The British State and the Anglo-French Wars Over Antiquities, 1798–1858

Abstract

This article seeks to contribute to a revisionist account of the role of the British state and the nation in building the British Museum's early antique collections. Traditionally, there has been a perception that, in contrast especially to France, the British national collections of antiquities were formed primarily by private individuals donating objects, while the state looked on with indifference, or, at best, occasionally bought antiquities on the cheap from enterprising travellers or diplomats. Yet, the scale and quality of the British Museum's collections owe much to the power and reach of the British military and imperial state. The harnessing of political, diplomatic, and military resources to archaeological work, the dovetailing of private and public efforts, and a strong element of international, especially Anglo-French, competition added up to a substantial programme of public patronage. This is easily ignored by approaches that only consider (continental European) ideal types of public patronage, such as Napoleon's Egyptian Commission on the Sciences and Arts. The article sketches the chronological and geographical unfolding of state-supported archaeological activities around the Mediterranean and the Near East, and considers the connections between archaeology and diplomacy, the different modes of collection building, and the origins of debates about preservation and spoliation.

Relational versus local values of cultural heritage. Tourism gentrification and governance in context

“…A classic example is the long-term appreciation of Jerusalem, which even contributed to crusades of distant groups to ensure that the 'holy city' would be managed by those that appreciated the cultural artefacts in the 'right' way, and which were not necessarily the groups currently living and ruling the area (John 2017). Also, the appreciation of cultural artefacts from ancient Mediterranean cultures and shipping these towards areas outside this region is a classic example of the large hinterland certain artefacts of cultural values may have and the different ways of representation (Hoock 2007, Stevenson et al 2016). This often leads to conflicts, a clear example of which is the recent call by the Thai government to stop the disrespectful use of Buddha images and statues as decorations or even tattoos (Tourism Authority of Thailand 2015).…”

Historic preservation, the state and nationalism in Britain

“…It also makes sense to include the colonial and imperial institutions in an analysis of state preservation. Hoock has demonstrated the active role of the state in the war over antiquities during the Napoleonic period in accumulating the collections of the British Museum (Hoock , ). While imperial institutions had at first glance less impact on the immovable monuments of the metropole, flow of personal and transfers of experiences were significant as the care for historic buildings often developed earlier in the colonial context than in Britain (Swenson and Mandler ).…”

‘A selection of minor antiquities’: a multi-sited view on collections from excavations in Egypt

“…Effectively, these laws continued to privilege western hegemony and placed Europeans as the caretakers of Egypt's past, Europeans who were in direct competition for cultural capital (e.g. Hoock 2007). In 1882 Britain forcibly occupied Egypt, installing its representatives in almost all areas of state governance.…”