British Museum

Newton's collection alone exceeded 2,000 Cypriot antiquities by 1885; the Ashmolean, with about 6,800 registered Cypriot objects, is described as the second largest collection in Britain after the British Museum. The museum's holding is rich in Iron Age, Late Bronze Age and later material and holds very few pre-Bronze Age items. (2012)

Kiely 2010Ulbrich & Kiely 2012Kiely 2017

1. 1753
   Founded by Act of Parliament; first galleries opened at Montagu House in 1759.

   British Museum

2. 1825
   George IV gave the museum several Hellenistic coins struck on Cyprus from his father's collection; Cypriot-mint coins also arrived with the Townley Collection (1814) and the Payne Knight bequest (1824).

   George IVRichard Payne KnightUlbrich & Kiely 2012

3. 1852
   Two alphabetic Greek inscriptions (one from New Paphos) bought through the dealer Henry Cureton; Ulbrich and Kiely call them the earliest non-numismatic antiquities definitely from Cyprus in the museum and perhaps in any UK public collection.

   Henry CuretonUlbrich & Kiely 2012

4. 1855
   Demetrios Pierides presented a group of Dali-area limestone sculptures (GR 1855,11-1.1-29), on Charles Newton's recommendation to the Trustees: one of the earliest Cypriot acquisitions.

   Demetrios PieridesCharles NewtonKiely 2010

5. 1861–1885
   Charles Newton was Keeper of Greek and Roman Antiquities. By his retirement the museum held over 2,000 Cypriot antiquities, one of the largest assemblages then in existence, exceeded only by the Cesnola collection in New York. Newton obtained them through consuls and local antiquarians; he bought selectively and kept to a strong classical bias.

   Charles NewtonKiely 2010

6. 1865–1866
   Dominic Colnaghi gave a large group of terracotta figurines and lamps mostly from the sanctuary of Artemis Paralia (Salt Lake, Larnaka), excavated in 1865 with the French consul Maricourt and Pierides.

   LarnakaDominic Ellis ColnaghiUlbrich & Kiely 2012

7. 1868–1869
   Three consignments of Dali limestone sculpture and 'Phoenician' pottery bought from Pierides for a total of 53 pounds.

   Demetrios PieridesKiely 2010

8. 1869–1870
   Thomas Sandwith sold a group of Cypriot tomb pottery (53 pieces) for 20 pounds in 1869 and gave further pieces in 1870.

   Thomas Backhouse SandwithKiely 2010

9. 1869
   After the discovery of the Dali shrine, Stuart Poole inspected Lang's collection for the museum; Newton asked Lang to record the structure and findspots, which produced what Kiely and Ulbrich call the first Cypriot site report (read 1871, published later by the Royal Society of Literature).

   Reginald Stuart PooleRobert Hamilton LangCharles NewtonUlbrich & Kiely 2012

10. 1872
    Trustees failed to secure Luigi Palma di Cesnola's first collection, which the Metropolitan Museum bought for more than 60,000 dollars (about 12,000 pounds); the museum was criticised in the press for losing both Cesnola collections.

    Luigi Palma di CesnolaKiely 2010

11. 1872–1873
    Lang's Idalion (Apollo-Reshef) sanctuary sculpture and coins bought, after Lang accepted 800 pounds against an asking price of 1,600 pounds so that the collection stayed in a British museum; Newton priced it by condition, number of duplicates and market value.

    Robert Hamilton LangCharles NewtonUlbrich & Kiely 2012

12. 1876
    127 objects, mostly vases (BM 1876.9-9.1-127), bought directly from Cesnola through Samuel Birch for 300 pounds, Newton's largest Cypriot expenditure after the Lang collection. The Trustees had earlier offered 10,000 pounds for the 'Curium Treasure' and did not complete a purchase. Some 300 further objects were left on deposit in Bloomsbury and part was sold on: at least 92 pots to the South Kensington Museum and 39 glass vessels to the Fitzwilliam Museum.

    Luigi Palma di CesnolaSamuel BirchKiely 2010

13. 25 July 1878
    Within weeks of the British occupation Newton reported to the Trustees on the desirability of excavating in Cyprus (Kition, Idalion, Golgoi, Kourion, Salamis, Paphos, Soli proposed). The Trustees passed this to the Foreign Office; the Treasury refused about 1,000 pounds for an expedition, and a second request of January 1879 for a modest season also failed.

