Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus

Collector

James Carnegie, 9th Earl of Southesk

1827–1905 · United Kingdom

Scottish peer (1827-1905) whose collection of engraved gems and cylinder seals, catalogued in 1908, included Cypriot pieces from the Lawrence-Cesnola sale of 1892.

Biography

The ninth Earl of Southesk owned a sard scarab with a Cypriot syllabic inscription, bought at the sale of the Lawrence-Cesnola collection in 1892. He was born in Edinburgh on 16 November 1827 and died on 21 February 19051. His gems, catalogued in two volumes in 1908 by his daughter Lady Helena Carnegie, came largely from collections recently sold publicly; others he bought privately3. He bought through agents, above all W. T. (William Talbot) Ready, who bid for him at sales and sold him pieces directly3.

At the Lawrence-Cesnola sale, which the catalogue describes as a collection formed in Cyprus, he bought the scarab A 35 with a lion, a boar and a Cypriot inscription (lot 317). He also bought gems in lots 317, 318 and 546 and two cylinders from lot 293 or 2993,4. The catalogue notes that Sayce read the inscription of A 35 as "Theetonikos" and Furtwängler as A-PO-RI-TO-NE3. Richard Meister discussed the scarab in 1911 as then in Southesk's collection and formerly Alessandro Palma di Cesnola's, with impressions supplied by Lady Helena5.

Other Cypriot pieces came through William Talbot Ready: a cameo catalogued "Cyprus, Col. Warren" in 1891 and, in 1896 and 1897, cylinders from Golgoi and from "Cyprus or Asia Minor"3,4. At Sotheby's on 1 July 1903 he bought a scarab said to have been found at Polis (lot 96)3. The catalogue states that most of the cylinders of its Class Q S, which it describes as Hittite, Cyprian and Cilician, come from Cyprus4.

Life and work

  1. 1881
    Acquired from Colonel Whyte two cylinder seals said to be from Cyprus (Q S 2, steatite; Q S 3, haematite, 'Cypriote, c. 700 B.C.')

    J. Carnegie, Earl of Southesk; H. M. Carnegie (1908). Catalogue of the collection of antique gems formed by James, ninth Earl of Southesk, K.T., vol. 2, p. 111

  2. 1890
    Bought at an anonymous Sotheby's sale (7 July 1890, lot 6) a green agate-jasper scaraboid with a Phoenician sphinx, catalogued as from Cyprus (O 19)

    LondonJ. Carnegie, Earl of Southesk; H. M. Carnegie (1908). Catalogue of the collection of antique gems formed by James, ninth Earl of Southesk, K.T., vol. 1, p. 205

  3. 1891
    Bought through W. Talbot Ready a sardonyx cameo of Africa in an elephant cap, catalogued '[Cyprus, Col. Warren]' (M 9)

    J. Carnegie, Earl of Southesk; H. M. Carnegie (1908). Catalogue of the collection of antique gems formed by James, ninth Earl of Southesk, K.T., vol. 1, pp. 134-135

  4. 1892
    Bought at the Lawrence-Cesnola sale (the collection formed in Cyprus by Alessandro Palma di Cesnola): the sard scarab A 35 with Cypriote inscription (lot 317), the hawk-and-feathers scarab O 21 (lot 317), the sard scaraboid B 10, a horse (lot 318), the agate scaraboid of conjoined male and female heads (lot 546), the red jasper chariot intaglio F 21 (lot 546), the green jasper Isis-Demeter intaglio N 18 (lot 546), and two cylinders, Q S 1 and the oryx cylinder (lot 293 or 299)

    LondonJ. Carnegie, Earl of Southesk; H. M. Carnegie (1908). Catalogue of the collection of antique gems formed by James, ninth Earl of Southesk, K.T., vol. 1, pp. 18-19; J. Carnegie, Earl of Southesk; H. M. Carnegie (1908). Catalogue of the collection of antique gems formed by James, ninth Earl of Southesk, K.T., vol. 2, pp. 110

  5. 1894
    Bought an object ('Engraved Scarab with Youth Leading a Horse', inv. 85.AN.164) from William Talbot Ready in 1894; now in the J. Paul Getty Museum.

    J. Paul Getty Museum collection online, 'Engraved Scarab with Youth Leading a Horse', inv. 85.AN.164

  6. 1896–1897
    Bought through W. Talbot Ready a haematite cylinder 'from Golgoi, Cyprus' (Q S 14, 1896) and a white shell cylinder 'from Cyprus or Asia Minor' (Q S 19, 1897)

    J. Carnegie, Earl of Southesk; H. M. Carnegie (1908). Catalogue of the collection of antique gems formed by James, ninth Earl of Southesk, K.T., vol. 2, pp. 123

  7. 1903
    Bought at Sotheby's, 1 July 1903 (lot 96, anonymous collection [Mr W. L. Nash]), a sard scarab 'said to have been found at Polis' (Polis-tis-Chrysochou) in Cyprus (A 42)

    LondonJ. Carnegie, Earl of Southesk; H. M. Carnegie (1908). Catalogue of the collection of antique gems formed by James, ninth Earl of Southesk, K.T., vol. 1, pp. 22-23

  8. 1905
    Left an object ('Engraved Scarab with Youth Leading a Horse', inv. 85.AN.164) by inheritance to his heirs in 1905; now in the J. Paul Getty Museum.

