Museum director · Cataloguer
Eduard von Sacken
1825–1883 · Austria
Director of the Imperial Coin and Antiquity Collection in Vienna who received Millosich's 1871 letters from Cyprus and published the 1879 list of acquisitions that records Cypriot pieces.
Biography
When Rear-Admiral Georg von Millosicz wrote from Smyrna on 24 April 1871 that "in Cyprus we will diligently excavate", he addressed the letter to Eduard von Sacken as director of the Imperial Coin and Antiquity Collection in Vienna1. Sacken was born in Vienna on 3 March 1825 and died there on 20 February 18833. The catalogue of the Cypriot collection gives Joseph Bergmann as director from 1863 to 18711. No source states the date of Sacken's appointment or its end.
On 24 July 1871 Millosich reported on a six-week cruise in the frigate Habsburg with purchases from Cyprus, asked Sacken which pieces suited the imperial collection, and enclosed three photographs. One showed a large figure from Dhali that he had bought from "Mr Lang" for 120 florins1. The collection bought the limestone votive statue from Pyla, which Millosich had taken from the sculptures Robert Hamilton Lang was sending to London, on 12 January 1872 with the permission of the Head of the Chamber1.
In 1879 Sacken published "Neuere Erwerbungen der Antikensammlung des A. h. Kaiserhauses" in Archaeologisch-epigraphische Mittheilungen aus Oesterreich 2, pp. 126-1522. The Cypriot catalogue cites it for two Archaic limestone votive women bought in 1875 from Dr Heinrich Brugsch in Vienna (Inv. I 357 and I 358), and for a terracotta male head bought in Paris in 1876 (Inv. V 1275)1. The Millosich collection itself came to the imperial collection in 1890, by purchase from his daughter Hermine, after Sacken's death1.
Life and work
- 24 April 1871Received Rear-Admiral Millosich's letter from Smyrna announcing his intention to go to Cyprus ('In Cyprus we will diligently excavate'); the letter is in the archive of the Collection of Antiquities, KHM.
- 24 July 1871Received Millosich's report on his six-week cruise (from 19 May, frigate Habsburg) with Cyprus purchases, including a large 'terracotta' (in fact limestone) figure from Dhali bought from Mr Lang for 120 florins; Millosich asked Sacken which pieces suited the imperial collection and sent photographs.
- 12 January 1872The collection bought the limestone votive statue from Pyla, brought by Millosich, with the Head of the Chamber's permission; the Pyla statue came to Vienna in 1872 instead of going to London with the rest of Lang's sculptures.
ViennaBernhard-Walcher et al. 1999, p. 40Bernhard-Walcher et al. 1999, p. 41
- 1875The Antikensammlung acquired two Archaic limestone votive figurines of women (cat. 79, Inv. I 357; cat. 80, Inv. I 358) from Dr Heinrich Brugsch, Vienna; findspot 'Cyprus, no details'.
- 1876The Antikensammlung acquired a Cypro-Archaic II terracotta male head (cat. 73, Inv. V 1275) on the Paris art market; findspot unknown.
ParisBernhard-Walcher et al. 1999, cat. no. 73; Literatur Sacken 1879
- 1879Published 'Neuere Erwerbungen der Antikensammlung des A. h. Kaiserhauses' in Archaeologisch-epigraphische Mittheilungen aus Oesterreich 2, pp. 126-152, listing new acquisitions including Cypriote pieces (Nr. 8, 9).
Connections
3 peopleSales, gifts & bequests
- Bought from Heinrich Brugschprobably1875
Scholarship
- Corresponded with Georg Freiherr von Millosicz1871
Colleagues & contacts
- Succeeded Joseph Bergmannprobably1871
Objects
Head of a Man, Cypro-Archaic II terracotta, mould-made, H. 12.5 cm; KHM cat. 73
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Antikensammlung, Vienna V 12751876Bernhard-Walcher et al. 1999, cat. no. 73
Votive figurine of a woman, Cypro-Archaic II limestone, c.550 BCE, H. 86 cm; KHM cat. 79
From Cyprus, no detailsKunsthistorisches Museum, Antikensammlung, Vienna I 3571875Bernhard-Walcher et al. 1999, cat. no. 79
Votive figurine of a woman, Cypro-Archaic II limestone, c.550 BCE; KHM cat. 80
From Cyprus, no detailsKunsthistorisches Museum, Antikensammlung, Vienna I 3581875Bernhard-Walcher et al. 1999, cat. no. 80
Sources
- 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.E. von Sacken (1879). “Neuere Erwerbungen der Antikensammlung des A. h. Kaiserhauses”. Archaeologisch-epigraphische Mittheilungen aus Oesterreich 2, 126-152.
- 3.“Eduard von Sacken (1825-1883), art historian and archaeologist”. Wikidata / GND 115154094. Online