The following items are listed in the British Museum collections database as being from Pitt-Rivers' second collection but no match can be found in the catalogue of the collection at CUL:
1991,0624.1 Mould-made pottery lamp in the form of a bull's head, with a ring handle at the rear and a circular wick-hole. The base-ring is almost circular; within is an incuse letter N decorated with impressed circles. Covered with a black slip. Made in Italy excavated Rome Dte 50 BC - 1 BC Length 18 cm Width 10.4 cm. Purchased from Christie's. [No image on website]
1991,0814.1 Cambu for carrying Ganga water. With four bands of engraved decoration, the main one of which shows inter alia, Matsya, Kūrma, Narahsiṁha and Jagannatha. Made of engraved brass and copper sheets of metal (Ganga/Yamuna). Height: 18 centimetres India Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi 1850-1900. When brass and copper are used in the same vessel, the term ganga-jumna is used to refer to the contrasting colours of the two great rivers of India: the Ganges and the Jumna (Yamuna). Donated by Simon Digby.
1991,0814.2 Cambu for carrying Ganga water. With four bands of engraved decoration, the main row portrays (clockwise) Matsya, Kūrma, Varaha, Narahsiṁha, Vāmana, Paraśurāma, Surya, Kṛṣṇa, Jagannatha, Kalki, Gaṇeśa and Śiva. Made of cast and engraved brass and copper (Ganga-Yamuna decorative technique). Height: 14 centimetres Diameter: 14.5 centimetres. When brass and copper are used in the same vessel, the term ganga-jumna is used to refer to the contrasting colours of the two great rivers of India: the Ganges and the Jumna (Yamuna). Donated by Simon Digby.
1992,0516.1 Terracotta figure of woman with child sitting on shoulder; mould-made front with a hand-made back which has been smoothed off with a knife; the woman stands in a frontal pose, feet together, with her left up raised to support the child, her right extending over her chest; she wears a pleated, sleeved chiton which falls to her feet; a scarf-like garment hangs over her left shoulder beneath the child; her long rippling hair is parted in the centre; the child is naturalistically rendered with his head leaning on his mother's; the figurine is made of pale cream clay, somewhat coarse texture, fired unevenly: the worn details suggest a old or heavily used mould. Italy Sicily Caltanisetta,Gela 500 BC Western Greek Height: 14.5 centimetres Bibliography: L. Burn, 'Three terracotta kourotrophoi', in: Periplous. Papers in classical art and archaeology presented to Sir John Boardman (2000), pp. 41-49. Purchased from Charles Ede Ltd in 1992. Previous owner E.H. Lawrence [not photographed on collections database]
1978,0601.3 Pottery jar: wheel-turned grey ware; high carinated shoulder; concave neck; row of individual rosette stamps above shoulder. Diameter: 18.5 centimetres St Severinus' Church, church grave Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia, Cologne. Curator's comments Comment from Kidd, Haith & Ager ‘Summary Catalogue’ (draft MS) Provenance: Köln (Cologne), Rheinland, Germany; found in a grave outside the gate of St. Severinus Church, around 1845; associated with a glass bowl (P&E 1879,0801.5), a garnet set gold and iron buckle formerly in the Pitt Rivers Museum at Farnham, Dorset (now registered as P&E 1988,0712.1; Werner 1958,p. 58 no. 17, pl. 11), and two gilt silver bird brooches in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Evans Coll., no. 1909.731a and b; Thiry 1939, pp. 76 no. 86, 79 no. 124; Werner 1962, p. 78 note 3), and items now untraceable, but sold to Mr Rollin (auctioneer's annotated catalogue), see Christie's 1884 below
Ex-collection Lord Londesborough; the objects were bought in Köln on his behalf by Charles Roach Smith in the summer of 1850 (MS letters, C.R.S. to Thomas Bateman, 28.8.1850 and 30.9.1850, in Sheffield City Museum); they were acquired from a dealer (Roach Smith 1852). The jewellery was auctioned at the Londesborough sale (his widow was at that time Lady Otho Fitzgerald) held by Messrs Christie's, 8th-10th May, 1884, pp. 20-22, lots 299 and 315-17. Ex collection General Augustus Pitt Rivers.
MS labels:
Roman urn found in excavations in Cologne, Germany; Bought at Sotheby's May 26th 1884
Published (the group):
ROACH SMITH C. 1852. Bonn and Cologne, Collectanea Antiqua, Etchings and Notices of Ancient Remains illustrative of the Habits, Customs and History of Past Ages II, privately printed, pp. 147-8, 150-1, pl. XXXV
CROFTON CROKER T. 1853. Catalogue of a Collection of Ancient and Medieval Rings and Personal Ornaments Formed for Lady Londesborough, privately printed, pp. 39 no. 92, etc.
