Manchester Museum Research Articles

“[My] soft, smooth skin… cut deep”: Using Filmmaking to Imagine, Feel and Perform Colonial Natural History in the Museum

Museums internationally continue to engage in urgent debates about the need to decentre the epistemological foundations of collections and institutions built on colonial expansion. Industrial cities like Manchester are only just beginning to address the uncomfortable legacies of colonial exploitation within their educational and cultural institutions. Contributing to this discussion, this article examines a project at the Manchester Museum that invited students from a local school to collaborate in the production of a film inspired by taxidermy specimens originating from a 1929 hunting safari in Sudan. Recounting the methods and outputs of this practice-based research project, I suggest that a cross-collections, creative approach to engaging audiences can generate new forms of imaginative and performed knowledge about the colonial histories of collections. Not only can these new forms of knowledge challenge existing accounts of provenance, they can be a tool to address historical injustices: inviting audiences to re-tell the histories of these things in their own words and making permanent space for these creative outputs within collections.

Dr Graham Steell and monaural stethoscopes: Cardiology before the ECG.

Dr Graham Steell, MB CM MD FRCP (1851-1942), an Edinburgh graduate, was a physician at the Manchester Royal Infirmary (1878-1911) and professor of medicine at the Victoria Manchester University (1907-1911). He is mainly remembered for describing the 'Graham Steel murmur', however his name is also associated with the 'Graham Steell monaural stethoscope', which he designed. His clinical examination of the cardiovascular system at the bedside was meticulous, using only his stethoscope, percussion hammer, and a sphygmograph to record the radial pulse. His work is described in his monograph, Diseases of the Heart (1906) and other numerous papers. The University of Manchester Museum of Medicine and Health has a collection of monaural stethoscopes, percussors and sphygmographs. This article explores Dr Steell's clinical techniques and contribution to cardiology in an era before chest X-rays and electrocardiography, and also discusses the use of monaural stethoscopes and percussion hammers by the wider medical profession during the Victorian and Edwardian period.

The Benin tusk and Zulu beadwork: Practicing decolonial work at Manchester Museum through shared authority

AbstractThe museum world is currently grappling with questions of how to decolonize anthropological collections and many of these debates are epistemologically oriented. In pursuit of colonial ordering, material culture was extracted from colonized societies, deprived of its contextual meaning, and scrutinized through the lens of colonial knowledge. This article considers how an empirical decolonial practice can be applied drawing on from the current work at the Manchester Museum (MM). Dialogue, open engagements, multivocal conversations, collaborations, and shared authority in knowledge production are some of the decolonial strategies that I share. To illustrate this praxis turn in museum decolonial work, I first look at how we have addressed cultural objects looted from Benin in 1897 that we hold and “contain” at MM in our living cultures collection, underscoring a commitment by MM to transparency and a provision of access to the living collection by different groups of people. The second example is drawn from a collaborative provenance research that I undertook with Nongoma community members in South Africa in rewriting biographies of Zulu beadwork that we house at MM. Overall, I argue that decolonization should embrace a relational practice of caring for objects through active relations of reciprocity and dialogue with communities. The downside of decolonial practices and how are they are inherently shaped by power imbalances and tensions between curators and communities is also critically discussed.

Roots and routes: Literary archaeologies of British museums in contemporary Black and Asian poetry

This article explores some of the ways in which contemporary poets are tracing the roots and routes via which objects have come to, and continue to, reside within the walls of the museum. Focusing on poetic mediations of British Museums — on the Museum of London, the Manchester Museum, and the British Museum — the article analyses the works of Bernardine Evaristo, Inua Ellams, and Daljit Nagra. These poetic mediations can be read as literary archaeologies — as the concept is used by Evaristo — which speak to the histories, movements, and contemporaneous moments of colonial encounter that take place within the institution of the museum. The article moves to consider the way in which literary archaeologies might chart both a history of migration — looking at Bernardine Evaristo’s The Emperor’s Babe — and the migration of objects which are displayed in museums in Britain — with a focus on Inua Ellams’s poem Tusk — before going on to examine the museum as institution, as it is presented in Daljit Nagra’s collection British Museum. Setting these distinct, but complementary poetic interventions alongside one another, the article asks: how do these literary archaeologies respond to the histories and present-day stories told by — and about — British museums in the twenty-first century?

Interpreting the ‘Two Brothers’ at Manchester Museum: Science, Knowledge and Display

The intact tomb group of the so-called ‘Two Brothers’, dating to around 1850 bce, was found at Deir Rifeh in Middle Egypt. Since its transfer to Manchester Museum in 1907, it has been central to the Museum’s extensive Egyptian collection—and of its celebratory history of Manchester Egyptology. Here, established interpretations of the ‘Brothers’s’ remains—often framed as a pioneering case of innovative scientific investigation in Egyptology—are critically assessed to highlight the contingency of such claims.

