Etruscans Now
Ceramics
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Phil Perkins - Open University / British Museum
The formation of the collection of bucchero in the British Museum
In 1756 the first bucchero entered the British Museum. The collection grew with the acquisition of the collections of Sloane, Townley and Hamilton and significantly in 1838 and 1839 with purchases from Signor Campanari. Piecemeal collection continued through the 19th century but the collection has grown slowly through the 20th. In 1932 Pryce published a pioneering study of the impasto and bucchero in the British Museum in a CVA volume which was the first to extensively feature bucchero. Now in 2002 a systematic study of the bucchero has revealed that only about 75% of the bucchero in the Museum was actually published by Pryce. This paper will consider the history of the formation of the collection and its publication in relation to the development of Etruscan studies.