tour 1 of 10
Native North America: The Stonyhurst Collection
Native North America: The Stonyhurst Collection
Stonyhurst College is a Jesuit school in Lancashire. With a
medieval library and a collection of religious relics, the College
museum also acquired artefacts from across the world between 1820
and 1910 for educational purposes. Sixty Native North American
objects, which had been on loan since 1977, were transferred
permanently to the British Museum in 2003.
The Stonyhurst collection came from several sources. Bryan
Mullanphy, a schoolboy educated at the college between 1821 and
1827, brought a collection of Plains Indian costume and weapons
from his home in St. Louis. His father, John Mullanphy, had left
Ireland for America in the 1790s. He became a successful trader and
then landowner, investing much of his wealth in what had previously
been Native lands. Both father and son were great philanthropists,
giving generously to educational charities in Missouri.
During the nineteenth century the museum at Stonyhurst College
continued to grow, particularly due to donations from missionaries
in North America. Native North Americans were mostly confined to
reserves and reservations by 1871. Souvenir arts, developing
traditional techniques, began to provide a significant new source
of income. People such as the Revd Edward Purbrick, S.J., in
Ontario, made collections to donate to the College.
This tour introduces Native North American art and culture and
features some of the highlights of the Stonyhurst collection. Part
of it is on display in the British Museum's North American Gallery
(Room 26).
Illustration: The leader of the Hidatsa tribe,
called Two Ravens, wearing the regalia of the Dog Society, 1834.
After Karl Bodmer.