The Contested Crown: Repatriation Politics between Europe and Mexico

248 Pages·2022·7.135 MB·English

by  Khadija von Zinnenburg Carroll

The Contested Crown

!@
The
CONTESTED
CROWN
Repatriation Politics between
Europe and Mexico
KHADIJA VON ZINNENBURG CARROLL
The University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
Publication of this book has been aided by a grant from the Neil
Harris Endowment Fund, which honors the innovative scholarship
of Neil Harris, the Preston and Sterling Morton Professor Emeritus
of History and Art History at the University of Chicago. The fund
is supported by contributions from the students, colleagues, and
friends of Neil Harris.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2022 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced
in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except
in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews.
For more information, contact the University of Chicago Press,
1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637.
Published 2022
Printed in the United States of America
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 80206- 0 (cloth)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 80223- 7 (e- book)
DOI: https:// doi .org/ 10 .7208/ chicago/9780226802237.0001
This project has received funding from the European Research
Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020
research and innovation programme (grant agreement
No. 101001407 - REPATRIATES).
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Carroll, Khadija von Zinnenburg, 1980– author.
Title: The contested crown : repatriation politics between Europe
and Mexico / Khadija von Zinnenburg Carroll.
Description: Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago, 2022. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2021035827 | ISBN 9780226802060 (cloth) |
ISBN 9780226802237 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Weltmuseum Wien (Austria) | Moctezuma’s
Headdress | Crowns—Mexico. | Headdresses—Mexico.
| Featherwork—Mexico. | Aztecs—Austria—Vienna—
Antiquities. | Cultural property—Mexico. | Cultural
property—Repatriation. | Anthropological museums and
Collections—Moral and ethical aspects.
Classifi cation: LCC CR4485.C7 C37 2021 | DDC 972/.018—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021035827
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48- 1992
(Permanence of Paper).
For Piju and Nikolaus

Contents
Introduction 1
CHAPTER 1: WRITING AS LISTENING 27
CHAPTER 2: EL PENACHO 41
CHAPTER 3: THE VIEW FROM THE VITRINE 83
CHAPTER 4: THE REAL AND THE REPLICA 109
CHAPTER 5: COLLECTING AND CATASTROPHE 133
CHAPTER 6: MONUMENTS AND EXILE 155
CHAPTER 7: RELATIONAL ETHICS AND THE
FUTURE OF MUSEUMS 175
Acknowledgments 199 Notes 203
Bibliography 215 Index 225

Introduction
FIGURE 0.1 The Restitution of Complexity, 2020. Performance by Khadija
von Zinnenburg Carroll and Nikolaus Gansterer.
In a crypt below the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, now hous-
ing some of the city’s principal museums, is found the stor-
age area for less sensitive materials from their collections.
Among them, several Aztec stone sculptures are assembled
on temporary metal racks. Curled up on a shelf is the feath-