Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus

Curator · Museum buyer · Scholar

William John Woodhouse

1866–1937 · Australia

Sydney professor of Greek who in 1926-27 bought 23 Cesnola Cypriot objects from the Metropolitan Museum for the Nicholson Museum, the start of its Cypriot collection.

Biography

William John Woodhouse (1866-1937) bought 23 Cypriot objects from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1926-27, the first sizeable group of Cypriot antiquities in Australia1. He held the chair of Greek at the University of Sydney from 1900 to 1937 and was Honorary Curator of the Nicholson Museum; one source gives his curatorship from 1903, another only the chair1,2.

He heard through Arthur Stanley Riggs of Art and Archaeology in Washington that American museums were selling duplicates. Riggs wrote to the Met on 21 June 1926, and on 25 June Ruth Gebhard replied that part of the Cesnola Cypriot material was for sale1. On 23 November 1926 Woodhouse offered 60 pounds raised from friends of the museum and requested small typical pieces and, if possible, a few extra as a gift. He asked that the consignment be addressed to the Registrar to ease the customs duty1. On 5 January 1927 Gisela Richter reported 23 objects chosen at $342, charged at $290.70 after the 15 per cent discount for public institutions1.

Under his curatorship the museum also acquired Greek ostraka, the Nicholson Hermes, Ur and Egyptian material and about 400 casts1. He died on 26 October 19373, and in 1946 his widow gave the museum the "Woodhouse amphora" (NM 46.36)2.

Life and work

  1. 25 June 1926
    Writing via Art and Archaeology's A. S. Riggs, he asked the Metropolitan Museum about buying originals; Ruth Gebhard replied that part of the Cesnola Cypriot glass, pottery, terracotta and limestone heads was being sold (about $2 to $300-400 each).

    Sydney / New YorkBarker & Merrillees 2017, pp. 56-57

  2. 23 November 1926
    Having raised a fund from friends of the Museum (largest subscriber the proprietor of the Sydney Morning Herald), offered the Met 60 pounds sterling for a selection of small typical Cypriot objects, not a large limestone head; hoped for a gift of extra pieces; asked that the case be consigned to the University Registrar for customs.

    SydneyBarker & Merrillees 2017, pp. 57-58

  3. 5 January 1927
    Gisela Richter selected 23 Cypriot objects (glass, sculpture, vases, terracottas) worth $342.00, charged $290.70 (= 60 pounds, after the 15 per cent public-institution discount), shipped by Tice and Lynch; a copy of Myres's Handbook of the Cesnola Collection enclosed. First sizeable Cypriot collection in Australia.

    New YorkBarker & Merrillees 2017, pp. 55

  4. 1946
    His widow, Mrs W. J. Woodhouse, gave the Nicholson the Cypro-Archaic Bichrome IV 'Woodhouse amphora' (NM 46.36, 68 cm); the Friends of the Nicholson bought a matching one (NM 47.21) at auction.

    SydneyBarker 2012

Connections

3 people
Gisela Marie Augusta Rich…Arthur Stanley RiggsRuth H. GebhardWilliam John Woodhouse
Scholarship

Scholarship

Objects

  • 23 Cesnola Cypriot objects (glass, sculpture, vases, terracottas)

    Nicholson Museum, Sydney5 January 1927Barker & Merrillees 2017, pp. 55

  • 'Woodhouse amphora', Bichrome IV, Cypro-Archaic I

    Nicholson Museum, Sydney NM 46.361946Barker 2012

Sources

  1. 1.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.
  2. 2.Craig Barker (2012). Aphrodite's Island: The Cypriot Collection of the Nicholson Museum. Sydney, Nicholson Museum, University of Sydney.
  3. 3.William John Woodhouse (Wikidata Q8013668 / GND 101628862X). Online