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Classical Collections In

UCD School of Classics 2008/9 Heritage Council

Part 1 (2nd edition) Classical Collections Ireland

Introduction

The UCD School of Classics has an on-going research project, the objectives of which are the piecing together of the history of the collections of original classical antiquities and antique works in Ireland, and the compiling of comprehensive catalogues of items collected between the 18th and early 20th centuries, a period of great importance for private, public and educational collecting of classical antiquities in Ireland. In 2006 a discrete one-year project was initiated in conjunction with, and funding from the Heritage Council.

The UCD/Heritage Council project consists primarily of a database, compiling in a user-friendly way essential information, textual and pictorial about the collections of original Greek, Roman and Cypriot antiquities, and antique casts and replicas in Ireland, including some that are no longer in Ireland. The aim of the project is to provide a useful record of collections to help both research and heritage management objectives. It is intended that this is the first phase of a two phase project. Phase 1 started in October 2006 and was concluded in April 2008. It has brought together information from 24 collections in Co. , Co. Kildare, West Meath, Co. Cork, Co. Wexford and Co. Kilkenny. In 2008/9 opportunities arose to add a further two collections and items to the body of material. It is intended that Phase 2 will cover the rest of the counties, including Northern Ireland. As part of the project visits were carried out to view the collections, and as many of the items as possible were inspected in situ and photographed. In some cases the arrangements for access and viewing of the material was slow, and a more thorough study of the material had to be postponed for a later stage. The advantages of electronic databases are that that they can be updated with more information as it becomes available, and entries can be corrected or amended. It is planned therefore to continue adding information, as it is found.

Historical summary The earliest classical collections in Ireland were privately assembled between the 18th century to the first half of the 19th century. In the 18th century, the time of the Grand Tour, they were the result of purchases of young Irishmen travelling to Italy and the East Mediterranean to complete their education. Apart from collecting antiquities themselves, these men were often responsible for establishing family traditions of collecting classical antiquities. Among the most notable collections of this type are the La Touche, Lord Charlemont and Milltown collections. Other private collections had somewhat different origins, for example the collection of , Bishop of Meath, in the first half of the 18th century, and the collection of George Cockburn, who was in the army in the first quarter of the 19th century, but the intentions of all these collectors were essentially the same: the furnishing of the family residence or residences, or their gardens with classical artefacts and art, a desirable addition to the living environment of families educated in the classics. These collections were often part of larger collections of valuable possessions assembled by the families. Along with them they followed a similar fate. Most of the classical collections were dispersed, and many of the antiquities left Ireland, through a series of ‘furniture sales’ with the onset of the ‘Troubles’ or later in the 1930s and 1940s, but exceptionally even as recently as 2005 (see Duke and Duchess of Meath collection). With a small number of exceptions, what remains of the most important classical collections is today in the care of national institutions and educational establishments, who received donations of items (for example the Milltown gift to the National Gallery in 1902), or acquired them from the sales of these collections. Antique sculpture that was displayed in the gardens of the great houses has survived better than the items that had been held within (for example at Powerscourt), but this is not a general rule (for example the antiquities displayed in the garden of Shanganagh Castle were all sold at the 1936 sale along with those in its interior). There are also collections once in Ireland of which the contents and history are poorly known. In the counties covered by this phase of the project, such was the collection of antiquarian Joseph Cooper Walker (1761-1810), whose large collection of artefacts held in his house in Co. Wicklow is said to have included ‘Etruscan’ (most likely Greek) vases, and that of Lord Bessborough (William Ponsonby), owner of Bessborough House (Blackrock, Cork) who travelled with the Earl of Sandwich in Greece and the Aegean and acquired a considerable collection of antiquities. In so far as institutional collections are concerned, with the exception of two which acquired classical antiquities or antique sculpture in the 18th century (the Queen’s University in Cork, now NUI Cork, and the ), most of them date from the 19th and early 20th centuries. First and foremost the National Museum of Ireland built up its collections steadily from the time of its foundation in 1877. Dublin Museum also had an early collection of archaeological interest, including a large number of Polynesian artefact from the Thomas Cook expeditions, which has since been transferred to the National Museum of Ireland, but no classical antiquities were included in its collections. Greek papyri are also among the Berkley Library (TCD) holdings. Classical antiquities continued to be acquired by a small number of private collectors in the 19th and 20th centuries, from a variety of sources. Some eventually found their way to institutions, for example the Kenny collection of Cypriot antiquities to the National Museum of Ireland and to the J & G Hunt Collection, donated to the state in 1993. Small private collections of antiquities do still exist in Ireland, but the items are usually held as family heirlooms. These collections have not been included in the database in its present version. The most recently founded museum to hold among its possession antiquities of interest to this project is the Weingreen Museum of Biblical Antiquities of the School of Religion and Theology in TCD, which was created in the 1970s. Types of items in the collections

