Artefacts collected by James Roberts Ogden

Details

Type of record: Archive

Title: Artefacts collected by James Roberts Ogden

Level: Collection

Classmark: OBJ 1

Related People: Leonard Woolley(Personal name); Benjamin W. Kent(Personal name)

Creator(s): Ogden, James Roberts (1865-1940)

Date(s): 2000 BCE-1940

Language: English

Size and medium: pottery; coins; seals; cuneiform tablets; beads; medal; metalwork; tools; articles; specimens; slides

Persistent link: https://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/749246

Description

This collection includes jewellery, beads, ornaments, seals, coins, pottery, cuneiform tablets, facsimilie objects and glass slides. Many items are said to be from Ur, ancient Mesopotamian (now Iraq) or are Egyptian.

Dates may be based on original labels or estimations.

Biography or history

Mr James Roberts Ogden J.P., F.S.A. (1866-1940) was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and member of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society. He was a jeweller and goldsmith from Harrogate, Yorkshire. He had an interest in archaeology, and was closely associated with the Palestine and Egyptian Exploration Funds. He made several visits to excavations in the Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Palestine; their link with biblical narratives being one of his main interests.

Ogden fundraised to support work on archaeological sites through lectures he gave on the subject. He became a metallurgical expert for antiquity, and worked closely with The British Museum Research Lab as an advisory goldsmith. He was also commissioned to make replicas of objects from the Ur collection in the Baghdad Museum for the British Museum.

It was largely as a result of his fundraising that digging was commenced in 1933 on the pre-historic site of Ninever. In appreciation of his work, Mr Ogden was the recipient of a special letter from the Trustees of the British Museum. Ogden was also a generous donor to the Harrogate Museum and other institutions.

He was an associate of Sir Charles Leonard Woolley, an archaeologist who excavated at Ur, where many of the artefacts in the collection originate.

Provenance

Ogden travelled to excavations and had acquaintences in the field of archaeology.

The Ogden Collection, including his glass slides, was donated in parts as gifts to the University of Leeds by Mr. James R. Ogden in the late 1930s and also bequeathed by him, with further donations by his widow.

The collection is described in a list of c.1940: “List of Relics the Gift of James R. Ogden, Harrogate, to The Brotherton Collection” and there is a further list from Mrs Ogden. Where possible original numbering has been maintained. Cuneiforms have additional numbers.

Access and usage

Access

Material in this collection may be unavailable on conservation grounds. Access is at the discretion of the Conservation Officer.

Access to this material is unrestricted.