Eggs of the ‘lost’ Slender-billed Curlew Numenius tenuirostris

Slender-billed Curlew Numenius tenuirostris is Critically Endangered and may be extinct. Its breeding biology is known exclusively from early 20th-century accounts from central Russia and Kazakhstan, and the eggs were heretofore known from a single specimen in the Manchester Museum. Here, we provide details of five additional putative Slender-billed Curlew eggs held in public and private collections. The eggs show remarkable variation in size, with two being only 85% of the mean length and breadth. Notably, one of the putative clutches was from the European side of the Ural Mountains, far to the west of the established breeding range. Molecular identification would aid in identifying additional specimens, which would be easily confused with eggs of other Numenius.

Esme Ward (Manchester Museum): in conversation

Esme Ward (Manchester Museum): in conversation

Gastroliths and Deinonychus teeth associated with a skeleton of Tenontosaurus from the Cloverly Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Montana, USA

Tenontosaurus tilletti was an abundant ornithischian dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of North America, commonly regarded as a ‘basal’ iguanodontian. Here, we describe a remarkably well-preserved specimen, comprising a near-complete skeleton and skull, from the Cloverly Formation, Montana, USA, currently housed at the University of Manchester Museum, UK. Found alongside the specimen were alleged gastroliths, cycad seeds, and teeth of the contemporaneous dromaeosaur Deinonychus antirrhopus, all of which were buried in an alleged ash. We assess the credibility of these claims, using X-ray CT scanning and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) respectively, and show that the ‘seeds’ are non-organic mineral concretions, and that the ‘ash’ is actually a lime mud with a silica content of approximately 7%. We confirm the identification of the gastroliths and the Deinonychus teeth, providing further evidence to support the long-standing assertion, originally made by John Ostrom in 1970, that Tenontosaurus was a common food item for Deinonychus.

John Alan Murphy (1922–2021) and his contribution to arachnology

The paper is the first attempt to summarize and analyse the scientific legacy of the notable British arachnologist John Alan Murphy (1922–2021) based on his publications and archival materials available at the Manchester Museum, UK. It presents a brief biography of J. Murphy, a critical analysis of his publications, particularly of his three substantial books, details of field trips undertaken with his wife Frances Murphy (1926–1995) in over 45 years and a short description of the rich, worldwide spider collection assembled by John and Frances. The paper is richly illustrated by photos obtained from colleagues who personally knew John Murphy and copies of archival items from the Manchester Museum.

An annotated catalogue of the theraphosid spiders held in the collections of the Manchester Museum (Araneae: Theraphosidae)

An annotated catalogue of the theraphosid spiders held in the collections of the Manchester Museum (Araneae: Theraphosidae)

The Lepidoptera Collection From Sierra Leone of Lieutenant Ellis Leech in The Manchester Museum

We discuss a small collection of butterflies and other insects presented to the Manchester Museum in 1904. It was made by an officer of the colonial administration in Sierra Leone. The collector, Ellis Joynson Leech, was a member of a family that had established itself as part of Manchester society during the 19th century. The Museum also has donations made by two other family members. Their varied contributions may help to explain some of the anomalies in the insect collection.

Mites (Acari) in the Manchester Museum: Curators and a committee

The Manchester Museum has a series of collections of mites and ticks as a consequence of donations and the activities of members of the Museum at different times. Brief details of the collectors are given, and the extent of coverage of the groups concerned is described. Full records can be provided on application to the Entomology Department.

Illustrations of the heart by Arthur Keith: His work with James Mackenzie on the pathophysiology of the heart 1903-08.

The University of Manchester Museum of Medicine and Health holds a collection of drawings of human hearts by anatomist Sir Arthur Keith (1866–1955). The specimens were provided by the cardiologist, Sir James Mackenzie (1853–1925) who was using a polygraph to investigate patients with cardiac arrhythmias. Keith’s dissections helped to establish the anatomy and pathology of the atrioventricular conduction system and assisted Mackenzie to interpret his polygraph recordings and understand the origin of cardiac arrythmias.

A collection of illustrations of the heart by Arthur Keith, and his work with James Mackenzie on the pathophysiology of the heart 1903-1908.

The University of Manchester Museum of Medicine and Health holds of collection of drawings of human hearts by anatomist Sir Arthur Keith (1866–1955). The specimens were provided by the cardiologist, Sir James Mackenzie (1853–1925) who was using a polygraph to investigate patients with cardiac arrhythmias. Keith’s dissections helped to establish the anatomy and pathology of the atrioventricular conduction system and assisted Mackenzie to interpret his polygraph recordings and understand the origin of cardiac arrythmias.

