Nicholson Museum facts for kids
Entrance to the Nicholson Museum in the University of Sydney Quadrangle
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| Former name | Museum of Antiquities |
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| Established | 1860 |
| Dissolved | 28 February 2020 |
| Location | University of Sydney Quadrangle, Parramatta Road, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia |
| Type | Archaeological museum |
| Collections | |
| Collection size | 30,000+ |
| Founder | Sir Charles Nicholson |
| Owner | The University of Sydney |
The Nicholson Museum was a special place at the University of Sydney. It held the Nicholson Collection, which was the biggest collection of ancient objects in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere. Started in 1860, this collection included items from many ancient cultures. These included ancient Egypt, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, and the Near East. The museum closed its doors in February 2020. Now, the Nicholson Collection is kept in the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney. This new museum opened in November 2020. The original Nicholson Museum was located in the main quadrangle of the University.
Contents
Discovering the Nicholson Museum
The Nicholson Museum got its name from its founder, Sir Charles Nicholson. In 1856 and 1857, Sir Charles traveled through Egypt and Italy. During his travels, he bought over a thousand ancient objects. These items were mainly from Egypt, Greece, Southern Italy, and the Etruscans. He gave these treasures to the University in 1860.
The museum's collection grew a lot after this first gift. Many people helped by donating items or money. The museum also took part in archaeological digs. This helped them find even more amazing ancient objects.
The museum had both permanent and temporary exhibits. Permanent exhibits showed things like "Egyptians, Gods and Mummies." Another was "Aphrodite's Island," about Australian archaeologists in Cyprus. There were also displays on the Etruscans and the Near East. Temporary exhibits included "LEGO Pompeii." This showed a huge LEGO model of the ancient city of Pompeii. Another was "50 Objects, 50 Stories," which moved to the Chau Chak Wing Museum.
In 2003, the Nicholson Museum joined with the Macleay Museum and the University Art Gallery. They all became part of Sydney University Museums.
Amazing Ancient Collections
The Nicholson Museum's permanent collections covered the ancient world. They included items from Greece, Italy, Egypt, Cyprus, the Near East, and Northern Europe. These objects ranged from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages. The museum also had a large collection of old photographs. These included over 1,350 glass negatives taken by a former curator, William J. Woodhouse.
Ancient Egypt: Land of Pharaohs
The ancient Egyptian collection had objects from many famous sites. These included Abydos, Alexandria, Bubastis, and Thebes. Egyptian items were a big part of Sir Charles Nicholson's first donation. He bought many artifacts from dealers in Cairo and Luxor. He also collected items directly from sites like Karnak. There, he found a piece of red granite that might have been from Hatshepsut's obelisk.
Cyprus: An Island's History
The Cypriot collection started with just one item from Sir Charles Nicholson in 1860. It grew very quickly, especially with the help of curators William Woodhouse and James Stewart. Many objects came from Stewart's own archaeological digs. These digs were at places like Bellapais Vounous and Nicosia Ayia Paraskevi. His student, Basil Hennessy, also found items at Myrtou Stephania. Because of these efforts, the museum had many complete groups of objects from ancient tombs. These groups are very important for understanding history.
Ancient Greece: Birthplace of Ideas
The Greek collections showed the culture of ancient Greece. They included items from the Bronze Age to the late Hellenistic period. Sir Charles Nicholson bought many Greek pottery pieces and small statues. He found these during his travels in Europe between 1856 and 1858. More than seventy important Greek objects were in his first gift to the museum.
Later, curator A. D. Trendall bought many different types of Greek pottery. He also got pottery fragments for teaching from other museums and experts. The collection grew even more when William J Woodhouse's family donated hundreds of pottery pieces in 1948. Many of these were likely collected during Woodhouse's trips to Greece in the 1890s and 1930s.
Ancient Italy: Etruscans and Romans
The Italian collection showed the rich history of ancient Italy. It had important cultural items from Etruria, Southern Italy, and the Roman world. From the very beginning, ancient Italian cultures were well represented. Sir Charles Nicholson spent a lot of time in Rome. He collected Latin writings, Etruscan burial urns, and bronze objects. He also found South Italian vases, Roman lamps, and small statues. He even acquired large statues, including two life-sized figures of Roman citizens.
Curator A.D. Trendall further developed the Italian collection. He bought many important vases from Southern Italy. Many of the best pieces from this collection were written about in a special book series called Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum.
The Near East: Crossroads of Civilizations
The Nicholson Museum's Near Eastern collection had objects from many great cities and cultures. These cultures thrived along the coast of the Levant, across Mesopotamia, and into Pakistan and India. The collection began with a few items from Ur, given by the British Museum in 1926.
Curators A.D. Trendall and James Stewart greatly expanded this collection. They wrote to museums and governments worldwide. They asked for examples of artifacts to show the many different cultures of this huge region. The University of Sydney also helped pay for archaeological digs in the Near East. One famous dig was Dame Kathleen Kenyon’s work at Jericho. In return for the University's help, the museum received many objects. These included full tomb groups from the Bronze Age and rare finds like a Neolithic plastered skull. Other items were given by archaeologists like Sir Leonard Woolley and Sir Flinders Petrie.
Fun Temporary Exhibitions
LEGO Pompeii: A City in Bricks
The Nicholson Museum once featured a cool display called "LEGO Pompeii." This was a modern model of the ancient city of Pompeii, built entirely with LEGO bricks. A professional LEGO builder named Ryan McNaught created this amazing work. The display showed Pompeii at three different times: when it was destroyed, when it was rediscovered, and how it looks today.
This exhibit was a great way to attract new visitors, especially younger people. It also helped students studying ancient history, as Pompeii is an important topic. A lot of effort went into building it, taking about 470 hours. A deep red glow in the model hinted at the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which destroyed the city. This exhibit brought many new people to the Nicholson Museum.
See also
