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Egyptology at Eton

“Eton’s Best Kept Secret” states the publicity accompanying the exhibition of Egyptian art at Eton College (until 30 June 2000). Certainly, ancient Egypt is not the first thing that springs to mind with regard to Britain’s best-known public school.

At over five centuries old, the foundations of Eton College are venerable in terms of British history. In comparison, the foundations of Ancient Egypt are 5,000 years old. However, the Greeks and Romans who influenced our own teaching methods admired the Egyptian education system. As ancient Egyptian texts show, teaching the young has never been an easy task.

For William Joseph Myers was a typically adven­turous and successful former pupil of the College. It is to his “refined taste and discerning eye”, as described in the Foreword to the catalogue accompanying this unique exhibition, that Eton owes the core collection of Egyptian art now held in the Brewhouse Gallery under the direction of Dr Stephen Spurr, Curator.

It is a cliché, but the story outlined in the catalogue from the as yet unpublished diaries of Myers is worthy of a Boy’s Own Annual. After leaving Eton in 1875 he followed a career in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps. By the age of 24, like so many of his generation, he was already a seasoned soldier. He was in Egypt as the British occupation began.

His time there was spent as an officer and a gentleman, playing polo and attending the opera and social functions. He also visited the local bazaars, churches and mosques and began to accumulate a collection of modern and ancient items. During the next eleven years, Myers travelled the length of the Nile and visited most of the major monuments, leading to a series of adventures such as crawling along smelly passages littered with the remains of mummified crocodiles.

Major Myers lived adventurously and died in action in the Boer War of 1899. His memories of his time in Egypt, recorded in his diaries, were happy ones. “The morning was delicious. I never remember a more beautiful morning in Egypt, more fresh and bright – and to think what one is going back to at home!” This sentiment is one with which modern travellers to Egypt can agree. One of his most important bequests left his collection of Egyptian antiquities to his old school as part of the teaching collection.

Myers chose all the pieces in this collection for their beauty. There are many exquisite faience pieces including a series of chalices in the form of lotuses. There are commemorative scarabs from the reigns of Ramesses II and Amenhotep II, including the ‘marriage’ scarab that records his union with Queen Tiye, and mentions her parents, the commoners Yuya and Thuya.

One particularly beautiful and simple piece is made from an oyster shell. The pendant has the cartouche of King Senwosret I. It is an elegant reminder of the skill of the ancient Egyptian craftsmen in working with all materials.

The exhibition contains examples from all periods of Egyptian history until Graeco-Roman times. There are some tiny stone vessels from the Predynastic (before 3100) and, at the end of the time scale, a panel portrait of an officer of the Roman army from the Faiyum.

Every piece in this exhibition is delightful and expressive. The exhibition is the result of collaboration between the College and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and will move to the Metropolitan in the autumn of 2000.

Stephen Spurr, guest curator Nicholas Reeves, and Stephen Quirke, curator of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, University College, London, wrote the catalogue. They, and the other collaborators, including Catharine Roehrig, Curator of Egyptian Art and organiser of the New York exhibition, have done excellent work in presenting the highlights of this beautiful and interesting collection.

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