Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus

Patron · Collector

Charles Godfrey Gunther

fl. 1916–2017 · United States

Mining entrepreneur, active 1916–2017. Worked at Skouriotissa.

Life and work

  1. 1916
    Private funds from Gunther, 'owner of the Skouriotissa mine', allowed Markides to excavate at Polis Oct-Nov 1916 (about sixty tombs by 1918).

    Polis ChrysochousChilds et al. 2012

  2. 1929
    Named by Stanley-Price (2025, para 20) among leading personalities of the Cyprus Mines Corporation (with J. L. Bruce) who 'came under suspicion' in spring 1929 discussions of illegal export; the Acting Governor had a 'reliable report' that American officials at Skouriotissa were exporting antiquities, evading customs. The report concerns the officials, not Gunther by name.

    SkouriotissaStanley-Price 2025, n. 52

  3. 1929
    NamedStanley-Price: Gunther and J. L. Bruce 'came under suspicion' in 1929 discussions of illegal export. Suspicion only; no charge or finding reported.

    Stanley-Price 2025

  4. 1952
    Gunther bequest to the American Numismatic Society: about 14 lead seals (ANS 1952.196) plus coins; one seal given earlier by Christian G. Gunther (1949, ANS 1952.142). Better seals were kept by the Cyprus Museum.

    New YorkMetcalf 2009, pp. 116-118

Connections

2 people

Sales, gifts & bequests

Scholarship

Colleagues & contacts

Objects

  • Lead seals and coins (Byzantine), about 14 lead seals in ANS

    American Numismatic Society 1952.196, 1952.1421952Metcalf 2009, p. 116

Sources

  1. 1.Nicholas Stanley-Price (2025). “Illicit excavation and the sale of 'duplicate' antiquities: Rupert Gunnis and the Cyprus Museum, 1926-1932”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 55, 269-301. Online
  2. 2.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.
  3. 3.Lawrence E. Stager (ed.), Anne M. Walker (ed.) (1989). American Expedition to Idalion, Cyprus, 1973-1980. Chicago, Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.
  4. 4.D. M. Metcalf (2009). Byzantine Cyprus 491-1191. Nicosia, Cyprus Research Centre.