The original items that form part of the collections are of various kinds: pottery, artefacts of stone, terracotta figurines, stone sculpture, stone funerary monuments and inscriptions, metalwork and other small artefacts. There are also a number of coin collections, although it was not possible to deal with them comprehensively. The majority of the artefacts have no precise provenance having been bought, either in their countries of origin, or in the antiquities market. But a proportion of them originate from legitimate excavations, and although the precise original context is not known, the site where they were found, and occasionally the date of their discovery are sometimes recorded. These artefacts were usually donated to Irish museums from the surplus material of other museums. It should be noted that one type of classical material has been exempt form this project: the Greek papyri of which there is a substantial collection in Trinity Library, as well as the Chester Beatty Library, and to a lesser degree in University College Dublin. Many of them come from Oxyrhinchus in Egypt, the greatest source of papyri in collections worldwide. The other main classes of artefacts included in this project are 18th and 19th century copies of classical sculpture, commonly known as ‘antique’ sculpture, and sculpture inspired by the classical. Made of marble, other types of stone, bronze, plaster or clay these works are made by artists who worked in Italy for Grand Tourists and collectors. The faithful copies of ancient sculpture are based on the range of originals that became famous, some since they were first discovered in the Renaissance (for example, the Laocoon, of which they are three extant full size examples: Powerscourt House, the NCAD, and the Crawford Gallery). But there are also more uncommon pieces, for example the Girl playing knucklebones in the RDS, . The plaster casts of original antiquities, which are included in this category, often had an educational function as in the instance of UCC, UCD and NCAD, but in most other cases there would have been a significant intention of display associated with their acquisition.

The Database

The database application used is Microsoft Access. In order to preserve some of the historical narrative, collections were in the first instance catalogued under the name of the original collector: individual, family or institution. This was also regarded as particularly appropriate because in the course of the 19th and 20th century events led to the antiquities being transferred from one ownership to another sometimes at different times, and moreover some collections were (and still are) split between more than one establishment, which may be holding them today at different locations. This rule has not been observed, however, in the cases where just one or two antiquities of a collection are known or have survived in secondary ownership. In these cases the objects are listed with the holdings of the collections to which they presently belong. The database has been deciphered to be user-friendly. The main window provides options for editing, browsing or searching. Within each of these sections one can browse or search either by collection or by item. Under collections, one can access information about the present ownership, location of the collection, historical notes on the collection, published and unpublished references, number and types of artefacts and photos. The items in the collections have been classified as (1) original antiquities, (2) casts or copies and (3) as works inspired by the Classical. Information for itemized artefacts includes object name, description, condition, documentation, artist, and in great many cases an illustration of the object. It should be noted that although the important antiquities and antique sculpture have been itemized, and description and relevant information is provided in the database, it has not been possible to do the same with all the items in the collections. Some are therefore for the time being grouped under categories. It remains the objective of the Classical Collections Project to continue entering information on individual items. We therefore intend to produce updated versions of the database in future. Please note (a) Illustrations will only appear in the database if this is used in conjunction with a file with the photographs (named ‘accessimages’) that must be saved in the C drive of the computer. This is provided on a separate file from the database. (b) We strongly recommended that the edit option is not used by anyone else except the editors of the database: the Classical Museum, UCD.

