From Nineveh to New York: The Strange Story of the Assyrian Reliefs in the Metropolitan Museum & the Hidden Masterpiece at Canford School - Hardcover

Russell, John Malcolm

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300064594 ISBN 13: 9780300064599

Publisher: Yale University Press, 1997

Synopsis

The story of Sir Austen Henry Layard's rediscovery of ancient Assyria and its fabled capital, Nineveh, is one of the great tales of the nineteenth century, uniting archaeological imperialism, genius, and romance. No less remarkable is the story of the collection, dispersal, and then frantic re-acquisition in the twentieth century of the world's greatest Assyrian collection ever to be in private hands. In this fascinating history of the reception of ancient Assyrian art in England and subsequently in America, John Malcolm Russell recounts the story of the huge collection of artifacts that Layard brought back to England. Much went to the British Museum, but much also to the fascinating Lady Charlotte Guest and then, via a Manhattan dealer and numerous competitive curators and millionaires, to the Metropolitan Museum. The last of Layard's Assyrian sculptures, discovered by the author in a private British school, was sold for $12 million at auction in 1994―a figure that tripled the highest price ever paid for a work of antiquity.

This book is based almost entirely on unpublished archives, including the 10,000-page diary of Lady Charlotte Guest, the brilliant and resourceful cousin of Layard's and the richest woman in England. At her country house, Canford Manor, Guest commissioned from Barry, architect of the Houses of Parliament, the "Nineveh Porch" to display the remarkable sculptures. This established a whole new decorative and architectural fashion for "Assyrian Revival." Russell explores the events that led to the creation of the Porch, casting vivid new light on the archaeological, cultural, and architectural politics of the day.

The dispersal of the collection after World War I, and the initial reluctance of any American museum to acquire the sculptures, form another story―entertainingly illuminated by the ingenious and ultimately successful scheme of the dealer Kelekian to sell them to John D. Rockefeller and others. Assyria's admission to the family of world art, and ethical questions surrounding the appropriation of antiquities, add another strand to the tale, culminating in Saddam Hussein's attempted intervention at the Christie's sale in 1994. With previously unpublished photographs, illustrations from rare nineteenth-century sources, and extensive passages from Guest's diary, this book provides an unprecedented look into the rich history and meaning of Assyrian art and of nineteenth- and twentieth-century taste, dealing, and collecting.

About this title

Review:

Indiana Jones, move over. In John Malcolm Russell, you have met your match. All right, so Russell doesn't roam the world with a bullwhip in his hand; nevertheless, the adventures outlined in From Nineveh to New York are the very stuff of fiction--except that they're all true.

Start with one forgotten city from ancient times, Nineveh, and the swashbuckling 19th-century archaeologist, Sir Austen Henry Layard, who discovered its ruins. Add a pinch of passion in the form of Layard's patroness and close friend, Lady Charlotte Guest, and her jealous husband, Sir John, and voila! A perfect romance. Now jump ahead a century and see what happens when modern archaeologist John Malcolm Russell, himself an expert on Assyrian artifacts, discovers a forgotten relief where nobody expected to find one, and you have the added bonus of a thriller. From the deserts of present-day Iraq to Lady Charlotte's country estate, then to America and finally to the hallowed halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Russell follows a particular set of stone reliefs, explaining as he goes the shifts in aesthetics, in art dealing, and in museums that have influenced their fate.

From Nineveh to New York is a history of Nineveh, of British and American artistic tastes, and of archaeology, all rolled into one entertaining package.

From the Back Cover:

The story of Sir Austen Henry Layard's rediscovery of ancient Assyria and its fabled capital, Nineveh, is one of the great tales of nineteenth-century archeological imperialism, genius, and romance. In this social history of the reception of ancient Assyrian art in England and subsequently America, John Malcolm Russell focuses on the huge collection of artifacts that Layard brought back to England. Much went to the British Museum, but much also to the fascinating Lady Charlotte Guest and then - via a Manhattan dealer and numerous competitive curators and millionaires - to the Metropolitan Museum.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0300064594
• ISBN 13: 9780300064599
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240