Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus

Collector

Christakis Hadjiprodromou

fl. 1963–1985 · Cyprus

Famagusta collector whose Cypriot collection, registered in 1973, was looted from his house after 1974; part was recovered, bought by the Leventis Foundation and given to the Cyprus Museum.

Biography

Christakis Hadjiprodromou formed his collection in Famagusta between 1963 and 1974. Vassos Karageorghis, as reported by R. S. Merrillees, said that he bought from "producers", meaning people who had dug objects up by accident or illicitly, and not from registered dealers13. Pieces appeared in Karageorghis's Chronique des fouilles from the 1968 report to the 1976 report under the heading "Collection Hadjiprodromou, Famagouste"9. The collection was registered with the Department of Antiquities in 1973 and held many Chalcolithic painted vases and stone figurines12. S. A. Hardy reports that when Karageorghis published the Alaas cemetery in 1975, the collection held 93 objects from it14. No charge or proceeding against Hadjiprodromou is recorded.

After the occupation of Famagusta in 1974 the collection stayed in his house. About a year later it began to be looted, and Karageorghis wrote that it was believed that all items were stolen and illicitly exported12. Picrolite pendants and figurines appeared in Christie's London sale of 27 April 1976 and were claimed by the owner at once12. The Chronique for 1976 reports that objects of this collection had been traced on the European market9.

Part of it came back. The Cyprus Museum's most important acquisitions of 1977 came from the collection10. A large group, stolen from the house and exported to Europe, was repatriated and returned to Hadjiprodromou, then bought by the A. G. Leventis Foundation and given to the Cyprus Museum in 198111,12. His dates of birth and death are not recorded.

Life and work

  1. 1963–1974
    Formed his collection, according to Karageorghis as reported by Merrillees (2014), not from registered antiquities dealers but from 'producers', that is individuals who dug objects up accidentally or illicitly. Merrillees calls it one of the finest private Cypriot collections, put together later than other Famagusta collections.

    FamagustaMerrillees 2014

  2. 1963–1974
    NamedMerrillees (2014, citing Karageorghis) states that he acquired his collection from individuals who dug objects up accidentally or illicitly rather than from registered dealers. Registered in 1973 under the amnesty/declaration scheme; Hardy (2014) argues the declared collections were of illicit origin as a class (the Hadjiprodromou Collection is one of those he analyses). No charge, accusation of crime or proceeding against him is recorded in the sources read.

    Merrillees 2014Hardy 2014Karageorghis & Severis 2010

  3. 1968–1976
    Pieces from his collection published in Karageorghis's annual Chronique des fouilles in BCH (volumes for 1968-1976 each carry a 'Collection Hadjiprodromou, Famagouste' entry).

    FamagustaKarageorghis 1969Karageorghis 1970Karageorghis 1971Karageorghis 1972Karageorghis 1973Karageorghis 1974Karageorghis 1975Karageorghis 1976Karageorghis 1977

  4. 1973
    Collection registered with the Department of Antiquities. Karageorghis (1990) says it comprised a large number of Chalcolithic objects, mainly painted vases and stone figurines. Karageorghis and Severis (2010) name it among the most important of the collections declared in the last six months of 1973.

    FamagustaKarageorghis 1990, p. 54Karageorghis & Severis 2010

  5. 1973
    Hardy (2014) reports that at the time Karageorghis published the Alaas cemetery (1975), the Hadjiprodromou Collection held 93 objects from the site (the Severis Collection 27; the Department excavated 116). Hardy states that unnamed private collectors had 'bought' from the Alaas looters in 1973 and then helped the Department find the site; he does not name Hadjiprodromou as one of them.

    Gastria-AlaasHardy 2014

  6. 1975
    Collection, left in Famagusta after the 1974 occupation, began to be looted 'a year after the occupation'; Karageorghis (1990) writes that it is believed that all items were stolen and illicitly exported.

    FamagustaKarageorghis 1990, p. 54

  7. 1976
    Pieces from the collection (including picrolite pendants and cruciform/Anatolian-type figurines) appeared in the Christie's sale catalogue of 27 April 1976 (Classical, Egyptian, Cypriot and Western Asiatic Antiquities, pp. 20-22, pls. 4-6). Karageorghis (1990) says several such objects were noted in auction catalogues and claimed by the owner, others offered by 'middle-men'. The consignor is not named in the page read.

