The Cyprus Collections in the Medelhavsmuseet are the largest and most important collections in the world outside Cyprus. There are corresponding collections in the Metropolitan Museum in New York and in the British Museum.
The Collections consist basically of finds made by the Swedish Cyprus Expedition (SCE) during the years 1927-1931. About 65% of the excavated material was assigned to Sweden by the then English occupation forces. The total amount of finds from the SCE was about 18,000, of which Sweden received about 10,000.
Nearly all this material is now in Stockholm, except for some tomb groups and statuettes, that the Expedition was allowed to either give away or sell to Swedish institutes or to persons who contributed to the funds of the Swedish Cyprus Expedition.
The collections include about 6,000 Cypriote vases, ranging from Chalcolithic to Roman times and give a general view of the art and culture of Cyprus in ancient times. There is also a very large collection of magnificent Red Polished pottery from the important necropolis at Lapithos.
Likewise grandiose are the much later Mycenean kraters or winebowls, the provenance of which has been so debated. These impressive and huge vases come from the rich tombs in Enkomi. The collection is also comprised of bronzes, jewelry, glass and a large number of sculptures of stone and terracotta.
In 1925, Crown Prince Gustav Adolf received as a gift from the Swedish consul Luke Z. Pierides a collection of almost a hundred Cypriote vases from different periods. The majority of the vases were presented to the Museum of National Antiquities in 1926 and was later transferred to the Medelhavsmuseet.
About 30 vases were given to the National Museum in the same year and are now kept in the Medelhavsmuseet as a deposition.
In 1926 a group of vases and 60 boxes of sherds from the Middle Cypriote period, were presented by Einar Gjerstad. This important material was found during excavations at Kalopsidha in 1923-1925.
Additional Cypriote material, acquired by the SCE during the years 1931 to 1954, was catalogued separately. Several vases were reconstructed from the extensive sherd material, collected by the SCE (ca 5,000 boxes are kept in the museum). The pottery for the most part comes from Enkomi, but also from Lapithos and Ajia Irini. Numerous vases were found during other regular Swedish excavations on Cyprus, including Galinoporni, Kalopsidha, Lapithos, Marion and Milia.
More than 300 Cypriote vases were further catalogued in the 1930´s. Most of them were gifts or purchases and some were stray finds from the Swedish excavations.
When the Medelhavsmuseet was formed in 1954, it was built on the material of the Cyprus Collections and the Egyptian Museum. The Cypriote material was from the beginning installed in the Oxenstierna Manor in Östermalm, where the administration of the Medelhavsmuseet remained until March 1982.
In the summer of 1982, the majority of these collections was transferred to Fredsgatan, where the Medelhavsmuseet is now located. The store-rooms available in the new premises have not, however, space enough for the Cyprus Collections, part of which is stored outside the Museum building.
Source: Cypern och Kreta