Series·Lawrence-Cesnola album

The photographs

59 object photographs, 1 map · 1881

The sixty photographs mounted on the rectos of the album (fols 1r–60r) record the Lawrence-Cesnola collection as it was shown in London in 1880. After a photograph of an early printed map of Cyprus, the order runs roughly by material: gold jewellery and small objects on boards and in trays; glass vessels; pottery of many shapes, often painted, set out in rows on stepped shelves; terracotta figurines of riders, animals, carts and standing figures; metal blades, pins and discs; coins in trays; stone heads, reliefs and inscribed slabs; and finally lamps. The photographs are neither numbered nor captioned in the album. Our titles and descriptions say what each photograph shows, without identifying single objects.

Olivier Masson noted that in this 1881 printing some photographs were reversed, and that the album remains the best record of many objects whose present location is unknown. The objects were sold at Sotheby's from 1883 (1883 sale catalogue), so a photograph here can help trace a piece now in another collection.

Sources

Cesnola, A. P. di. 1881. Lawrence-Cesnola Collection. Cyprus Antiquities Excavated by Major Alexander Palma di Cesnola, 1876 to 1879. London: W. Holmes & Son.
Masson, O. 1996. "La dispersion des antiquités chypriotes: les deux collections Cesnola." Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 25 (doi:10.3406/cchyp.1996.1298), part II.

Photographs: Lawrence-Cesnola album, Wellcome Collection, London (Public domain)

All series of the Lawrence-Cesnola album