Abstract:
Eighteenth and nineteenth century British and European colonial extension into the New
World and the South Seas resulted in the growth of new colonial cities. With this
development came the establishment of Western institutions, namely, the museum. These
new museums needed content, and where better to look than the models beloved at ‘home’ in
England. The need for legitimizing ancestors for a young Empire, and already established
reverence for Greco-Roman art saw British colonisers looking to the ancient past for works
which represented both. Works within the canon of ancient sculptures deemed the paragon of
material culture were reproduced in plaster, distributed, and displayed throughout the
colonies during the Victorian period. Behind each of these donated collections can be found
an individual, or a small group of men, who sought to enrich their emerging cities and
enhance their personal legacy. In a single transaction, groups of casts could be sent to
preserve ‘good taste’ and provide the means for education while also establishing the donor
as a cultured connoisseur and a generous philanthropist. These displays of wealth were a way
of building legacy, both personal and cultural, as they connected cities like Auckland, New
Zealand, back to English art and values.
As the circulation of casts reached its height, Auckland was given its sizeable collection by
Thomas Russell. The Auckland Institute and Museum received thirty-three statues and busts
in 1878, made by Domenico Brucciani, the era’s foremost castmaker in Britain. The donation
was significant in size, quality, and precedence. With the Russell Statues (as this gift is
known), the Auckland Institute and Museum could diversify its collection, following in the
footsteps of other cities moving towards a colonial metropolitan ideal. My research tracks
and examines the uses of this collection as exhibition items, educational tools for the South
Kensington system, tastemakers, and decoration, unveiling the complex roles they have
filled. This thesis explores their odyssey from fabrication in Brucciani’s London workshop to
their resting place – principally in the Auckland Museum’s storage facilities. It also
investigates the dissemination of Western artistic ideals and the European fascination with
Greece and Rome.