Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus

Excavator · Collector · Consul / diplomat · Cataloguer

Alessandro (Alexander) Palma di Cesnola

1840–1914 · Italy

Younger brother of Luigi who dug at Salamis and Enkomi from 1876, was convicted of illicit excavation in October 1878, and saw his collection sold at Sotheby's in four sales from 1883.

Alessandro (Alexander) Palma di Cesnola

Biography

In October 1878 the new British administration of Cyprus convicted Alessandro Palma di Cesnola of illicit excavation, and the finds seized from him formed the proposed nucleus of a Cyprus Museum, while the rest of his Salamis and Enkomi collection went to London and was sold at Sotheby's3. He was the youngest brother of Luigi Palma di Cesnola. Alessandro's own notice gives his birth as 26 December 1840 at Rivarolo Canavese, near Turin, the seventh and last child of Maurizio Palma di Cesnola; Masson and Stanley-Price give 1839 instead1,3,4.

From the Bersaglieri to Paphos

By his own account he joined the Bersaglieri in 1855, served in the Crimea and in the wars of 1859 and 1866, and retired as a captain in 1869. He then went to South America, where he took part in an expedition in the Plata and Mato Grosso region and held a rank in the Uruguayan army1. In April 1873 he sailed to New York and went on to Cyprus with Luigi. In July 1873 Luigi asked the State Department to appoint him consular agent at Paphos, and the request was approved within two days3,8. Later writers, and his own 1884 notice, call him vice-consul. Stanley-Price, working from State Department records, shows that the post was that of consular agent, that no exequatur is recorded for it, and that his American citizenship was never established. The consulate was abolished in 18763.

He lived at Larnaca and rented a house at Ormidia from Nicolaos Vondiziano3. Late in 1874 or 1875 he left Cyprus, on Stanley-Price's account against his will and for reasons that are not disclosed. In London he studied at the British Museum, met Samuel Birch and found a backer in the financier Edwin Henry Lawrence1,3.

Salamis and Enkomi

He returned to Cyprus on 22 July 1876 and dug on his own account with Lawrence's money. Hadjicosti places him at Ormidia and Xylotymbou in 1876 and at Rizokarpaso in 18771,10. At Kourion he stopped work in 1877, according to Stanley-Price, after opposition from villagers and an Ottoman complaint to the Italian government9. In November 1877 a workman brought him finds from Salamis, and he moved all his diggers there; he wrote later that his collection at that date was not a third of what it became. He applied at Constantinople for a firman, received no positive answer and dug without one, and he gave this as the reason he obtained few large sculptures1. About sixty men worked at Enkomi for six months under his servant Lazaris Philippi3. He put the total at 14,000 objects and said that he had sold none, only given some to visitors1,3. In 1877 he gave a small collection to the Societa Piemontese di Archeologia e Belle Arti in Turin4.

The trial of 1878

Sir Garnet Wolseley banned excavation in August 1878, possibly at the prompting of Charles Newton at the British Museum. Alessandro went to Nicosia, was told by Colonel Greaves that digging was forbidden, and carried on3. Achilleus Vondiziano of Ormidia reported him on 2 October, and Lieutenant Spencer seized finds at Enkomi on 4 October. Alessandro gave himself up at Larnaca on 6 October and spent the night in the konak. He then wrote to the American consul at Beirut as "Late Vice-Consul at Papho, and Acting Consul". Wolseley thought that William Hepworth Dixon, a friend who had stayed with him at Ormidia, had drafted the letter3.

The case was heard before the Mejlis-i-Daavi at Larnaca, with the assessor H. G. White presiding, Henry Brackenbury prosecuting and Claude Delaval Cobham interpreting; Alessandro had asked for Italian. He was found guilty and fined four liras, which Wolseley remitted, and the antiquities were confiscated. More than 1,500 further items were removed from the Ormidia house after the verdict. He said that only 36 of the objects were his and the rest his brother's, which Stanley-Price reads as an attempt to minimise his share3. The confiscated finds were proposed as the nucleus of a Cyprus Museum but stayed for about eleven years in White's and then Cobham's house, and some later went to the museum3,9. He left Cyprus on a Lloyd steamer in February 1879 and did not return1.