COCHET, ABBÉ J.B.D. 1859. Le Tombeau de Childéric 1er Roi des Francs. Paris, p. 343
FREMERSDORF F. 1933. Römische und fränkische Gräber bei der Severinskirche in Köln, Bonn Jbb 138, Darmstadt, pp. 76-8, fig. 14
KIDD D.S.W. 1980. Recently acquired Continental early medieval Material, New Acquisitions No. 1 (1976-1978) Part I Medieval, British Museum Occasional Papers, no. 10, London, pp. 5-6
KIDD D.S.W. 1990. The buckle from the Köln Severinstor grave of c. 1845. Early medieval recent acquisitions in the British Museum (II), Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 20, Mainz, pp. 209-214
(the bowl)
LONDESBOROUGH COLL. 1884. Catalogue of Silver and... Antiquities... from the Collection of the Late Lord Londesborough,... Late the Property of Lady Otho Fitzgerald. Which will be sold ..by Messrs Christie, Manson and Woods ..on Thursday May 8th, 1884, and two following days. London, p. 5 lot 30
SOTHEBY'S SALE CAT. 1977. Catalogue of Antiquities. The Property of Mrs Stella Pitt-Rivers etc., Day of sale 4th April 1977. London, 4 April 1977, p. 20 lot 59
KIDD D.S.W. 1980. Recently acquired Continental early medieval Material, New Acquisitions No. 1 (1976-1978) Part I Medieval, British Museum Occasional Papers, no. 10, London, pp. 5-6, pl. 2 left
Acquired 1978, purchased from Mrs Stella Pitt-Rivers
1976,0501.5 1975,0429.14 (GR Reg.No) AL116/569 (Royal Armouries Number) Hungary Mace-head; bronze; long socket; band of cabling round socket, top and bottom rims; three rows of pyramidal knobs: middle row larger; small studs between knob junctions; other areas hatched. Length: 7.6 centimetres Egger Sotheby's Pitt-Rivers. Collected by [sic, presumably means purchased from] Stella Pitt-Rivers [there do not appear to be any mace heads obtained from Egger]
1978,0601.1 Pottery jar: wheel-turned; burnished black; rounded carinated body; horizontal cordon round upper body above three lines of geometric rouletting; everted rim. Belgium, Vlaanderen, Vlaams-Brabant, Schaffen Height: 8.1 centimetres Merovingian 6-7 th centuries Purchased from Stella Pitt-Rivers Curator's comments Comment from Kidd, Haith & Ager ‘Summary Catalogue’ (draft MS) MS (directly on object): Trouvé à Schaffen Provenance: Schaffen, Brabant, Belgium?
Published:
SOTHEBY'S SALE CAT. 1977. Catalogue of Antiquities. The Property of Mrs Stella Pitt-Rivers etc., Day of sale 4th April 1977. London, p. 20 lot 57
KIDD D.S.W. 1980. Recently acquired Continental early medieval Material, New Acquisitions No. 1 (1976-1978) Part I Medieval, British Museum Occasional Papers, no. 10, London, pp. 5-6, pl. 2 centre
There are no items like the following 4 items in the Robinson collection sold at Sotheby's to Pitt-Rivers, it seems that they might have been missed from the CUL catalogue.
1976,0501.1 1975,0429.13 AL116/568 (Royal Armouries Number) Mace-head; bronze; socketed; three rows of pyramidal knobs: middle row larger. Length: 2.9 centimetres Collected by Benjamin [sic, it is clear that it is actually from the collections of WW Robinson] Robinson. Bought at Sotheby's sale in Nov 1890. Collected by Mrs Stella Pitt-Rivers [sic - it presumably means Purchased from?]
1976,0501.2 1975,0429.11 AL116/566 (Royal Armouries Number) Mace-head; bronze; socketed; three rows of four pyramidal knobs: middle row larger. Length: 4.5 centimetres Collected by Benjamin [sic, it is clear that it is actually from the collections of WW Robinson] Robinson. Bought at Sotheby's sale in Nov 1890. Collected by Mrs Stella Pitt-Rivers [sic - it presumably means Purchased from?]
1976,0501.3 1975,0429.12 (GR Reg.No) AL116/567 (Royal Armouries Number) Mace-head; bronze; socketed; three rows of knobs: middle row: pyramidal; others less prominent. Length: 2.6 centimetres Collected by Benjamin [sic, it is clear that it is actually from the collections of WW Robinson] Robinson. Bought at Sotheby's sale in Nov 1890. Collected by Mrs Stella Pitt-Rivers [sic - it presumably means Purchased from?]
1976,0501.4 1975,0429.13 (GR Reg.No) AL116/568 (Royal Armouries Number) Mace-head; bronze; socketed; three rows of pyramidal knobs: middle row larger. Length: 2.9 centimetres Collected by Benjamin [sic, it is clear that it is actually from the collections of WW Robinson] Robinson. Bought at Sotheby's sale in Nov 1890. Collected by Mrs Stella Pitt-Rivers [sic - it presumably means Purchased from?]
