Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus

Curator · Cataloguer · Scholar

Alfred Bernhard-Walcher

fl. 1869–1999 · Austria

Curator in the Vienna Antikensammlung who published the Kunsthistorisches Museum's Cypriot Bronze Age pottery in 1984 and wrote the history of its Cypriot collection for the 1999 catalogue.

Biography

Alfred Bernhard-Walcher wrote the history of how Vienna acquired its Cypriot antiquities. He was a curator in the Antikensammlung of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, and in 1984 he published the museum's Bronze Age pottery from Cyprus as Bronzezeitliche Keramik aus Zypern (Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, Wien 4)2,4. When Masson and Hermary asked about the Idalion capital I 717, "le conservateur, Dr. A. Bernhard-Walcher" supplied the museum's record that Max Ohnefalsch-Richter had sold it to the museum in July 18955. Hans-Günter Buchholz thanked him in 1989 for help with the Vienna archives and holdings, and Robert Merrillees in 1992 for advice on a Late Cypriot figurine with a child6,7. In 1997 he wrote on the Cypriot finds in the Antikensammlung for the exhibition Das Blatt im Meer at Schloss Kittsee3.

The 1999 catalogue of the museum's Cypriot collection carries four authors: Bernhard-Walcher, Günther Dembski, Kurt Gschwantler and Vassos Karageorghis. It arose from cooperation with the Anastasios G. Leventis Foundation in Nicosia and was funded by the European Union; Bernhard-Walcher and Elisabeth Herrmann prepared the edition1. His essay on the history of the collection (pp. 27-44) records that the museum bought 155 objects from Luigi Palma di Cesnola in 1869-70, took in 176 objects through Ohnefalsch-Richter between 1884 and 1895, and received 34 pieces as a gift from Consul Zenon D. Pierides in 19511.

Life and work

  1. 1869–1951
    His 1999 history essay records how the Vienna Cypriot collection was built: Cesnola's 155 objects bought 1869-70; Pyla statue from R. H. Lang via Admiral Millosich (1872); Ohnefalsch-Richter purchases and exchanges 1884-95 (176 objects); Ludolf and Przibram diplomat collections 1873-84; a 1951 gift of 34 pieces from Consul Zenon D. Pierides.

    ViennaBernhard-Walcher et al. 1999

  2. 1984
    Published the Bronze Age pottery from Cyprus in the Kunsthistorisches Museum as Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum Osterreich, Wien, KHM 4 (Vienna, Verlag der Osterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften).

    ViennaBernhard-Walcher et al. 1999Karageorghis 1998, p. 119-120

  3. 1988
    As curator he told Masson and Hermary that the Idalion capital (KHM I 717) was bought in July 1895 by Max Ohnefalsch-Richter, labelled 'from the acropolis of Idalion (eastern part)'.

    ViennaMasson & Hermary 1988, n. 39, p. 14

  4. 1989
    Thanked by H.-G. Buchholz for help with archives and Cypriot holdings in Vienna, for the study of Max Ohnefalsch-Richter as archaeologist in Cyprus.

    ViennaBuchholz 1989

  5. 1997
    Wrote 'Die archaologischen Funde aus Zypern in der Antikensammlung des Kunsthistorischen Museums in Wien' for the exhibition 'Das Blatt im Meer. Zypern in osterreichischen Sammlungen' (Ethnographisches Museum Schloss Kittsee, 26 April-2 Nov 1997).

    Kittsee

  6. 1999
    Co-author, with G. Dembski, K. Gschwantler and V. Karageorghis, of the illustrated catalogue of the KHM Cypriot collection; wrote the history essay 'Die Geschichte der zyprischen Sammlung in Wien' (pp. 27-44), the essay on a hundred years of Cypriot archaeology (p. 23) and many catalogue entries (sigla ABW). The project arose from cooperation with the Foundation Anastasios G. Leventis, Nicosia, and was funded by the European Union (Raphael programme); he and Elisabeth Herrmann did the editorial preparation, restoration preceded new photographs by Hans Kraftner.

    ViennaBernhard-Walcher et al. 1999Karageorghis 1998, p. 120

Connections

6 people
Vassos KarageorghisKurt GschwantlerGünther DembskiWilfried SeipelHans-Günter BuchholzElisabeth HerrmannAlfred Bernhard-Walcher
ScholarshipColleagues

Scholarship

Colleagues & contacts

Sources

  1. 1.A. Bernhard-Walcher, G. Dembski, K. Gschwantler, V. Karageorghis (1999). Die Sammlung zyprischer Antiken im Kunsthistorischen Museum / The Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum.
  2. 2.A. Bernhard-Walcher (1984). Bronzezeitliche Keramik aus Zypern. Vienna, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
  3. 3.A. Bernhard-Walcher (1997). “Die archäologischen Funde aus Zypern in der Antikensammlung des Kunsthistorischen Museums in Wien”. Das Blatt im Meer - Zypern in österreichischen Sammlungen, 129-146. Kittsee.
  4. 4.V. Karageorghis (1998). “Cypriote Antiquities in Foreign Museums”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 28, 118-119.
  5. 5.O. Masson, A. Hermary (1988). “Le voyage de Ludwig Ross à Chypre en 1845 et les antiquités chypriotes du Musée de Berlin”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 9, 3-10. Online
  6. 6.H.-G. Buchholz (1989). “Max Ohnefalsch-Richter als Archäologe auf Zypern”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 11-12, 3-27.
  7. 7.Robert S. Merrillees (1992). “A Late Cypriote figurine with child from the Boysset Collection (now Sèvres Museum)”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 18, 3-7. Online