Title: A collector's journey : Charles Lang Freer and Egypt
Abstract: His second and third trips, in 1908 and 1909, were devoted primarily to pur- chasing works of art in Cairo and Alexandria.On all three trips he frequented the shops of antiquities dealers and visited the homes of private collectors.His purchases in Egypt constitute the bulk of his Egyptian acquisitions, but he also bought from dealers in New York, London, and Paris, both before and after he visited the country.In all, he accumulated more than fifteen hundred objects made of glass, metal, wood, faience, stone, parchment, and papyrus, ranging in date from the end of the Old Kingdom (ca.2675-2130 B.c.E.) to the fifth and sixth centuries, when Egypt formed part of the Byzantine Empire ruled from Constantinople.These impressive quantities must be put in perspective: over thirteen hundred consist of tiny glass beads and inlays; two hundred are The Greatest Art in the World FIG.1.5 Objects from the "Gold Treasure," Byzantine works probably made m Constantinople, 6th to 7th century; a portion of a larger group of objects allegedly found as a hoard and purchased in Cairo in iqog.Gold; diameter of large medallion 10.7-