The Short History of Denmarks Cypriot Art Collections

The Danish National Museum's collection of Cypriot antiquities has a rich and fascinating history that spans nearly two centuries. The first Cypriot artifacts to enter the museum's collection were two Base-Ring Ware Jugs, donated by Alfred Friedrich von Dumreicher in 1824, a collector of Egyptian antiquities who had come across them in Egypt, to the Royal Kunstkammer in Copenhagen. These pieces predate the first large-scale organized excavations on the island, which began in the 1860s under the direction of Luigi Palma di Cesnola. Cesnola's team hastily unearthed numerous incredible finds that were later shipped to the United States, and Cesnola himself went on to become the first Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Another notable figure in the early history of the Danish Cypriot collections is Abraham Jacob Polack, who gifted 38 Cypriot antiquities to the National Museum in Copenhagen between 1872 and 1873. Polack had previously focused on collecting Egyptian antiquities before turning his attention to Cyprus.

In the late 1800s, the Danish National Museum acquired several private collections from the Parisian art market, including the Hoffmann Collection in 1886, the Albert Barre Collection in 1878, the Julien Greau Collection in 1891, and the van Branteghem Collection in 1892. These collections, along with objects from Max Ohnefalsch Richter, contained hundreds of remarkable Cypriot antiquities. Specific inventory numbers for these acquisitions can be found in [1].

The early 1900s saw continued growth of the Danish Cypriot collections. In 1901, Danish diplomat Julius Loytved purchased a Melkart/Herakles head from the Collection Peretie auction in Beirut and later donated it to the National Museum of Copenhagen. Between 1902 and 1914, more pieces of Cypriot art were acquired through excavations on the island of Rhodes, which were later published by Blinkenberg in 1931.

The 1920s marked a period of renewed archaeological interest in Cyprus. In 1912, Frederik Poulsen published "Der Orient und die fruhgriechische Kunst," which featured Cypriot archaeology prominently. This was followed by Chr. Blinkenberg's 1924 study of Aphrodite at Paphos and the publication of "Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum" by Blinkenberg and K. Friis Johansen, discussing Cypriot Bronze Age and Iron Age pottery.

Einar Gjerstad's visit to Cyprus in the early 1920s to write his doctoral thesis led to the formation of the Swedish Cyprus Expedition in 1927. This expedition, which lasted until 1931, was the first to systematically excavate the island, with many of the finds now housed in the Medelhavsmuseet in Stockholm. During this period, many pieces were traded between museums to fill gaps in their collections, making it difficult to precisely track the provenance of some artifacts.

The Danish National Museum also directly purchased several pieces from antiquities dealers in the 1920s, such as Mr. Koutsantonos from Lefkara. In 1935, the Department of Antiquities was founded under the supervision of the British colonial government, marking a new era of archaeological research on the island.

During World War II, Niels Breitenstein wrote about the coroplastic art of Cyprus that had made its way to the Danish National Museum. In the second half of the 20th century, the museum saw almost no new acquisitions of Cypriot art, with the exception of a few pieces donated by private collectors.