Principles of Gathering the Ethnographic Collections for the Kunstkamera of the Imperial Academy of Sciences: From the Siberian expedition of D. G. Messerschmidt (1719-1727) till the Second Kamchatka Expedition (1733-1743)

Abstract

Purpose. Kunstkamera of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg is often named the “cradle of sciences” in Russia, and it includes a rich ethnographic material. The museum collections were both a source of admiration for a wide audience and a knowledge-building resource for professional researchers. The objective of the article is to reveal the stages of gathering the collections as a process of knowledge evolution starting from separate rare items to systematic collections on the traditional culture of different peoples of the Russian Empire. Results. We analyzed materials on the principles of ethnographic collection gathering used by the physician Daniel Goettlib Messerschmidt during his expedition to Siberia (1719-1727) and the research activity of the Academic team during the second Kamchatka expedition (1733-1743). Archival documents which show the logic of filed data gathering, including artefacts of traditional culture, are published. Conclusion. History of the Kunstkamera’s ethnographic collections reflects the development of ethnographic knowledge from a traveler’s interest in unique rare and curios items of traditional culture to the source for comparative analysis of history and culture of peoples.