London and the sales

He reached London on 22 May 1879, and the collection was arranged in two rooms of Lawrence's house at 84 Holland Park. That year he married Augusta, Lawrence's younger daughter1,4. A photographic album of the collection, with photographs by Henri Claudet, appeared in 1880 and again in 1881, and Salaminia followed in 1882, with a second edition in 1884 and an Italian edition in 18872,4.

In May 1880 he wrote to the British Museum offering his services. Newton advised the Trustees against, on grounds of cost and because he hoped that Kitchener would excavate; Stanley-Price adds that Newton was sympathetic to his account of the events of 18783,6. In 1881 the South Kensington Museum offered six small cases, which he declined, and his proposal to lend most of the collection to the British Museum was not concluded1.

Lawrence then consigned the collection to Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge, which sold it on 1 June 1883, 15 May 1884, 12 March 1888 and, after Lawrence's death in 1891, on 25 April 1892, 3,463 lots in all3,4. Pitt Rivers bought 693 items, and other buyers included Rollin of Feuardent, Ready, Mason, Jackson, Dana Estes and William Ransom4,5. The British Museum bought ten inscribed stones directly from Lawrence in April 18844. Masson puts the total proceeds at 975 pounds, Ulbrich and Kiely at about 2,5004,5. The catalogue of 1892 credits the contents to General Cesnola and omits Alessandro's name4.

Masson and Ulbrich and Kiely describe the collection as disparate and commercial in aim, and Ulbrich and Kiely explain the failure of the British Museum and South Kensington to buy it by its mixed archaeological value. Barker and Merrillees call both brothers "opportunistic plunderers"5,7. Pieces from the sales are now in the British Museum (accession numbers 1884,0419.1-10 and 1892.5-19.1), the Antikensammlung in Berlin, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Ashmolean, Bowdoin College in Maine and the Nicholson Museum in Sydney4,7.

From about 1884 he lived in Italy, at Florence. His preface says that a royal decree of 5 December 1883 named him a major in the Italian army, and that he was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London1,4. He died in 1914. A small collection of Cypriot objects stayed in the family4.

Life and work

  1. 1855
    Enrolled in the 5th Battalion of Bersaglieri; served in the Crimea and in the wars of 1859 and 1866 (self-reported biography).

    Cesnola 1884

  2. 1869
    Retired from the army; went to South America in March 1870 (Buenos Aires, Montevideo, the Paraguay and Mato Grosso expedition).

    Cesnola 1884

  3. April 1873
    Resigned in Uruguay, sailed to New York, spent three months there with Luigi, then left with him for Cyprus.

    New YorkCesnola 1884Stanley-Price 2018

  4. July 1873
    Luigi asked the State Department to appoint Alessandro US Consular Agent at Paphos; approved within two days. Luigi wrote that he 'has declared his intention to become an American citizen'.

    WashingtonMarangou 2000Stanley-Price 2018

  5. 1875–1876
    Left Cyprus (late 1874 or late 1875; 'against his will' on Stanley-Price's account, for undisclosed reasons) and spent the months until mid-1876 in London studying Cypriot archaeology at the British Museum, where he met Samuel Birch; found Edwin H. Lawrence as sponsor.

    LondonCesnola 1884Stanley-Price 2018

  6. 22 July 1876
    Returned to Cyprus; for six months acted for the absent Luigi until the US consulate was abolished; then dug on his own account, funded by Lawrence.

    LarnacaCesnola 1884Hadjicosti 2001

  7. 1877
    Gave a small collection to the Societa Piemontese di Archeologia e Belle Arti, transferred to the Museo di Antichita, Turin.

