The
Indian Hall
The
Expedition was central to Jefferson's acquisition of his important
collection of Native American objects. Jefferson showcased these
and the natural history specimens that Lewis and Clark sent him
in his newly completed double-story Entrance Hall at Monticello,
which he called his "Indian Hall." Placed among the other goods
Jefferson collected -- European paintings and sculptures, works
of art from eastern Indians, a model of an Egyptian pyramid, mastodon
bones excavated by William Clark in Kentucky following the Expedition,
and maps of the vicinity and the world -- the western objects
contributed to the mélange of objects that Jefferson hoped would
demonstrate to his family and visitors the diversity of the world
beyond Monticello. His objective in creating his museum was to
place himself and Monticello within the context of this larger
world.
In
assembling such a "cabinet of curiosities," Jefferson was in good
company, both historically and intellectually. Since the sixteenth
century, European collections of animal specimens, ethnographic
material, antiquities, and man-made items displaying great technical
skill had been accumulated by people ranging from kings and aristocrats
to scholars of modest means.
As a product of the Enlightenment, Jefferson's display represented not simply a desire to showcase the marvelous and bizarre, but to work towards a scientific understanding of the world through observation and study. In the Indian Hall, Jefferson sought to demonstrate, visually, that the products of North America could take their places alongside those of the Old World.
Elizabeth V. ChewAssociate Curator of Collections, Monticello
December 2002
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