Marion: the Ohnefalsch-Richter and Williamson syndicate

In 1886 Max Ohnefalsch-Richter opened 441 tombs in the three necropoleis of Marion: 127 in Necropolis I, 261 in Necropolis II and 53 in Necropolis III^1,2. A private syndicate sponsored the work, and the collection was sold by auction in Paris in 1887^2,3.

The syndicate and the permit

On 21 April 1885 Ohnefalsch-Richter requested a one-month permit to search for tombs³. Childs reports that he received a permit covering multiple sites, limited to four days at each, and that he was required to keep a journal and prepare a catalogue and report³. His trial diggings at Polis that year were especially successful on land belonging to Mullah Mehemed in the eastern part of town^2,3.

Later in 1885 an application was made for a private excavation venture, and Ohnefalsch-Richter stated that he aimed to find vases and jewellery³. Charles Watkins applied for it and sponsored the work with John William Williamson and Charles Christian; Williamson put up the money to buy Mehemed's land at Polis^2,3. Buchholz reports that Christian died of fever during the excavations¹. Ulbrich and Kiely describe the syndicate's exploration of the site as running through 1886–1887⁴.

The 1886 season

The extensive excavation ran from 25 February to August 1886, concentrated principally in the eastern necropolis, Necropolis II³. Ernst Foot served as government overseer, and Buchholz says he kept the excavation diary; where it is now is not recorded^1,3. Tombs and objects were numbered, tombs were measured and drawn, some objects were sketched in the diary, and selected finds were recorded in watercolours and photographs³. Smith notes that the tomb groups were recorded, but tomb locations within each necropolis and find-spots within tombs usually were not, and no overall excavation map survives³. Buchholz argues that no excavation protocols survive for Ohnefalsch-Richter's excavations generally, so the quality of his technique cannot be tested¹.

Myres writes that the eastern necropolis appears to have had a larger proportion of sixth-, fifth- and fourth-century tombs, while Hellenistic tombs were characteristic of the other main necropolis, and calls the burials very richly furnished, particularly with imported Attic pottery^1,2. Tomb 162 in Necropolis II held an Attic white-ground alabastron attributed to the Pasiades Painter, now British Museum 1887.8–1.61 (B 668), and a silver ring topped with a gold fly, British Museum 1887.8–1.63³. In Tomb 70 of the same necropolis Ohnefalsch-Richter found an Attic red-figure kylix signed by the potter Hermaios, British Museum 1892.7–18.5 (E 34)³. A Cycladic marble kouros torso, British Museum 1887.8–1.1, is recorded as coming from Tomb 92; Childs notes that it was found in the dromos³.

On the site of the ancient city, Myres reports that Ohnefalsch-Richter associated Marion with foundations seen east of Polis, while Munro questioned the identification and Myres said decisive evidence was lacking².

The Paris sale and the Government third

The collection was auctioned in Paris on 27 and 28 May 1887, according to Hellmann, who records that W. Froehner wrote the catalogue of the objects from Arsinoe⁵. Childs adds that the sale named Ohnefalsch-Richter as excavator and that Watkins and Christian had exported the contents³. Smith reports that buyers included museums in Paris, Berlin and Copenhagen³. Recke reports that the Berlin museum bought some 300 Cypriot objects at a Paris art auction in 1887, from the Marion necropolis⁶. Caubet reports that the Louvre and the Musée de Saint-Germain-en-Laye obtained material from the Marion excavations, with the Paris dealer Henri Hoffmann as intermediary⁷.

Myres says a few pieces were sold to the British Museum rather than included in the auction, and that the Government third was excepted from the sale, a large part of it remaining in the Cyprus Museum^2,8. Smith notes that the dispersal of the objects to buyers in several European countries makes it difficult to locate the contents of each tomb³. Myres calls Hermann's Das Gräberfeld von Marion auf Cypern (1888), compiled from Ohnefalsch-Richter's notes, the only full account of the excavation².