Papers by Averil Anderson
British Egyptology Congress 4 Proceedings 2018, 2020
The Collectors and Collection of the McManus Art Galleries & Museum, Dundee
Dundee is Scotland’s... more The Collectors and Collection of the McManus Art Galleries & Museum, Dundee
Dundee is Scotland’s fourth largest city and is on the North-East coast. Dundee was a famous ship building centre and a busy port from medieval times until the early 20th century and in the 19th century Dundee was a centre for the jute industry. The prosperous owners of the factories travelled the world for business and pleasure and used some of their wealth to improve the cultural life of Dundee and its citizens. The ‘Albert Institute for Literature, Science and Art’ was founded in 1862 as one such enterprise. It began as an initiative amongst prominent citizens who purchased shares in the Institute, to enhance the lives and learning of the citizens of Dundee and celebrated its 150th year since opening in 2017.
The Egyptology collection began in the 19th century with donations from the newly formed Egypt Exploration Fund and local collectors who travelled to Egypt, including:
- philanthropist Sir James Caird, one of the City’s Jute mill owners
- Dr Thomas Wyse, a much travelled and highly regarded surgeon with a passion for the links between amulets, superstition and health
- the Rev. Dr. Colin Campbell, local minister who was appointed to St. Mary’s in 1887, was passionate about Egyptology, researching and translating objects in the collection, retiring to Egypt where he made 13 life size paintings of several tomb scenes including Menna and Sennofer, 2 smaller paintings and translating “The Old Egyptian Faith” by Edouard Naville before writing 4 books on Egyptian history.
This diverse collection includes stelae, funerary objects, jewellery, magic lantern slides and an image of Princess Neferure.
It is rewarding to research the collection, piecing together lost records and provenance for objects, preserving their history and that of the collectors.
Dundee is Scotland's fourth largest city and is on the North East coast. Dundee was a famous ship... more Dundee is Scotland's fourth largest city and is on the North East coast. Dundee was a famous ship building centre and a busy port from medieval times until the early 20th century. In the 19th century Dundee was a centre for the jute industry. The prosperous owners of the factories travelled the world for business and pleasure and used some of their wealth to improve the cultural life of Dundee and its citizens.
The "Albert Institute for Literature, Science and Art" was founded in 1862 as one such enterprise. It began as an enterprise amongst prominent citizens who purchased shares in the Institute. Later the Albert Institute would be run by the Town Council and it became "The McManus Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum". It remains Dundee City's main museum, housing the museum's collections, which total approximately 150,000 items including Local History, Decorative Arts, Fine Art, Natural History and World Cultures.
The Egyptology collections were enhanced in the 19th and 20th centuries by donations from local philanthropist Sir James Caird, one of the city's jute mill owners, the Rev. Colin Campbell, the Egypt Exploration Fund and others. However the majority of such objects have long been in storage, and some items all but forgotten.
The McManus Collections Focus projects are 6 month projects working with sections of the collections identified as needing attention. These projects allow the opportunity to look at objects in depth, to record and evaluate them and undertake new research. One such project included a number of coffins "re-discovered" in the Barrack Street Collections Unit during a review of funerary objects in the summer of 2011.
This included a TIP set of coffin and cartonnage, together with an intriguing Roman coffin that appears to imitate a Third Intermediate prototype.
The cartonnage bears the number 1976-1708, but this was allocated many years after its acquisition and is of no help in identifying its provenance. It is, however, clearly of the "northern" type, as is the associated wooden coffin 1976-1170., re-located in September 2012, now unfortunately badly damaged, although the lost mask was identified shortly afterwards under the number 1975-531. It has now been possible to identify the set in an excavation photograph from Edoaurd Naville's work at Sedment for the EEF in 1891.
The cartonnage and it's associated mummy 1976-2146 both have water damage to the chest area, CT-scanning showing the mummy to now be partly collapsed and it's head turned to the side, this is consistent with reports of a fire whilst in storage.
The intriguing Roman coffin 1976-1168 has apparently not been examined since the 1960's, according to the newspaper that its 21 pieces were wrapped in. When reassembled its form could be paralleled by 3rd century AD Roman Period coffins such as the "twins" in Edinburgh and others in Florence. However, the decoration proved to be totally anomalous and appears to have been inspired by 25th & 26th Dynasty bivalve coffins.
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Papers by Averil Anderson
Dundee is Scotland’s fourth largest city and is on the North-East coast. Dundee was a famous ship building centre and a busy port from medieval times until the early 20th century and in the 19th century Dundee was a centre for the jute industry. The prosperous owners of the factories travelled the world for business and pleasure and used some of their wealth to improve the cultural life of Dundee and its citizens. The ‘Albert Institute for Literature, Science and Art’ was founded in 1862 as one such enterprise. It began as an initiative amongst prominent citizens who purchased shares in the Institute, to enhance the lives and learning of the citizens of Dundee and celebrated its 150th year since opening in 2017.
The Egyptology collection began in the 19th century with donations from the newly formed Egypt Exploration Fund and local collectors who travelled to Egypt, including:
- philanthropist Sir James Caird, one of the City’s Jute mill owners
- Dr Thomas Wyse, a much travelled and highly regarded surgeon with a passion for the links between amulets, superstition and health
- the Rev. Dr. Colin Campbell, local minister who was appointed to St. Mary’s in 1887, was passionate about Egyptology, researching and translating objects in the collection, retiring to Egypt where he made 13 life size paintings of several tomb scenes including Menna and Sennofer, 2 smaller paintings and translating “The Old Egyptian Faith” by Edouard Naville before writing 4 books on Egyptian history.
This diverse collection includes stelae, funerary objects, jewellery, magic lantern slides and an image of Princess Neferure.
It is rewarding to research the collection, piecing together lost records and provenance for objects, preserving their history and that of the collectors.
