Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology

some 6800 registered Cypriot objects, over 70 per cent securely provenanced, the second largest Cypriot collection in Britain after the British Museum (Ulbrich and Kiely); about 3500 provenanced survey sherds are the largest study collection of provenanced Cypriot sherds outside the island (Kiely) (2012)

Ulbrich & Kiely 2012Kiely 2017

1. 1873
   First Cypriot objects registered in the Ashmolean inventory: gold jewellery bought, source unrecorded (AN 1873.141-168). Ulbrich and Kiely count 20 pieces; Ulbrich 2011 counts 29.

   OxfordUlbrich 2011Ulbrich & Kiely 2012

2. 1873–1874
   John Ruskin gave two sculpted grave stelai that he had received from Luigi Palma di Cesnola in return for supporting Cesnola's excavations; Masson adds that Cesnola gave Ruskin objects in thanks for a gift of 1000 pounds c. 1874.

   OxfordJohn RuskinUlbrich & Kiely 2012Masson 1996

3. 1874
   The Trustees of the Christy Collection gave about 425 objects (AN1874.78-492), probably duplicates of pieces already in the British Museum and intended as a teaching collection, including 13 limestone heads and a statuette body that Henry Christy had acquired at Dali (Idalion) on his 1850-51 Levant tour. A. W. Franks was a trustee and BM Keeper.

   OxfordHenry ChristyAugustus Wollaston FranksUlbrich 2011Ulbrich & Kiely 2012

4. 1888
   Cyprus Exploration Fund excavations at Kouklia (Palaepaphos) under D. G. Hogarth: Hogarth divided the spoil with the Government's representative and shipped the cases for the British, Ashmolean and Fitzwilliam Museums. Kiely adds that the Fund shared finds with the Ashmolean and Fitzwilliam.

   KoukliaDavid George HogarthMaier & Karageorghis 1984, p. 17Kiely 2015

5. 1894
   Cyprus Exploration Fund excavations by J. L. Myres at Larnaka and Laxia tou Riou: the Ashmolean received about 1200 provenanced objects, plus about 240 more presented by the British Museum Trustees for Myres's part in the British Museum excavations at Amathus. Laxia tou Riou Tomb 4 was exceptionally divided between the Ashmolean and the Cyprus Museum, duplicates going to the Pitt Rivers Museum; the Kamelarga votive deposit sent duplicate figurines to the BM, Ashmolean, Fitzwilliam, Louvre and Berlin; allocations at Turabi Tekke included gold earrings and a chalcedony seal.

   LarnakaJohn Linton MyresUlbrich & Kiely 2012Myres 1897

6. July 1905
   Evans, as head of the Ashmolean, gave Kamelarga figurines from Myres's 1894 excavation to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (cat. 60-64).

   OxfordSir Arthur John EvansJohn Linton MyresBernhard-Walcher et al. 1999

7. 1909–1927
   D. G. Hogarth was Keeper of the Ashmolean (1909-1927 from Wikipedia, tertiary; OEANE says only that he returned after the First World War to direct the museum).

   OxfordDavid George HogarthDavid George HogarthMeyers 1997

8. 1911
   The Ashmolean obtained 29 mostly Archaic Cypriot antiquities from the Cesnola Collection by exchange with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in return for Minoan material from Knossos (Evans). Masson dates the vases received to 1911 after an exchange of duplicates with New York.

   OxfordSir Arthur John EvansPilides & Papadimitriou 2012, p. 26Masson 1996

9. 1927
   Arthur Evans presented about 20 unprovenanced Cypriot copper weapons and tools from the collection of his father Sir John Evans (e.g. axe heads AN1927.1280, .1282).

   OxfordSir Arthur John EvansSir John EvansPilides & Papadimitriou 2012, p. 26Museum 2026

10. 1935–1952
    Joan du Plat Taylor directed Ashmolean-sponsored work: Ayios Philon (Carpasia) and Tsambres/Aphendrika (c. 1935-1939, co-funded with the Cyprus Museum, finds shared), then Myrtou-Pigadhes (1949 organised and funded by the Ashmolean, 1950-51 with the University of Sydney, V. Seton-Williams). Finds were divided; the final report was published by the Ashmolean in 1957.

    MyrtouJoan du Plat TaylorVeronica Seton-WilliamsKiely 2017Megaw 1951Megaw 1957

11. 1957
    Myrtou-Pigadhes: A Late Bronze Age Sanctuary in Cyprus published by the Ashmolean Museum.

    OxfordJoan du Plat TaylorMegaw 1957

12. 1960–1971
    Hector Catling, Assistant Keeper of Antiquities from 1960 until he left for the British School at Athens in 1971. The Department of Antiquities allowed him to export some 3500 provenanced survey sherds and other items (Neolithic to Roman); he created the Myres Gallery of Ancient Cyprus.

    OxfordHector CatlingKiely 2017

13. 1968–1971
    James Bomford, a collector, gave Cypriot objects (e.g. AN1968.90 alabaster pyxis, AN1971.414); Kiely calls him the most notable donor of gifts and bequests in this period.

    OxfordJames BomfordKiely 2017Museum 2026

14. March 1972
    The Oxford Bowl, a Red Polished scenic bowl, was offered to the Ashmolean by a London dealer; negotiations broke down and the dealer withdrew it. Desmond Morris bought it from the dealer in March 1972.

