In 2010 Anthony Pitt-Rivers, the great-grandson of Augustus Pitt-Rivers, offered to donate to the Pitt Rivers Museum a box of 'Mexican heads' that he had found in storage.

Mr Pitt-Rivers had been kept informed of the research project, Rethinking Pitt-Rivers and its developments, and had been most supportive. The Museum gratefully accepted the donation and in 2010 one of the authors of this piece (Belsey) with colleagues from the Museum's conservation department collected the box.

Mr Pitt-Rivers had believed that the items might have come from Pitt-Rivers' second collection and indeed, after a little research, it proved possible to identify all the pieces against entries in the catalogue of the collection held by Cambridge University Library. It is not known why these items were not sold in the 1960s and 1970s when other parts of the collections held at Farnham Museum, Dorset were sold off by some members of the family.

The Pitt Rivers Museum does not hold many items from the second collection but is very grateful to Mr Pitt-Rivers for donating these items which make a very interesting collection for study.

When the figures arrived at the museum they went through the standard procedure of being accessioned into the museum collections. Each object of the thirty-eight in total was given a unique individual accession number. Once assigned this number the figures could be entered onto the museums database system. Recorded on the database is information about how and whom the collection was acquired from, a description of each object, measurements and dimensions and any additional information relating to the provenance and history of the pieces. Unfortunately the objects came with no other associated information but we were fortunate from the excellent draftsmanship of the illustrators of the catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers to be able to match each object to an original entry in this catalogue.  The information in the catalogue was limited but included 'Date (of acquisition)'; 'Article and Description' (the descriptions this case was brief ‘Mexican idol’ but because of the quality and accuracy of the illustration there was no need for a physical description in words); 'Price', 'Deposited at' and 'Transferred to'. Source and date information was also written in short hand on the bottom of most of the objects in the collection. This page is illustrated with all the photographs taken of the objects (the majority appear at the foot of this article, some illustrations of the same objects from the catalogue of the second collection are also included for comparison).

The objects are very fine examples of Mexican stone carving and if 'original’ would have generated a lot of interest among museum staff. However, there was a very industrious 'industry' which grew up producing fake Pre-Colombian Mesoamerican stone figurines during the nineteenth century. In fact, even the National Museum of Mexico was fooled by these fakes and a notable number of them were added to the collections of the National Museum in the second half of the nineteenth century suggesting that the faking industry probably took off in earnest sometime between 1830 and 1869, and really gathered steam in the 1880s (see here). It was during this boom in forgery production that General Augustus Pitt-Rivers purchased these figurines for his Farnham collection. The entries in the catalogue of his second collection seem to make it clear that he was aware of the possibility that he was buying forgeries rather than the 'genuine' archaeological artefacts.

The objects were examined by an expert in the field of Mesoamerican archaeology for the project then running at the Museum, ‘Characterizing the World Archaeology of the Pitt Rivers Museum’. As suspected, it has been concluded that these figurines are indeed 19th century fakes, though no scientific testing has yet been done. Rosemary Joyce sadly confirmed suspicions that “…the collection is without doubt good examples of nineteenth Century tourist art”.

However, this does not devalue their worthiness to be added to the collections here at Oxford. The fact that they are a part of the history of nineteenth century forgery is interesting in itself and they also provide valuable information about the collecting habits of Pitt-Rivers. Was he fooled or was he aware of the origins of these objects - did he buy them as ‘fakes’ anyway? Not having a great grounding in the value of authentic Mexican Pre-Colombian artifacts in the late 19th Century I cannot estimate the worth of authentic articles from this period in the late nineteenth century but Pitt Rivers purchased the objects relatively inexpensively, spending £1.15 on the most expensive figure.  Comparatively the General rarely spent over 20 pounds on a purchase, more often as little or less than £1.We know that General Pitt Rivers had an interest in models, reproductions and replicas, and a great many appear in the collections at Oxford, did this extend to forgeries? Besides this, as a collection the figures are an aesthetically pleasing assemblage, perhaps it was aesthetics alone that attracted the General to them?

The majority of the figures have been written upon with their provenance, date and supplier in black ink. The General obtained the figures from three different sources. All the sources were acquaintances of the General in that they were a main source of objects that ended up in the General's collections. George Fabian Lawrence (an antiquary, collector and dealer) sold the figurines to General Pitt Rivers on several occasions. Alongside his career as an antiques dealer, Lawrence also worked at the London Museum as ‘Inspector of Excavations’ and was successful in securing a large number of artefacts for the museum during this time (see here).

