MORICE Albert (EN)

Childhood and Education

Albert Morice was a French doctor, traveller, zoologist, and ethnographer. His father, Jean Ansbert Morice (1810-1892), was a captain, and his mother, Marie Louise Noëmie Mélina Mouline (1824-1880), was briefly a postmaster in 1843 before resigning due to lassitude (Arch. Privé Michel Morice). Albert was born in Saint-Étienne, a few months after the Revolution of 1848, the eldest of five children. He was a bachelor throughout his life, and spent part of his life in Cochinchina. His brother, Constant Joseph Michel (1849-1918), joined him around 1879. Another brother, Charles Morice (1861-1919), became a recognised writer and poet.

Albert Morice spent his childhood in Saint-Étienne, Verdun, Angoulême, and Lyon. He studied at the collège of Verdun (Morice A., 1877, p. 311), then at the imperial high schools of Saint-Étienne and Lyon where he chose letters. Passionate about linguistics and poetry, he composed dictionaries, wrote poems, and highly appreciated short stories (Jullien L., 1877). He was a very bright student who therefore had a large choice of subjects to pursue as he continued his studies. His heart tendedtowards the natural sciences: from an early age, he was interested in insects (Société de géographie, 1879) and botany (Magnin A., 1911). After earning a bbachelor’s degree in arts (1866) then in sciences (1867), he began medical studies at the preparatory school of Lyon in November 1866, became an intern in the city’s hospitals (1869) and then completed his studies in Strasbourg in July 1870. He passed his exam the same day the French Empire declared war on the Prussian kingdom (AN AJ/16/6839). His studies were consequently interrupted: he joined an ambulance unit for a time before joining the Army of the East and ended up in Switzerland (Société de géographie, 1879).

In 1871, he enlisted in the Navy and left for Cochinchina in 1872, as a doctor (Morice M., 2018). Based in Saigon, he moved throughout the country carrying out his medical missions, which gave him plenty of time to study the fauna, as well as the peoples and their language. During expeditions along the Donaï or the Mekong and as far as the island of Phú Quốc where he was a vaccinating doctor, he gathered collections which were shared between the museums of Lyon and Paris. He reserved the largest part for Lyon because of his strong attachment to his city. He was a "relentless" collector who put the natural sciences before his professional duty, a priority which earned him some remarks from his superiors: "Naval doctors do not come to Cochinchina to make collections" (Morice M., 2018).

On his return in December 1874 (a six-month leave which would be extended), he registered for a doctorate in January 1875 and defended his thesis (June 25), which he devoted to dengue fever (Morice M., 1875d; AN/AJ/ 16 6839). As soon as it appeared in October 1873, he followed up with a series of lectures and published articles in various fields. The Faculty of Medicine of Paris awarded him a bronze medal for his work on dengue (Faculté de médecine de Paris, 1875 ; Le Progrès médical, 1876). He enrolled in the Anthropology Laboratory of the École des Hautes Etudes, followed its courses and practical exercises; he even began an anthropometric study (Pozzi S., 1878). But he was made a second-class doctor by competition and had to leave. With a high ranking, he had a choice of destination and once again preferred Cochinchina. It was on this occasion that he found himself in Qhi-Nhon [Quy Nhơn] and discovered “Khmer” archeology, which related to the ancient kingdom of Champa. He reported on about forty sandstone sculptures from the ruins of Hu'ng Thanh [Hưng Thành]. The sinking of the Mei-kong (see below), which caused him to lose most of his precious collections, dealt him a very hard blow while his state of health declined. He was repatriated to Marseilles in 1877, then to the maritime hospital of Saint-Mandrier, in Toulon, where he died, barely 29 years old, far from his family without having been able to return to Lyon (Guerraz, P., 1877; Jacquet H., 1878). He had tuberculosis and had contracted various illnesses during his prolonged stays in Indochina, including dysentery and a lung infection. Ironically, he had written a pamphlet providing advice on how to survive the climate of Cochinchina (Morice A., 1875e).

As a member of the Société des Amis des sciences naturelles of Lyon and one of the most zealous donors of the Lyon Museum, he was paid a vibrant tribute by the museum’s director, Louis Lortet (1836-1909): "he died a victim of his devotion and love for his country and for science" (Lortet L., 1878, p. 12-13). His name is engraved on the donor plaque of the muséum de Lyon. He is buried in the Écully cemetery, near Lyon.

Despite the brevity of his life, he managed to build extensive collections (several tens of thousands of objects or specimens) and publish twelve articles in the space of only a few months, several of which are of great interest. Writing came to him easily, and he wrote a well-documented account of his trip to Cochinchina for the Tour du Monde that was pleasant to read and richly illustrated (Morice A., 1875g). Among his unrealised projects, we note the creation at the Geographical Society of a zoological museum classified according to species’ geography rather than their taxonomy (Morice A., 1877, p. 74). He also left behind an unpublished manuscript on reptiles, containing notes and sketches (Arch. MDC, 1/MHN/158).

