FAQs - RAMM

This would be our Portrait of an African, painted in about 1757-60. Although it is world famous, scholars do not all agree on who it is,

A few years ago many believed that it was Olaudah Equiano, a campaigner against slavery. Now most agree that it must be someone else – but who? I have argued that it is probably Ignatius Sancho, another African who freed himself from Slavery and became a writer, composer and celebrity in the 1700s.

Our oldest glass made in England, and still in one piece, is known as the Exeter Flute. This is a tall drinking glass engraved with the head of King Charles II. It was made in about 1660 to celebrate his coronation.

Not all of them. Many are at least two hundred years old but are so well made that with a good clean and oiling they will still run.

Some of our old clocks will be kept running for visitors to see in the new RAMM.

Our largest painting by a long way is The Entry of King Richard II and Bolingbroke into London, painted by James Northcote in 1793. It measures 303.5 x 394 cm, even without the frame.

All together we have about 7,350 but we don’t have the space to show them all at once. This includes oil paintings, watercolours, drawings and prints.

The collections I work with include pictures, silver, pottery, glass, clocks and watches and costume.

I answer questions from the public and display the collections in RAMM and elsewhere.

I also create exhibitions using works of art borrowed from other museums as well as our own.

This term describes the islands in the Pacific Ocean, which is split into three regions; Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. However, Oceania also includes some of the islands in South East Asia because of the very close cultural connections between peoples.

To be a curator of ethnography you need a degree in a subject such as social anthropology or archaeology.  You then need extra postgraduate qualifications in museum studies.  You need to know about working with collections, exhibitions and public events, so volunteering or work experience at a museum is really helpful.  Start as an assistant curator to gain lots of experience and skills.  You have got to be really interested in people!

Yes, we have objects from early voyages of exploration such as Captain James Cook (1728-1779), Vice-Admiral William Bligh (1745-1817) and Captain George Vancouver (1757-1798).  Important items from these voyages continue to survive such as the Tahitian Mourner's costume.  There is also a copper-alloy head that was looted from Benin City during the British Punitive Expedition of 1897. 

We also look after the ceremonial regalia that was once owned by Crowfoot (who was called Issapoomahsika by his people).  He was a very important leader of the Blackfoot people from 1866 until his death in 1890.

There is lots more information on our World Cultures Online website

A three cm long carving of two deities from a single grain of wheat.  It is a 19th century souvenir which comes from the Ise Jingū temple complex in Japan.

It's a piece of bark cloth of stencilled motifs that measures 560cm in length and 140 cm in width and it comes from Vanua Levu in Fiji.

The oldest item in the Ethnography collection is a hand axe made from stone called quartzite from South Africa.  It is about one million years old.

Many museums in Britain were built in the 19th century, including RAMM which opened to the public in 1869.  At the height of the British Empire in the 19th century, many Exeter citizens worked overseas as colonial officers, soldiers, missionaries, travellers and traders.  Their time abroad often meant returning with interesting items.  Often these items were acquired as souvenirs, curios or gifts.  Some items were purchased in connection with their work.  Others were taken away from the local people through missionary work, or captured during military activity.

Over the years many people have donated their collections to RAMM so that they can be looked after, and seen by the public.  We still collect artefacts for our Ethnographic collection but nowadays these items are always donated to us and, on rare occasions, even purchased by us.

They come from many parts of the world and vary in age. The collection is split into five geographic areas Africa, Americas, Asia, Oceania and the Near East. There are some items from Europe but they are small in number.

In the Museum, the Curator of Ethnography cares for the collections, conducts research into artefacts and cultures, and shares this information widely.  He or she makes sure that the collection is accessed through exhibitions, educational activities, lectures, the website and publications.

Ethnographers describe human cultures. Its origins began in the mid-19th century when there was a need for scientists to study the development of human societies. Today this is better known as cultural anthropology. Museum ethnographers use anthropology (the study of the origins and social relationships of human beings) to make historic cultural items, and the people who made them, relevant to the peoples of our time.

Ethnography comes from two Greek words, 'ethnos' and 'graphein' meaning 'people' and 'writing'