The following items all appear to be from the Pitt-Rivers second collection but there do not appear to be entries for them in the catalogue of the second collection held by CUL:
1975,0429.8 Bronze ladle (?) handle with spatula ends. Romania,Timiş (county),Timişoara,Temesvár Made in Italy Length: 24.9 centimetres Etruscan (late)
1992,0516.2 Terracotta figure of a woman riding side-saddle on a horse, accompanied by a bald-headed slave. Italy. 3rd century BC Western Greek Height: 11 centimetres Purchased from Charles Ede Ltd by BM. Previous owner/ex-collection E H Lawrence
1975,0429.17 Bronze spiked bit roller with sixteen spikes. Italy 4th century BC Italic Height: 1.4 centimetres Previous owner Robinson. [If this is a Pitt-Rivers piece then Robinson may be W.W. Robinson, whose collection was bought via Sotheby's 3-4 November 1890, but I cannot match a suitable entry in the catalogue of the second collection to match this description]
1975,0429.16 Bronze spiked bit roller. Italy 4th century BC Italic Height: 3 centimetres Previous owner Robinson. [If this is a Pitt-Rivers piece then Robinson may be W.W. Robinson, whose collection was bought via Sotheby's 3-4 November 1890, but I cannot match a suitable entry in the catalogue of the second collection to match this description]
1975,0429.15 Bronze spiked bit roller with eight spikes. Italy 4th century BC Italic Height: 3.1 centimetres Previous owner Robinson. [If this is a Pitt-Rivers piece then Robinson may be W.W. Robinson, whose collection was bought via Sotheby's 3-4 November 1890, but I cannot match a suitable entry in the catalogue of the second collection to match this description]
1974,1201.154 Copper alloy shaft-hole axe; cast. Hungary Egger sale Sotheby's 25 June 1891 Lot 75 [There is no lot 75 listed as having been purchased by Pitt-Rivers at this sale, but there is a lot 65 which sounds similar see Add.9455vol3_p745 /6]
1974,1201.155 Copper alloy shaft-hole axe; cast. Hungary, Kamaram-Estzergom, Tata Bronze Age
[1 of] 1974,1201.160 Copper alloy torc. Hungary Bronze Age 1400-1100 BC Previous owner/ex-collection George Fabian Lawrence or BM 1974,1201.161 Copper alloy torc. Hungary Bronze Age 1400-1100 BC Previous owner/ex-collection George Fabian Lawrence [there is only one torc mentioned in the catalogue of the second collection from Lawrence]
1974,1201.207 Copper alloy ring, with localised textile impression. Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia, Cologne Bronze Age Diameter: 113 millimetres [there are no bronze rings listed from Köln]
1974,1201.336 Brooch, silver on iron core. Incised decoration. Europe Iron Age. Previous owner/ex-collection Sotheby's (4 July 1883) [There are no items listed from this auction in the catalogue of the second collection, no object matching this description is listed as being acquired in 1883]
1974,1201.113 Polished stone axe. Neolithic or Bronze Age Europe Sotheby's (18 March 1886 Lot 21) [there are no objects in the CUL catalogue of the second collection dated as coming from this sale or lot]
1974,1201.390 Pottery rim sherd from wheel-made bowl in a dark grey burnished fabric. Rotherley, + Ditch +D S Ret R RUDLY England, Wiltshire, Rotherley Weight: 75.1 grammes
1976,0902.6-8 3 Silver hair-rings; open rings of circular section rod; one end originally a flat S-shaped terminal, mostly missing. Diameter: 1.5, 1.5, 1.8 centimetres respectively Romania, Caraş Severin (county), Banat 10-11th centuries Magyar? Bijelo-Brdo? Slav? From former county of Temesvár, now divided between the former Yugoslavia and Romania. Collected by George Fabian Lawrence, Pitt-Rivers, Donated by Mrs Stella Pitt-Rivers [There does not seem to be a similar object in the catalogue of the second collection from this area or of this description from Lawrence]
There is an item recorded in the British Museum's collection database which it is unclear whether it is recorded in the second collection catalogue or not it is:
1974,1201.387 Copper alloy spiral armlet. Europe Egger sale Sotheby's 25 June 1891 Lot 148
This object is described as a spiral arm ornament. There is no record in the CUL catalogue of the second Pitt-Rivers collection of him acquiring Lot 148 as recorded in your entry but he did acquire Lot 147 described as:
Lot 147 A long arm guard consisting of coiled spirals end and 22 circular coils 44 cent long From the Pfeffer collection [Add.9455vol3_p748 /10]
The lot number in the BM entry may not have been transcribed correctly? It is possible that he did acquire Lot 148 but did not record it (it has happened before). The relevant copy of the page of the catalogue has been sent to the BM so they can check the appearance.
AP March 2012.
