Zona de identificação
Código de referência
Título
Data(s)
- c. 1824-1870s (Produção)
Nível de descrição
Dimensão e suporte
6 oversize boxes and 1 box
Zona do contexto
Nome do produtor
História biográfica
British sculptor, draughtsman, and traveller of Italian origin; he was born in London, 9 Oct. 1796, son of Joseph Bonomi the elder (1739-1808), architect, and Rosa Florini; he studied at the RA schools under Nollekens and won the silver medal for drawing in the antique style; he continued his studies in Rome, 1823; he went from there to Egypt to assist Robert Hay in 1824, remaining there for no less than 9 years although estranged from Hay 1826-32; he also worked with Burton, Lane, Wilkinson, and Rosellini; in 1828 he assisted Burton with his Excerpta Hieroglyphica, and in 1829 ascended the Nile as far as Dongola, and in 1831 he accompanied Linant Bey in his expedition to the Gold Mines; he rejoined Hay at Qurna in Aug. 1832; he went with Arundale and Catherwood in a journey through Sinai, Palestine, and Syria, 1833-4; he was much used by Wilkinson and Birch for the production of their works because of his knowledge and excellence as a draughtsman; he returned to Rome to study the obelisks, 1838, and worked at the British Museum, 1839; at this time he prepared the illustrations for Wilkinson's Manners and Customs; he supervised the making of Hay's plaster casts of Egyptian sculpture and their entry into the British Museum; he was partly responsible for the design and decoration of the Egyptian-style Marshall's Mill at Holbeck, Leeds in 1842; he next went to Egypt with Lepsius's expedition, 1842-4; he returned to England and married Jessie daughterof the painter John Martin, 1845; Bonomi set up the Egyptian court at the Crystal Palace, 1853, and made the first hieroglyphic font in England for Birch's Dictionary, pub. 1867; he catalogued and illustrated many Egyptian collections, and lithographed the sarcophagus of Sety I and other monuments; he was appointed Curator of Sir John Soane's Museum, 1861, and was still in office at his death; he was instrumental in the sale of much of Hay's collection to the British Museum in 1868 and Hay's MSS to the Museum (now in the British Library) in 1875. His principal publications were, Gallery of antiquities selected from the British Museum, by F. Arundale and J. Bonomi, with descriptions by S. Birch, 1842-1843; Catalogue of the Egyptian antiquities in the Museum of Hartwell House, 1858; Egypt, Nubia and Ethiopia ..., 1862. He died in Wimbledon, 3 March 1878 and is buried in Brompton cemetery beneath a slate Anubis.
História do arquivo
1) Bonomi drawings and paintings: in the possession of the Bonomi family for several generations until deposit in the Griffith Institute Archive.
2) Typescript of extracts from Bonomi’s diary: created for the Griffith Institute in the 1940s.
Fonte imediata de aquisição ou transferência
1) Bonomi drawings and paintings: donated in 1997 by Mrs Vivien Betti, descendant of Joseph Bonomi.
2) Typescript of extracts from Bonomi’s diary: made with permission of Mrs de Cosson, the owner of the original diary in the 1940s when this copy was created.
Zona do conteúdo e estrutura
Âmbito e conteúdo
1) Bonomi drawings and paintings: 52 handmade ‘portfolios’ containing pencil and pastel drawings, watercolours, tracings and commercial prints, almost certainly arranged by Bonomi, some later rearrangement was done by Bonomi's descendants [Bonomi MSS 1-52].
2) Typescript of diary: carbon-copy(?) typescript of extracts from Joseph Bonomi’s diary, entries for periods in Egypt dating between 25th March 1829 to 26th May 1834 [Bonomi MSS 53].
Avaliação, selecção e eliminação
Ingressos adicionais
Sistema de arranjo
1) Bonomi drawings and paintings: within the portfolios the material has been kept as received; the portfolios have been categorised into four groups (although some specific items are actually misplaced, they have not been moved but kept in their original portfolios):
- Egypt [Bonomi MSS 1-25]
- Europe et al. [Bonomi MSS 26-28]
- the Near East [Bonomi MSS 29-32]
- Classical designs [Bonomi MSS 33-52]
2) Typescript of extracts from Bonomi’s diary: kept as received.
Zona de condições de acesso e utilização
Condições de acesso
1) Bonomi drawings and paintings: property of the Griffith Institute. No restrictions.
