Cabinet of curiosities Transience

1	Image: Portrait of Magdalena Frisching-Wyss (1647-1682), wife of Joh. Samuel Frisching, who was mayor of Burdorf from 1670 to 1676, 1682, Rümligen, RS-44.45 Remember death “Ah, how suddenly my dear wife passed away! I am grateful that we were able to live together for twenty years, including my years as Schultheiss of Burgdorf from 1670 to 1676. The elegant pigeon shaped brooch she wears is a gift that I gave her one day to show my love for her. With proper dignity, she wears her fur brämikappe, as is right for a married woman from the Wyss family, a patrician family from Bern. The artist who painted the portrait of my beloved Magdalena had to add to this oil painting a skull and an hourglass after her death in 1682. The prayer book in the hand of my wife represents her piety, the little dog symbolises a natural death. What a pity that my wife did not live see total the transformation of our mansion at Junkerngasse in Bern or the construction of the castle of Rümligen under my supervision. This funeral painting and my portrait from 1695 must remain hung forever in the castle of Rümligen.”
2	Coffin of Neith-iui, 40-50 year old woman from the upper class of the provincial town of Gamhud; discovered in 1907 in necropolis Gamhud, Ägytpen, North Africa; purchased by curator Arnold Kordt from the shop of the Egyptian Museum Cairo 1926, ES-7634 The goddess Neith has arrived When British explorer Horward Carter discovered the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in 1922, the western world became obsessed with ancient Egypt. The curator of Burgdorf’s ethnographic collection, Arnold Kordt, decided to include objects from ancient Egypt in the collection. This sarcophagus, bought in 1926 for 280 francs from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, was his most important purchase and is the largest Egyptian sarcophagus to be found in any museum in Switzerland. The sarcophagus was discovered in 1907 in a tomb at Gamhud, 150 kilometres south of Cairo, on the edge of the Libyan desert. Hieroglyphs on the cover say that a woman named Neith-iui was entombed in it. Her name means “the goddess Neith has arrived”. Its style and the ornamental motifs make it possible to date the sarcophagus to the period around 200 BC. The deceased belonged to the upper class of the provincial town of Gamhud. Neith-iui’s tomb was looted in ancient times. The thieves not only tore off the covers above the mummy but also ripped off the bandages and so the body decomposed. An investigation of the sarcophagus discovered the mask of the mummy as well as numerous bones of Neith-iui which made it possible to reconstruct her skeleton almost completely. Neith-iui was 160 cm tall and over 40 years old at the time of her death. The reason for her death is unknown.
3	Death mask; Oaxaca, Mexico, Central America; gift from Eléonore Sennwald 2003, ES-20825
4	Memory of Julie Schiesser-Ferrier (1808-1881), residing at Schmiedengasse 9 in Burgdorf, 1881, Burgdorf, RS-19.262
5	Funerary memento made of hair in the shape of an altar, probably mid-19th century, Burgdorf, RS-13.546
6	Asmat ancestor figure of dark hardwood, representing a female deceased, the eyes represented by red abrus berries (abrus precatorius), the ears each adorned with two palm fibres, a stick of light wood the septum; West Papua, Indonesia, Oceania; gift of Gegory K. Elias 1995, ES-8100
7	Ancestral figure of the Asmat, depicting a woman, probably with a blow horn, and a man holding a paddle with a hornbill head at the end of the shaft, representations of hornbills refer to headhunting; West Papua, Indonesia, Oceania; Gift of Gegory K. Elias 1995, ES-8098
8	Ancestor figure; Papua New Guinea, Oceania; gift from Henri Schiffmann 1904, ES-260
9	Hair picture / hair work in memory of Maria Aeschlimann-Preisig (1813-1863), who died in 1863 and lived at Schmiedengasse 1 in Burgdorf, 1863, Burgdorf, RS-13.296
10	Ancestral figure of the Asmat with three superimposed figures: the lowest holding a hornbill head, the middle one a snake, the top one bent over; West Papua, Indonesia, Oceania; gift of Gegory K. Elias 1995, ES-8095
11	Ancestral figure of the Asmat with two superimposed figures in mantis position, below a woman holding a hornbill head, above the gender is unclear; West Papua, Indonesia, Oceania; gift of Gegory K. Elias 1995, ES-8099
12	Office calendar from the year of the donor’s father’s death, 1955, Burgdorf, RS-22.27
13	Memento of a child who died after 3 days by teacher Lüdi, 1866, Burgdorf, RS-13.472
14	Memorial to the dead of Cathrine Jufer, 1859, Bern, RS-29.483
