaning it can be used for the 'pipe or syringe' used in injection.

According to wikipedia, clyster syringes were used from the seventeenth century (or before) to the nineteenth century. They were a syringe with a rectal nozzle and a plunger. An apothecary or servant would use the syringe to inject water or other liquid into the colon via the anus. Enemas were thought to ease constipation, stomach ache and other illnesses.

We may have acquired these clysters to compare with other clysters in our collections from the Democratic Republic of the Congo [1938.16.162 and 1911.27.3]. The museum has a sizeable collection of medical equipment from around the world on display in the south side of the Lower Gallery.

Further reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyster

1911.29.88-93 6 ointment pots

Accession Book Entry - PERCY MANNING, Esq, M.A., New College. July - 6 glazed ointment-pots excavated at All Souls (2) & Queens Colleges, Oxford.
These items were again donated by Percy Manning. [see 1911.29.9] They are similar to the ointment pots donated by Henry Balfour. [see 1907.1.5-12] They are described in more detail in a card catalogue describing all the medical-related tools in the PRM collections:
[1] 1911.29.88 Case 2 Drawer 3 Pots for medical ointments etc ... - Description: Glazed pot for medical ointments (?) Light coloured (brown) with smooth surface, sub-cylindrical in shape, flared rim and short flared foot, open top Height c 4 cm diameter of top c 4.6 cm diameter of base c 4. cm Rather asymmetrical in shape Locality: Oxford excavated at All Souls 1896 How Acquired: Pres by P. Manning 1911 [Drawing]
[2] 1911.29.89 Case 2 Drawer 3 Pots for medical ointments etc ... - Description: Glazed pot for medical ointments (?) Light coloured* round* in shape with rim and base defined, smooth open top *blueish white Height c 7.8 cm Max diameter of top 9.8 cm diameter of base c 3.6 cm *somewhat asymmetrical particularly so in the case of the rim, sub-cylindrical shape, rim constricted and flared, flared foot (short) Rim chipped in two places shallow chip from base Locality: Oxford excavated at All Souls 1896 How Acquired: Pres by P. Manning 1911 [Drawing]
[3] 1911.29.90 Case 2 Drawer 3 Pots for medical ointments etc ... - Description: Glazed pot for medical ointments (?) Light coloured* with smooth surface round* in shape with rim and base defined, open top a repaired break on one side Height 6 cm diameter of top c 8 cm diameter of base c 6.5 cm *sub-cylindrical shape, flared rim and foot (short) * blueish white Locality: Oxford excavated at Queens coll How Acquired: Pres by P. Manning 1911 [Drawing]
[4] 1911.29.91 Case 2 Drawer 3 Pots for medical ointments etc ... - Description: Glazed pot for medical ointments (?) Light coloured* with smooth surface round* in shape with rim and base defined, open top A few small chips from rim Height 5.5 cm diameter of top c 7.1 cm diameter of base c 4.7 cm *sub-cylindrical shape, flared rim and short flared foot * blueish white Locality: Oxford excavated at Queens coll How Acquired: Pres by P. Manning 1911 [Drawing]
[5] 1911.29.92 Case 2 Drawer 3 Pots for medical ointments etc ... - Description: Glazed pot for medical ointments (?) Light coloured* rather roughly glazed, sub-cylindrical shape, flared rim and short flared foot Patches of glaze missing in places Height c 6.2 cm diameter of top c 7.1 cm diameter of base c 6.4 cm Open top rim chipped slightly on one side, base chipped a little also *pinkish Locality: Oxford excavated at Queens coll How Acquired: Pres by P. Manning 1911 [Drawing]
[6] 1911.29.93 Case 2 Drawer 3 Pots for medical ointments etc ... - Description: Glazed pot for medical ointments (?) Light coloured* smooth surface sub-globular shape, flared rim and short flared foot. An un-glazed patch of surface on one side near base open top rim chipped in two places Height c 4.5 cm diameter of top c 7 cm diameter of base c 4.1 cm *blueish white Locality: Oxford excavated at Queens coll How Acquired: Pres by P. Manning 1911 [Drawing]
Many such items were found whilst new college buildings were being erected at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. Presumably Manning collected these and decided to give them to an University museum for safe keeping.

1911.29.96 Stoneware jug

Accession Book Entry - PERCY MANNING, Esq, M.A., New College. July - plain stoneware jug dug up in Lincoln Coll., 22ft deep.
On a museum label attached to the object there is more information:
'One of three similar jugs found in the Fellow's garden under the chapel, 22 feet deep. LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD, c. 1886. Late 16th cent. Pres. by P. Manning, 1911.'
The stoneware jug was thought in 1911 to date from the sixteenth century. It had been found very deep below the Fellows' Garden, presumably beside rather than 'under' the college chapel around 1886. This item was again donated by Percy Manning. [see 1911.29.9] it is not clear whether the two other jugs were donated to the Museum, they are not recorded.