    Charles NewtonGarnet Joseph WolseleyR. P. PullanKiely 2010

14. April 1879
    Newton visited Cyprus to examine Falkland Warren's collection and the island's sites; his report to the Trustees thanks Warren, Cobham and others whose zeal he hoped would benefit the museum.

    Charles NewtonFalkland WarrenClaude Delaval CobhamKiely 2010

15. 1880
    A group of 1879-80 finds (the Aradippou 'Village Priest's Tomb' BM 1880,7-10.1-23, Kition-Bamboula demolition finds, Limassol and Amathus tomb vases) passed to the museum in 1880 as a gift in the name of Earl Granville.

    Earl GranvilleClaude Delaval CobhamFalkland WarrenKiely 2010

16. 1880–1883
    Small-scale excavations by Max Ohnefalsch-Richter on Newton's behalf, supervised by Cobham and funded by private individuals such as Frederick Leighton, because the Trustees and government gave no money.

    Max Ohnefalsch-RichterClaude Delaval CobhamCharles NewtonFrederic LeightonUlbrich & Kiely 2012

17. 1880
    Newton advised the Trustees against employing Alessandro Palma di Cesnola (cost) and kept hoping that Lt. Kitchener, then surveying Cyprus, could excavate for the museum; Kitchener's offer to act as the museum's representative is dated March 1880.

    Alessandro (Alexander) Palma di CesnolaHerbert KitchenerCharles NewtonKiely 2010

18. 1886–1887
    Marion finds from the Christian-organised excavations of 1886 bought: marble kouros B 325 (BM 1887.8-1.1), Pasiades Painter alabastron, silver ring with gold fly.

    Charles ChristianMax Ohnefalsch-RichterChilds et al. 2012, pp. 16-17

19. 1890–1891
    The Salamis marble bull's-head capital, allocated to the Cyprus Exploration Fund in the 1890 division, was assigned to the British Museum because the Fund could not move it; the Admiralty shipped it, with HMS Melita hauling it five and a half miles to Famagusta in January 1891 at the museum's expense.

    John Arthur Ruskin MunroGeorge Fowler King-HallJoseph MartinRogge et al. 2019, pp. 65-66

20. 1892
    Emma Turner of Oxford left 2,000 pounds to the Trustees for excavation or survey in Europe, Asia or Africa; Cyprus was chosen because of long-standing interest among museum staff and favourable political conditions.

    Emma TurnerUlbrich & Kiely 2012

21. 1893–1894
    First Turner Bequest excavation at Amathus, about 320 numbered tombs, October 1893 to March 1894: Arthur Smith supervised until mid-January, then John Myres (seconded from the British School at Athens); agents were J. W. Williamson and Charles Christian, with Percy Christian doing much of the work. Plain pottery and many 'duplicates' were discarded or sold.

    Arthur Hamilton SmithJohn Linton MyresJohn William WilliamsonCharles ChristianPercy ChristianGregorios AntoniouUlbrich & Kiely 2012

22. 1894–1910
    Duplicates and excavation finds were dispersed from the Turner Bequest digs to institutions in the UK and abroad, among them the Ashmolean (about 240 objects), Leeds (Yorkshire College, Amathus finds 1894/95 and Enkomi, Klavdia and Paphos duplicates 1902) and University College Dublin (1910).

    Nathan BodingtonHenry BrowneUlbrich & Kiely 2012

23. 1895
    Turner Bequest excavation at Kourion under H. B. Walters: cemeteries (including the Late Bronze Age Bamboula tombs with Mycenaean pottery) and a Demeter and Kore sanctuary with a bi-graphic dedication.

    Henry Beauchamp WaltersUlbrich & Kiely 2012

24. 1896
    Turner Bequest excavation at Enkomi, first under Murray, then Percy Christian for about two months, then Arthur Smith; the results made the museum reverse its refusal to fund digs from public money and allow up to 500 pounds a year from the purchase budget.

