Ivan Gaskell
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781526118196
- eISBN:
- 9781526142016
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781526118196.003.0012
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Global
This chapter examines the place of Oceanic clubs in New England collections. During the nineteenth century, they occupied an equivocal position in the New England mental repertory as indices of ...
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This chapter examines the place of Oceanic clubs in New England collections. During the nineteenth century, they occupied an equivocal position in the New England mental repertory as indices of savage sophistication, and as souvenirs of colonial childhood or travel. Focusing on a Tongan ‘akau tau in the collection of the Chatham Historical Society on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, this chapter traces what can be known of its history as a highly regarded prestige gift item among New Englanders from the middle of the nineteenth century until its entry into the museum. As a thing that an early owner could alienate legitimately, its presence in Chatham is not unethical, yet it nonetheless imposes stewardship responsibilities—consultation with the originating community—that such a small institution is poorly placed to meet. This requires understanding and patience rather than disapprobation.Less
This chapter examines the place of Oceanic clubs in New England collections. During the nineteenth century, they occupied an equivocal position in the New England mental repertory as indices of savage sophistication, and as souvenirs of colonial childhood or travel. Focusing on a Tongan ‘akau tau in the collection of the Chatham Historical Society on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, this chapter traces what can be known of its history as a highly regarded prestige gift item among New Englanders from the middle of the nineteenth century until its entry into the museum. As a thing that an early owner could alienate legitimately, its presence in Chatham is not unethical, yet it nonetheless imposes stewardship responsibilities—consultation with the originating community—that such a small institution is poorly placed to meet. This requires understanding and patience rather than disapprobation.
Peggy Levitt
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780520286061
- eISBN:
- 9780520961456
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520286061.003.0003
- Subject:
- Art, Visual Culture
This chapter examines how the global in relation to the national is showcased in Boston and New York museums. More specifically, it considers how the Brooklyn Museum in New York City and the Museum ...
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This chapter examines how the global in relation to the national is showcased in Boston and New York museums. More specifically, it considers how the Brooklyn Museum in New York City and the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston represent diversity and teach cosmopolitan values and skills. It discusses cosmopolitan nationalism in the Brooklyn Museum and the MFA with several other museums in New York and Boston, including the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, and the Queens Museum and El Museo del Barrio, both in New York City. It explores how, in these museums, the national gets cosmopolitanized through its internal diversity and how such diversity gets connected to the world at large. It suggests that what museums do in New York and Boston is also indicative of how the United States sees itself in the world, with particular emphasis on the tension between seemingly competing imperatives: to embrace cosmopolitanism while at the same time celebrating American exceptionalism.Less
This chapter examines how the global in relation to the national is showcased in Boston and New York museums. More specifically, it considers how the Brooklyn Museum in New York City and the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston represent diversity and teach cosmopolitan values and skills. It discusses cosmopolitan nationalism in the Brooklyn Museum and the MFA with several other museums in New York and Boston, including the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, and the Queens Museum and El Museo del Barrio, both in New York City. It explores how, in these museums, the national gets cosmopolitanized through its internal diversity and how such diversity gets connected to the world at large. It suggests that what museums do in New York and Boston is also indicative of how the United States sees itself in the world, with particular emphasis on the tension between seemingly competing imperatives: to embrace cosmopolitanism while at the same time celebrating American exceptionalism.
