Appeal for Information on John Hewitt and Ethnographic Collections from Sarawak in the UK

Rosanna Nicolson, NMS is looking for some information, she writes: 

Over the last nine months I have done some provenance research on National Museums Scotland (NMS) collection of around 500 objects from Borneo. I recently presented a paper at the European Association for Southeast Asian Studies conference in Berlin titled 'Advantageous Opportunities: Securing Objects from Borneo for Scotland's National Museum' to share some of my findings.

One of these collections purchased by NMS in 1909 was the purchase of eighty ethnographic items from John Hewitt (1880-1961), the Curator of the Sarawak Museum in Kuching, East Malaysia, from 1905 to 1908.

Hewitt was originally from Dronfield, near Sheffield, and NMS must have purchased this collection whilst he was briefly back in the UK before leaving for a new museum post in South Africa. He was appointed the Director of the Albany Museum in Grahamstown in 1910 where he worked until his retirement in 1958.  

As a zoologist it seems likely Hewitt's link with NMS initially came through our Natural Sciences department as we purchased thousands of specimens from him. However, I think that ours could be the only ethnographic collection assembled during his time in Sarawak and brought to the UK.

There appears to be very little supplementary or archival information about John Hewitt's time at the Sarawak Museum. However, many of the objects have a handwritten label with a number which presumably corresponded to an inventory compiled by him. One can assume that once this information was transferred to the register the original list was discarded.

The collection formed by Hewitt that’s now in Edinburgh includes models and spirit figures, wood carvings, basketry, domestic utensils, betel chewing equipment, musical instruments, personal ornamentation, and examples of weaving and dying tools and processes as well as finished textiles. 

 Basket A.1909.330   

    Cap of plaited rattan A.1909.365

Annual reports for the Sarawak Museum during Hewitt's time as Curator mention similar types of material in their lists of acquisitions. Many of which could have been specifically commissioned for the museum. For example, a group of Melanau spirit figures (dakan) about which Hewitt co-authored an article with A. E. Lawrence (Resident of Mukah) titled 'Some Aspects of Spirit Worship Amongst the Milano of Sarawak' published in JRAI in 1908 (Vol. 38, pp.388-408).

The Melanau produced a whole range of spirit figures, called dakan, carved out of softwood or sago pith. These figures were used to heal the sick so they had to have the correct characteristics and attributes to be easily recognizable, for example as a spirit which causes headaches and fevers. Arm position, headgear, facial expression, and clothing indicated which of the many spirits the dakan was supposed to represent. After a ritual was performed to cure the sickness, the spirit figures were returned to their own domain, either in the jungle, the air or the water.

The Sarawak Museum's Annual Report for 1906 lists 'one complete set of 'Dakan' from Mukah. […] which number in all about 80 […] This collection, which was obtained for us by Mr. A. E. Lawrence, is the most interesting addition to our collection for some years' (p.9). It seems likely that the figures now in Edinburgh were also acquired by Mr Lawrence and were extras or duplicates not needed for the Sarawak Museum's collection.

Another example is a set of Iban (Sea Dayak) wood carvings documenting different patterns and their names. The Sarawak Museum's Annual Report for 1907 lists two different groups of wood carvings acquired during that year, one being 'Sea Dayak carving executed by Sarawak rangers from the Undup region.' Interestingly one example in our collection is said to be a copy of the Kayan asu (dog/dragon) pattern, so a design predominantly used but another cultural group.

Sadly, as no correspondence survives, we don’t know whether the curator in Edinburgh asked Hewitt to assemble an ethnographic collection representative of the indigenous peoples and cultures in Sarawak for the museum, or if Hewitt was just trying to sell this material before moving to South Africa. The answer to this may become clearer if I can establish whether any other UK collections purchased, or were given, ethnographic artefacts from Hewitt.

I would also very interested to find out more generally about other UK holdings of material from what was formally British North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak.

Please contact me on r.nicolson@nms.ac.uk or 0131 247 4184.