‘Ugly but . . . important’: the Albanian Hoard and the making of the archaeological treasure in the early twentieth century
Melanie Holcomb
This paper deploys the Metropolitan Museum's Albanian (or Avar) Treasure as a case study to explore role and value assigned named treasure during early twentieth century, moment when Americans – most notably J.P. Morgan were among wealthiest avid collectors of Byzantine medieval art. Outlining market conditions for such treasures, archaeological practices that authenticated them, art historical categories gave them meaning, demonstrates extent which was social creation built by various players: finders, dealers, scholars, museums collectors.
Early Medieval Europe