Leeds International Classical Studies Discussion Paper 3 (2015) ISSN 1477-3643 (http://www.leeds.ac.uk/classics/lics/)
© Anna Reeve
1
The University of Leeds Ancient Cypriot collection:
an overview
ANNA REEVE (UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS)
ABSTRACT: A short guide to the small collection of ancient Cypriot artefacts
formerly held by the Department of Classics at the University of Leeds,1
produced as a result of research into their collection history and historical
context funded by the University’s Creative and Cultural Industries Exchange.
1 The Department of Classics became an integral part of the School of Languages, Cultures and
Societies in August 2105.
The University of Leeds
Ancient Cypriot collection:
an overview
Anna Reeve
Department of Classics
Creative and Cultural Industries Exchange, University of Leeds
1
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Overview of the collection
3. Collection history:
The Leeds connection
Further back...
4. The objects
5. For further information...
2
1. Introduction
The University of Leeds ancient Cypriot collection consists of 24
ancient Cypriot artefacts, including ceramics, bronze and glass. It
is one of a number of ancient Cypriot collections in Universities
and Museums across the UK, many of which were brought together
during the late 19th/early 20th centuries, a period of keen British
interest in Cyprus. It complements the much larger collection
belonging to the Leeds City Museum, some of which can be seen
on display at the Museum.
The collection has not previously been studied in detail, and has
received little conservation attention in the last century. But it has
stories to tell, both those of the individual artefacts, and about its
route to Leeds and survival to the present day.
The presence of the collection at the University of Leeds is
testament to the importance placed on study of the ancient world
at the University from its earliest beginnings, and still carried on
today in the study of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology.
The collection's history is bound up with that of a key figure in the
early days of the University, Sir Nathan
Bodington (1848-1911), the first Vice-
Chancellor. His lifelong love of Classics
enriched both the University and the
broader intellectual life of Leeds, in
particular the Leeds Philosophical and
Literary Society, whose Museum is now
incorporated in the Leeds City
Museum.
Portrait of Sir Nathan Bodington by Arthur Hacker, 1913 © University of Leeds Art Collection
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Introduction (cont.)
This project has been funded by the Cultural and Creative
Industries Exchange at the University of Leeds. I am also grateful
for the assistance of Thomas Kiely, Curator of Ancient Cyprus at
the British Museum, Kat Baxter, Curator of Archaeology at Leeds
Museums and Galleries, and Emma Bowron, Conservator. At the
University I would like to thank Dr Roger Brock in the Department
of Classics, who has supervised this project, and Debbie Snow,
former University Collections Officer.
Due to the generosity of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary
Society, the Cultural and Creative Industries Exchange, and the
Department of Classics, conservation work will shortly be carried
out on the collection. After conservation, the collection will be
put on temporary display, and then will be located in the
Department of Classics. If you would like to see the collection,
please contact me to make arrangements at
[email protected].
All images are © University of Leeds, unless otherwise stated.
Creative and Cultural Industries Exchange, University of Leeds
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2. Overview of the collection
The University of Leeds ancient Cypriot
collection consists of 24 pieces of ancient
Cypriot art, of ceramic, bronze, stone and
glass. It spans Cypriot culture from the
Cypro-Geometric period, beginning around
1050 BC, down to Roman times, the first
and second centuries AD. The pieces
demonstrate the technical and creative
skills of ancient Cypriot craftspeople, and
were almost certainly buried in tombs, as
offerings to the dead for the afterlife or as
part of funerary rites, which has enabled
their survival during the intervening
centuries. They were probably excavated
in the late 19th/early 20th century.
The ceramics range from large, practical
jugs and cookware to tiny decorative
juglets just a few inches tall, probably
used to hold perfumed oils for funerary
rites. Some are largely plain, while others
show a range of decoration, from
exuberant and rather slapdash stripes and
circles, to the attractive Black-on-Red style
with black geometric circles and ornaments
on a background of glossy red slip. Glass
bottles, probably designed to hold
perfumed oil, were designed for personal
use, as were the two bronze mirrors.
