My question concerns the guidelines that museums follow in order to
make ethical decisions about whether or not to acquire a specific
ethnographic object.  I am not speaking of cultural patrimony that
leaves a country through the route of sponsored archaeological or
anthropological research with the sanction of the relevant govern-
ment.  I am referring, instead, to the material that is acquired by
purchase or donation from dealers in ethnographic art and from
private collections.  Private collectors, of course, have always
played a significant role in the creation and enrichment of
museum collections - but their ethics may often run contrary to
public policy concerning the removal of historic ethnographic
material from its "sphere of origin".  How do museums handle the
ethics of accepting historic ethnographic material from private
sources?
 
As a conservator who treats both public and private collections, I
find that there is a heavy ethical burden when treating private
collections, but after the same material has been acquired by a
museum the ethics appear to have been "sanitized".
 
David Walker
Talisman Textile Conservation
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