Abstract

This thesis discusses the creation of an annotated catalogue, a Catalogue Raisonné, of my personal collection of Western European bagpipes consisting of approximately three-hundred items, i.e. sets of bagpipes or parts thereof, both antique and modern, from the workshops of the best makers in Western Europe and North America. The central focus of this thesis is the catalogue raisonné, encompassing detailed entries for each catalogue item and a substantial body of supporting photographic documentation of the bagpipes. This work is devoted to documenting and contextualizing the instruments in my personal collection of bagpipes. Using a mixed-methods approach informed by musicology, history, cultural studies and museum archiving practices, the thesis describes the creation of the catalogue. Each complete or partial set of pipes or individual component is assigned a unique catalogue number and accompanied by captions and descriptive text. The thesis also focuses on cultural and material documentation rather than technical measurement, which is recognized as an additional and separate area of research and study.