The Chau Chak Wing Museum: a Superlative Collection

by Murray Dahm

Named after Hong Kong and Australian business leader and philanthropist, Dr. Chau Chak Wing, the latest museum in Sydney (which opened in November 2020), located in the heart of the University of Sydney, combines three of the university’s collections. The Nicholson Collection of antiquities was begun in 1860 by Sir Charles Nicholson (formerly housed in the Nicholson Museum) and the new space means 70% of the collection is now on display, some items not seen in over 20 years. Combined with it in the same building are the Macleay Collection of natural history, ethnography, science and historic photography, and the University Art Collection. 

The Nicholson Collection contains 30,000 items, the largest collection of antiquities in the southern hemisphere, and contains exquisite pieces from Egyptian, Near Eastern, Cypriot, Greek, and Roman and Italian history. The initial collection of 3,000 items was donated by Nicholson to the university for research purposes. Several of the pieces added since then have come from archaeological digs sponsored by the University of Sydney in Jericho in the West Bank, Amarna and Bubastis in Egypt, Pella in Jordan, and Myrtou-Pigadhes and Nea Paphos on Cyprus. Many items came from the excavations of James Stewart (honorary curator 1954-1962) who led digs at Bellapais Vounous, Karmi Palealona, Karmi Lapasta, Nicosia Ayia Paraskevi and Vasilia Kafkallia. They also came from the excavations of the sites of Myrtou Stephania and Myrtou Sphagion led by Stewart’s student, Basil Hennessy who went on to become Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Sydney. Several of the items on display are complete tomb groups. 

The Egyptian collection (the largest in Australia) has items from Neolithic to Roman Egypt and includes mummies, monumental sculpture, inscriptions and ancient organic materials contributing to the unique nature of this collection. Nicholson himself travelled down the Nile in 1856-7 acquiring the items for his collection in Sydney. As the collection expanded, items added include a 3.4 tonne Hathor capital (shipped to Sydney via London). Many items came from the excavations of Sir Flinders Petrie from Abydos, Alexandria, Bubastis, Fayum, Heliopolis, Memphis, Saqqara and Thebes. 

The Greek collections contain artefacts from the material culture of the Greek mainland, islands and surrounding regions, from the Bronze Age to the Late Hellenistic period. These again began with Nicholson’s travels in Europe between 1856 and 1858. The cornerstone of this collection is a wide range of ceramic vessels (including a Late Geometric Dipylon krater), but it also includes bronze and terracotta figurines, marble sculpture, rich jewellery items and numismatic objects. Some of the items were contributed by Sir John Beazley.

The Italian collection represents, not only Roman culture, but also material from Etruria and South Italy. Nicholson spent considerable time in Rome collecting Latin inscriptions, Etruscan funerary urns and bronzes, South Italian vases and Roman lamps, figurines and ceramics. Additional large sculptural works were also acquired by Nicholson including two life-sized togatus statues along with several fragmentary figures. One of the most remarkable items is the Nicholson Hermes, a first century BC-AD marble statue from Smyrna, Turkey; its style modelled after Praxiteles.

The Middle Eastern artefacts represent many of the great cities and civilisations that flourished along the Levantine coast, across Mesopotamia and along the Indus Valley. The collection spans centuries of culture from the Prehistoric Natufian period to the Roman era. The collection began with a handful of artefacts from Ur, donated by the British Museum in 1926. This was greatly expanded in the mid-20th century and the University of Sydney also contributed financially to archaeological excavations and projects in the Middle East, most notably Dame Kathleen Kenyon’s excavations at Jericho. In return for the University's support, the Nicholson Museum received a consignment of objects at the end of each season, including full tomb groups from the Bronze Age and rare finds such as a remarkable neolithic plastered skull.

For more information on this museum and its superlative collection, you can visit the Chau Chak Wing Museum website.