Durham University Oriental Museum
Encyclopedia
The Oriental Museum, formerly the Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art and Archaeology, is a museum of the University of Durham in England
. The museum has a collection of more than 23,500 Chinese
, Egyptian
, Korean
, Japanese
and other far east
and Asia
n artefacts. The museum was founded due to the need to house an increasing collection of Oriental artefacts used by the School of Oriental Studies, that were previously housed around the University. The Museum's Chinese and Egyptian collections are 'designated'
by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) as being of "national and international importance".
, Mesopotamia
and Ancient Egypt
. The collection arrived in late 1950 being initially housed in two rooms in Hatfield College. After a fire broke out in 1956 one of the rooms was returned to the college and much of the collection was placed in storage.
The establishment of Raymond Dawson as lecturer in Indian Religions and Philosophy in 1952 led to the collection expanding into the Far East. Initially Dawson organised a series of Chinese exhibitions from loaned items before the foundation of the Chinese collection came about from Harold MacDonald's promotion to High Commissioner of India in 1955. Having amassed a large collection of gifts and antiquities, from his prior role as Commissioner General for South East Asia, MacDonald was reluctant to relocate his collection from Singapore to India. Subsequently Dawson was contacted by MacDonald and an initial five year loan of the collection was agreed.
The growth of the School led to the School moving to Elvet Hill House, where the current location of the museum is set, on the south edge of Durham. With part of the collection still held at various sites and the success of the initial exhibitions potential donors were sought for the formal establishment of a museum. A successful bid was made to the Gulbenkian Foundation in 1957 with a £60,000 donation to fund the initial stage of the museum which was renamed the Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art and Archaeology in honour of the donation. The museum was completed in 1959 with the collections being transferred along with the bequest of 3,000 Chinese objects from Sir Charles Hardinge to the new museum by the end of the year. After the creation of the displays the museum was officially opened in May 1960 with a three day week initially attracting c.100 visitors a week.
In October 1969 a fragment of Moon rock
was sent to the University's department of Earth Sciences. Prior to undergoing analysis the rock was displayed at the museum for two days attracting over 12,000 people resulting in the Museum opening until 8:30pm to accommodate the visitors.
Subsequent funding was sought to complete the second stage of the museum, however, such funds were not forthcoming and in the 1980s a competition was launched to add additional side galleries in lieu of the second stage. In 2000 further funding was secured to create a mezzanine floor to house additional artefacts from the collections.
During 2008 the Egyptian and Chinese art and archaeology collections were granted designated status along with 150 pieces from the collections touring Japan for nine months in the Oriental Art from Durham University and Eton College exhibition attracting over 185,000 visitors.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The museum has a collection of more than 23,500 Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Egyptian
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, Korean
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, Japanese
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and other far east
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n artefacts. The museum was founded due to the need to house an increasing collection of Oriental artefacts used by the School of Oriental Studies, that were previously housed around the University. The Museum's Chinese and Egyptian collections are 'designated'
Designation Scheme
The Designation Scheme is an English system that awards "designated status" to museums and library collections considered to be of great importance by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council . As of 2009, 125 collections are officially recognized...
by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) as being of "national and international importance".
History
Founded in 1960 to support the University's teaching and research in the Oriental School the collections of the Museum have largely grown through donations and purchases to support cultural studies alongside the teaching of languages. The Museum's initial collection arose from the sale of the Fourth Duke of Northumberland's antiquities from AnatoliaAnatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
, Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
and Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
. The collection arrived in late 1950 being initially housed in two rooms in Hatfield College. After a fire broke out in 1956 one of the rooms was returned to the college and much of the collection was placed in storage.
The establishment of Raymond Dawson as lecturer in Indian Religions and Philosophy in 1952 led to the collection expanding into the Far East. Initially Dawson organised a series of Chinese exhibitions from loaned items before the foundation of the Chinese collection came about from Harold MacDonald's promotion to High Commissioner of India in 1955. Having amassed a large collection of gifts and antiquities, from his prior role as Commissioner General for South East Asia, MacDonald was reluctant to relocate his collection from Singapore to India. Subsequently Dawson was contacted by MacDonald and an initial five year loan of the collection was agreed.
The growth of the School led to the School moving to Elvet Hill House, where the current location of the museum is set, on the south edge of Durham. With part of the collection still held at various sites and the success of the initial exhibitions potential donors were sought for the formal establishment of a museum. A successful bid was made to the Gulbenkian Foundation in 1957 with a £60,000 donation to fund the initial stage of the museum which was renamed the Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art and Archaeology in honour of the donation. The museum was completed in 1959 with the collections being transferred along with the bequest of 3,000 Chinese objects from Sir Charles Hardinge to the new museum by the end of the year. After the creation of the displays the museum was officially opened in May 1960 with a three day week initially attracting c.100 visitors a week.
In October 1969 a fragment of Moon rock
Moon rock
Moon rock describes rock that formed on the Earth's moon. The term is also loosely applied to other lunar materials collected during the course of human exploration of the Moon.The rocks collected from the Moon are measured by radiometric dating techniques...
was sent to the University's department of Earth Sciences. Prior to undergoing analysis the rock was displayed at the museum for two days attracting over 12,000 people resulting in the Museum opening until 8:30pm to accommodate the visitors.
