Collection of Musical Instruments from the Musician and Collector Johan Coenradus Boers c. 1863 - 1905

This photographic print titled, "Collection of Musical Instruments from the Musician and Collector Johan Coenradus Boers," was made by Frederik Christiaan Filip Gräfe. The arrangement of instruments suggests a taxonomic impulse, a mode of ordering the world that parallels the rise of scientific classification in the 19th century, and we could think about the changing status of music at this time. Was this related to the growing professionalization of orchestral performance and music education? Did the collecting and display of these instruments reflect a growing interest in the history of music, perhaps signaling a shift toward musicology as an academic discipline? Further research into the cultural history of music in the Netherlands, along with archival work on Gräfe's photography business, could provide insights into this image. The social context of its creation would illuminate the relationship between art, collecting, and cultural identity.