    Alexander Stuart MurrayPercy ChristianArthur Hamilton SmithGoring 1983

25. 1897–1899
    Museum-funded excavations at Maroni (1897), Hala Sultan Tekke-Vyzakia (1897-98, with J. W. Crowfoot in 1898), and Kouklia and Klavdia-Tremithos (1899, F. B. Welch). All seven sites chosen were cemeteries; results appeared in Excavations in Cyprus (1900).

    Henry Beauchamp WaltersJ. W. CrowfootFrancis Bertram WelchUlbrich & Kiely 2012

26. 1899
    The first Lambousa treasure of Byzantine silver (28 items, BM 1899,4-25,1 onward) bought from the duc de Dino, who had acquired it in 1897 from G. A. Mozeras of Larnaca; it went to the Department of British and Mediaeval Antiquities. Found in 1897 by quarrymen near Acheiropoietos monastery.

    Charles Maurice Camille de Talleyrand-Périgord, fourth duc de DinoGeorge Athanasios MozerasCharles Hercules ReadOrmonde Maddock DaltonConstanti Thoma PishialiMerrillees 2009

27. 1904
    George Francis Hill's catalogue of the Greek coins of Cyprus (BMC Cyprus); other BM catalogues by Walters and Smith covered bronzes, terracottas, vases, lamps, gems and jewellery, ending with Pryce's limestone sculpture catalogue of 1931.

    George HillF. PryceHenry Beauchamp WaltersKiely 2017

28. 1917
    Cypriot objects in the Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities (formerly Oriental Antiquities, which displayed them in a North Gallery 'Cyprian, Phoenician' room) were formally transferred to Greek and Roman Antiquities.

    Kiely 2017

29. 1931
    Silver Cypro-Phoenician bowl from Amathus, once in Ruskin's collection (given to him by Cesnola), acquired by the Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities.

    John RuskinLuigi Palma di CesnolaKiely 2017

30. 1939–1940
    Two Early Bronze Age Vounous tomb groups bought from James Stewart for 50 pounds; Kiely calls them the most important Cypriot addition between the wars.

    James Rivers Barrington StewartKiely 2017

31. 1950
    Bulwer's Cypro-Syllabic clay tablet bought from Rev. W. C. Hall, and two Hellenistic gold necklaces ex Bulwer from Rosemary Webb.

    W. C. HallRosemary WebbHenry Ernest Gascoyne BulwerKiely & Merrillees 2012

32. 1956
    The Chatsworth Apollo (bronze head found at Tamassos in 1836, GR 1958,0418.1) passed from the Devonshire collection to the museum in lieu of death duties.

    William George Spencer Cavendish, 6th Duke of DevonshireDuke of Devonshire (holder of the title in 1956; not named in source)Kiely 2017

33. 1974
    Veronica Tatton-Brown joined as formal curator of ancient Cyprus; Donald Bailey meanwhile published Cypriot groups and the lamps of the V&A before their transfer to Bloomsbury.

    Veronica Tatton-BrownDonald M. BaileyKiely 2017

34. 1979–1980
    Cyprus BC, in collaboration with the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus and the Birmingham Museum; accompanied by Cypriote Art in the British Museum (ed. B. F. Cook) and a colloquium on Chalcolithic Cyprus (ed. Julian Reade, BM Occasional Paper 26).

    B. F. CookJulian ReadeKiely 2017

35. 1987
    First permanent Cyprus gallery (A. G. Leventis Gallery of Ancient Cyprus), championed by Constantine Leventis and Sir David Hunt with advice from Vassos Karageorghis and curated by Veronica Tatton-Brown; described as the first major permanent display of Cypriot antiquities outside the island.

    Constantine LeventisDavid HuntVassos KarageorghisVeronica Tatton-BrownKiely 2017

36. 2000
    Aegean Bronze Age gallery redisplayed by Lesley Fitton and Louise Schofield with Cypriot Minoan and Mycenaean pottery and the contents of Enkomi Tomb 93.

    J. Lesley FittonLouise SchofieldKiely 2017

37. 2005–2011
    Online research catalogue of all Cypriot holdings begun in 2005 with Leventis Foundation support: Lindy Crewe digitised the 1896 Enkomi finds, Kiely continued with Kourion and other collections.