The Hull Grundy collection in the Museum of Medicine and Health, University of Manchester

Abstract Anne Hull Grundy and her husband, John, were prolific antique collectors, remembered for their generous donations of fine and decorative arts to several major museums. Less well known is their collection of over 200 items broadly related to medical topics and donated to the University of Manchester Museum of Medicine and Health (mmh) between 1978 and 1983. The donation includes items of equipment in silver, a collection of commemorative medals and a set of framed prints, all linked to medicine and medical history. This paper describes the Hull Grundy collection and its place in the history of the museum. Short biographical sketches of Anne and John Hull Grundy and a brief history of the mmh, are followed by an account of the artefacts in the collection. The role of donors and donations in defining the nature of a ‘medical history museum’, and its potential use for social history and the medical humanities are also discussed.

The British butterfly collection at The Manchester Museum

Information on the Manchester Museum holding of British butterflies is presented and access to it is made available. Almost all of the collection has been provided over a period of 200 years by donations from private collectors. We discuss the dates, the pattern of collecting and evidence the material holds of changing attitudes and perceived uses of private collections.

Ambient Information Visualisation and Visitors’ Technology Acceptance of Mixed Reality in Museums

The visualisation of historical information and storytelling in museums is a crucial process for transferring knowledge by directly and simplistically engaging the museum audience. Until recently, technological limitations meant museums were limited to 2D and 3D screen-based information displays. However, advancements in Mixed Reality (MR) devices permit the propagation of a virtual overlay that amalgamates both real-world and virtual environments into a single spectrum. These holographical devices project a 3D space around the user which can be augmented with virtual artefacts, thus potentially changing the traditional museum visitor experience. Few research studies focus on utilising this virtual space to generate objects that do not visually inhibit or distract the operator. Therefore, this article aims to introduce the Ambient Information Visualisation Concept (AIVC) as a new form of storytelling, which can enhance the communication and interactivity between museum visitors and exhibits by measuring and sustaining an optimum spatial environment around the user. Furthermore, this article investigates the perceptual influences of AIVC on the users’ level of engagement in the museum. This article utilises the Microsoft HoloLens, which is one of the most cutting-edge imagining technologies available to date, in order to deploy the AIVC in a historical storytelling scene “The Battle” in the Egyptian department at The Manchester Museum. This research further seeks to measure the user acceptance of the MR prototype by adopting the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The operational approaches investigated in this study include personal innovativeness (PI), enjoyment (ENJ), usefulness (USF), ease of use (EOU), and willingness of future use (WFU). The population sampling methodology utilised 47 participants from the museum's daily visitors. Results of this research indicate that the WFU construct is the primary outcome of this study, followed by the usefulness factor. Further findings conclude that the majority of users found this technology highly engaging and easy to use. The combination of the proposed system and AIVC in museum storytelling has extensive applications in museums, galleries, and cultural heritage places to enhance the visitor experience.

Between Metropole and Province: circulating botany in British museums, 1870–1940

Exchange of duplicate specimens was an important element of the relationship between metropolitan and regional museums in the period 1870–1940. Evidence of transfers of botanical museum objects such as economic botany specimens is explored for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and six museums outside the capital: Cambridge University Botanical Museum, National Museum Wales, Glasgow Museums, Liverpool World Museum, Manchester Museum and Warrington Museum. Botany became an important element in these museums soon after their foundation, sometimes relying heavily on Kew material as in the case of Glasgow and Warrington, and usually with a strong element of economic botany (except in the case of Cambridge). Patterns of exchange depended on personal connections and rarely took the form of symmetrical relationships. Botanical displays declined in importance at various points between the 1920s and 1960s, and today only Warrington Museum has a botanical gallery open to the public. However, botanical objects are finding new roles in displays on subjects such as local history, history of collections, natural history and migration.

South European spiders from the Duffey collection in the Manchester Museum (Arachnida: Araneae)

Eric Duffey's spider collection in the Manchester Museum, accumulated over more than 40 years, contains more than 300 samples from a diverse range of biotopes in most southern European countries. Most of this material was previously unsorted. It has now been sorted and identified to species level. It contains more than 2500 specimens of more than 500 species in 240 genera and 42 families. The collection details of all of these samples are listed here, and a number of selected specimens are illustrated.

Sphingidae (lepidoptera) in the Collections of the Manchester Museum

There are over 2,400 Sphingidae (hawkmoths) held in the Manchester Museum's Lepidoptera collections, distributed among separate British and worldwide sections. This summary provides a full species list and brings information about the collections and collectors together in one place to encourage the use of the collections for academic or personal research, or for creative inspiration.