The Fauna of Cochinchina

About ten years after the 1862 colonisation of the region located in what is now Vietnam, "Basse-Cochinchine", Annam and Tonkin aroused a new attraction for French naturalists who discovered there an exceptional fauna and lush flora. Morice helped lay the foundations for an extensive description of the animal life of Cochinchina. He was also a pioneer of ethnozoology by collating the Annamese, Cham, and Stieng names for known animals (Morice A., 1875c).

He published a catalog of the animals of Cochinchina (Morice A., 1875f), entitled Coup d’œil sur la faune de la Cochinchine française, by analogy with Coup d’œil sur la flore de la Basse-Cochinchine (Jouan H., 1866), and Coup d’œil sur l’archéologie du Cambodge (Hamy T.-E., 1871). This work reports 81 mammals, 89 birds, 114 reptiles, 13 batrachians, 89 fish, 321 insects, 29 arachnids, 11 myriapods, 63 crustaceans, 234 molluscs, 24 worm, and 83 various invertebrates (echinoderms, corals, etc.), that were obtained largely thanks to materials collected on site. For several groups, in particular reptiles, of which he was particularly fond, he was the first to establish a catalogue for Indochina (Saint-Girons H., 1972); he described several new species and discovered the biology of a little-known snake, Herpeton tentaculatum, which he thought to be herbivorous, according to his work presented to the Academy of Sciences (Morice M., 1875a). In recognition of his herpetological work, the snake Oligodon moricei bears his name.

Morice shared many traits with Gilbert Tirant (1848-1899): born the same year as Morice, he also studied medicine in Lyon and completed his thesis at the Faculty of Medicine of Paris. He left for Cochinchina in 1874 and became passionate about zoology (snakes, birds, etc.), the materials for which he also sent to the Lyon Museum. They are often quoted jointly in works relating to their collections.

Ethnography, Anthropology and Ethnolinguistics

During his studies, he fell in love with languages. Cochinchina offered him an ideal place to indulge in this pleasure: he compiled a dictionary for the Cham and Stieng dialects with general principles and vocabulary lists. Morice's "linguistic" studies are mainly lexicological; grammar and phonology are not studied. He makes lexicological comparisons with other languages ​​(Malay, Cambodian, Annamese) and wonders about the origin of certain words; he thus observed that a third of the Cham vocabulary is of Malay origin, an observation which has not been contradicted, as the link between Cham and Malay languages has since been demonstrated. However, he had little time to push his investigations further. To make his lexicon, Morice collected the words directly from the populations: “Those whom I questioned in turn quickly grew tired of my questions” (Morice A., 1875c, p. 13).

Anthropology was another field in which Morice made advances. As a member of the Société anthropologique de Paris, and having taken the courses at the École des hautes études directed by Broca (who was also an examiner for his thesis), he did not neglect this booming discipline in his Indochinese studies. Based on a racist and ethnic conception, it described the different "types" encountered: Chinese, Annamese, Cambodian, Cham and Stieng, with a physical description, their clothes, their habits, their religion, their language, etc. (Morice A., 1875b). His Voyage en Cochinchin is a picturesque story in which he describes in great detail his encounters and the behaviour of the men, women, and children he observed, all illustrated with new drawings made from photographs. (Morice A., 1875f).

He discovered archeology in the region around the city of Qui Nhon where architectural traces of the old champa remained abundant. Upon discovering a set of complete or broken statues that had decorated the Cham temples and, having fallen from their brick structures, were gradually sinking into the ground, he decided to collect them, in the same spirit as his collections of natural science, and to send them to Lyon. Usually, these stones were left untouched by the locals who feared the vengeful spirits of the Cham gods (Hubert J.-F., 2012, p. 13).

The Collection

The natural history collections were sent to the Muséum d’histoire naturelle de Lyon and the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle in Paris. The specimens covered the entire system of classification, ranging from "lower" invertebrates to mammals. The vertebrates were sent "in their skin", and the most interesting specimens underwent taxidermy after their arrival in France, especially in Lyon. Many collections were sent in fluid for scientific studies. Two new species of snakes, Simotes ocellatus and Hypsirhina innominata, were described by Morice (1875f) and syntypes (reference specimens) are present in the collections of Lyon and Paris. The material he collected continues to be studied today and from it new species are still sometimes described.

In Cochinchina, our naturalist acquired a secondary interest in ethnology, history, and archeology. Thus, five shipments of archaeological and ethnographic collections were recorded by the museum of Lyon between July 14, 1876 and October 6, 1877, including a series of bronze axes and pickaxes of Stieng or Bahnar origin (ethnic groups of Vietnam), pipes, water bottles, arrows, actors' hats and helmets, a shield, ornamental pottery, a drum, parasols, weapons, and so on. (Arch. MDC, 1/MHN/53). Their location in the collection is not obvious and approximately three to four of the objects have been found. A wheelbarrow of good size, with a central wheel, today in reserve, was likely also sent by Morice. It is also necessary to note a series of skulls and ethnographic objects intended for the 1878 Exposition des sciences anthropologique, not identified today.

