Collection information

What is the World Cultures collection?

The world cultures, or ethnography, collection consists of objects that have been collected from foreign countries. It contains objects from Asia, Oceania, Africa and the Americas, as well as some items from Europe. All sorts of different objects are included in the collection, from weaponry, tools and utensils to games, clothing and ceremonial artefacts.

At Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery there are approximately 3,700 objects in the world cultures collection and it contains several important groups of material. Especially of note are the objects collected from New Guinea by Henry Moore Dauncey. These have been described as one of the best collections of New Guinea material in Britain. Dauncey worked in New Guinea for the London Missionary Society between 1888 and 1928.

Perhaps most significant, is the collection donated by Gertrude Benham in 1935. Benham was a pioneering explorer who travelled the world for thirty years. One of her many achievements was to be the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in 1909. She collected many artefacts throughout her travels, often bartering her own needlework and embroidery for items she wished to obtain.

In addition to these collections, there are several other smaller groups of note. These include the William Fosterjohn objects collected from the Lengua people of Paraguay between 1899 and 1903, a superb group of ten argillite carvings from the North West Coast of Canada, an extensive collection of southeast African beadwork and significant material from Polynesia.