The Things About Henry Wellcome

Abstract

This article explores the material legacy of Henry Wellcome (1853—1936). Wellcome worked closely with objects throughout his life, both as a business-man and as a collector. These objects have biographical significance. In his relationships with things, Wellcome was drawn to the miniature and the gigantic. As a founding partner of the pharmaceuticals firm Burroughs Wellcome and Company, he designed ‘compressed medicines’ that were valued for their convenience and small size. They embody Wellcome’s methodical, perfectionist nature. But, as a museum collector, he created a collection that was so enormous it became unmanageable and was left unfinished. This article seeks to reconcile these two aspects of Wellcome’s interactions with things, and argues that Wellcome’s professional work manufacturing pharmaceutical products on a miniature scale sheds light on his actions as a collector who created a truly gigantic assemblage of artefacts.