    Lindy CreweThomas KielyKiely 2017

38. 2009
    Ancient Cyprus in the British Museum: Essays in Honour of Veronica Tatton-Brown (ed. T. Kiely, BM Research Publication 180).

    Thomas KielyVeronica Tatton-BrownKiely 2017

39. 2012
    Leventis Gallery refurbished for Cyprus's EU Council Presidency, showing Idalion statues not displayed for almost a century; the Ruddocks funded the Early and Late Mediaeval galleries showing part of the first Cyprus (Lambousa) treasure and Lusignan sgraffito.

    Paul RuddockKiely 2017

• Marble kouros from Marion (B 325)

  1887.8-1.1from Marionvia Charles Christian1887Childs et al. 2012, pp. 16-17

• Marble bull's-head capital from the Cyprus Exploration Fund excavations at Salamis

  from Salamisvia Cyprus Exploration Fund1891Rogge et al. 2019, pp. 65-66

• First Lambousa treasure: Byzantine silver dish, bowl with a saint, censer and spoons (28 items as listed)

  1899,4-25,1 onwardfrom Lambousavia Charles Maurice Camille de Talleyrand-Périgord, fourth duc de Dino1899Merrillees 2009

• Chatsworth Apollo, large bronze head

  GR 1958,0418.1from Tamassos (Politiko)via Duke of Devonshire (holder of the title in 1956; not named in source)1956Kiely 2017

• Aradippou 'Village Priest's Tomb' group

  1880,7-10.1-23from Aradippouvia Earl Granville1880Kiely & Fourrier 2012, p. 282

• Cesnola group of about 127 objects, mostly vases

  1876.9-9.1-127via Luigi Palma di Cesnola1876Masson 1996

• Four gold laminae from Amathus

  GR 1891.6-30.1-4from Amathusvia Major B. Seager1891Hermary 1990, n. 12

• Silver Cypro-Phoenician bowl from Amathus, ex Ruskin

  from Amathusvia John Ruskin1931Kiely 2017

• Selenite imprecation tablets, thought to come from Amathus

  GR 1891,4-18.1 to 59from Amathus areavia J. Handcock1890Tatton-Brown 2001, p. 170; bm-gaa53357: record

• Two Vounous Early Bronze Age tomb groups

  from Vounousvia James Rivers Barrington Stewart1939Kiely 2017

• Cypro-Syllabic clay tablet ex Bulwer

  via W. C. Hall1950Kiely & Merrillees 2012

• Enkomi Tomb 66 finds, e.g. bronze wall-nail for hanging a lamp and silver bowl

  GAA83040from Enkomi1896Museum n.d.