15	Ancestral figure of the Asmat, envisioning a deceased, the white paint means that the deceased is in the intermediate world, where everything is reversed: the normally dark skin of the Asmat is white there; West Papua, Indonesia, Oceania; gift of Gegory K. Elias 1995, ES-8094
16	Chapel-shaped tomb in glass box in memory of Mathilde Maritz, 19th century, Burgdorf, RS-13.1195
17	Glass bottle, in it Christ on the cross with instruments of torture, undetermined date, Burgdorf/Alchenflüh, RS-14.52 and RS-14.56
18	Raven (taxidermy)
19	Malagan figure for funerary memorial festival; New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Oceania; Deposit of curator Arnold Korth 1939, ES-4836
20	Mask for funerary ceremonies, evoking female beauty, Punu or Mpongwe, Gabon, Central Africa; purchase from Boris Kegel-Konietzko Ethnographica trade 1964, ES-20422
21	Death mask; North America; gift from Karl Im Obersteg 1929, ES-6501
22	Totok sculpture for Malagan ceremony (festival of remembrance of the dead); New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Oceania; purchased by curator Arnold Kordt from Arthur Speyer Ethnographica-Handel Berlin, 1922, ES-278
23	Multiple mended corset of a wealthy but thrifty Burgdorf woman who bequeathed her fortune to the Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft, 1st half of 20th century, Burgdorf, RS-26.50
24	Overmodelled human skull for Malagan ceremony (festival of remembrance of the dead); New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Oceania; purchased by curator Arnold Kordt from Arthur Speyer Ethnographica-Handel Berlin, 1922, ES-273
25	Malagan figure for funerary memorial festival; New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Oceania; purchased by curator Arnold Kordt from the Museum der Kulturen Basel 1933, ES-4828
26	2 embroidered parts of a coffin cloth of the Pfistern Guild Burgdorf, probably from the 18th century, Burgdorf, RS-14.48
26	Embroidered part of a coffin cloth of the Burgdorf butchers’ and shoemakers’ guild, probably from the 18th century, Burgdorf, RS-14.49
27	Turu carving in memory of deceased person for Malagan ceremony (festival of remembrance of the dead); Simberi, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Oceania; purchased by curator Arnold Kordt from Arthur Speyer Ethnographica-Handel Berlin, 1922, ES-4808
28	right: figure of the dead (Uschebti), part of ancient Egyptian funerary equipment, takes over unloved field work for the deceased in the afterlife; Egypt, North Africa; replica; gift of Walter Bucher 1909, ES-1404
28	left: Figure of the dead (Uschebti), part of ancient Egyptian tomb furnishings, ideally one of 365 figures given along; Egypt, North Africa; replica; gift of Mrs. van Laer-Uhlmann 1997, ES-20224
29	Magpie (taxidermy)
30	Tatanua mask for Malagan ceremony (festival of remembrance of the dead); New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Oceania; entry 1923, provenance unknown, ES-12056
31	Bronze mortar with dolphin handles, cast in 1719 by Samuel Stähli of Burgdorf for the owners of the Grossen Apotheke Hohengasse 19, 1719, Burgdorf, no inv.no., on loan
32	Weaving art of the coma, formerly used to bind the dead, now part of garments; Alantika Mountains, Cameroon, West Africa; purchased from René Gardi 1983, ES-8005
33	Guardian figure mbulu ngulu of the Kota, until the mid-20th century such figures were placed over baskets containing bones of important ancestors; wood, brass and copper sheet; East Gabun and adjacent area in the Republic of Congo, Central Africa; provenance unexplained, ES-7669
34	2 hares (taxidermy)
35	Memento of a deceased woman from the Geiser family in Hasle-Rüegsau, probably 19th century, Hasle-Rüegsau, RS-30.130
36	Wooden coffin with mummy of a 6- to 7-year-old child; discovered in 1895 in Achmim necropolis, Upper Egypt, North Africa; purchased by curator Arnold Kordt from Arthur Speyer Ethnographica-Handel Berlin 1923, ES-7606
37	Owl (taxidermy)
38	Sheet metal tomb in the form of a reading desk for pharmacist Friedrich Dennler in Langenthal (1796-1841), 1841, Langenthal, RS-13.531
39	Mummy mask made of gilded cardboard; discovered in 1894 in Hawara, approx. 90km from Cairo, Egypt, North Africa; after excavation the mask came to the Egyptian Museum Berlin, which gave the mask to Arthur Speyer Ethnographica-Handel Berlin in 1924; curator Arnold Kordt acquired the mask from Speyer and gave it to the Ethnological Collection Burgdorf as a deposit in 1925, ES-7615

This information has been machine translated. In case of doubt, the German version is valid. We apologise for any errors and are grateful for your feedback.

Legend of inventory numbers:
ES = Burgdorf Ethnological Collection
HGM = Swiss Gold Room Collection
RS = Historical Collection of the Knights’ Hall Association
SIO = Im Obersteg Collection (belongs to ES)