2) Typescript of extracts from Bonomi’s diary: property of the de Cosson family in the 1940s. Access to the typescript is provided for study purposes only. Permission to quote from or requests to reproduce from the diary must be acquired from the de Cosson family. The Griffith Institute does not know if the original diary is still in the possession of the de Cosson family and has no current contact information.
Condiçoes de reprodução
1) Bonomi drawings and paintings: copyright Griffith Institute, University of Oxford.
2) Typescript of extracts from Bonomi’s diary: copyright of the de Cosson family.
Idioma do material
inglês
Script do material
Notas ao idioma e script
Características físicas e requisitos técnicos
No problems.
Instrumentos de descrição
1) Bonomi drawings and paintings:
- list and notes for the Egyptian portfolios by Dr Rosalind L. B. Moss (some of the references in the list are quoted in the published Topographical Bibliography volumes as well as being recorded in this catalogue as 'PM reference'). In the period of time between Dr Moss consulting the material and its accession in the Archive, distribution of some of the material has been changed and relocated within other folders by the former owner. There were also periodic exchanges of material between the respective collections in the possession of Bonomi's other descendants, hence some of the items seen and recorded by Dr Moss are no longer present [info Mrs Vivien Betti in 1997],
- preliminary catalogue for the Egyptian, European et al. and Near Eastern portfolios [Bonomi MSS 1-32],
- final catalogue of the entire collection in progress on this website.
2) Typescript of extracts from Bonomi’s diary: none.
Zona de documentação associada
Existência e localização de originais
1) Bonomi drawings and paintings: these are originals.
2) The original Bonomi diary was in the possession of the de Cosson family in the 1940s.
Existência e localização de cópias
1) Bonomi drawings and paintings: none.
2) Typescript of extracts from Bonomi’s diary: not known.
Unidades de descrição relacionadas
Other Archives:
- Bonomi correspondence and material, held at Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives (http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0012%2FMS%20Add.9389).
- Correspondence, Joseph Bonomi to Samuel Sharpe, sent between 1857 and 1878, held at the British Museum, Archive of the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan (http://blog.britishmuseum.org/2012/09/28/a-correspondence-with-the-history-of-egyptology/).
-Portrait of Joseph Bonomi the Younger, painted by Matilda Sharpe, National Portrait Gallery (http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/joseph-bonomi-the-younger).
-Drawings at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
-Other Bonomi material similar to that in the Griffith Institute Archive, is known to have been in the possession of a number of Bonomi's descendants [info communicated verbally to the Griffith Institute by Mrs Vivien Betti in 1997]. The current location of this other material is not known to the Griffith Institute [status 05-07-2019].
Nota de publicação
Zona das notas
Nota
- The dimensions given for each item are maximum width per maximum height.
Nota
- Antonia Burgess-Freshwater created the preliminary catalogue for the Egyptian, European et al. and Near Eastern portfolios [Bonomi MSS 1-32].
- Elsie McLaughlin created the final catalogue for part of the Egyptian portfolios [Bonomi MSS 1-5] on this website, under the supervision of Francisco Bosch-Puche.
- Emily Poncia and Aspen Warren (placement programme for BA students in Art History 2021-2022) created the final catalogue for part of the Egyptian portfolios [Bonomi MSS 6-8] on this website, under the supervision of Francisco Bosch-Puche.
- Viviana Dolis (Cambridge BA student in Archaeology - Egyptology, July 2023 placement) created the final catalogue for part of the Egyptian portfolios [Bonomi MSS 9] on this website, under the supervision of Francisco Bosch-Puche.
- Ella Thomas (placement programme for BA students in Art History 2018-2019) created the final catalogue for part of the Egyptian portfolios [Bonomi MSS 23-25], the European et al. portfolios [Bonomi MSS 26-28] and the Near Eastern portfolios [Bonomi MSS 29-32] on this website, under the supervision of Francisco Bosch-Puche.
- Beatrice Law and Mia Parnall (placement programme for BA students in Art History 2017-2018) created the final catalogue for the Classical portfolios [Bonomi MSS 33-52] on this website, under the supervision of Francisco Bosch-Puche.
Nota
Nota
- If you spot any mistakes or can improve on the cataloguing, please email us at griffith.institute@ames.ox.ac.uk.