UNIV.1913.0002
Jug of Bichrome ware
UNIV.1913.0011
Black-on-Red juglet
UNIV.1913.0020
Glass ‘candlestick’ bottle
UNIV.1913.0027 Bronze mirror 5
The first record we have of the collection
is a note in the University Archives of a
meeting in October 1913 between Michael
Sadler, second Vice-Chancellor of the
University, and Lady Eliza Bodington,
widow of Sir Nathan Bodington, first Vice-
Chancellor, who had died two years earlier.
Lady Eliza had recently come across a
collection of ancient Cypriot artefacts in
the University cellars. She assumed that
they had been ordered from Cyprus by her
husband for a University fundraising event,
but had arrived too late and been
overlooked ever since. Her intention was
to donate part of the collection to the
Leeds Girls' High School and part to the
University in the hope that ‘they may be
the beginning of a Classical Collection’ and
‘might encourage a taste for archaeology
in which my husband was so interested’.
The offer was accepted, and 35 pieces of
ancient Cypriot art were catalogued by Mr
A.M. Woodward, Lecturer in Classics and
Ancient History at the University. Mr
Woodward was given several broken pieces
by Lady Bodington, and repaired these
before giving them to be displayed and
insured with the wider collection.
3. Collection history: the Leeds connection
UNIV.1913.0033
Punic jug repaired by
A.M. Woodward
UNIV.1913.0034
Bichrome bowl repaired by
A.M. Woodward
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Collection history: the Leeds connection (cont.)
“he did much to bring the university into touch with
the typical industries of Leeds, by providing the
appropriate scientific and technical instruction. At the
same time he always strove hard to secure a wider
appreciation of art and literature as an integral part
of the university course of study.”
(G.S. Woods, Dictionary of National Biography, Second
Supplement, Vol. I, p.187).
Nathan Bodington was a keen Classicist all his life, studying
Greek at Oxford and teaching the subject in Birmingham and at
the Yorkshire College, Leeds. He travelled abroad, visiting
ancient sites wherever possible, and gathered his own small
collection of Cypriot antiquities, which is now in the Leeds City
Museum. He also had a strong interest in the traces of the Roman
past in Yorkshire, and after his marriage to Eliza Bodington in
1907, they participated in excavations at the Cawthorn Roman
camps, described by his biographer as one of the happiest times
of his life. In these wide-ranging interests he was typical of his
times, at a period when archaeology and the study of the ancient
world was evolving from an amateur pursuit conducted in a
haphazard way by interested individuals into a scholarly
undertaking.
As Principal of the Yorkshire College, Bodington was key in
steering its development first into a constituent member of the
Victoria University, together with Manchester and Liverpool, and
subsequently into the University of Leeds, inaugurated in 1904.
As Vice-Chancellor of the University:
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Collection history: the Leeds connection (cont.)
As well as his busy professional life, Bodington was an important
figure in the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, founded in
1819 and still flourishing today. He contributed lectures on a
variety of topics connected to the ancient world, and was
President from 1898 to 1900. He also corresponded with Dr A.S.
Murray, Keeper of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the British
Museum, on the Roman remains in Leeds and the surrounding
area, and helped to secure donations of ancient artefacts for the
Museum of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, which
was also used by students of the Yorkshire College.
University of Leeds crest
Nathan Bodington’s Classical
interests live on in the University
of Leeds crest, nowadays used
for scholarly or ceremonial
purposes. The Sphinx at the top
of the crest was designed by him
from a Greek source. (See the
biography by W.H. Draper in
‘Further Reading’).
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Collection history: further back
Between 1893 and 1894, excavations at Amathus on the southern
coast of Cyprus were carried out by A.H. Smith and J.L. Myres on
behalf of the British Museum. This was part of a wider programme
of excavation in Cyprus, funded by a legacy from Miss Emma
Tourner Turner in 1892.