The "Albert Institute for Literature, Science and Art" was founded in 1862 as one such enterprise. It began as an enterprise amongst prominent citizens who purchased shares in the Institute. Later the Albert Institute would be run by the Town Council and it became "The McManus Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum". It remains Dundee City's main museum, housing the museum's collections, which total approximately 150,000 items including Local History, Decorative Arts, Fine Art, Natural History and World Cultures.
The Egyptology collections were enhanced in the 19th and 20th centuries by donations from local philanthropist Sir James Caird, one of the city's jute mill owners, the Rev. Colin Campbell, the Egypt Exploration Fund and others. However the majority of such objects have long been in storage, and some items all but forgotten.
The McManus Collections Focus projects are 6 month projects working with sections of the collections identified as needing attention. These projects allow the opportunity to look at objects in depth, to record and evaluate them and undertake new research. One such project included a number of coffins "re-discovered" in the Barrack Street Collections Unit during a review of funerary objects in the summer of 2011.
This included a TIP set of coffin and cartonnage, together with an intriguing Roman coffin that appears to imitate a Third Intermediate prototype.
The cartonnage bears the number 1976-1708, but this was allocated many years after its acquisition and is of no help in identifying its provenance. It is, however, clearly of the "northern" type, as is the associated wooden coffin 1976-1170., re-located in September 2012, now unfortunately badly damaged, although the lost mask was identified shortly afterwards under the number 1975-531. It has now been possible to identify the set in an excavation photograph from Edoaurd Naville's work at Sedment for the EEF in 1891.
The cartonnage and it's associated mummy 1976-2146 both have water damage to the chest area, CT-scanning showing the mummy to now be partly collapsed and it's head turned to the side, this is consistent with reports of a fire whilst in storage.
The intriguing Roman coffin 1976-1168 has apparently not been examined since the 1960's, according to the newspaper that its 21 pieces were wrapped in. When reassembled its form could be paralleled by 3rd century AD Roman Period coffins such as the "twins" in Edinburgh and others in Florence. However, the decoration proved to be totally anomalous and appears to have been inspired by 25th & 26th Dynasty bivalve coffins.
Dundee is Scotland’s fourth largest city and is on the North-East coast. Dundee was a famous ship building centre and a busy port from medieval times until the early 20th century and in the 19th century Dundee was a centre for the jute industry. The prosperous owners of the factories travelled the world for business and pleasure and used some of their wealth to improve the cultural life of Dundee and its citizens. The ‘Albert Institute for Literature, Science and Art’ was founded in 1862 as one such enterprise. It began as an initiative amongst prominent citizens who purchased shares in the Institute, to enhance the lives and learning of the citizens of Dundee and celebrated its 150th year since opening in 2017.
The Egyptology collection began in the 19th century with donations from the newly formed Egypt Exploration Fund and local collectors who travelled to Egypt, including:
- philanthropist Sir James Caird, one of the City’s Jute mill owners
- Dr Thomas Wyse, a much travelled and highly regarded surgeon with a passion for the links between amulets, superstition and health
- the Rev. Dr. Colin Campbell, local minister who was appointed to St. Mary’s in 1887, was passionate about Egyptology, researching and translating objects in the collection, retiring to Egypt where he made 13 life size paintings of several tomb scenes including Menna and Sennofer, 2 smaller paintings and translating “The Old Egyptian Faith” by Edouard Naville before writing 4 books on Egyptian history.
This diverse collection includes stelae, funerary objects, jewellery, magic lantern slides and an image of Princess Neferure.
It is rewarding to research the collection, piecing together lost records and provenance for objects, preserving their history and that of the collectors.
The "Albert Institute for Literature, Science and Art" was founded in 1862 as one such enterprise. It began as an enterprise amongst prominent citizens who purchased shares in the Institute. Later the Albert Institute would be run by the Town Council and it became "The McManus Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum". It remains Dundee City's main museum, housing the museum's collections, which total approximately 150,000 items including Local History, Decorative Arts, Fine Art, Natural History and World Cultures.
The Egyptology collections were enhanced in the 19th and 20th centuries by donations from local philanthropist Sir James Caird, one of the city's jute mill owners, the Rev. Colin Campbell, the Egypt Exploration Fund and others. However the majority of such objects have long been in storage, and some items all but forgotten.
The McManus Collections Focus projects are 6 month projects working with sections of the collections identified as needing attention. These projects allow the opportunity to look at objects in depth, to record and evaluate them and undertake new research. One such project included a number of coffins "re-discovered" in the Barrack Street Collections Unit during a review of funerary objects in the summer of 2011.
This included a TIP set of coffin and cartonnage, together with an intriguing Roman coffin that appears to imitate a Third Intermediate prototype.
The cartonnage bears the number 1976-1708, but this was allocated many years after its acquisition and is of no help in identifying its provenance. It is, however, clearly of the "northern" type, as is the associated wooden coffin 1976-1170., re-located in September 2012, now unfortunately badly damaged, although the lost mask was identified shortly afterwards under the number 1975-531. It has now been possible to identify the set in an excavation photograph from Edoaurd Naville's work at Sedment for the EEF in 1891.
The cartonnage and it's associated mummy 1976-2146 both have water damage to the chest area, CT-scanning showing the mummy to now be partly collapsed and it's head turned to the side, this is consistent with reports of a fire whilst in storage.
The intriguing Roman coffin 1976-1168 has apparently not been examined since the 1960's, according to the newspaper that its 21 pieces were wrapped in. When reassembled its form could be paralleled by 3rd century AD Roman Period coffins such as the "twins" in Edinburgh and others in Florence. However, the decoration proved to be totally anomalous and appears to have been inspired by 25th & 26th Dynasty bivalve coffins.