A. W. F. Fuller

Alfred Walter Francis Fuller FRAI (29 March 1882 – 13 December 1961) was a British anthropologist and ethnographic collector, best known for his collection of over 6,800 items from the Pacific that is now held in the Field Museum in Chicago.

Fuller qualified as a solicitor but on the outbreak of World War I he joined the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and rose to the rank of captain[1] while serving on the Salonika front.

Always a keen anthropologist, Fuller began collecting on a large scale after the war, principally at auctions and from closing local museums.

He refused throughout his life to deal in objects, and the only sale he made was in 1958, shortly before his death, when he sold more than 6,800 items from the Pacific to the Field Museum in Chicago for £40,000 (the equivalent of £1,180,400 as of 2025).

[2][3] After his death in 1961 the rest of his collection was dispersed by his wife: the library was eventually purchased by the Bishop Museum in Hawaii.

This collection was formed over 62 years of Fullers lifetime when he was constantly purchasing and trading items in Britain.

His collection was created during an era when Great Britain and Polynesia had a relationship that allowed the import of many Polynesian artifacts.

Alfred Fuller examining his collection.
Iuhi tattooing needles from Easter Island , donated to the Field Museum by Fuller.
HMS Resolution and Discovery in Tahiti , John Cleveley the Younger , c.1770-90. Oil on canvas, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Donated by Fuller.