    TurinMasson 1996

  8. November 1877
    After a workman brought finds from Salamis, moved all his diggers there; the Salamis tombs produced most of what became the Lawrence-Cesnola collection (his own account: 'not a third' of the collection existed before this).

    SalamisCesnola 1884Stanley-Price 2018

  9. 1877
    NamedOfficial complaint by the Ottoman authorities to the Italian government about his activities (Curium); reported by Stanley-Price 2001 from Cesnola's own statement.

    Tatton-Brown 2001Cesnola 1884

  10. 4 October 1878
    Lt E. Spencer, acting on orders from Greaves, went to Enkomi and seized pottery and glass in Panagia Hadji Cristofi's house; later removed over 1,500 items from the Ormidia house.

    EnkomiStanley-Price 2018

  11. 6 October 1878
    Formally arrested at Commissioner White's house in Larnaca, held overnight in the konak; wrote to the US consul at Beirut as 'Late Vice-Consul at Papho, and Acting Consul in Cyprus'.

    LarnacaStanley-Price 2018

  12. October 1878
    Tried before the Mejlis-i-Daavi court at Larnaca (Assessor H. G. White, Brackenbury prosecuting, C. D. Cobham interpreting); found guilty under Art. 7 of the 1874 Ottoman antiquities law; fined four liras (remitted by Wolseley) and the antiquities seized at Enkomi and Ormidia confiscated.

    LarnacaStanley-Price 2018

  13. October 1878
    ConvictedRegina v. Cesnola: tried at the Mejlis-i-Daavi court, Larnaca, for excavating at Enkomi/Salamis without a firman or permit in breach of Art. 7 of the 1874 Ottoman antiquities law and of the High Commissioner's August 1878 ban; found guilty, fined four liras (remitted by Wolseley), antiquities confiscated.

    Stanley-Price 2018Tatton-Brown 2001

  14. December 1878
    NamedSir Charles Dilke asked in the House of Commons about 'Mr de Cesnola, an American citizen', tried for digging without a firman; the Under-Secretary confirmed the fine and confiscation.

    Tatton-Brown 2001Stanley-Price 2018

  15. February 1879
    Left Cyprus by Lloyd steamer and never returned; reached London 22 May 1879.

    Cesnola 1884Stanley-Price 2018

  16. 1879
    Married Augusta, younger daughter of Edwin H. Lawrence.

    LondonCesnola 1884Masson 1996

  17. 1880–1881
    Published the photographic album 'Cyprus Antiquities' (Lawrence-Cesnola Collection), photographed by Henri Claudet; two states, 1880 and 1881 (62 plates per Stanley-Price).

    LondonMasson 1996Stanley-Price 2018

  18. May 1880
    Wrote to the British Museum offering his experience; asked for the equivalent of a Keeper's salary; Newton advised the Trustees against.

    LondonKiely 2010Stanley-Price 2018

  19. 1881
    Donated Cypriot objects to the Museo Craniologico of the Accademia di Medicina, Turin (Nota of 1881).

    TurinMarangou 2000

  20. 1881–1882
    Offered to exhibit the collection at the South Kensington Museum (offered six small cases, declined) and to lend most of it to the British Museum (not concluded).

    LondonCesnola 1884

  21. 1882
    Published Salaminia (Cyprus): the History, Treasures and Antiquities of Salamis (Trubner, 1882); second revised edition with biographical notice and Birch introduction 1884; Italian edition 'Salamina (Cipro)' 1887.

    LondonCesnola 1884Masson 1996Alessandro Palma di Cesnola

  22. 1 June 1883
    First of four Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge sales of the Lawrence-Cesnola collection (property of E. H. Lawrence); further sales 15 May 1884, 12 March 1888 and 25 April 1892.

    LondonMasson 1996Tatton-Brown 2001

  23. 1884
    Left England and settled in Italy (Florence); in Turin by 1884 and elected to the Philotechnic Society.