Other examples in the collection were purchased from Stevens Auction Rooms. This was a busy antiquities auction house and many objects from the collections at Oxford appear to have gone through the hands of these auctioneers. Pitt-Rivers appears to have brought the figures from Stevens as a group lot in February 1899 according to the catalogue entries.

The third source is yet another dealer, William Downing Webster. He was based in Bicester, Oxfordshire and was a well-known dealer who specialised in ethnographic and world archaeology objects.

As Pitt-Rivers became a known collector he formed a strong network of contacts in the world of dealers and auctioneers and a great number of objects he collected were purchased through such channels, so there is nothing unusual about the way in which Pitt-Rivers collected these Mexican figurines.

Most of the figures now have crudely made wooden stands which are painted black with the word ‘Mexico’ painted in yellow across the front. These strongly suggest that the figurines were displayed at the museum in Farnham where such display mounts were commonly provided. Quite what to do with such old historic mounts and display labels often provides modern museum staff with quite a quandary. The quality of these particular mounts is not very high but they are in a style of ‘make do’ mounts from this period. This time, for conservation reasons it was decided to take the objects off their mounts where possible as the metal was damaging to the stone. We have kept the mounts for now and are hoping to display some of the figures on these historic mounts as that is how they would have been seen at Pitt-Rivers' private museum at Farnham, Dorset. We hope to be able to display a selection of the figurines at the Museum here at Oxford in our ‘New Acquisitions’ case in due course.

The figures are characteristically stylized with simple and patterned features representing idols in human and animal form (e.g. 2010.31.2 human and 2010.31.3 animal). Stone and clay were common materials used to sculpt such figures. The stone varied a great deal from black or dark red lava stone, light grey porous volcanic stone, soft yellow sandstone or whitish veined marble depending on what was available. There is just one clay example in the collection here (2010.78.22). Status and role are indicated by clothing, often elaborate headdresses (e.g. 2010.78.30 & 2010.78.7). Representations of the sun, moon and stars are also characteristic (2010.78.29). The purpose such objects would have served would have been to aid prayer and worship in the home, at shrines and in temples or simply as toys for children.

The Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, 2010 accession book entries written by me are given below.

Faye Belsey, nee Cheesman, June 2011

Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, 2010 accession book entries

2010.78.1: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1859, Add.9455vol6_p1859 /2 "Date. 1899 Feb 9. Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. Lawrence Stone Carvings, Mexico. ? Forgeries. Indexed Price. £1.10 Deposited at. Room IX Case 100"

2010.78.2: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1896 Add.9455vol6_p1896 /4: "Date. 1899 Feb 24.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. of G. Lawrence, 7 West Hill, Wandsworth Stone Carvings, Mexico. ? Forgeries.  Price. s.27/6 d.  Deposited at. Room IX Case 100 Indexed"

2010.78.3: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1862 Add.9455vol6_p1862 /2: "Date. 1899 Feb. 6.  Drawing and Description of Object. Lot 344, Stevens Indexed  Price. s.22/-  Deposited at. Room IX case 99"

2010.78.4: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1860 Add.9455vol6_p1860 /2: "Date. 1899 Feb. 9.  Drawing and Description of Object. BT Lawrence, stone carvings Mexico ? forgeries Price. s.30/-  Deposited at. Room IX case 99"

2010.78.5: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1897 Add.9455vol6_p1897 /5: "Date. 1899 Feb. 24.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. of Lawrence. (cont'd) stone carvings Mexico ? forgery. Price. s.14/6 d.  Deposited at. Room IX case 99"

2010.78.6: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1898 Add.9455vol6_p1898 /4: "Date. 1899 Feb. 24.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. of Lawrence. (cont'd) stone carvings Mexico ? forgeries. Price. s.9/6 d.  Deposited at. Room IX case 99 Indexed"

2010.78.7: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1899 Add.9455vol6_p1897 /3: "Date. 1899 Feb. 6.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. at Stevens' sale by Lawrence.Lot 345. This specimen has been drawn twice, see page 1897. Stone carvings, Mexico ? forgeries. Price. s.18/-  Deposited at. Room IX case 99 Indexed"

