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In 1880, the Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria purchased a collection of Pacific artefacts from the estate of George Thomas Rice, a curiosity dealer in Sydney. The collection eventually entered Melbourne Museum where, despite the previous existence of detailed catalogues and correspondence, it remains unprovenanced and largely undocumented. This article investigates the history of the Rice collection and attempts to relocate it at Museums Victoria today. Although the collection remains untraceable, its history offers valuable insights into the scientific and ideological factors behind the early collecting of Pacific material by Australian museums and the active networks that existed between public museums, commercial curiosity shops and international exhibitions in 19th-century Australia. Finally, the article argues that Rice’s collection is emblematic of the broader problem of absence faced by museums, with the poor documentation proving an impediment to the Museum’s current attempts to engage in community-centred and decolonial practice.

Seeking a Lost Collection at Museums Victoria: George Thomas Rice’s ‘Museum of Island Curios’