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Description: | The Rev. Greville John Chester (1830 Ã- 1892) had an interest in many scholarly areas from natural history to archaeology, including Egyptology. Almost every winter he would travel abroad, and Egypt was a favourite destination. On his 38th visit, in 1881, he befriended the influential Egyptologist and excavator W.M.F. Petrie.
Although Greville Chester wrote numerous archaeological articles it was his role as a collector for which he is mainly remembered: he had a great knowledge of Egyptian antiquities and how to spot a good bargain. He was one of the most active helpers in purchasing objects abroad for the British Museum and several other institutions, including the Fitzwilliam, which received 175 scarabs in 1886 and just over 280 other small antiquities in 1891. The popular mummified late-Roman cat and painted Predynastic pottery are some examples of objects he presented to the museum.
Not only did his work furnish museums with many hundreds of artefacts but, more importantly, Greville Chester took the time to record the provenance of many items, an activity that few were doing in this period before the advent of serious excavation. Petrie admired such careful attention to detail, and he made a special shelf of books as a memorial to him in the Edwards Library at University College London. | Format: | physical | Subjects: | Egyptology | Source: | Cornucopia - Discovering UK Collections | FAX: | 01223 332 923 | Telephone: | 01223 332 900 | Identifier: | oai:www.cornucopia.org.uk:8397 | Format: | physical | Go to resource |
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