In January 1895, the British Museum’s Trustees agreed to a
proposal from A.S. Murray, Keeper of Greek and Roman
Antiquities, to donate ‘duplicates’ from these excavations at
Amathus to a range of other museums, colleges and public schools
across the UK. These duplicates were described as ‘consisting
chiefly of pottery and glass of a kind very common in Cyprus and
already well represented in the Museum.’ Among those
institutions proposed to receive such a donation was the Yorkshire
College, Leeds. The offer was accepted by Nathan Bodington in a
letter of 25th January 1895.
What happened to this collection when it arrived in Leeds? It was
offered to and accepted by the Yorkshire College, although the
College’s students were accustomed to use the Museum of the
Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society. However, neither
organisations’ Annual Report makes any mention of ancient
Cypriot artefacts from the British Museum. These reports usually
record donations, however large or small, in great detail, and it is
surprising that a donation from such a prestigious organisation
should not be acknowledged.
It seems at least possible that the University of Leeds ancient
Cypriot collection is this donation from the British Museum’s
Amathus excavations; sent in 1895, and overlooked until 1913,
two years after Nathan Bodington’s death, by which time its
origins had been forgotten.
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Collection history: further back (cont.)
It is difficult to prove this theory one way or another. The dates
of the objects in the collection, not extending back into the
Bronze Age, are broadly in line with those known to have
originated from the British Museum’s excavations in Amathus of
tombs from the Cypro-Geometric to Roman periods. It is possible
that analysis of the clay, especially of the objects whose
decoration is typical of Amathus, would provide additional
helpful information.
UNIV.1913.0002
Jug marked ‘292’ in pencil – possible tomb number?
The British Museum possesses J.L. Myres' notebooks from the
Amathus excavations, in which he recorded the items found,
often sketching unusual or noteworthy pieces. The objects
distributed around the UK were common types, so they are
unlikely to include unique or particularly significant pieces.
Myres' descriptions are too broad to allow individual pieces to
be identified, though his mention of, for example, ‘Roman glass
bottles of... common shapes’ and ‘bronze discs’ do fit with the
items we have.
A few of the Leeds objects have numbers
pencilled on them, which could relate to
the numbers assigned to tombs
excavated in Amathus. This doesn't offer
conclusive proof, but it is quite possible
that, for example, the jug marked '292'
may be one of the ‘2 small painted jugs’
recorded by Myres in the tomb of that
number.
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Collection history: further back (cont.)
Some of the institutions which were also sent collections of
Cypriot ‘duplicates’ by the British Museum in 1895 have retained
them, and comparison has revealed a number of similarities
between these and the University of Leeds collection. While
these comparators do not prove the argument either way – being
very common forms - they do tend to strengthen the case for the
Leeds collection having originated in Amathus.
There are also a wide range of objects in other collections from
Amathus which are not paralleled in the Leeds collection.
However, the University of Leeds collection represents only 24 of
the 35 objects discovered in 1913; the remainder was presumably
presented by Lady Bodington to the Leeds Girls’ High School, but
no trace has been found of this donation.
NCM 1895-32
Barrel juglet known to be from British
Museum excavations in Amathus
© Nottingham Castle Museum
UNIV.1913.0009
Barrel juglet from the University of
Leeds collection
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Object Description
Ceramics
UNIV.1913.0001
Pilgrim flask, probably Phoenician.
Cypro-Geometric period (1050 BC – 750 BC).
Height 120mm.
Pilgrim flask with flattened globular body, flaring neck with no
rim, two rounded handles from middle of neck to shoulder.
Decorated with concentric circles on each side, and traces of
paint on handles.
This pilgrim flask is made of heavy, fairly poor quality clay, and
would probably have been imported to Cyprus. The long, narrow
neck would allow its liquid contents to be poured slowly. The
term ‘pilgrim flask’ is conventional; the shape is reminiscent of
the gourds in which travellers in antiquity would transport
water for journeys.
UNIV.1913.0009
Barrel jug of White Painted III ware.
