Pitt Rivers Museum

270 archaeological pieces from Cyprus, of which 200 came with the founding collection donated by Pitt-Rivers in 1884 (2009)

Alarcon & Coote 2012

1. May 1871
   Colonel A. H. Lane Fox (later Pitt Rivers) bought at Sotheby's sale of Cesnola's excavated Cypriot antiquities (1-2 May 1871), among them lot 142 (nine Golgoi ex-votos, now 1884.56/91-99) and lot 48 (vase with bull, man and bird, now 1884.38/2803). Masson reads him among the buyers of the January and May 1871 sales.

   LondonAugustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt RiversLuigi Palma di CesnolaMasson 1996Alarcon & Coote 2012

2. January 1873
   Twenty-five examples of Cypriote metalwork exhibited by Lane Fox (January 1873).

   Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt RiversAlarcon & Coote 2012

3. 1884
   Pitt Rivers gave his first collection to the University of Oxford; it included Cypriot pieces from the Cesnola sales. Masson: the museum was founded in 1884 and the first collection entered that year.

   OxfordAugustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt RiversMasson 1996Pitt Rivers Museum

4. February 1887
   On opening in February 1887 the museum showed in a free-standing case about 120 examples from the founding collection of 'Ancient Pottery from the Island of Cyprus'.

   OxfordAlarcon & Coote 2012

5. 1892
   Seventeen objects from John Wickham Flower's collection transferred to the Pitt Rivers Museum from the University Museum; Flower probably also obtained them from Cesnola sales (the source says 'likely').

   J. W. FlowerAlarcon & Coote 2012

6. 1919
   Rev. H. Hamilton Jackson gave a Roman-period glass flask (1919.29.42).

   H. Hamilton JacksonMuseum 2016

7. 1927
   J. L. Myres published ten pieces from the Cypriot holding (per de Alarcon and Coote).

   John Linton MyresAlarcon & Coote 2012Masson 1996

8. 1997–1998
   Vassos Karageorghis studied the Cypriote collection in 1997 and 1998 and agreed with the museum that it be published and part exhibited in new showcases. He notes that a large part of the original collection was given away or sold after the General's death, that few objects were known (two or three free-field vases on loan to the Ashmolean) and that the Leventis Foundation helped prepare the material.

   OxfordVassos KarageorghisKarageorghis 1998, p. 119-120

9. 1998
   Olivier Masson published eight ex-votos from the holding (per de Alarcon and Coote).

   Olivier MassonAlarcon & Coote 2012

10. 2009
    Karageorghis and others, Cypriote Art in the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, published by the A. G. Leventis Foundation (156 pages, with Evanthia Baboula and others).

    Vassos KarageorghisKarageorghis & Baboula 2009

• Nine small ex-voto statuettes labelled 'Ruins Golgoi temple 1865'; Sotheby's May 1871 lot 142

  1884.56/91-99from Golgoi (label)via Luigi Palma di Cesnola1871Masson 1996

• Vase with bull, man and bird; Sotheby's May 1871 lot 48; published by Myres 1927

  1884.38/2803via Luigi Palma di Cesnola1871Masson 1996

• Vase with a bird attacking a fish, not identified in the 1871 sales; published by Myres

  1884.38/2785Masson 1996

• Male figurine holding a bird (CA I, c. 750-600 BC), cited in Dissinger's corpus (S.T.361)

  1921.54.4Dissinger 2017

• Glass flask, conical body, long neck, flared rim, given by Rev. H. Hamilton Jackson

  1919.29.42via H. Hamilton Jackson1919Museum 2016

• A Bird in the Hand: The 2,700-Year Journey of a Cypriot JugArticle
• How many Cypriot artifacts exist outside of Cyprus?Article
• Spindle Whorls and Textile Tools in Ancient CyprusCompendium
• Bichrome V Jug with Painted Eyes and Leaf StrokesObject
• White Painted II Jug with Cut-away Neck and Lattice PanelsObject
• White Painted Jug with Painted Eyes, Chevron Arrow and SwastikaObject
• White Painted Juglet with a Dotted ArrowObject
• White Painted Trefoil Jug with Painted Eyes and SwastikasObject