2010.78.8: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1896 Add.9455vol6_p1896 /1: "Date. 1899 Feb. 24.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. of G. Lawrence, 78 West Hill Wandsworth. Stone carvings, Mexico ? forgeries. Price. s.22/6d.  Deposited at. Room IX case 100 Indexed"

2010.78.9: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1859 Add.9455vol6_p1859 /1: "Date. 1899 Feb. 6.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. at Stevens' Sale, by Lawrence. Lot 340. Stone carvings, Mexico ? forgeries. Price. £1.12.6.  Deposited at. Room IX case 99 Indexed"

2010.78.10: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held   catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane   Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1897 Add.9455vol6_p1897 /6: "Date.  1899 Feb. 24.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. of Lawrence. (cont'd) Stone carvings, Mexico ? forgery. Price. E. s.27/6d.    Deposited at. Room IX case 100 Indexed"

2010.78.11: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1898 Add.9455vol6_p1898 /1: "Date. 1899 Feb. 24.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. of Lawrence. (cont'd) Stone carvings, Mexico ? forgeries. Price. A. s.25/-  Deposited at. Room IX case 99 Indexed"

2010.78.12: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1899 Add.9455vol6_p1899 /4: "Date. 1899 Feb. 24.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. of Lawrence. (cont'd) E. Room 14 Case 100. Stone carvings, Mexico. ? forgeries. Price. E. s.7/6d.  Deposited at.  Indexed"

2010.78.13: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1899 Add.9455vol6_p1899 /3: "Date. 1899 Feb. 24.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. of Lawrence. (cont'd) C. Room 14 Case 100. Stone carvings, Mexico. ? forgeries. Price. C. s.9/6d.  Deposited at.  Indexed"

2010.78.14: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1899 Add.9455vol6_p1899 /5: "Date. 1899 Feb. 24.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. of Lawrence. (cont'd) D. Room 14 Case 100. Stone carvings, Mexico. ? forgeries. Price. D. s.7/6d.  Deposited at.  Indexed"

2010.78.15: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1899 Add.9455vol6_p1899 /1: "Date. 1899 Feb. 24.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. of Lawrence. (cont'd) A. Room 14 Case 100. Stone carvings, Mexico. ? forgeries. Price. A. s.10/6d.  Deposited at.  Indexed"

2010.78.16: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1793 Add.9455vol6_p1793 /4: "Date. 1898.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. Webster. Stone carving, Mexico. ? Forgery.  Price. Indexed.  Deposited at. Room IX case 100"

2010.78.17: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1897 Add.9455vol6_p1897 /4: "Date. 1899 Feb. 24.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. Lawrence. (cont'd) C. Stone carvings, Mexico. ? Forgery.  Price. C. s.9/6d. Indexed.  Deposited at. Room IX case 99"

2010.78.18: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1861 Add.9455vol6_p1861 /3: "Date. 1899 Feb. 6.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. at Stevens' sale by Lawrence. Lot 342 Stevens. Stone carvings, Mexico. ? Forgeries.  Price. s.11/-.  Deposited at. Room IX case 99 Indexed"

2010.78.19: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1897 Add.9455vol6_p1897 /1: "Date. 1899 Feb. 24.  Drawing and Description of Object.  Bt. Lawrence. (cont'd) A. Stone carvings, Mexico. ? Forgery.   Price. A. s.15/6d.  Deposited at. Room IX case 99 Indexed"

2010.78.20: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1898 Add.9455vol6_p1898 /2: "Date. 1899 Feb. 24.  Drawing and Description of Object.  Bt. Lawrence. (cont'd) B. Stone carvings, Mexico. ? Forgeries.   Price. A. s.7/6d.  Deposited at. Room IX case 99 Indexed"

2010.78.21: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1898 Add.9455vol6_p1898 /5: "Date. 1899 Feb. 24.  Drawing and Description of Object.  Bt. Lawrence. (cont'd) D. Room IX case 100. Stone carvings, Mexico. ? Forgeries.   Price. A. s.9/6d.  Deposited at. Indexed"

2010.78.22: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1864 Add.9455vol6_p1864 /1: "Date. 1899 A Mar 10.  Drawing and Description of Object.  A. Bt. Lawrence. Pottery heads, Mexico.  Price. A. s.5/6d.  Deposited at. Room IX case 99. Indexed"

