John Marshall Archive
The John Marshall Archive Project presents a collection of images and documents collected and written by John Marshall (Liverpool 1862– Bagni di Lucca 1928) from the Archive of the British School at Rome and the Sackler Library at Oxford.
John Marshall was a classical art expert who worked as purchasing agent for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, between 1906 and 1928. While leaving in Rome and maintaining a close connection with leading dealers and intermediaries throughout Europe, Marshall was responsible for having found many of the finest pieces that comprise one of the largest collections of antiquities in the world.
On his death, his private archive was bequeathed to the British School at Rome. Containing photographs and handwritten documents pertaining to ancient art objects that were offered to Marshall, the archive present a rare view into the secret world of the antiquities trade.
In 2013 the British School at Rome launched a project to catalogue and assess the collection. An international group of scholars took part in the John Marshall Archive Project: Guido Petruccioli was the project leader; Beryl Barr-Sharrar, Roberto Cobianchi, Stephen Dyson, Mette Moltesen, Vinnie Nørskov, Francesca de Tomani and Susan Walker composed the team. The original database was developed by Angela di Iorio. The Library and Archive team at the BSR coordinated the digital project and catalogued the collection.
This digital collection is complemented by the collective volume published in November 2022, Ancient Art and its Commerce in Early Twentieth Century Europe. The John Marshall Archive (London, Archeopress), with essays by members of the research team.
The Research Project and the printing of the book have been generously supported by the British Academy, Peter Levett, and Peter & Ann Wiseman.
