Mapping Provenance in London’s Commercial Supply of Oceanic Cultural Belongings and Ancestors to German Museums, 1880–1955

Beginning in January 2026, this project examines the extensive yet largely overlooked role of London-based commercial outlets in the circulation of Oceanic cultural objects and Ancestral Remains to German museums between 1880 and 1955. By reconstructing these commercial and institutional networks, the project seeks to clarify acquisition pathways, raise provenance information levels, and support more informed engagement between museums and source communities.

The research combines digital translation, analysis, and data linkage of complex and interconnected business records from London ethnographic dealers and auctioneers that have only recently become accessible. This work will be undertaken alongside archival research into German dealers, private collectors, and museum archives documenting final acquisition events, enabling comparative analysis of provenance documentation across national contexts. A particular focus is placed on commercial records that shed new light on objects sold to the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum in London. The Wellcome collections were widely dispersed between 1936 and the 1980s, including transfers to German institutions in the 1950s.

By analysing these records and linking them to information contained in museum collection catalogues or recorded on the labels of individual items, the project assesses the potential of commercial archives to significantly enhance provenance knowledge for dispersed museum collections.