%0 Journal Article
%T Clinical images, imperial power and Bhau Daji’s secret treatment for leprosy at the Royal College of Physicians Museum
%A Kristin Hussey
%A Martha  Biggins
%D 2022
%V 
%N Spring 2021
%K Bhau Daji
%K collection history
%K decolonising
%K empire
%K leprosy
%K medical photography
%X In 1874, Indian polymath physician Bhau Daji (1822–1874) passed away suddenly – and the details of his secretive ‘cure’ for leprosy died with him. Drawing on a collection of clinical photographs and illustrations at the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) Museum, this paper will unravel Daji’s place in the College’s empire-wide enquiry into leprosy in the mid-nineteenth century. We will argue, drawing on Elizabeth Edward’s (2014) work, that these images represent ‘photographic uncertainties’ – both conforming to and undermining traditional conventions of colonial photography, while at the same time highlighting Daji’s place as an ambiguous figure in colonial medical hierarchies. We treat the images as ‘visual arguments’ (Fox and Lawrence, 1998) testifying to the effectiveness of Daji’s secret remedy and the contagious nature of the disease. Despite the supposed objectivity of the photographic form, Daji’s treatment was never seriously investigated by the Leprosy Committee of the Royal College of Physicians. Transported from Bombay to London, we will consider the differential value placed on Daji’s medical expertise as captured by the patient images. In the spirit of the current movement to ‘decolonise collections’, we reflect on how this case study demonstrates the need for specialist medical museums to interrogate their own colonial pasts.
%Z The Acworth Leprosy Museum in Mumbai may hold similar images but have been unable to verify this due to Covid-19 lockdown restrictions and closures.
%Z Royal College of Physicians Museum: PR15292 (Hallums watercolour); PR15295.1 (Babbaji watercolour) and .2 (photographs); PR15293 (Pandurang watercolour); PR15294.1 (Setta watercolour) and .2 (photographs); 2017.2 (Narayir photos); 2018.13 (Pandurang photos); 2018.14 (Hallums photos); 2018.15 (Narayir photos); 2018.16.1 and .2 (Heerji photos). Accessible online via: http://rcp-asp.adlibhosting.com/
%Z Please note that all photographs included in this paper have been chosen for their specific ability to support our analysis, rather than simply as ‘illustrations’. We acknowledge that as clinical photographs they were not intended for general consumption but for a medical audience. We do not know what level of agency the sitters had to consent to the production of such pictures.
%Z Leprosy Committee Report, December 1898, Leprosy Committee files 1887–1898, 2248/10, Archives of the Royal College of Physicians, London
%Z Entry: A Letter from the India Office, 26 January 1872, Annals MS4171, Volume XXX, 260. Archives of the Royal College of Physicians, London
%Z See, for example, photos sent from Bombay, 4119/54; 411952-53; Hong Kong 4119/120; Macao 4119/119, RCP-OFFIP/LEPROSY, RCP interrogations related to incidents and treatment of leprosy, Archives of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
%Z Added emphasis, Letter, Leprosy Committee to Colonial Office, 1872, Annals Volume XXX, MS4171, 1869–1873, Archives of the RCP, 345.
%I The Science Museum Group
%@ 2054-5770
%B eng
%U https://journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/article/clinical-images-imperial-power-and-bhau-dajis-secret-treatment-for-leprosy-at-the-royal-college-of-physicians-museum/
%J Science Museum Group Journal