    LondonKarageorghis 1990, p. 54, p. 58

  8. 1976
    Karageorghis's Chronique for 1976 notes that objects from officially declared private collections left in the occupied zone, 'such as the Hadjiprodromou collection of Famagusta', had been traced on the European market.

    Karageorghis 1977

  9. 1977
    Cyprus Museum acquired its most important acquisitions of the year from the private collection of 'M. Chr. Hadjiprodromou de Famagouste' (e.g. Bichrome IV free-field jug, inv. 1977/VIII-23/10; horse and rider 1977/VIII-23/5; bird askos 1977/VIII-23/3), stolen after Famagusta fell and clandestinely exported. The Chronique does not say how the Museum acquired them.

    NicosiaKarageorghis 1978

  10. 1981
    The Cyprus Museum acquired a large group (Chalcolithic steatite/picrolite idols, free-field vases; inv. 1981/V-4/...) that had been stolen from the Hadjiprodromou house in occupied Famagusta, illegally exported to Europe, repatriated and returned to their owner, then bought by the A. G. Leventis Foundation and presented to the Museum.

    NicosiaKarageorghis 1982Karageorghis 1990, p. 54

Connections

4 people
Vassos KarageorghisAlexander MaliosJean des GagniersLucia VagnettiChristakis Hadjiprodromou
Sales & giftsScholarship

Sales, gifts & bequests

Scholarship

Colleagues & contacts

Objects

  • Chalcolithic cruciform picrolite figurine, ex-Hadjiprodromou no. 889

    From Souskiou-Vathyrkakas (probably)Cyprus Museum, Nicosia 1981/V-4/91981Karageorghis 1990, p. 54Winkelmann 2020

  • Cypro-Archaic I free-field jug with bird, ex-Hadjiprodromou no. 34

    Cyprus Museum, Nicosia 1981/V-4/41981Karageorghis 1990, p. 75

  • Bichrome IV jug with large free-field bird

    Cyprus Museum, Nicosia 1977/VIII-23/101977Karageorghis 1978

  • Three-handled jars cat. 77-78 (Aegean-type pottery study), 'Ex Hadjiprodromou Collection?', now in the Monastery of St Barnabas, Salamis

    Monastery of St Barnabas, SalamisGraziadio

On Ancient Cyprus

8 pages

Sources

  1. 1.V. Karageorghis (1969). “Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1968”. Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 93.
  2. 2.V. Karageorghis (1970). “Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1969”. Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 94.
  3. 3.V. Karageorghis (1971). “Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1970”. Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 95.
  4. 4.V. Karageorghis (1972). “Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1971”. Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 96.
  5. 5.V. Karageorghis (1973). “Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1972”. Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 97.
  6. 6.V. Karageorghis (1974). “Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1973”. Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 98.
  7. 7.V. Karageorghis (1975). “Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1974”. Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 99.
  8. 8.V. Karageorghis (1976). “Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1975”. Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 100.
  9. 9.V. Karageorghis (1977). “Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1976”. Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 101.
  10. 10.V. Karageorghis (1978). “Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1977”. Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 102.
  11. 11.V. Karageorghis (1982). “Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1981”. Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 106.
  12. 12.V. Karageorghis (1990). The A. G. Leventis Foundation and the Cultural Heritage of Cyprus.
  13. 13.Robert Stuart Merrillees (2014). “George Basil Palma, Chemist and Collector of Cypriote Antiquities in Famagusta, Cyprus, in the 20th Century A.D.”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 44. Online
  14. 14.Samuel Andrew Hardy (2014). “Using Open-Source Data to Identify Participation in the Illicit Antiquities Trade: A Case Study on the Cypriot Civil War”. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 20. Online
  15. 15.V. Karageorghis, D. C. Severis (2010). The Severis Collection of Cypriote Antiquities. Nicosia, A. G. Leventis Foundation.
  16. 16.Christine Winkelmann (2020). The Neolithic and Chalcolithic Figurines of Cyprus. Münster, Zaphon.
  17. 17.P. Åström (1981). “Review of J. des Gagniers and V. Karageorghis, Vases et figurines de l'âge du bronze à Chypre”. Phoenix 35, 193-. Online
  18. 18.Giampaolo Graziadio. The Earliest Production of Aegean-Type Pottery in Cyprus.