Subsequent funding was sought to complete the second stage of the museum, however, such funds were not forthcoming and in the 1980s a competition was launched to add additional side galleries in lieu of the second stage. In 2000 further funding was secured to create a mezzanine floor to house additional artefacts from the collections.
During 2008 the Egyptian and Chinese art and archaeology collections were granted designated status along with 150 pieces from the collections touring Japan for nine months in the Oriental Art from Durham University and Eton College exhibition attracting over 185,000 visitors.
Collections
- China: The Chinese collection contains over 10,000 objects ranging from the Zhou DynastyZhou DynastyThe Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...
to the Qing DynastyQing DynastyThe Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
included c.1,000 pieces of Chinese pottery, of which 400 are from the Rt Hon. Malcolm MacDonaldMalcolm MacDonaldMalcolm John MacDonald OM, PC was a British politician and diplomat.-Background:MacDonald was the son of Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald and Margaret MacDonald. Like his father he was born in Lossiemouth, Moray...
collection, and nearly 2,000 pieces of Jade and hardstones from the Sir Charles Hardinge donation.
- Korea: Containing just over 300 pieces the collection is one of the smallest with objects from the Koryo dynasty and Choson Dynasty including bronze mirrors and stonewares with sanggamCeladonCeladon is a term for ceramics denoting both a type of glaze and a ware of a specific color, also called celadon. This type of ware was invented in ancient China, such as in the Zhejiang province...
decoration. The collection is predominately composed of the donations from the Rt Rev Richard Rutt and Dr Henry de Laszlo.
- Indian subcontinent: Ranging from stone sculptures to MughalMughal EmpireThe Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
jade and Gandharan sculptures the collections contains 1,500 objects, and over 5,000 photographs taken by Sir John MarshallJohn Marshall (archaeologist)Sir John Hubert Marshall was the Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India from 1902 to 1928...
.
- Japan: The Japanese collection spans mostly the EdoEdo periodThe , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
and Meiji periodMeiji periodThe , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
s of Japanese history but also contains objects from the Muromachi and Momoyama periods, along with a bronze Buddha head from the KamakuraKamakura periodThe is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
era.
- South East Asia: The collection is formed mainly from two acquisitions, the Harold MacDonald collection consisting of items presented to him as Commissioner General of South East Asia, and the Roberts Collection of Balinese art.
- The Levant and Middle East: The collection contains many artefacts collected from archaeological excavations such as those from Sir Leonard WoolleyLeonard WoolleySir Charles Leonard Woolley was a British archaeologist best known for his excavations at Ur in Mesopotamia...
's excavations at UrUrUr was an important city-state in ancient Sumer located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar in Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate...
, Kathleen KenyonKathleen KenyonDame Kathleen Mary Kenyon , was a leading archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. She is best known for her excavations in Jericho in 1952-1958.-Early life:...
's at JerichoJerichoJericho ; is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories. It is the capital of the Jericho Governorate and has a population of more than 20,000. Situated well below sea level on an east-west route north of the Dead Sea, Jericho is the lowest permanently...
and the LachishLachishLachish was an ancient Near East town located at the site of modern Tell ed-Duweir in the Shephelah, a region between Mount Hebron and the maritime plain of Philistia . The town was first mentioned in the Amarna letters as Lakisha-Lakiša...
excavation. The core of the collection is from the Nothumberland Collections consisting of seals and cuneiform tablets.
- Ancient Egypt: Made up of over 6,700 objects the Egyptian collection is formed from two main acquisitions; The Northumberland collection of over 2,500, purchased from the Fourth Duke of NorthumberlandAlgernon Percy, 4th Duke of NorthumberlandAdmiral Algernon Percy, 4th Duke of Northumberland KG, PC, FRS , styled Lord Algernon Percy until 1816 and known as The Lord Prudhoe between 1816 and 1847, was a British naval commander, explorer and Conservative politician.-Background:Northumberland was the younger son of General Hugh Percy, 2nd...
, and 4,600 items comprising the Sir Henry WellcomeHenry WellcomeSir Henry Solomon Wellcome FRS was an American-British pharmaceutical entrepreneur. He founded the pharmaceutical company Burroughs Wellcome & Company with his colleague Silas Burroughs, which is one of the four large companies that merged to form GlaxoSmithKline...
collections.The collection includes an 18th dynasty funeral mask, and Shabti of Prince Bahmery along with a statue of the VizierVizier (Ancient Egypt)The vizier was the highest official in Ancient Egypt to serve the king, or pharaoh during the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms. Vizier is the generally accepted rendering of ancient Egyptian tjati, tjaty etc, among Egyptologists...
PaserPaser (Vizier)The Ancient Egyptian Noble Paser was Vizier, in the reigns of Seti I and Ramesses II, during the 19th dynasty. He would later also become High Priest of Amun.-Family:...
from the 19th Dynasty, reign of Ramesses IIRamesses IIRamesses II , referred to as Ramesses the Great, was the third Egyptian pharaoh of the Nineteenth dynasty. He is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire...
.