Emile Clement
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Emile Louis Bruno Clement (1844–1928) was a prominent collector of
ethnographic Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...
artefacts and
natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
specimens from northwest Australia at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.


Biography

Emile Clement was born in Muskau, Niederschlesischer, Oberlausitzkreis, Sachsen, Lower Silesia (Prussia) in early 1844—now called Bad Muskau and situated in the Federal State of Saxony on the border with Poland (Polish name: Muskau (Muzaków)). He died at
Hove Hove ( ) is a seaside resort in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove. Originally a fishing village surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th century in respon ...
in Sussex on 4 August 1928, aged 84 and was buried in the south aspect of Hove cemetery. His wife Emily Elizabeth died two years later and was buried alongside her husband. Throughout his life, Dr Clement pursued a variety of occupations, including
archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
, teacher, naturalist, mining engineer, ethnographer, children's book author, and ethnographic dealer. During the period 1877 to 1890 Dr Clement undertook a series of archaeological excavations in Silesia, and sold collections of Silesian
Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
archaeological material to museums throughout the United Kingdom including the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
, the
Department of Science and Art Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
museums in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Dublin, the
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, also known as MAA, at the University of Cambridge houses the university's collections of local antiquities, together with archaeological and ethnographic artefacts from around the world. The museum ...
and the
Reading Museum Reading Museum (run by the Reading Museum Service) is a museum of the history of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire, and the surrounding area. It is accommodated within Reading Town Hall, and contains galleries describing ...
. However Dr Clement's largest contribution to museums was the sale or donation of numerous collections of Western Australian Aboriginal artefacts to museums throughout Britain and Europe. During the period 1896-1928, Clement sold over 1600 Australian Aboriginal artefacts from Western Australia to museums throughout England,
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, Ireland, and
continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...
. In many of these museums the Clement material comprises a substantial part of their total holdings of Australian Aboriginal material. Dr Clement made three trips to Western Australia: 1895; 1896–1898; and 1899-1900. These trips related to his involvement with establishing and later managing a number of gold mines around the Towranna and Roebourne regions. Among these mines were the Towranna Gold Mines of WA Ltd lease at Towranna ka Towerannaand leases held by the Lydia Exploration Syndicate on the Lower Nickol field northwest of Roebourne. Clement's views on the relationship between Aboriginal people and settlers are recorded in an 1899 letter to the ''
St James's Gazette The ''St James's Gazette'' was a London evening newspaper published from 1880 to 1905. It was founded by the Conservative Henry Hucks Gibbs, later Baron Aldenham, a director of the Bank of England 1853–1901 and its governor 1875–1877; the ...
''. A study of the acquisition of different museums holdings of Western Australian Aboriginal objects related to Clement material suggests there were two distinct stages to Dr Clement's involvement. The early collections (1896–1910) were collected by Dr Clement, some probably with the assistance of his son Adolphe Emile Clement, who worked as mine manager at Towranna. In contrast, the collections acquired by museums during the second stage (1923–1928) seem to be derived from residents from the North-west area of
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
, who sent the material to Dr Clement in England, who then sold it to museums. As well as the ethnographic and archaeological material, Dr Clement contributed substantial quantities of botanical material from Northwest Australia to the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew between 1898 and 1900, as well as to
herbaria A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...
in
Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
and Berlin. Collections of his zoological material, containing many type specimens, are held in the
British Museum (Natural History) The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum and ...
,
Liverpool Museum World Museum is a large museum in Liverpool, England which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a planetarium. Entry to the ...
and the
Oxford University Museum The Oxford University Museum of Natural History (OUMNH) is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England. It also contains a lecture theatre which is used by the univers ...
.


Dr Clement's collections


Museums holding collections of Western Australian Aboriginal material acquired from Dr Clement


Museums holding collections of German Bronze Age material acquired from Clement

*
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
– acquired in 1877 *
National Museum of Scotland The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a museum of Scottish history and culture. It was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, ...
– acquired in 1877 *
National Museum of Ireland The National Museum of Ireland () is Ireland's leading museum institution, with a strong emphasis on national and some international archaeology, Irish history, Irish art, culture, and natural history. It has three branches in Dublin, the arch ...
– acquired in 1883 *
Reading Museum Reading Museum (run by the Reading Museum Service) is a museum of the history of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire, and the surrounding area. It is accommodated within Reading Town Hall, and contains galleries describing ...
– acquired in 1885 *
Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street in Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University ...
– acquired in 1886 *
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, also known as MAA, at the University of Cambridge houses the university's collections of local antiquities, together with archaeological and ethnographic artefacts from around the world. The museum ...
- excavated in 1889, acquired in 1890 *
National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...


Institutions holding collections of natural history material acquired from Clement

* Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew *
Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...
*
Oxford University Museum of Natural History The Oxford University Museum of Natural History (OUMNH) is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England. It also contains a lecture theatre which is used by the univers ...
* Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum, Berlin-Dahlem * Nationaal Herbarium Nederland, Leiden


Flora named after Clement


Botanical type specimens collected by Clement

* ''Solanum gabrielae'' Domin * ''Acetosa vesicaria (''Rosy dock)


Zoological type specimens collected by Clement

*''Cephaloplatys clementii'', sp. n.
''Pseudælia clementi'', sp. n.
*''Roebournea diversa''


Zoological specimens named after Clement

* ''Jalmenus clementi'' Druce, 1902


References


External links

*Letter from Clement to London's St James Gazette, dated 5 April 1899, describing his experiences in Western Australi

*Description of Silesian artefacts which Clement sold to Reading Museum in 188

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clement, Emile 1844 births 1928 deaths 19th-century Prussian people German ethnographers Natural history collectors People associated with the British Museum People associated with the Pitt Rivers Museum People from the Province of Silesia