Lincoln College is sited in Turl Street and is one of the smaller Oxford colleges. The location of the chapel and Fellows' Garden can be seen at http://www.lincoln.ox.ac.uk/content/category/12/96/206/.

Further reading:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63879&strquery=lincoln%20college

1911.29.106 Wine-bottle

Accession Book Entry - PERCY MANNING, Esq, M.A., New College. July - Old wine-bottle with embossed stamp, I.C.C.R, i.e. Jesus College.
This item was again donated by Percy Manning. [see 1911.29.9] In another source it makes clear that I.C.C.R. actually refers to Jesus College Common Room. The common room was probably the Senior Common Room, for fellows of the college, as another college describes it:
...it functioned as a room where the fellows of the College met to drink their wine after dinner, to make their wagers, and to pass the time in gossip and discussion. This part of the College is very much the territory of the Fellows and other senior members, and many students consider it most mysterious ! [http://www.lincoln.ox.ac.uk/content/view/528/206/]
Wine bottles were embossed to mark ownership or else to show where the wine had been obtained from, during the nineteenth century many bars, medical companies and dairies embossed their bottles, these are now highly collectable.

Note that the Ashmolean Museum has a very large collection of wine bottles associated with the University of Oxford. It is hoped that brief details of these, and other 'social history' collections at the Ashmolean Museum, will be added to this site at a future date.

Further reading:
Fay Banks, 'The Wine Bottles of All Souls College, Oxford, 1750-1850' (Victoria Press, Denton, England, 2002)

See 1911.28.7 for another item found at Jesus College

1912.77.1 Stone lamp

Accession Book Entry - June A.M. Bell Esq - Cup-shaped stone lamp found at the base of the excavations made during alterations at Brasenose College in 1887 7/6
This item might be pre-medieval, in which case the Museum would classify it as an archaeological item.
Unusually this item was sold by Alexander James Montgomerie Bell to the Museum for 7 shillings and sixpence (the equivalent of £26 in 2007) in 1912. Bell mostly donated or bequeathed objects for free to the museum, including many thousands of stone tools. Montgomerie Bell had been educated at Balliol College and worked as a schoolmaster and examiner. He was educated as a classical scholar but became interested in the natural sciences, and was a member of the Geological Society. He was greatly interested in stone tools, his son gave a large part of his collection to the PRM after his death.

Buildings of the south range of Brasenose College, including the gate-tower facing the High Street, commenced in 1887, this may have been the alterations that are referred to in the accession book [Brasenose College', A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 3: The University of Oxford (1954), pp. 207-219. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63882. Date accessed: 14 May 2008.'

Further reading
http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/345/brasenose-college-archives-and-history-38/college-buildings-217.html

1917.28.7 .1-2 Nutcracker

Accession Book Entry - 1917 October. H. Balfour - contd. - Wooden screw nut-cracker, found in Jesus College, Oxford, 1898.
The length is 6.5 cm and the diameter of the body is 5 cm. Nothing further is known of about these nutcrackers, or why or where they were found in Jesus College. Most museums have artefacts like this in their collections, someone decided to donate a relatively poorly documented artefact, but does not say why. One imagines that because the Curator (Director) of the Museum donated this screw nutcracker, he thought the mechanism was interested. We have one other nutcracker in the collections, an early pair of nut-crackers from Percy Manning [1911.29.63]

Nutcrackers are designed to crack through the tough outer shell to get at the food inside. Many nutcrackers are made in one of two forms, either lever or screw. In a screw nutcracker, the nut is placed in a holder, and a screw is tightened, causing the shell to crack from pressure. The drawback with this method is that unless the pressure is monitored constantly, the screw can also damage the nut within. Screw nutcrackers were often decorated with designs.

See 1911.29.106 for another item associated with Jesus College.