2010.78.23: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1899 Add.9455vol6_p1899 /2: "Date. 1899 Feb 24.  Drawing and Description of Object.  A. Bt. Lawrence (cont'd). Room 9 case 100. Stone Carvings, Mexico. ? Forgeries.  Price. A. s.10/6d.  Deposited at. Indexed"

2010.78.24: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1860 Add.9455vol6_p1860 /3: "Date. 1899 Feb 6.  Drawing and Description of Object.  Lot 343. Stevens. Price. A. s.11/-. Indexed.  Deposited at. Room IX case 99"

2010.78.25: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1899 Add.9455vol6_p1899 /6: "Date. 1899 Feb 24.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. Lawrence (cont'd). F. Room IX case 99 Stone Carvings, Mexico. ? Forgeries. Price. F. s.6/-.  Deposited at: Indexed."

2010.78.26: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1898 Add.9455vol6_p1898 /6: "Date. 1899 Feb 24.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. Lawrence (cont'd). F. Room IX case 99 Stone Carvings, Mexico. ? Forgeries. Price. F. s.12/6.  Deposited at: Indexed."

2010.78.27: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1860 Add.9455vol6_p1860 /1: "Date. 1899 Feb 9.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. Lawrence. Stone Carvings, Mexico. ? Forgeries. Price. s.25/-.  Deposited at: Room IX case 99 Indexed."

2010.78.28: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1862 Add.9455vol6_p1862 /3: "Date. 1899 Feb 6.  Drawing and Description of Object. Lot 346. Stevens. Stone Carvings, Mexico. ? Forgery. Price. 22/-  Deposited at: Room IX case 99 Indexed."

2010.78.29: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1864 Add.9455vol6_p1864 /3: "Date. 1899 Feb 6.  Drawing and Description of Object. Lot 339. Stevens. Pottery Heads, Mexico. Price. Lot 339 s.10/-  Deposited at: Room IX case 99 Indexed."

2010.78.30: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1897 Add.9455vol6_p1897 /2: "Date. 1899 Feb 24.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. Lawrence (cont'd). B. Stone Carvings, Mexico. Price. B. s.17/6d.  Deposited at: Room IX case 99 Indexed."

2010.78.31: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1896 Add.9455vol6_p1896 /3: "Date. 1899 Feb 24.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. Lawrence (cont'd). B. Stone Carvings, Mexico. Price. B. s.23/6d.  Deposited at: Room IX case 99 Indexed."

2010.78.32: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 5 page 1657 Add.9455vol5_p1657 /4: "Date. 1898 May 2.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. of Webster (cont'd). Stone figure, Mexican. Price. £1.15. Indexed. Deposited at: Removed to: Room IX case 100."

2010.78.33: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1896 Add.9455vol6_p1896 /2: "Date. 1899 Feb. 24.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. of G. Lawrence, 7 West Hill, Wandsworth Stone Carvings, Mexico. ? Forgeries.  Price. B s.21/-  Deposited at. Room IX case 100. Indexed."

2010.78.34: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1861 Add.9455vol6_p1861 /2: "Date. 1899 Feb 9.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. Lawrence. Stone Carvings, Mexico. ? Forgeries.  Price. s.15/6d.  Deposited at. Room IX case 99. Indexed."

2010.78.35: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1862 Add.9455vol6_p1862 /1: "Date. 1899 Feb 9.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. Lawrence. Stone Carvings, Mexico. ? Forgery.  Price. s.15/6d.  Deposited at. Room IX case 99. Indexed."

2010.78.36: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1898 Add.9455vol6_p1898 /3: "Date. 1899 Feb 24.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. Lawrence. (cont'd). C. Stone Carvings, Mexico. ? Forgeries.  Price. C. s.16/6d.  Deposited at. Room IX case 99. Indexed."

2010.78.37: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1861 Add.9455vol6_p1861 /4: "Date. 1899 Feb 9.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. at Stevens' sale by Lawrence. Stone Carvings, Mexico. ? Forgeries.  Price. s.30/-.  Deposited at. Room IX case 99. Indexed."

2010.78.38: Accession entry - Entry in the Cambridge University Library held catalogue of the second collection of General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers volume 6 page 1863 Add.9455vol6_p1863 /1: "Date. 1899 Feb 9.  Drawing and Description of Object. Bt. Lawrence. Stone Carvings, Mexico. ? Forgeries.  Price. s.25/-.  Deposited at. Room IX case 99. Indexed."