Cypro-Geometric III period (900 BC – 750 BC).
Height 112mm.
Cylindrical body with no foot, narrow neck with flared
‘trumpet’ rim, single handle from mid-neck to shoulder.
Decorated with pale buff slip, sets of concentric circles
surrounding central boss on either side, narrow bands around
neck and across handle, traces of red towards rim.
Barrel jugs are named for their unusual shape, and much larger,
more elaborately decorated examples are often found. The
form was popular on Cyprus throughout the Iron Age.
4. The objects
The table below describes and illustrates the artefacts in the
University of Leeds’ ancient Cypriot collection.
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Object Description
UNIV.1913.0003
Jug of Bichrome IV ware.
Cypro-Archaic I period (750 BC -600 BC).
Height 195mm.
Globular-bodied jug with short neck and flared ‘mushroom’ rim.
Slightly indented strap handle from neck-ridge to shoulder. Buff
clay, decorated with three narrow brown bands just above the
mid-point, red-purple broad ring around neck and brown band
extended down the handle.
The shape of the neck and mouth is based on a Phoenician type;
it is difficult to say whether this is a Cypriot copy of a Phoenician
form, or a Phoenician import.
UNIV.1913.0014
Jug of Bichrome IV ware.
Cypro-Archaic I period (750 BC – 600 BC).
Height 105mm.
Jug with globular body, narrow neck with flaring rim, handle
from base of neck to shoulder. Decorated with broad and narrow
bands of brown and reddish paint around the widest part of the
body and upper neck.
UNIV.1913.0013
Bowl of Bichrome V ware.
Cypro-Archaic II period (600 BC – 475 BC).
Height 55mm.
Small bowl with low foot and slightly flared rim. Buff clay and
slip, decorated with alternating vertical stripes of red and
brown. Wheel made - slightly distorted base with string marks.
The ‘dauby’ style of painted decoration, like that of
UNIV.1913.0002 (below), is characteristic of Amathus.
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Object Description
UNIV.1913.0011
Jug of Black-on-Red I or II ware.
Cypro-Archaic period (750 BC – 475 BC).
Height 85mm.
Small jug with globular body, narrow neck with ridge and flared
rim, single handle from neck ridge to shoulder. Reddish clay with
orange/red slip, decorated with black bands around neck and
rim, along handle, and narrow bands above the midpoint of the
body.
Black-on-Red ware is so called for its decoration of geometric
black shapes on polished red-orange slip. Juglets such as those in
the University of Leeds collection were widely produced
throughout Cyprus during the Cypro-Geometric and Cypro-
Archaic periods.
UNIV.1913.0012
Juglet of Black-on-Red II ware.
Cypro-Archaic I period (750 - 600 BC).
Height 65mm.
Small juglet of fairly coarse red clay, slipped and polished
surface, globular body, flaring neck with small ridge at base,
handle from rim to shoulder, depressed disc base. Decorated
with black bands around neck, circumference of body, inside rim
and on handle, and left-facing swastika on shoulder.
A small juglet such as this would have been used for perfumed
oil, for funerary use or as a gift for the afterlife. The shape is
fairly squat, suggesting it is not one of the earliest Black-on-Red
forms.
UNIV.1913.0200
Jug of Black-on-Red III(V) ware.
Cypro-Archaic II period (600 BC – 475 BC).
Height 85mm.
Small jug with biconical body, narrow neck flaring to round flat
rim, strap handle from rim to shoulder. Buff clay with orange/red
slip, decorated with black bands above and below midpoint of
body.
This juglet is less delicate in form than earlier Black-on-Red
ware, and its biconical shape is distinctive.
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Object Description
UNIV.1913.0034
Bowl of Bichrome V ware.
Cypro-Archaic II period (600 BC - 475 BC).
Diameter 200mm.
Shallow bowl with very low foot, carinated sloping sides and
outturned rim. Decorated with pale buff slip, concentric circles
of black and brown in interior, and stripes of alternating black
and brown on the rim.
