José Leite de Vasconcelos, the founder and first director of the modern-day Museu Nacional de Arqueologia (National Museum of Archaeology) wrote in the programme of the Portuguese Ethnographic Museum that “one cannot completely outline the history of a country without knowing its private life, which is revealed by traditions, beliefs, clothes, furniture, tools, art styles, in a word, by a thousand peculiarities in which the spirit reflects and marks itself over time and that distinguish a people from another one” (Hist. Museu Etn. p. 16). In this remarkable archaeologist’s words, one can clearly see the importance he gave to the creation and enhancement of the Ethnography collection throughout his mandate. However, to José Leite de Vasconcelos, the ethnographic and archaeological collections make up “an indissoluble whole”, after some authors’ opinion (Sardinha and Longo, OAP, 17, 1999, p.127). Leite de Vasconcelos himself wrote “it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to establish clear distinctions between Ethnography and Archaeology (...)” (Hist. MNA p. 201).



ETNO 223 Wooden spoon, Pastoral Art

In the programme for 1893-1894, José Leite de Vasconcelos includes the ethnographic collection in the Portuguese Modern Period (Hist. MNA, p. 44), which he subdivided into thirteen parts. Afterwards, when the Museum was settled in the Jerónimos’ building, the ethnographic section of the Ethnological museum occupied almost all the pavement III and the assemblages were “temporarily” reorganized, according to José Leite de Vasconcelos’ words, in 10 sections: I. Food; II House and household; III. Seasons and life circumstances of the individual and the family: life trilogy; clothes and correlative items; smoking and sniffing addictions; IV. Various aspects of human evolution: hunting, fishing, pasturage, agriculture; V. Religion and Magic; VI. Intellectual life properly speaking: writing; primary school; “string” literature; academic life in Coimbra; history of the book; journalism; science; art; VII. Industry; VIII. Social life in general; amusement; commercial activity; metrology; history of the post office; stamped paper; heraldry; militia; history of Portugal; IX. Various; X. Insular Ethnography. The different sections were represented in groups of objects, thirty-five altogether, which included, among other, shepherd sticks; clothes and ornaments; objects of pastoral art; ancient ware; tiles; heraldry and coats of arms; ancient paintings; objects for smoking and sniffing tobacco; agriculture tools; weapons and armour; loom, loom weights, spindles, etc. inkpots, parchments; toys, games; Portuguese ancient engravings; “small pictures of pilgrimages” (religious legends); ex-votos; several religious objects; amulets and veronicas; a collection of ancient and modern bookplates; hunting and fishing tools; objects related to food; weights, measures and clocks; ironworks.

ETNO 1382 Toothpick holder, glazed ceramics

The majority of this collection has not been systematically studied and still remains unedited. However, José Leite de Vasconcelos referred to the ethnographic collections and acquisitions he made throughout his vast career in the pages of O Arqueólogo Português (The Portuguese Archaeologist), 1st series, as well as in that major work of our historiography, As Religiões da Lusitânia (Religions of Lusitania), and also in the Portuguese Ethnography.

Nowadays, numerous pieces of this collection are still requested both by researchers in the course of their work, and by other institutions in order to display them at several exhibitions.

ETNO 2050 Piggy bank, common ware, Caldas da Rainha