Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus

Collection

Lawrence-Cesnola collection

Cypriot antiquities dug at Salamis and Enkomi in 1876-78 for the London financier Edwin Henry Lawrence and dispersed in four Sotheby's sales between 1883 and 1892.

About

The Lawrence-Cesnola collection was formed by Alessandro Palma di Cesnola, who dug mainly at Salamis and Enkomi from 1876 with money from Edwin Henry Lawrence11,12. It was published in the album Cyprus Antiquities (1880-81) and in Salaminia (1882, second edition 1884), and was kept at Lawrence's house at 84 Holland Park11,12. In March 1881 The Athenaeum reported that it had been offered on loan to the South Kensington Museum1. The loan was not taken up. According to Alessandro's own account, the museum offered only six small cases11.

Lawrence consigned the collection to Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge. The sales were held on 1 June 1883, 15 May 1884, 12 March 1888 and 25 April 1892, and together comprised 3,463 lots11,12. The Academy announced the first portion in May 1883 as more than three thousand objects; Masson counts a little over a thousand lots in it2,11. The notices of 1881 and 1883 attribute the collection to General di Cesnola, and the preface of the 1892 sale also credits "General Cesnola"; Masson and Stanley-Price attribute the digging to Alessandro1,11.

James Carnegie, Earl of Southesk, bought a scarab and gems at the 1892 sale, and his 1908 catalogue cites lots 293 or 299, 318 and 5464,5,6. A Roman sigillata jug in Desmond Morris's The Art of Ancient Cyprus carries the label "Lot 293, Cesnola Lawrence Coll. Mar. '88"3. Bowdoin College's 1903 catalogue lists glass bottles and ewers from the collection10. Pieces were still offered under the name in 1918 with the R. Coltman Clephan collection and at Sotheby's on 18 July 19197,8. Vassos Karageorghis noted that lots 199-200 of Christie's sale of 29 April 1991 had been bought at the Sotheby's sale of 12 March 18889.

The Cypriot collection

3,463 lots in four Sotheby sales, 1883-1892, per Stanley-Price (1892)

Nicholas Stanley-Price (2018). Illicit excavation: the trial of Alessandro Palma di Cesnola in Cyprus in 1878. The Antiquaries Journal 98, 297-317

History

  1. 1877
    Alexander Cesnola acquired a Paphos limestone inscription with one line of text for the Lawrence-Gesnola collection, according to his own account.

    Adalbert Bezzenberger (1877). Beiträge zur Kunde der indogermanischen Sprachen

  2. 1883
    Lawrence-Cesnola consigned an object ('statue', reg. 2009,5007.1) to Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers (lot 777) in 1883; now in the British Museum.

    Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt RiversBritish Museum. statue, 2009,5007.1. British Museum collection online

  3. 1884
    Lawrence-Cesnola consigned an object ('sculpture', reg. 1884,0419.8) to the British Museum in 1884; now in the British Museum.

    British Museum. sculpture, 1884,0419.8. British Museum collection online

  4. 1892
    Lawrence-Cesnola consigned 3 objects ('bowl', 'lip-cup', 'stirrup jar'; reg. 1981,0810.2 and others) to Rollin et Feuardent in 1892; now in the British Museum.

    British Museum. bowl, 1981,0810.2, and 2 other object records. British Museum collection online

  5. 1892
    Lawrence-Cesnola consigned an object ('bath-tub; model', reg. 1981,0810.8) to Rollin et Feuardent (lot 613) in 1892; now in the British Museum.

    British Museum. bath-tub; model, 1981,0810.8. British Museum collection online

  6. 1896
  7. Undated
    Lawrence-Cesnola owned an object ('Side-spouted bowl of red polished ware', inv. D 1951.5), now in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge.

    Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge. Side-spouted bowl of red polished ware, D 1951.5. Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge collection online

  8. Undated
    Named as a former owner of two Cypriot objects now in the Egypt Centre, Swansea University: an askos (GR4) and a horse figurine (W229a).