    Masson 1996Cesnola 1884

Connections

54 people
Augustus Henry Lane Fox P…Edwin Henry LawrenceAdrien Santi MatteiWilliam Ewart GladstoneFrank RansomWilliam RansomLuigi Palma di CesnolaAugusta LawrenceMaurizio Palma di CesnolaArturo Palma di CesnolaTheocharis KoutsocherisLazaris PhilippiAlessandro KoukomoChristodoulos GeorgiGeorgi ZonenoClaude Delaval CobhamGarnet Joseph WolseleyHenry G. WhiteE. SpencerGeorge GreavesAchilleus VondizianoChristophi AndreaHenry BrackenburyPanagia Hadji CristofiJohannes KyriakiDemetrios PieridesOlivier MassonCharles NewtonSamuel BirchErnest RenanD. M. MetcalfF. G. Lo PortoM. J. P. SixEdmond PottierLouis CastanAlexis DrakopoulosArchibald Henry SayceNicolaos VondizianoHenry CarteR. CarteAlessandro (Alexander) Palma di Cesnola
Sales & giftsFamilyFieldworkDisputesScholarshipColleaguesThe 40 best-connected of 54 shown

Sales, gifts & bequests

Family

Fieldwork & employment

Disputes & the law

Scholarship

Colleagues & contacts

Show 19 more

Also: Henry Carte, Luigi Palma di Cesnola, R. Carte.

Objects

  • Whole Lawrence-Cesnola collection (c. 14,000 objects, dug or bought 1876-78): shipped in two consignments to London, shown at 84 Holland Park, offered to the BM and South Kensington Museum, sold in four Sotheby's sales 1883-1892 (3,463 lots)

    From Salamis, Enkomi, Kourion, Paphos area, Soli, Marion, Rizokarpaso and other sites (provenances often uncertain)1876–1878Stanley-Price 2018Ulbrich & Kiely 2012Cesnola 1884

  • Seized antiquities (pottery, glass, 1,500+ items from the Ormidia house plus Enkomi finds), kept in Commissioner White's, then Cobham's house in Larnaca; some later went to the Cyprus Museum

    From Enkomi / SalamisCyprus Museum, NicosiaOctober 1878Stanley-Price 2018Tatton-Brown 2001

  • Ten inscribed stones, mostly Cypriot syllabic (BM 1884.4-19.1-10), including four epitaphs from Marion

    From Marion (attributed by Cesnola to 'Paphos'); two probably ChytroiBritish Museum 1884,0419.1-10April 1884Masson 1996

  • Bronze patera engraved with Phoenician and Egyptian subjects (sale lot 285, 1892), bought by Rollin

    British Museum 1892.5-19.125 April 1892Masson 1996

  • Bronze mirror with the facade of the temple of Paphos (sale 1892 lot 284, bought by Ready; Salaminia fig. 66)

    Antikensammlung, Berlin 839425 April 1892Masson 1996

  • Medieval tympanum from a church at Larnaca (sale 1892 lot 625, 31 pounds, Pitt Rivers; later K. Digby-Jones)

    Victoria and Albert Museum A.2-198225 April 1892Masson 1996

  • Terracotta bath, 11th century BC (from a lot via Rollin, labelled Lawrence-Cesnola; probably part of 1892 lot 623)

    British Museum 1981.8-10.825 April 1892Masson 1996

  • Items bought by Pitt Rivers at the Lawrence-Cesnola sales (693 items in total); Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, holds Cypriot pieces; his 'second' collection was later sold off and partly passed to the Ashmolean (oenochoe with swan, 1892 lot 607)

    Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford; Ashmolean Museum1883–1892Ulbrich & Kiely 2012Masson 1996

  • Lots 401, 402, 407 (inscribed marble and stone, Salaminia figs 90, 93) and other objects bought at the 1892 sale by Dana Estes, bequeathed 1902 to Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine

