>What can you find on this web page?<
This site pertains to feather work of the Amazon Basin Indians. This includes a wide range of items that are constructed from feathers, I am specifically concerned with pieces that can be worn on the body as well as other items that are decorated with feathers.
Procedure
- The master digital collection was compiled from the individual collections of numerous museums. Each piece in the collection was photographed with a digital camera (Minolta) and the pictures were saved on computer (Apple) in JPG format.
- It was required that each individual collection piece was photographed at least twice from separate angles. This ensured that the method of production, as well as the specific feathers used in the pieces, could be effectively analyzed in a later session. Furthermore, this would ensure accurate documentation of each pieces condition.
- The resolution of each photo was between approximately 3,000 x 2,000 pixels. As a result, multiple magnifications are possible. Without such high resolution, fine details would have been lost during analysis of the photographs. The quality of the photos corresponds to the different lighting conditions of the various museums. Thus, the photos are meant to be used as research documents rather then professional, aesthetic or artistic photographs.
- The file names of the photos indicate the specific collection information as well as the collection number. Thus, it is possible for me to perform a simple yet effective search (“spotlight”, on my Apple computer) for ethnicity, collectors, body part, piece number etc. on my Apple computer. This search method with the aid of “speaking” file names will be adapted on this website.
The implementation of the plan
I began to photograph feather work in 2002, at this time my subject was dance equipment. Eventually, I focused on rattles, clubs, baskets and hammocks along with other objects that have feathers fastened to them. Clubs are very typical dance objects, so eventually I even began to photograph clubs with no feathers attached to them. In the early years, digital storage space was expensive. This led me to usually take only one or two photographs from each of the pieces. Since 2004, digital storage has become much more affordable so I am able to take numerous pictures of each piece.
The collection informations to the pieces - record sheets, collection documents, general catalog or computer data - were initially copied or printed out in order to assign the data to the photos via file name. Around 2006, I began to photograph all of the collection data.
Exemplary are Basel (from museum scan in record sheets) and Berlin (my own photographs of the general catalog and collection documents).
Initially, I gave the CDs or DVDs with photos and collection declarations to the respective museums. I also provided an initial written evaluation along with the data. Additionally, I made a first analysis of the material where I listed information about the museum (address, curator) and the represented ethnicities collection names. This makes the single pieces referable to the whole material which is documented till now. I also referred to evidently wrong assigned pieces and pointed out outstanding important sub collections and single pieces.
In many cases a piece was incorrectly allocated or not allocated at all. It was necessary for me to create a new allocation for these pieces so I denoted this in parentheses in order to compare museum data to my own evaluations.
It is not always possible to confirm my deviating opinions in reference to allocation because there is not always a similar piece to use as a comparison. Thus, it is important to know that my comments in parentheses are open to debate and not set in stone. After all, one purpose of this internet platform is indeed to discuss the classifications.
The current conditions
Photos are available at the following museums:
Antwerp (BE), Amsterdam (NL), Basel (CH), Berlin (DE), Bern (CH), Bonn (DE), Braunschweig (DE), Bremen (DE), Burgdorf (CH), Dresden (DE), Frankfurt am Main (DE), Freiburg im Breisgau (DE), Florenz (IT), Genf (CH), Göteborg (SE), Göttingen (DE), Gotha (DE), Hannover (DE), Herrnhut (DE), Hildesheim (DE), Kloster Bardel (DE), Kiel (DE), Cologne (DE), Copenhagen (DK), Leiden (NL), Lübeck (DE), Lyon (FR), Mannheim (DE), Marseille (FR), Munich (DE), Neuchatel (CH), Oslo (NO), Paris (FR), St. Gallen (CH), Stockholm (SE), Stuttgart (DE), Vienna (AT), Werl (DE), Zürich (CH).
I am not completely finished with the work in all of the museums mentioned. In most of the museums mentioned there is one piece or another that I have not photographed yet.
With the exception of the Basel, Berlin and Goeteborg museums I have revised all of the photo texts for the pictures two or three times and wrote written comments for the revised museum collections. The files of these museums are characterized with a "K" ( "Kommentar" = comment) at the end.; e.g.. "Bardel 10.6.03 (22.11.05) K".
Further record of inventory in 2007 and 2008
In Germany, I have not been able to work with the Hamburg and Leipzig museums thus far. The reorganization of the magazines should be finished to the point that an inspection of these collections will be possible in 2007.
In the autumn of 2007 I was able to work in Italy (Rome and Florence) for the first time.
Visits to Brussels and Rotterdam are planed for 2008.
In Switzerland and France there are still a few small collections to visit.
Currently, I strive to visit Budapest (HU), Prague (CZ) and Oxford (GB).
As of 2009, Great Britain (Scotland and Great Britain) is very interesting. Likewise, I would like to attend the Portuguese museums in Lisbon and Coimbra. Unfortunately, I have no contact there at the moment.
Results for the individual museums
Because of this digital alignment and organization of the photographed pieces and the written collector documents one can easily view the piece inventory and stock of a particular museum. When a certain piece is missing, lent out, no longer available etc. then this can also be recorded into the computer. Therefore, the inventory is very complete for each museum.