1923.47.25 Fragment of 'greybeard' pottery showing a coat of arms

Accession Book Entry - Sept. - R T GUNTHER, Esq., MA - Coat of arms in relief from a 'Belarmine' [sic - bellarmine] or 'Greybeard' stoneware jug, found when digging foundations for the Daubeney [sic] Laboratory Extension, Magdalen College, Oxford.
Robert William Theodore Gunther (1869-1940) was a zoologist and antiquary who went on to become the Curator of the Museum of the History of Science in 1924, a year after he made this donation. In 1923 he was the natural science tutor at Magdalen College and supervisor of the Daubeny Laboratory from 1894. He lectured in comparative anatomy and would have had close links with Henry Balfour, Curator of the Pitt Rivers Museum, who was also a natural scientist by training. He gave many objects to the Pitt Rivers Museum. He wrote a history of the Laboratory where the wine bottle was found, published in 1904. According to this source the new extension was started in 1902. No mention is made of this vessel fragment in the book. It is not known whose coat of arms are shown.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines Bellarmine as:
'A large glazed drinking-jug with capacious belly and narrow neck, originally designed, by the Protestant party in the Netherlands, as a burlesque likeness of their great opponent, Cardinal Bellarmine. (See Chambers Bk. of Days I. 371.)'
A greybeard is defined as '...2. A large earthenware or stoneware jug or jar, used for holding spirits', by the same dictionary.
It is likely that this pot has a Bellarmine form, ie round belly and narrow neck and was used to hold alcoholic liquor.

A similar stoneware jug fragment is described:
1500-1700 Hard, thin stoneware body, usually light grey in color. Pinkish-grey or tan stoneware paste may also occur.
Exterior surface is salt-glazed, and light golden brown or ginger colored. The salt glazing results in a fine, dimpled orange peel-like finish.
Form is the long-necked, bag-shaped body “bellarmine” jar, and these are wheel-thrown.
Decoration consists of applied molded relief elements including bearded male faces at the neck, and heraldic or decorative medallions, flowers and leaves, and bands of inscription on the body. Brown Rhenish stoneware was produced primarily in the Rhine River valley of Germany and the Low Countries of Europe. "Brown Cologne Stoneware" has been used to refer to these brown stoneware jugs, however by the mid-16th century ... the nearby town of Frechen had replaced Cologne as a pottery center, and supplanted Raeren as the leading exporter of brown stoneware (Gaimster 1997). Brown cologne stoneware jars are also known as Bellarmines, Bartmanns, and greybeards because of the bearded male figures portrayed on the jar necks. In general, the precision and quality of the applied molded elements declines through time, however a number of exceptions to this trend have been documented. [http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/histarch/gallery_types/type_index_display.asp?type_name=STONEWARE,%20BROWN%20RHENISH, accessed 14.5.2008]
Another example, this time in another Oxford Museum is given at http://potweb.ashmolean.org/PotChron7-09.html

Further reading:
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/33610 [Gunther]
Gunther, R.T. A history of the Daubeny Laboratory, Magdalen College, Oxford...' Oxford University Press (1904). An on-line copy available at http://www.archive.org/details/historyofdaubeny00guntuoft

1927.9.3 Wig-curler

Accession Book Entry - BRUCE M. GOLDIE, Esq., M.A. Mar. - White clay wig-curler, ? XVIII century, ib[id] [University Park, Oxford]
Wig curlers were commonly made from white clay and were were used to create the curls of wigs of the late 17th and early 18th-century. They are quite commonly found when digging. To see other examples http://www.exeter.gov.uk/timetrail/10_goldenage/object_detail.asp?photoref=10_38
Bruce Morton Goldie (1869-1959) was a schoolmaster at St Edwards School, in north Oxford. He taught classics but was a very poor teacher and eventually left to tutor 'pass-men' at the University [!][I am grateful to David Perkins, St Edwards School Archivist for this information]

1929.38.1 Pipe-bowl

Accession Book Entry - BRUCE GOLDIE, Esq., M.A. Nov. - Bowl of a clay tobacco-pipe of XVI century type, stamped “ROB GADNEY, OXON”. Found in the PARKS, OXFORD, 1929.
See 1927.9.3 above for more information about the donor. Clay tobacco pipes and pipe-bowls are quite commonly found when digging. However, the fact that this was made or used by Robert Gadney is more interesting, according to http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=39431, he was a tobacco pipe-maker
'A Petition of Robert Gadney, of Oxford, Tobacco-pipemaker, in behalf of himself, and divers others of the same Trade, was presented to the House, and read ...' [House of Commons Journal Volume 11 25 March 1697]

1931.79.1 Trowel

Accession Book Entry - July 1 [blank space] (a labourer) Obsolete trowel dug up at University Museum Pd petty cash 1/-
The unnamed labourer was probably the one who found the trowel. The Oxford University Museum (of Natural History) is next door to the Pitt Rivers Museum. The trowel would not fit with the natural history collections so the decision must have been taken to bring the trowel to Henry Balfour, who was then Curator of the Pitt Rivers Museum. It is the form that is obsolete, it is obvious that the trowel itself must have been!