UNIV.1913.0035
Bowl of Bichrome V ware
Cypro-Archaic II period (600 BC - 475 BC).
Diameter 180mm.
Shallow bowl with very low foot, carinated sloping sides and
outturned rim. Decorated with buff slip, concentric circles of
reddish-purple and black in interior, and alternating stripes of
black and reddish-purple over narrow red concentric circles on
the rim.
UNIV.1913.0004
Jug of Bichrome V ware.
Cypro-Archaic II period (600 BC - 475 BC).
Height 140mm.
Jug with small shallow foot, globular body, narrow neck and
trefoil lip. Strap handle (oval in section) from lip, rising above
rim then joining at shoulder. Buff clay, decorated with three sets
of horizontal black/brown bands, red band around base of neck,
and vertical red stripes extending down from neck band. Gap in
decoration on one side, possibly caused by firing error.
The black/brown and red decoration in freely applied stripes is
characteristic of ceramics produced at Amathus.
15
Object Description
UNIV.1913.0002
Jug of Bichrome V – VI ware
Cypro-Archaic II period (600 BC – 475 BC).
Height 90mm.
Small one-handled jug with globular body and thick-rimmed
trefoil lip. Decoration of lines and circles in brown-red and
black, with ‘ladder’ decoration on handle.
The style of the decoration, with freely applied colour and
‘ladder’ patterning, is again characteristic of pottery from
Amathus.
UNIV.1913.0007
Jug of White Painted VI ware.
Cypro-Classical I period (475 BC – 400 BC).
Height 140mm.
Jug with piriform body and small foot, short, slightly conical
neck and sharply flaring rim. Depressed strap handle from rim to
shoulder, looping high above rim. Decorated with broad white
band around shoulder; fired a darker colour above the band than
below.
UNIV.1913.0015
Jug of Plain White ware
Hellenistic period (300 BC – 50 BC).
Height 115mm.
Undecorated jug of fine buff clay with ovoid body, long neck,
slightly flared, chamfered rim, and single handle from below rim
to shoulder. Stroke polished.
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Object Description
UNIV.1913.0100
Bowl of plain/coarse ware.
Roman period; C1st – C4th AD.
Diameter 100mm (base).
Small bowl with straight, deep sides. Wheel made; string mark
on base. Heavily blackened.
This bowl would have been used for cooking, hence its plain,
solid design and the extensive blackening. It may have been the
personal possession of the deceased, or a gift for use in the
afterlife.
UNIV.1913.0016
Bottle/jar.
Date unknown.
Height 135mm.
Bottle/jar of reddish clay, small round base, tapered cylindrical
body and small, flat handles bridging body and neck.
This jar is currently unidentified; it is not a typical Cypriot
shape, and is probably an import, possibly Phoenician.
UNIV.1913.0033
Jar from Carthage, North Africa.
Probably from the Hellenistic period (300 BC – 50 BC).
Height 190mm.
Jar of reddish clay, with small foot, conical body flaring to sharp
ridge at shoulder, narrow neck with ridge at midpoint, small,
flared rim. Small right-angled strap handle from neck ridge to
halfway up shoulder. Undecorated. Wheel made and well potted.
Jars of similar shape have been found at the Punic necropolis of
Douimes in Carthage. (I am grateful to Thomas Kiely and
Marianne Bergeron for this identification).
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Object Description
Stone
UNIV.1913.0019
Alabastron (oil jar), made of alabaster?
Cypro-Archaic II/Cypro-Classical/Hellenistic periods, c. 600 BC -
50 BC.
Length 145mm.
Small alabastron broken at neck, with two projecting lug handles
either side of shoulder. Smooth buff material (alabaster?) with
natural lighter/darker banding.
Vessels of this type are difficult to date by form alone, in the
absence of a secure archaeological context. It was probably used
to hold perfumed oil, and may well have been imported to
Cyprus.
