Kenneth Athol Webster
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Athol Webster was a collector and dealer of manuscripts, fine art and ethnographic artifacts associated with Oceanic peoples.
Webster was born in Wellington, New Zealand to Henry Arthur Webster and his wife Annie Harriett (née Edwards). He was educated at Wellington College
and did clerical work before farming in the King Country. In 1936 he moved to London and worked in a factory until 1939 when he served in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. In 1944 he married Leila Mossman. After 1945 he began to collect ethnographic antiquities, manuscripts and fine art. He soon turned this from a hobby into a vocation and became a dealer specially focussed on the Oceanic area including New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific.
Like his contemporary William Ockelford Oldman
who was also a collector dealer, he found his treasures in the auction houses, car boot sales, antique and second-hand shops of the United Kingdom and Europe. He purchased material from small British country museums who were disposing of their collections, and in one case, just before it was consigned to the local tip. He also purchased from and swapped with private collectors such as James Thomas Hooper
. By the 1950s he joined William Ockelford Oldman
and James Thomas Hooper
as one of the top four collectors of ethnographic art in the United Kingdom. Such was the prominent position of these three that the provenance of a large percentage of Oceanic ethnographic material in museums today includes one or more of these collectors.
Although Webster continued to add to his private collection he also supplied numerous museums and private collectors with material. Items sourced from Webster are found in
Webster also strongly believed in the repatriation of Maori ethnographic material back to New Zealand. He was influential in ensuring the Armytage collection returned to New Zealand and also assisted with the sale of William Oldman's
Pacific collection to the New Zealand government in 1948. Webster offered part of his own collection to the New Zealand government in 1962 but the New Zealand government declined to purchase it. Since then the collection has been offered for sale at the auctioneer's Dunbar Sloane. The first part of the collection was auctioned on 21 November 2002 and there are further auctions planned for late 2010 and early 2011.
Webster also published on his collection. In 1948 he published a book on the Armytage collection of Maori Jade He also wrote for Apollo (1951) and for the Journal for the Polynesian Society (1956 and 1957).
Webster was born in Wellington, New Zealand to Henry Arthur Webster and his wife Annie Harriett (née Edwards). He was educated at Wellington College
Wellington College (New Zealand)
Wellington College is a state secondary school for boys in Mount Victoria in Wellington, New Zealand.-History:Wellington College opened in 1867 as Wellington Grammar School in Woodward Street, though Sir George Grey gave the school a deed of endowment in 1853. In 1874 it opened at its present...
and did clerical work before farming in the King Country. In 1936 he moved to London and worked in a factory until 1939 when he served in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. In 1944 he married Leila Mossman. After 1945 he began to collect ethnographic antiquities, manuscripts and fine art. He soon turned this from a hobby into a vocation and became a dealer specially focussed on the Oceanic area including New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific.
Like his contemporary William Ockelford Oldman
William Ockelford Oldman
William Ockelford Oldman was a British collector and dealer of ethnographic art and European arms and armour. His business W.O. Oldman, Ethnographical Specimens, London was mostly active between the late 1890s and 1913....
who was also a collector dealer, he found his treasures in the auction houses, car boot sales, antique and second-hand shops of the United Kingdom and Europe. He purchased material from small British country museums who were disposing of their collections, and in one case, just before it was consigned to the local tip. He also purchased from and swapped with private collectors such as James Thomas Hooper
James Thomas Hooper
James Thomas Hooper was a British collector of ethnographic artifacts of the Inuit, Native American, Oceanic and African peoples....
. By the 1950s he joined William Ockelford Oldman
William Ockelford Oldman
William Ockelford Oldman was a British collector and dealer of ethnographic art and European arms and armour. His business W.O. Oldman, Ethnographical Specimens, London was mostly active between the late 1890s and 1913....
and James Thomas Hooper
James Thomas Hooper
James Thomas Hooper was a British collector of ethnographic artifacts of the Inuit, Native American, Oceanic and African peoples....
as one of the top four collectors of ethnographic art in the United Kingdom. Such was the prominent position of these three that the provenance of a large percentage of Oceanic ethnographic material in museums today includes one or more of these collectors.
Although Webster continued to add to his private collection he also supplied numerous museums and private collectors with material. Items sourced from Webster are found in
- the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa TongarewaMuseum of New Zealand Te Papa TongarewaThe Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is the national museum and art gallery of New Zealand, located in Wellington. It is branded and commonly known as Te Papa and Our Place; "Te Papa Tongarewa" is broadly translatable as "the place of treasures of this land".The museum's principles...
- the Otago MuseumOtago museumThe Otago Museum is situated in Dunedin, New Zealand. It was founded in 1868 and has a collection of over two million artefacts and specimens from the fields of natural history and ethnography...
- the Alexander Turnbull Library which purchased his collection of New Zealand manuscripts from the dealer Maggs Brothers in 1970
- the British MuseumBritish MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
Webster also strongly believed in the repatriation of Maori ethnographic material back to New Zealand. He was influential in ensuring the Armytage collection returned to New Zealand and also assisted with the sale of William Oldman's
William Ockelford Oldman
William Ockelford Oldman was a British collector and dealer of ethnographic art and European arms and armour. His business W.O. Oldman, Ethnographical Specimens, London was mostly active between the late 1890s and 1913....
Pacific collection to the New Zealand government in 1948. Webster offered part of his own collection to the New Zealand government in 1962 but the New Zealand government declined to purchase it. Since then the collection has been offered for sale at the auctioneer's Dunbar Sloane. The first part of the collection was auctioned on 21 November 2002 and there are further auctions planned for late 2010 and early 2011.
Webster also published on his collection. In 1948 he published a book on the Armytage collection of Maori Jade He also wrote for Apollo (1951) and for the Journal for the Polynesian Society (1956 and 1957).