    Bowdoin College Museum of Art25 April 1892Masson 1996

  • At least 28 Cypriot items marked 'R.C.' in the Nicholson Museum, Sydney, from the Ransom collection bought at the Lawrence-Cesnola sale of 1888 (via Cambridge loan 1947)

    Nicholson Museum, University of Sydney NM47.xxx series12 March 1888Barker & Merrillees 2017

  • White Painted juglet, Cypro-Geometric, said to be from the Lawrence-Cesnola collection, donated by Thomas Hollings

    Leeds Museums (LEEDM.D.1988.0004) LEEDM.D.1988.0004Reeve 2021

  • Cast bronze Osiris figure, 'Ex Lawrence-Cesnola collection'

    World Museum Liverpool 1961.202.180Osiris Figure, World Museum…

  • Cylindrical glass vessel with a Greek inscription, bought in 1878 from a Mattei of Larnaca (recorded by Pottier Aug.-Nov. 1878)

    From Cyprus1878Merrillees 2016

Discussed in documents

Also named in

On Ancient Cyprus

1 page

Sources

  1. 1.Alexander Palma di Cesnola (1884). Salaminia (Cyprus): The History, Treasures, and Antiquities of Salamis in the Island of Cyprus. London, Whiting and Company.
  2. 2.A. P. di Cesnola (1881). Lawrence-Cesnola Collection. Cyprus Antiquities excavated by Major Alexander Palma di Cesnola, 1876 to 1879. London, W. Holmes & Son.
  3. 3.Nicholas Stanley-Price (2018). “Illicit excavation: the trial of Alessandro Palma di Cesnola in Cyprus in 1878”. The Antiquaries Journal 98, 297-317.
  4. 4.Olivier Masson (1996). “La dispersion des antiquités chypriotes: les deux collections Cesnola”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 25, 3-32. Online
  5. 5.Anja Ulbrich, Thomas Kiely (2012). “Britain and the Archaeology of Cyprus. I. The long 19th century”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 42. Online
  6. 6.T. Kiely (2010). “Charles Newton and the archaeology of Cyprus”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 40, 231-251. Online
  7. 7.Craig Barker, Robert S. Merrillees (2017). “Cypriot Antiquities from the Cesnola Collections in the Nicholson Museum at the University of Sydney”. Mediterranean Archaeology 30, 51-71.
  8. 8.A. G. Marangou (ed.) (2000). The Consul Luigi Palma di Cesnola 1832-1904: Life and Deeds.
  9. 9.Veronica Tatton-Brown (ed.) (2001). Cyprus in the 19th Century AD: Fact, Fancy and Fiction. Oxford, Oxbow.
  10. 10.M. Hadjicosti (2001). “Ormideia: tracing Cesnola's footsteps. Archaeological research and finds”. Cyprus in the 19th Century AD: Fact, Fancy and Fiction, 53-69.
  11. 11.Robert Stuart Merrillees (2016). “Studies on the provenances of the stele of Sargon II from Larnaca (Kition) and the two so-called Dhali (Idalion) silver bowls in the Louvre”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 46, 349-386. Online
  12. 12.Anna Holly Reeve (2021). “Ancient Cyprus in Leeds: Objects, Networks and Museums from 1870 to 1947”. PhD thesis, University of Leeds.
  13. 13.W. A. P. Childs (ed.), J. S. Smith (ed.), J. M. Padgett (ed.) (2012). City of Gold: The Archaeology of Polis Chrysochous, Cyprus. Princeton, Princeton University Art Museum.
  14. 14.Alessandro Palma di Cesnola (Wikidata Q1167420; GND 120475294). Online
  15. 15.“Alessandro Palma di Cesnola”. Wikipedia. Online
  16. 16.“Alessandro Palma di Cesnola”. Wikipedia (it). Online
  17. 17.Osiris Figure, World Museum Liverpool 1961.202.180. Online