Irina Podgorny and Nathalie Richard at the ESHS conference

Barcelona, September 6, 2024, 16.30-18.00, #40.109

Tied with Wire: The Stability of the Temporary in the Case of Pedro de Angeli’s Fossil Mammal Collections, Buenos Aires in the 1840s

Irina Podgorny, CONICET and Museo de La Plata

Abstract: In this paper I will present the results of my research on the collections of South American fossil mammals that were sold or donated to different European museums in the 1830s and 1840s. Some of these pieces integrate the skeletons that are still exhibited today in London, Berlin or Paris. Others, however, remain in their boxes in the state in which they were sent, revealing the ways in which they were prepared and packaged, an aspect that complements the information provided in the letters written in the context of these transactions.

“CL”. About a Tag and Specimens on the Move

Nathalie Richard, Le Mans Université, Temos UMR 9016

Abstract: In many collections of prehistoric artefacts around the world, from Mexico City to Buenos Aires, from Paris to Barcelona and Neuchâtel, specimens carry a similar tag. In this communication, I argue that this tag fits well the definition of a “paraobject” put forward by José Beltrán. The “CL” tag is an object which is distinct from the specimen but comes with it. It gives information that is not given by the specimen itself, especially on its history and past moves. Based on research in the collections and archive of different institutions in Latin America and Europe, this paper will first explain what the capital letters “CL” stand for. It will analyse the specific scientific background that justified the travels of specimens carrying such a tag from France to many institutions abroad, as well as the various social and material contexts in which these travels took place. In accordance with one of the main research hypotheses in the EU project SciCoMove, my paper will exemplify that the circulation of scientific specimens was not a one-way process from non-Western “exotic” countries to the Western museums, but that collections also travelled the other way round.

Programme of the conference : https://eventum.upf.edu/94068/programme/science-technology-humanity-and-the-earth-11th-eshs-conference-4-7-september-2024.html


OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
natrichard (September 6, 2024). Irina Podgorny and Nathalie Richard at the ESHS conference. SciCoMove — Scientific Collections on the Move. Retrieved April 27, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/129bb


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