    Egypt Centre - Swansea University. Egypt Centre - Swansea University collection record: «Askos», GR4. Museum Data Service (museumdata.uk)

  9. Undated
    A clay vase of Culture Perth & Kinross (1983.108.1) is recorded as from the Lawrence Cesnola Collection.

    Culture Perth & Kinross. Culture Perth & Kinross collection record: «Clay Vase», 1983.108.1. Museum Data Service (museumdata.uk)

People

3 people

Staff and members · 1

Buyers · 1

Others connected · 1

Objects

Mentioned in

4 mentions
  • People · 2listed under People

Sources

  1. 1. (1881). The Athenaeum 1881-03-12: Iss 2785 (1881).
  2. 2.The Academy 1883-05-19: Vol 23 Iss 576.
  3. 3. (1985). Desmond Morris, The Art of Ancient Cyprus (1985), p. 47.
  4. 4. (1908). Southesk, James Carnegie, Earl of, 1827-1905, Catalogue of the collection of antique gems formed by James, ninth earl of Southesk, K.T. (1908).
  5. 5. (1908). James Carnegie Southesk, Lady Helena Mariota Carnegie, Catalogue of the Collection of Antique Gems Formed by James, Ninth Earl of ... (1908).
  6. 6. (1908). Catalogue of the Collection of Antique Gems Formed by James, Ninth Earl of Southesk (1908).
  7. 7. (1918). Catalogue of Egyptian, Greek & Roman antiquities, the collection of R. Coltman Clephan … Egyptian jewellery, the property of a lady of title, stone, bronze & go (1918-06-20), p. 12. Online
  8. 8. (1919). Sales catalogue: Sotheby's (1919).
  9. 9. (1991). Vassos Karageorghis, A Cypriote centaur figurine rediscovered (1991), p. 30.
  10. 10. (1903). Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Henry Johnson, Descriptive Catalogue of the Bowdoin College Art Collections (1903).
  11. 11.Olivier Masson (1996). “La dispersion des antiquités chypriotes: les deux collections Cesnola”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 25, 3-32. Online
  12. 12.Nicholas Stanley-Price (2018). “Illicit excavation: the trial of Alessandro Palma di Cesnola in Cyprus in 1878”. The Antiquaries Journal 98, 297-317.
  13. 13.British Museum. “statue, 2009,5007.1”. British Museum collection online. Online
  14. 14.British Museum. “sculpture, 1884,0419.8”. British Museum collection online. Online
  15. 15.British Museum. “bowl, 1981,0810.2, and 2 other object records”. British Museum collection online. Online
  16. 16.British Museum. “bath-tub; model, 1981,0810.8”. British Museum collection online. Online
  17. 17.Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge. “Side-spouted bowl of red polished ware, D 1951.5”. Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge collection online. Online
  18. 18.Louis Delaporte (1910). Catalogue des cylindres orientaux et des cachets assyro-babyloniens, perses et syro-cappadociens de la Bibliothèque Nationale.
  19. 19.Morgan, H. de. (1896). Antique iridescent glass, terra cotta vases, statuettes, also remarkable gold coins, from Greece, Syria, and Italy, dating from the fifth century, B.C., to the second, A.D., absolute sale ... old Chinese porcelains ... Ortgies & Co ... [Fifth Ave. Auction Galleries] ... [04/13-15/1896].
  20. 20.Adalbert Bezzenberger (1877). Beiträge zur Kunde der indogermanischen Sprachen.
  21. 21.Egypt Centre - Swansea University. “Egypt Centre - Swansea University collection record: «Askos», GR4”. Museum Data Service (museumdata.uk). Online
  22. 22.Culture Perth & Kinross. “Culture Perth & Kinross collection record: «Clay Vase», 1983.108.1”. Museum Data Service (museumdata.uk).

Corrections and additions

Work here, or visited recently?

Institutions can send their own description, and anyone can tell us when something has changed.

Missing from this record

  • Location not recorded

We would like to hear about

  • Opening hours, closures or a new address
  • What the collection holds
  • Contact details and website
  • A description from the institution itself
Write to us

or alexis@ancientcyprus.com

Tell us if you would like to be thanked by name on the page.