But the most remarkable series is a set of Cham art sculptures, whose story is full of twists and turns.

In the vicinity of the ruined Cham shrines, with their massive and decorated brick towers called askalans, he collected about forty statues. His friend, Dr. Jullien, gives the details: “A few leagues from Qhi-nhon, he recognised eight very ancient monuments, unique in their kind that were covered with allegorical sculptures of great interest; five were standing, the other three knocked down; he resolved to send these interesting ruins to France.” (Jullien L., 1877, p. 6). They were mainly carved stones intended for the architectural ornamentation of the ruins of Hưng Thành, whose site is today in the district of Đống Đa of the city of Quy Nhơn (Riblet I., 1877, p . 8). He had some of the pieces packed and shipped to France in 32 custom-made wooden crates. Circumstances — in particular the possibilities of free shipping — led to the collection being divided into three parts. Unfortunately for Morice, his attempt to cut shipping costs backfired in the worst possible way. The first shipment, consisting of 22 crates containing at least 21 statues or fragments intended for the Muséum d’histoire naturelle of Lyon, samples of wood and local vegetable dyes, as well as an article he had written on local ethnology, was lost on the liner Meï-kong, which belonged to the Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes (Sténuit R., 2005, p. 35). This vessel was shipwrecked at midnight on June 17, 1877 off the coast of Somalia, between Cape Schenarif and Cape Guardafui, at the extreme tip of the Horn of Africa (Beurdeley J.-M., 1997, p. 4). The cargo was looted by the local populations, except for the alcohol and the stone statues, which were certainly too heavy to move (Morice M., 2018).

A second shipment of ten statues, packed in ten crates (weighing 2.14 tons), left Thị Nại for Saigon on May 5, 1877 on the French naval ship Indus. Following its transfer to the Messageries Maritimes steamer Awa, this collection left Saigon on June 14 and subsequently arrived safely in Marseille. From there, the ten boxes were transported to Lyon where they were stored in the museum then located at the Palais des Arts, in the same building as the fine arts museum. A third series of sculptures were left in the garden of the French consulate in Thị Nại and probably joined the park of Kiams de Tourane in Da-Nang, where an important museum of Cham art was opened in 1916 (Sténuit R., 2005, p.35).

At the time, this form of art was unknown in the West and the director of the museum, Louis Lortet, asked the city to set up a room to present these samples, which he then attributed to Khmer art (AM Lyon, 465/WP/10).

It was not until December 31, 1933 that the ten sculptures were recorded in detail in the entry journal of the Musée Guimet of Lyon (Arch. MDC, 1/MGL/8) when they were transferred from the Musée des Beaux-Arts where they had been forgotten. The collection was thus doubly entered into the inventories of the Musée des Beaux-Arts and of the Musée Guimet of Lyon, thus creating confusion about its origins, which lasted for a long time.

The collection’s turbulent history took a new turn in October 1995 when a team of five divers, led by the Belgian historian and archaeologist Robert Sténuit, founder of GRASP (Groupe de recherche archéologique sous-marine postmédiévale), surveyed the waters of the Somali Sea in search of the lost cargo of the Meikong. Under the aegis of the Northeastern Authority of the Republic of Somalia and financed by International Marine Salvage Ltd of Pennsylvania, they prospected for two months in rough seas and ended up reassembling eighteen very eroded sculptures (Stenuit R., 2005, p. 36). Removed from the water, these pieces were cleaned of calcareous concretions and superficial stains in a British conservation laboratory. Sténuit contacted the Muséum de Lyon several times and offered to sell them his collection, but without their agreement (Arch. MDC, AMus-2748; fonds Mourer), he wound up putting it up for sale at Christie's in Amsterdam on November 8, 2000. Two architectural elements dating from the 12th century were purchased by Richard Beleson and were donated to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. The rest of the collection is now dispersed and only a  2005 study by Stenuit makes it possible to compare all the sculptures (Stenuit R. 2005, p. 37-41).

The Musée des Confluences collection is one of the few museum collections of Cham art outside Vietnam. Champa art, or Cham art, refers to an ancient art that originated in Southeast Asia in a region ranging from what is now central to southern Vietnam. It takes its name from the Cham population, of Austronesian origin who settled in this territory during the first millennium BC, and the Champa, which designates an Indianised kingdom that vanished. This set dates from the end of the 12th to the first half of the 13th century, a period of Khmer occupation (Guillon E., 1997, p. 7). These works — two corner lion heads, two eardrums with a praying bust, a tenon praying, a fragment of a polycephalic naga, an element of floral decoration, a dragon's head, a decoration representing a boar and a chimera, a Garuda slaying the snake — probably come from ruined temples in the Bình Định region, namely the Tháp Đôi towers of Hưng Tâ (12th century) and the so-called ivory towers of Dương Long (c. 13th century) (Sténuit R., 2005). Their style is of the Thap Mam or the late Bin Dinh (Guillon E., 1997, p. 4-7).