The following collections are included (please note that the collection number given to the collections in this document is given alphabetically and does not correspond to any numerical sequence in the database):

1 Charlemont (Database Collection ID 63) 2 George Cockburn (Database Collection ID 64) 3 Lord Cloncurry (Database Collection ID 80) 4 Crawford Gallery (Database Collection ID 79) 5 F.W. Fitzgerald, 4th Duke of Leinster (Database Collection ID 75) 6 Thomas Hope (Database Collection ID 67) 7 The Hunt Museum (Database Collection ID 65) 8 Ilnacullin (Garnish Island) (Database Collection ID 70) 9 Major-General William Wallace (Database Collection ID 83) 10 Killruddery House (Database Collection ID 3) 11 La Touche (Database Collection ID 2) 12 Milltown (Database Collection ID 1) 13 Edward Murphy (Database Collection ID 4) 14 The National Gallery of Ireland (Database Collection ID 82) 15 National College of Art and Design (Database Collection ID ?) 16 The National Museum of Ireland (Database Collection ID 77) 17 Bishop Pococke (Database Collection ID 78) 18 Powerscourt House (Database Collection ID 73) 19 Ramsfort House (Database Collection ID 68) 20 The Royal Dublin Society (Database Collection ID 76) 21 St. Finian’s College (Database Collection ID 66) 22 (Database Collection ID 69) 23 Classical Museum, University College Dublin (Database Collection ID 74 24 Newman House, University College Dublin (Database Collection ID 87) 25 Weingreen Museum, TCD (Database Collection ID 24) 26 Westport House (Database Collection ID 81)

The introductory hard copy

The present document includes extracts from the database relating to both the collections and some of the items in them. It is intended as an overview of the project. It is aimed as presenting an introduction to the type of information that is included in the database and to the way that the data are organized in it. It comprises a summary of the history of the collections and a selection of illustrated catalogue entries from the much larger repertoire of artefacts treated individually in the database. The information on these pages is laid out in a way that corresponds to the fields in the database under which this information is organized. Photography

We have tried to photograph as many objects as possible as part of the project. In many cases we have obtained photographs from the present owners of the collections or have relied on published photographs. In all cases we have acknowledged the source/copyright of the photos. The photographs included in the database are low resolution, and are not therefore suitable for publication purposes. The copyright of the photography remains with the present day owners of the artefacts. Permission to use any part of this database should be sought jointly from:

The UCD School of Classics University College Dublin Belfield Dublin 4 Tel. 353 (01) 716 8476

The Heritage Council Church Lane Kilkenny Tel. 353 (056) 777 0777

Acknowledgements As part of the project, permission was obtained to visit the locations where the collections are kept and displayed today, as well as get access to and examine the objects themselves. Some visits were carried out prior to the commencement of the joint UCD/Heritage Council project. We wish to thank the following curators, keepers, librarians, researchers and academics for the help provided to the project:

M. Bourke (National Gallery of Ireland) M. Gallagher (Royal Dublin Society) Father Connell (St Finian’s College, Mullingar) H. Dodge () N. Figgis (University College Dublin) S. Fitzpartick (Royal Irish Academy) B. Hoffmann (University of Liverpool) M. Holland (University College Cork) N. Humble (ex University College Cork) A. Ireland (National Archives) A. Johnston (University College London) P. Kennedy (Office of Public Works) C. Morris (Trinity College Dublin) L. Mulvin (University College Dublin) E. Murphy (National College of Art and Design) P. Murray (Crawford Gallery) Prof. M. Turpin (National College of Art and Design)

Compiled by: Project Director: Christina Haywood (UCD) Research Assistant: Eimear Reilly (UCD) Assistant Museum Curator: Renate Kurzmann (UCD) Database design: Matthew Sammon

March 2009