• Dali (Apollo-Reshef) limestone sculpture from Pierides

  GR 1855,11-1.1-29from Dalivia Demetrios Pierides1855Kiely 2010

• A Cypriot Jar in the Mycenaean StyleArticle
• Ancient Cypriot Pottery: A Course from the First Pots to the Classical KingdomsArticle
• Anja Ulbrich and Cyprus's Silent SanctuariesArticle
• Anthropomorphic Hydria: Artifact AnalysisArticle
• Cypriot Plank Figures: Three Necks, or One Neck and Two Locks of HairArticle
• Cypriot Pottery Replicas and Fakes: Is My Piece Real?Article
• Cyprus Export Licences, Lead Seals and Labels: Reading the MarksArticle
• Enkomi Tomb 66: The Tomb with Lamps on Its WallsArticle
• Excavating an Old Excavation: Thomas Kiely and the British Museum's CyprusArticle
• From Colonial Bargains to Contested Heritage: Tracing the Price and Provenance of Cypriot Antiquities (1883-Present)Article
• How many Cypriot artifacts exist outside of Cyprus?Article
• I Inherited Antiquities: What to Do First, Step by StepArticle
• Inherited Cypriot Antiquities? What You Have and Your OptionsArticle
• Licence No. 7070: How Cypriot Antiquities Left the Island LegallyArticle
• Max Ohnefalsch-Richter: The Excavator Who Recorded Cyprus and Scattered ItArticle
• Our First Year in Review: AncientCyprus.comArticle
• Returning or Donating Cypriot Antiquities: How It WorksArticle
• Smoking Strictly Prohibited: How the Cyprus Museum Sold Antiquities Across a CounterArticle
• The British Museum is Suing a Curator who Stole almost 2,000 ArtifactsArticle
• The First Photographs of CyprusArticle
• The House of KoutoulakisArticle
• The Island's Antiquities Broker: Petros KolokasidesArticle
• The Savant of LarnacaArticle
• The Shockingly Bad Art of CyprusArticle
• The Swedish Cyprus Expedition and What It Left BehindArticle
• Two Figures and a TreeArticle
• Unmasking the Mundane Reality of Illicit Artifact SalesArticle
• Vassos Karageorghis (1929–2021): The Maker of Modern Cypriot ArchaeologyArticle
• Visiting The David Johnson CollectionArticle
• AchnaSite
• EnkomiSite
• Makronissos TombsSite
• MaroniSite
• Achaemenid PersiaCompendium
• AmphoraCompendium
• Arrows and Chevron Arrows on Cypriot Iron Age PotteryCompendium
• Base Ring Bull VesselsCompendium
• Base Ring Figurines (Astarte Type)Compendium
• Base Ring WareCompendium
• Baskets and Basket-Handled VesselsCompendium
• Bichrome Red WareCompendium
• Birds in Ancient CyprusCompendium
• Black-on-Red WareCompendium
• BottlesCompendium
• Bronze Age Chamber TombsCompendium
• CirclesCompendium
• Climate and Landscape in Ancient CyprusCompendium
• Collecting Cypriot Antiquities Today: Law, Provenance and Due DiligenceCompendium
• Complex VesselsCompendium
• Copper Metallurgy in Ancient CyprusCompendium
• Cypro-Classical CyprusCompendium
• Dippers and LadlesCompendium
• Drab Polished WareCompendium
• Faience in Ancient CyprusCompendium
• FlasksCompendium
• Food Storage in Ancient Cyprus: Pits, Pithoi and StoreroomsCompendium
• Food and Diet in Ancient CyprusCompendium
• Fortifications in Ancient Cyprus: From Khirokitia to the Siege of PaphosCompendium
• Free-Field Style: Birds, Bulls and Lotus on Cypro-Archaic JugsCompendium
• From Bronze to Iron: Cypriot Pottery c. 1300–950 BCECompendium
• Furniture in Ancient CyprusCompendium
• Glass in Ancient CyprusCompendium
• Gold, Silver, Tin, Arsenic and Iron in Ancient CyprusCompendium
• Hittite Empire and CyprusCompendium
• How Cypriot Figurines Are ClassifiedCompendium
• Iron Age White Painted WareCompendium
• Jugs and JugletsCompendium
• Looting in Occupied Northern Cyprus after 1974Compendium
• Lotus Flowers and Lotus Friezes on Cypriot Iron Age PotteryCompendium
• Medicine and Healing in Ancient CyprusCompendium
• Music and Musical Instruments in Ancient CyprusCompendium
• Mycenaean Imports and Local ImitationsCompendium
• Painted Stone: Colour on Cypriot Limestone SculptureCompendium
• Plain White WareCompendium
• Plants, Trees and Palms on Cypriot PotteryCompendium
• Red Polished Philia WareCompendium
• Ring-Dance GroupsCompendium
• Seafaring and Ships in Ancient CyprusCompendium
• Snowman FigurinesCompendium
• Spindle Whorls and Textile Tools in Ancient CyprusCompendium
• StrainersCompendium
• SwastikasCompendium