1932.10.1 Clay pipe

Accession Book Entry (IX 136) - CURATORS OF THE UNIVERSITY PARKS, OXFORD. - Bowl of clay pipe of early XIX century, found under the roots of a Sequoia in front of the University Museum, Dec. 1932
A sequoia is still living and in situ in front of the University Museum, it is not known whether it is the one whose roots sheltered this pipe-bowl. According to wikipedia, 'sequoia is a genus in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae), containing the single living species Sequoia sempervirens. Common names include Coast Redwood and California Redwood (it is one of three species of trees known as redwoods)'. Originally the land upon which the University Museum was built (and later, the Pitt Rivers Museum) formed part of the University Parks. The Parks are adminstered by the Curators. Accoding to another part of the University Parks website, James Bateman, a horticulturalist, suggested that avenues of Wellingtonias (sequoias) be planted in the University Parks around 1862. They were then very fashionable trees. Some were planted near North Lodge in the Parks in 1888. It has been suggested that the University Parks redwoods have not achieved the heights expected of these giant species because of the poor quality of the soil. Another card catalogue entry for the same object gives more information:
Detailed Pipes [Unsorted] Card Catalogue entry - Description: Bowl of clay pipe, white in colour, with flange modelled along upper side of bowl and stem Length c 5.7 cm height of bowl c 3.2 cm outer width of rim 2.3 Locality: Found under roots of Sequoia in front of the University Museum Oxford in making new entrance road Dec 1932 How Acquired: dd Curators of the Parks, Oxford 1932
The access road is the one that exists today and forms a U-shape, linking twice to Parks Road, one side runs close to the sequoia.

Further reading: http://www.parks.ox.ac.uk/guide/index.htm
http://www.parks.ox.ac.uk/curators/index.htm

1941.10.46-47 Key and pipe

Accession Book Entry - October 1941. G.E.S. Turner, Esq. University Museum. - Key found during excavations in front of the University Museum. Oct. 13th 1941. At depth of 6 ft.
Accession Book Entry - October 1941. G.E.S. Turner, Esq. University Museum - English XVIIth century type clay-pipe bowl and part of stem found during excavations in front of University Museum. Oxford, 15 Oct. 1941.
G.E.S. Turner (1910-1984) was the Secretary (Administrator) of the University Museum (of Natural History). He was also ‘Honorary Assistant Curator (later Consultant) in North American Indian ethnology at the Pitt Rivers Museum. Again, it seems that items found on the OUMNH premises during building work were routinely passed over to the Pitt Rivers Museum.

1944.3.2 Clay tobacco pipe-bowl.

Accession Book Entry - March 1944. Sir Francis H.S. Knowles, 3 Bradmore Road, Oxford. - Clay pipe bowl (prob. XVIII cent.) found on freshly turned ground close to the Keble Road gate of the Parks, on March 22nd, 1944.
Clay pipes are often found in excavations, or when people are digging in their back gardens. This one was donated by Francis Howe Seymour Knowles (1886-1953). He had studied law at Oriel College, Oxford and then turned to anthropology for his postgraduate study, being one of the first two students to be awarded the Diploma in Anthropology. His ill-health meant that he had to retire from his physical anthropologists posts early in 1919, when he returned to Oxford. Thereafter he volunteered at the Pitt Rivers Museum, working on a number of specific projects and continuing his life-long interest in stone tool technology.

During the Second World War, parts of the University Parks were 'dug for Victory' (turned over for food production) and about eighty vegetable allotments were dug. It may well have been these allotments where the pipe bowl was found as the location matches that of the allotments, ' south of the path to High Bridge, between Thorn Walk and Oak Walk, with some to the north of the Science area'. [map, the Keble Road gate is marked as is South Walk; general detail]

Further reading:
B.M. Blackwood and T.K. Penniman, ‘Obituary : Sir Francis Knowles: 1886-1953’, Man, June 1953, n. 127, pp. 88-89.

1994.53.1-2 Plastic tokens,

valued at 1 and 2 pence, used at Lincoln College, Oxford instead of coins (for unknown purpose). Donated by Brian Bone who was an attendant at the Museum.

2002.47.1 Whistle

Yellow plastic whistle, in shape of bird. When filled with water and blown gently it imitates bird notes. Stopped internal duct with variable lower end - often called a 'Nightingale' whistle.
It was purchased by Dr Hélène La Rue (one of the leading investigators of the Other Within project) from the shop of The Bate Collection of Musical Instruments in June 2002. Bought for 20p to display in the 'Objects Talk', a temporary exhibition in the Pitt Rivers Museum. Dr La Rue was the curator of the music collections [please link to http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/englishness.html for HLR's obituary].