    LondonDesmond MorrisMorris 1985

15. 1975
    Ancient Cyprus, a guide to the Ashmolean's Cypriot collections, by Ann Brown and H. W. Catling; Brown and Catling also published 'Additions to the Cypriot Collections in the Ashmolean Museum, 1963-77' (1980).

    OxfordAnn BrownHector CatlingKiely 2017

16. 1983
    David Frankel, Early and Middle Cypriote Bronze Age Material in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Corpus of Cypriote Antiquities 7, SIMA XX:7).

    OxfordDavid FrankelKiely 2017

17. 2009
    Redevelopment and reopening of the Ashmolean with 'Crossing cultures, crossing times' galleries. A long-term loan from the British Museum of the Mycenaean 'chariot crater' from Maroni links the Aegean and Near Eastern galleries; the Leventis Foundation supports a full-time curator of the Cypriot collection (Anja Ulbrich).

    OxfordYannis GalanakisJack GreenAnja UlbrichKiely 2017

18. 2011
    Anja Ulbrich published 13 heads and a statuette body from Dali (Idalion), the earliest provenanced find-assemblage in the Cypriot collection, and traced the first Cypriot accessions.

    OxfordAnja UlbrichUlbrich 2011

• Limestone heads and statuette body from Dali (Idalion), Christy Collection

  AN1874.78-492 (Christy gift)from Dalivia Henry Christy1874Ulbrich 2011

• Cylinder seal showing a copper ingot, antelope and weapons

  AN1892.1411via Greville John Chester1892Museum 2026

• Red Polished plank figurine fragments, Denia-Kafkalla

  AN1953.215, AN1953.216, AN1953.217, AN1953.907from Denia-Kafkalla

• Limestone draped votary statuette

  AN1960.647from Golgoi

• Pottery juglets imported from Cyprus (Late Cypriot I)

  AN1890.855, AN1890.857from Cyprusvia Henry Martyn Kennard1890Museum 2026

• Horse and rider figurine, Cypro-Archaic I

  AN1893.163via Archibald Henry Sayce1893Museum 2026

• Cylinder seal with ingot and Cypro-Minoan inscription

  AN1933.1096via Luke Zenon Pierides1933Museum 2026

• Two Red Polished plank figures with multiple heads (Brew 114-115), on loan 1972-2025

  loan file 129via James Alfred Brew1972dossier 2025

• Ancient Cypriot Pottery: A Course from the First Pots to the Classical KingdomsArticle
• Anja Ulbrich and Cyprus's Silent SanctuariesArticle
• Brought Back from Cyprus: A Guide to Family AntiquitiesArticle
• Cypriot Plank Figures: Three Necks, or One Neck and Two Locks of HairArticle
• Inherited Cypriot Antiquities? What You Have and Your OptionsArticle
• Selling Cypriot Antiquities Legally: A Step-by-Step GuideArticle
• The Bull Was a Newcomer: A Two-Headed Bronze Age Vase from CyprusArticle
• The Judge, the Escape, and a Chocolate Box of Six-Thousand-Year-Old SherdsArticle
• The Two Lives of an Antiquity: Understanding Provenance and ProvenienceArticle
• Birds in Ancient CyprusCompendium
• Collecting Cypriot Antiquities Today: Law, Provenance and Due DiligenceCompendium
• Cypro-Archaic CyprusCompendium
• Cypro-Geometric CyprusCompendium
• Early Bronze Age CyprusCompendium
• Earthquakes in Ancient CyprusCompendium
• Faience in Ancient CyprusCompendium
• Food Storage in Ancient Cyprus: Pits, Pithoi and StoreroomsCompendium
• From Bronze to Iron: Cypriot Pottery c. 1300–950 BCECompendium
• Gold, Silver, Tin, Arsenic and Iron in Ancient CyprusCompendium
• Late Bronze Age CyprusCompendium
• Middle Bronze Age CyprusCompendium
• Mycenaean Imports and Local ImitationsCompendium
• Neolithic CyprusCompendium
• Neolithic and Chalcolithic Burial in CyprusCompendium
• Red Polished Philia WareCompendium
• Red Polished WareCompendium
• Red-on-White WareCompendium
• The Maltese Cross on Cypriot PotteryCompendium
• The PhoeniciansCompendium
• Wavy HooksCompendium
• Wavy LinesCompendium
• White Painted Wheelmade WareCompendium
• Base Ring Bilbil Juglet with Funnel Mouth and Neck RidgeObject
• Base Ring II Double Juglet with White-Painted DecorationObject
• Base Ring II Jug with White-Painted Lattice BandsObject
• Bichrome Skyphos with Stags in MetopesObject
• Black-on-Red One-Handled Bowl with Wavy-Line RimObject
• Black-on-Red Plate with Barred Rim and Concentric CirclesObject
• Hollow Mould-Made Female Votary of the Achna Type, Hands to the BreastsObject
• Large Bichrome Plate from Salamis with a Wave Band and Rosette MetopesObject
• Limestone Head of a Votary with a WreathObject
• Red Polished Two-Headed Zoomorphic Askos with a Bull and a Long-Eared HeadObject
• White Painted Double Bowl with Tall Loop HandleObject