Plaster Casts and Reproductions of West Asian Art in the United States National Museum and Washington, DC: A Short Essay on Displays, Histories, and Meanings

ABSTRACT This contribution engages with the complex history of plaster casts and reproductions of ancient West Asian materials in the US capital. Information from archival collections and material repositories at the Smithsonian Institution, Catholic University, and other institutions in Washington, DC, is introduced as the author contextualizes their making and display. The author also explores how these artifacts have become commodities vulnerable to cultural reappropriation. Engaging with the history of modern plaster casts and reproductions of West Asian monuments in Washington, DC, enables us to learn about the many stages of modern life histories of ancient objects during ongoing efforts and tensions in diplomacy and knowledge production.