Colonial Collections Consortium
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Wageningen University & Research

Name variations: Landbouwhogeschool, Landbouwuniversiteit Wageningen, Rijkslandbouwschool

Description

The Agricultural College (now: Wageningen University & Research) had a museum display of objects from the Dutch East Indies since the early 20th century, which was used in teaching geography and anthropology. This collection expanded with purchases and donations by individuals, dealers and museums. For example, there was a donation in 1914 from the collections of the Royal Military Academy, the then Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde donated a collection of Papua objects in 1941, and the then Colonial Institute donated a collection of Indonesian objects in 1948. Also on display from about 1946 to 1953 was the private collection of Frits Herman van Naerssen, a lecturer at the Agricultural College. During World War II, much of the Agricultural College collection was lost, but it was re-established after the war. After Indonesia's independence in 1949, the focus of the college's education shifted to other countries. Around 1960 almost the entire collection was given on loan to the Stedelijk Gymnasium Schiedam and from 1962 the collection was divided between the Gymnasium in Schiedam and the Ethnographic Museum in Delft (later Museum Nusantara). The objects in Schiedam were transferred to the World Museum in Rotterdam in 1997, and the objects in Delft ended up with various museums after Museum Nusantara closed in 2013.

Provenance research

Objects from the collection of the Agricultural College that were on loan to the Stedelijk Gymnasium Schiedam are often identified by a number beginning with SCH written on the object.

The archives of the Agricultural College until 1959 are at the Gelders Archief. The archive of the Agricultural College from 1959 onwards is still at the university and is managed by the OS Document Management and Logistics Department of Wageningen University & Research. The World Museum Rotterdam has correspondence relating to the transfer of objects to and by the Stedelijk Gymnasium Schiedam and the Ethnographic Museum Delft. This is in the digital record of Wageningen University & Research. The museum archives also contain records relating to the 1941 donation of objects from Irian Jaya (collection C.C.F.M. Le Roux) by the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde. The Dutch National Archive holds records on the sale of objects by the Indisch Instituut (which merged into the later Wereldmuseum Amsterdam) in 1948.

Resources

Related items

Science
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Civil servants

Keywords

Museum
Collection
Etnographics

Geographical

Republic of Indonesia

Period of activity

1876 – Present