2007.37.73-87, 309, 1962-1963; 1958 Bellmarks

Plaster casts of bell-founders' marks taken from bells in various UK locations by George P. Elphick circa 1930 - 1990 and donated by his Trustees to the Museum in 1997. These marks are from bells in Christ Church Cathedral and the University Church of St Mary the Virgin.

Archaeological items found on University property

Most archaeological finds on University property are automatically donated to the Ashmolean Museum. Indeed, there is now a formal arrangement with the Oxfordshire county museum authorities that this is now what happens. In the past there were obviously more informal arrangements and a few items have ended up at the Pitt Rivers Museum.

These include:
1. 1887.1.239 Collectors Miscellaneous XI accession book entry - University Museum F. Grimsley Oxford St Mary's Church. Broken glass stone neolithic celt found near church 1873 (?andesite)
F. Grimsley may have been part of the family? firm of stoneworkers etc based in 27 St Giles, Grimsley's produced decorated plasterwork and artificial stone gravemarkers during the mid to late nineteenth century. see http://homepage.ntlworld.com/peter.fairweather/docs/grimsley.htm
2. 1895.24.1 Accession Book Entry - Oct. MR HUTCHINS - Builder, Oxford - Ancient glass bottle dug up (c. 12 feet) at St. Mary's entry, Oxford. Through J.P. Harrison Esq.
This has been classified as 'archaeological' because it was accessioned as being 'ancient', if research shows it is post-medieval it would actually be reclassified as ethnographic. This entry is now known as St Mary's Passage. A Samuel Hutchins is listed in the 1901 Census as being a builder, aged 50 years born in Long Lawford near Ringby and living in St Giles, Oxford, this may be the same person.
3. 1905.62.1 Accession Book Entry - H. TRIM, Porter, University Museum - A rough flaked implement of flint, probably unfinished, dug up at the Lodge, University Museum, Oxford
See 1908.36.40-43 above. Henry Trim was the head porter at Oxford University Museum of Natural History where he worked for nearly 50 years. He is listed in the 1901 census as aged 48, born in Blandford, Dorset and living in Holywell, Oxford, Museum Porter. According to the 1940 OUMNH annual report, he died on 29 September 1939. In a museum annual report it is stated, '[h]is characteristic geniality and cheerfulness in the faithful discharge of his duties will long be remembered'
4. 1906.57.6 Accession Book Entry - R.T. GÜNTHER Magdalen Coll, Oxford Nov. - Quartzite pebble with one end abraded from use as a pounder found in digging foundations behind the new buildings (High Street) at Magdalen Coll., 1906.
Another item donated by Gunther [see 1923.47.25 above]. He presumably decided to give it directly to the Pitt Rivers Museum, it is not clear who found it (though he may have found it himself in a trench, or a workman).
5. 1908.36.40-43 Accession Book Entry - H. BALFOUR Nov. - 4 fragments of ancient pottery, dug up in sinking for the foundations of the new Electrical Department, University Museum.
Like 1931.79.1 above, this item was found on the premises of the next-door museum of natural history but it was obviously decided that it was more appropriately placed at the PRM.
6. 1920.22.4 Accession Book Entry - May 27 1920. Mrs W.J. Sollas. Specimens from the collection of the late Professor H.N. Moseley, viz: - Small Roman pottery bowl, found in the Cherwell River, at the Botanic Gardens, Oxford, in 1886.
Amabel Nevill Sollas' first husband was Henry Nottidge Moseley (1844-1891), naturalist and Linacre professorship of human and comparative anatomy at Oxford. She gave many of her first husband's collection to the Pitt Rivers Museum. The Cherwell River runs along the east side of the Botanic Garden, which is opposite Magdalen College.
7. 1927.9.2 Accession Book Entry - BRUCE M. GOLDIE, Esq., M.A. Mar. - Small, rough flint scraper, UNIVERSITY PARKS, OXFORD.
Another item found in the University Parks. [see 1944.3.2 above] Bruce Morton Goldie (1869-1959) was a schoolmaster at St Edwards School, in north Oxford. He taught classics but was a very poor teacher and eventually left to tutor 'pass-men' at the University [!][I am grateful to David Perkins, St Edwards School Archivist for this information]
8. 1928.11.2 Accession Book Entry - BRUCE M. GOLDIE, Esq., M.A. 22 May - Flint scraper, showing retouching at a later period., found by donor in THE PARKS, OXFORD.
See 1927.9.2 above for more information about Goldie, who was very interested in archaeology.

ENGLAND: THE OTHER WITHIN

Analysing the English Collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum