Hunting, transformation and meaning – Hunting trophies as objects in-between

The paper examines the role of provenance research on colonial hunting trophies and asks how their meaning can be understood through their historical contextualisation. At its centre is the question of when an animal body, in distinction from a natural history object, becomes a trophy, how clearly these boundaries can be drawn, and what the status of being a trophy means for provenance research. Such a classification is closely connected to the history of the respective object: from the hunting and appropriation of the animal through its processing and preparation to its collection, representation, and musealisation. Of particular importance are the differing scopes of agency and regulations governing Indigenous and European hunting, as well as the frequently invisible participation of the colonised population. Hunting trophies are thus understood as objects whose materiality and meaning change throughout their trajectory.