    J. Paul Getty Museum collection online, 'Engraved Scarab with Youth Leading a Horse', inv. 85.AN.164

  9. 1905–1908
    Owned an object ('Engraved Scarab with Youth Leading a Horse', inv. 85.AN.164) in 1905–1908, now in the J. Paul Getty Museum.

    J. Paul Getty Museum collection online, 'Engraved Scarab with Youth Leading a Horse', inv. 85.AN.164

  10. 1908
    His two-volume Catalogue of the collection of antique gems was published, edited by his daughter Lady Helena Carnegie; the cylinders of 'Class Q S, Hittite, Cyprian, Cilician' are mostly stated to come from Cyprus

    J. Carnegie, Earl of Southesk; H. M. Carnegie (1908). Catalogue of the collection of antique gems formed by James, ninth Earl of Southesk, K.T., vol. 2, pp. 18

  11. 1911
    Richard Meister discussed scarab A 35 as now in the Earl of Southesk's collection, formerly A. P. di Cesnola's, with impressions supplied by Lady Helena Carnegie

    Richard Meister (1911). Beiträge zur griechischen Epigraphik und Dialektologie X. Berichte über die Verhandlungen der Königl. Sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Philologisch-historische Klasse 63 63, 33-35, pp. 34-35

  12. 1945
    Owned 2 objects ('cylinder seal'; reg. 1945,1013.121 and others), now in the British Museum.

    British Museum collection online, reg. 1945,1013.121; 1945,1013.136

Connections

10 people
Alessandro (Alexander) Pa…John Taylor JohnstonCount Michel TyszkiewiczEdwin Henry LawrenceWilliam Talbot ReadyRobert Philips GregGilbert ElliotA. Morrison CollectionColonel WhyteLady Helena CarnegieJames Carnegie, 9th Earl of Southesk
Sales & giftsFamily

Sales, gifts & bequests

Colleagues & contacts

Objects

Mentioned in

11 mentions

Institutions · 1

Sources

  1. 1.Wikidata. James Carnegie, 9th Earl of Southesk. Online
  2. 2.J. Boardman (1970). Pyramidal Stamp Seals in the Persian Empire. p. 44.
  3. 3.J. Carnegie, Earl of Southesk; H. M. Carnegie (1908). Catalogue of the collection of antique gems formed by James, ninth Earl of Southesk, K.T., vol. 1.
  4. 4.J. Carnegie, Earl of Southesk; H. M. Carnegie (1908). Catalogue of the collection of antique gems formed by James, ninth Earl of Southesk, K.T., vol. 2.
  5. 5.Richard Meister (1911). “Beiträge zur griechischen Epigraphik und Dialektologie X”. Berichte über die Verhandlungen der Königl. Sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Philologisch-historische Klasse 63 63, 33-35.
  6. 6.William Hayes Ward (1910). “The seal cylinders of western Asia”. Carnegie Institution of Washington publication no. 100. Carnegie Institution of Washington.
  7. 7. (1929). “Minoan and Greek gems (Bulletin of the Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology)”. Bulletin of the Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology, p. 12.
  8. 8.British Museum collection online.
  9. 9.J. Paul Getty Museum collection online, 'Engraved Scarab with Youth Leading a Horse'.
  10. 10.James Carnegie Southesk, Lady Helena Mariota Carnegie, Catalogue of the Collection of Antique Gems Formed by James, Ninth Earl of ... (1908).
  11. 11.James Carnegie Southesk, Lady Helena Mariota Carnegie, Catalogue of the Collection of Antique Gems Formed by James, Ninth Earl of Southesk (1908).
  12. 12.Southesk, James Carnegie, Earl of, 1827-1905, Catalogue of the collection of antique gems formed by James, ninth earl of Southesk, K.T. (1908).
  13. 13.J. Carnegie, Earl of Southesk; H. M. Carnegie, 1908.
  14. 14.Richard Meister, 1911, Beiträge zur griechischen Epigraphik und Dialektologie X.
  15. 15.Southesk, James Carnegie, Earl of, 1827-1905; Carnegie, Lady Helena Mariota, 1865-, Catalogue of the collection of antique gems formed by James, ninth earl of Southesk, K.T. (1908).
  16. 16.Berichte über die Verhandlungen der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaft zu Leipzig, Philologisch-Historische Klasse (1849).
  17. 17.Earl of Southesk, 1908.
  18. 18.Richard Meister, 1911, Article on Cypriot inscriptions (title not read).
  19. 19.James Carnegie, Earl of Southesk; Lady Helena Mariota Carnegie, 1908.
  20. 20.James Carnegie Southesk; Helena Carnegie, 1908.

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