• The Legal Export of Cypriot AntiquitiesCompendium
• The Mycenaeans and CyprusCompendium
• Triple Crossing LinesCompendium
• Tulip Bowls and Cult VesselsCompendium
• Village Life in Late Bronze Age CyprusCompendium
• Vounous and Early Bronze Age BurialCompendium
• Wavy LinesCompendium
• Weapons of Bronze Age CyprusCompendium
• White Painted WareCompendium
• White Painted Wheelmade WareCompendium
• Writing and Literacy in Ancient CyprusCompendium
• Zig-ZagsCompendium
• Base Ring Bilbil Juglet with Funnel Mouth and Neck RidgeObject
• Base Ring II Bilbil Juglet with White-Painted BandsObject
• Bichrome IV Handle-Ridge Juglet with Rows of Concentric CirclesObject
• Bichrome IV Trefoil Jug with Intersecting Circles and Cyprus Museum Lead SealObject
• Bichrome IV Trefoil Jug with a Chequer PanelObject
• Bichrome Skyphos with Stags in MetopesObject
• Bichrome Tripod Jar with Double-Loop HandlesObject
• Black Polished Juglet with Incised Decoration and Circled BossesObject
• Black-on-Red Biconical Juglet with Disc MouthObject
• Black-on-Red Globular Jug with Concentric-Circle DecorationObject
• Black-on-Red Trefoil-Mouthed Juglet with Ringed CirclesObject
• Black-on-Red Two-Handled Bowl with Raised Flaring RimObject
• Black-topped Red Polished Bowl with Pierced Knob LugObject
• Black-topped Red Polished Hemispherical BowlObject
• Black-topped Red Polished Tulip Bowl with Incised Hatched LatticeObject
• Black-topped Red Polished Tulip Bowl with Incised Spiral-armed Cross, Circles and ArcadesObject
• Cypriot Three-Handled Jar in the Mycenaean Style with Running SpiralsObject
• Dipper with High Loop HandleObject
• Globular Jug with a Vertical Circle System, Bichrome IV or White Painted IVObject
• Hollow Mould-Made Female Votary of the Achna Type, Hands to the BreastsObject
• Large Bichrome IV Jug with Vertical Circle SystemsObject
• Large White Painted Plate with Knobbed Handles and a Four-Armed Cross on the UndersideObject
• Miniature Black-on-Red Globular JugletObject
• Mottled Red Polished Knob-Lug BowlObject
• Mould-Made Figure of a Veiled Woman Holding a FlowerObject
• Mould-made Terracotta Head of a Woman with a Diadem and Painted FeaturesObject
• Plain Red Polished JugObject
• Plain Red Polished Spindle WhorlObject
• Red Polished Beak-Mouthed Jug with Concentric Circles and ChevronsObject
• Red Polished Beak-Spouted Juglet with Incised CirclesObject
• Red Polished Black-Topped Bottle with Incised Concentric CirclesObject
• Red Polished Black-Topped Bottle with Stepped Incised BandsObject
• Red Polished Bowl with Pierced Knob LugObject
• Red Polished Bowl with Pierced Lug, under Burial CrustObject
• Red Polished Bowl with Two Opposed Tab LugsObject
• Red Polished Double-Necked Jug with Two Modelled BirdsObject
• Red Polished Ear-Lug JarObject
• Red Polished Hemispherical Bowl with Two Rim LugsObject
• Red Polished Jug with Concentric Circles and Line PanelsObject
• Red Polished Jug with Incised Chevron CollarsObject
• Red Polished Juglet with Hatched TrianglesObject
• Red Polished Juglet with High-Swung HandleObject
• Red Polished Knob-lug Bowl with Incised Concentric Circles and Hatched ChevronsObject
• Red Polished One-Handled Jar with Concentric Circles, Deneia StyleObject
• Small Red Polished Bowl with Pierced Lug and Fire-CloudObject
• Two Veiled Figures from a Terracotta Ring-Dance Group, with the Stump of the Central TreeObject
• Upper Part of a Mould-Made Female Figure with an Egyptianizing WigObject
• White Painted III-IV Amphora with Lozenge Chains and Hatched TrianglesObject
• White Painted III-IV Bowl with Rising Handle and Hatched TrianglesObject
• White Painted III-IV Juglet with Cut-away NeckObject
• White Painted IV Ovoid Trefoil Jug with Concentric CirclesObject
• White Painted Jug with Painted Eyes, Chevron Arrow and SwastikaObject
• White Painted Plate with a Sawtooth Star on the UndersideObject
• White Painted Trefoil Jug with Painted Eyes and Dotted CrossesObject
• White Painted Trefoil Jug with Painted Eyes and SwastikasObject
• White Painted VI Owl-Headed RattleObject
• White Slip II Hemispherical Bowl with Wishbone HandleObject
• Zoomorphic Askos with a Horned Head, probably Red PolishedObject