Bronze
UNIV.1913.0028
Bronze mirror case
Hellenistic/earlier Roman periods (300 BC – 200 AD).
Diameter 82mm.
Bronze circular mirror decorated with concentric circles on non-
recessed side.
Mirrors such as these were made in pairs, to be fitted one inside
the other to protect the polished sides. This would have been the
‘outside’ mirror, as it is decorated on the flat side. These mirrors
would have been practical and portable, compared to larger
types such as UNIV.1913.0027, which would have been fitted with
a handle.
UNIV.1913.0027
Bronze mirror
Cypro-Archaic II/ Cypro-Classical periods? (600 BC – 300 BC).
Diameter 133mm.
Circular bronze mirror with short tang below a rounded ‘capital’.
Heavily corroded.
Bronze mirrors begin to be found in Late Bronze Age Cyprus, and
continue for many years. This style of mirror would have been
mounted in a handle, for personal use; in contrast to the smaller
pairs of round mirrors, it would not have been very portable.
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Object Description
Glass
UNIV.1913.0021
Glass unguentarium or flask for perfumed oil.
Roman period (1 AD – 200 AD).
Height 180mm.
‘Candlestick’ flask of pale blue/green glass, with flat base,
bulbous body, long, narrow neck and flared rim.
Flasks such as this were probably used for perfumed oils; the
long neck would reduce evaporation and allow the oil to be
poured carefully in small quantities.
UNIV.1913.0020
Glass unguentarium or flask for perfumed oil.
Roman period (1 AD – 200 AD).
Height 215mm.
‘Candlestick’ flask of pale blue/green glass with slight iridescent
sheen. Concave base, flattish body, long, narrow neck and flared
rim.
The body of the flask is flatter than UNIV.1913.0021, which may
indicate that this flask is slightly later in date.
UNIV.1913.0024
Glass unguentarium/bottle.
Roman period (1 AD – 200 AD).
Length 130mm.
Tubular bottle of greenish glass with lustre, rounded bulb,
constriction between bulb and long, narrow neck with slightly
flared, rolled rim. Pontil mark on base.
Bottles such as this and the following example, in contrast to the
‘candlestick’ bottles, were probably used for packing and
transport of perfumed oil rather than personal use or display.
The constriction at the top of the bulb may have been used for a
string handle. The long, narrow neck would have helped delay
oxidisation of the contents.
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Object Description
UNIV.1913.0026
Glass unguentarium/bottle.
Roman period (1 AD – 200 AD).
Length 55mm.
Tubular bottle of greenish glass, bulbous end with constriction at
top of bulb, narrow neck broken off, flat base.
The bottle may have been broken to dispense the contents in
antiquity, either as part of the funerary rites or to disguise the
odour from previous uses of the tomb.
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5. For further information...
For an excellent introduction to Ancient Cyprus, see the British
Museum’s online research catalogue ‘Ancient Cyprus in the British
Museum’:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/publications/online_re
search_catalogues/ancient_cyprus_british_museum.aspx
The Ancient Worlds gallery at the Leeds City Museum provides a
fascinating overview of ancient cultures, including objects from
Cyprus. See:
http://www.leeds.gov.uk/museumsandgalleries/Pages/Leeds-
City-Museum.aspx
More information on Nathan Bodington and the foundation of the
University of Leeds can be found in the 1912 biography by W.H.
Draper, available online at:
http://ia600208.us.archive.org/4/items/sirnathanbodingt00drapu
oft/sirnathanbodingt00drapuoft.pdf
The Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society is one of the city’s
oldest cultural institutions, and has made an invaluable
contribution to its intellectual and cultural life since it was
founded in 1819. Further information is available at:
http://www.leedsphilandlit.org.uk/
This project, funded by the Cultural and Creative Industries
Exchange at the University of Leeds, is part of wider research into
ancient Cypriot art in Leeds, focusing on the Leeds City Museum’s
collection. For more information, see the weblog at
www.cypriotartleeds.wordpress.com or follow on Twitter
@cypriotartleeds.
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