Oxfordshire auction house withdraws shrunken heads from sale

October 9

An auction house has been forced to withdraw human and ancestral remains from a sale following criticism from native groups and museums.

The Swan auction house, in Tetsworth, Oxfordshire, had listed objects including skulls, shrunken heads and other remains originating from communities across the globe.

Laura Van Broekhoven, who is the director of the Pitt Rivers Museum, in Oxford, said she was “outraged” at the auction, and praised the decision to remove the remains from sale.

The Swan has been approached by the BBC for comment.

Ms Van Broekhoven told the BBC that the sale was “ethically really problematic” for many communities worldwide.

“The fact these objects were taken is really painful, and the fact that they were being put on sale is really disrespectful and inconsiderate,” she said.

“We’re conscious that the remains would have been collected in the 19th and 20th centuries, but for them to be on sale in 2024 was quite shocking.”

Among the items initially listed were shrunken heads from the Jivaro people of South America, skulls from the Ekoi people of West Africa and a 19th century horned human skull from the Naga people of India and Myanmar.

This led to the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) directly contacting the auction house to condemn the sale and to call for the object to be repatriated.

The FNR is one of many indigenous groups around the world that is currently in dialogue with the Pitt Rivers about artefacts held in the museum’s collection.

“We are currently reaching out to communities that we have these human remains, and they can tell us how they would like us to care for them or if they would like them to be repatriated,” Ms Van Broekhoven said.

“All of that is possible when they’re held in public collections like ours – we can be held accountable, whereas once they go up for auction, they’re out of public use and there’s no way for a community to be in contact.”

She added that she “commended” the auction house’s decision to remove the remains from sale – but questioned what would now happen to them.

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