Archaeology collections overview
Bolton’s archaeological collections number approximately 4,000 objects from Britain, Europe, and the Near East.
Near Eastern
The Near Eastern collection has been formed by astute subscription to excavations in Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Iran from the 1930s onwards. Overall they provide an overview of almost four thousand years’ culture in this region, although in lesser detail than the Egyptian collection.
Three ivory plaques from the palace of an Assyrian king at Nimrud in Iraq form the highlight of the collection, one few museums can match. Also from Iraq a nice small group of engraved cylinder seals and cuneiform tablets came with the gift of the Ragdale collection (see Egypt).
The Palestinian objects, obtained from excavations of Sir Flinders Petrie, are a significant group and illustrate the influence of Egypt on its eastern neighbours throughout the Bronze Age.
In the 1960s the museum acquired some “Luristan” bronze figures and ceramics from Iran. These were purchased on the antiquities market and are complemented by a rare group of pottery and decorated tiles excavated at the Iranian site of Baba Jan.
British and European
European and British Archaeology has been at the heart of the museum since its foundation. The collection of Bolton solicitor Rooke Pennington, purchased in 1888, contained a large group of archaeological material. This includes Bronze Age tools and jewellery from lakeside villages in Switzerland; Neolithic and Bronze Age material from British barrows; and Palaeolithic objects from cave sites such as Creswell and Kent’s Cavern. The Chadwick Museum displayed “prehistoric” material together, including Ancient Egyptian and European material alongside modern Aboriginal Australian objects, and in the 1940s purchased two large collections of stone tools from sites around the world.
Classical
The Classical collection, largely purchased in the 1960s, includes decorated Greek pottery, Roman weapons and glass. From excavations in Britain come mosaic fragments, pottery and building material.
Local material
Local material is a relatively small part of the collection, and comprises objects dating from the Palaeolithic period onwards mainly acquired up at random, and reflecting the lack of opportunities for fieldwork in built-up Bolton. Local Bronze Age finds include a Bronze Age spearhead found at Belmont reservoir, a burial urn and flints from a Bronze Age barrow at Noon Hill, a decorated “pygmy cup” from Breightmet, and a faience bead from Anglezarke. Later material includes a portion of a Roman hoard from Affetside, and a group of “Celtic” stone heads from Smithills. The museum also acts as a repository for material from excavations taking place within BMBC boundaries.
How is this collection used?
The museum has acquired objects throughout the 19th and 20th centuries to display the story of human development, and old photographs of the museum show the dense typological nature of these displays. With changing museological fashions most of the European and British archaeology collections are now in storage. A reasonable amount of the foreign material is displayed, but justice is not currently done to the British and local objects. The latter could be displayed as part of a history of Bolton gallery. The museum’s education service does not presently offer specific archaeology / Classical material classes, although these have been popular in the past.
Problems regarding storage and conservation are similar to those concerning the Egyptian collection.
The material from the Rooke Pennington collection has been frequently consulted by researchers, and the scope of the archaeological material is unusual for a local museum.
The Ethnographic collection consists of approximately 1200 objects from all over the world, mostly acquired by donation. In the 1960s the museum acquired a number of objects from the ethnographic collections of Rochdale museum.
Star pieces include the Chimu mummy bundle from Peru (c. 1300 AD), one of the best preserved and most spectacular specimens in Britain; it has been lent to exhibitions several times. The wicker armour and spear from Kiribati are an imposing and unusual group of objects. The collection of the Walt Whitman Fellowship, including Whitman’s canary and the Fellowship’s loving cup, document a fascinating outbreak of 19th Century Boltonian intellectualism.
Strengths
Such a small collection – although having several highlights – can not provide anything more than a random view of world cultures. It is however a valuable extension of the Social History collection in the way it shows how Bolton / Boltonians have viewed and used the wider world, and this is the focus of the current displays. In this context most of the collection is extremely valuable, but three collections stand out:
Chinese material given in 1909 by the Revd W. E. Hampson, a missionary in southern China, comprising books and a large selection of objects from daily life. It provides an interesting contrast to the elegant Japanese netsuke that are a highlight of the Decorative Art collection.
Ancient Peruvian objects given by William Smithies 1903. Smithies was a Lancashire man who ran a textile mill in Peru. He formed a number of collections of Peruvian objects and gave them to museums in his homeland, including Manchester, Salford, Warrington, and Bolton. Bolton has a group of decorated pots, wooden figures, and the mummy bundle mentioned above. In 1933 a group of textiles was bought to round out this collection. Smithies’s grandson has recently been in contact with the museum and provided interesting biographical and contextual information which will inform a new display of the mummy bundle.
Mediterranean and Indian material given by Mrs John Heywood in 1920, in memory of her late husband, Mayor of Bolton 1904-6, deriving from their travels abroad.
In addition to this the collection of objects acquired by the public library from the 1850s until the opening of the Chadwick museum in 1884 provides an insight into the early collections and function of the museum.
Weaknesses
The collection is not representative of world cultures. It is at present inadequately catalogued. As with the Egyptian and Archaeological collections there are problems with storage and conservation.
How is this collection used?
A representative selection from the Ethnographic collection is displayed in the World Bays, and is used in Education sessions. The Peruvian material has been studied by a number ot archaeologists and textile scholars.
The Numismatic Collections
These number c. 1200 card-catalogued Classical and British coins, of which approximately 3% are Greek, 28% Roman, 8% British pre-Tudor, 8% Tudor, 17% Stuart, 25% Hanoverian (to 1901), and 13% post-1901. The selection of British coins is fairly representative; within this the small group of Anglo-Saxon coins is notable for its high quality. The Roman collection includes what may be a portion of a hoard from Affetside.
c. 1000 card-catalogued post-mediaeval non-British coins, mainly 19th and 20th Century low denomination poor condition European coins, plus an uncatalogued collection of the same kind received in 1956.
c. 400 card-catalogued medals and tokens, mainly 19th and early 20th Century. The medals can be divided into three basic categories: civilian awards for bravery (e.g. the Edward medal awarded to Alfred Tonge for his bravery in the Pretoria Pit diasater) or contributions to society (e.g. M.B.E.); commemoratives that celebrate cultural or historic events (e.g. opening of the town hall; Crompton centenary); awards and commemoratives related to industry (e.g. 1851 Great Exhibition bronze medasl). The tokens collection is mostly related to local industry and business.
The collection seems to have grown fairly haphazardly by gift. One notable gift came in 1901 as the bequest of Alderman James Finney. In the mid 20th Century an effort was made to make the British and medal collection representative and of particular relevance to the area, and many purchases were made, including war medals awarded to Boltonians.
The coins and medals are currently used in the World and Social History displays. A number of these were displayed with ephemera and local war memorials in the 2004 exhibition "Our Brothers Died" which provided brief biographies of First World War soldiers killed in action.
