Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1930-1994 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
2 oversize boxes, 2 parcels and 1 large folder
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born, Shildon(? or Darlington) Co Durham 09/02/1918. Died, Darlington 27/02/1995. Trained as apprentice photographer, then as wartime airforce photographer; spent WWII in Canada and Belgium. After the war, trained at Gravesend (National Diploma in Design 1949), then at Brincliffe, Sheffield (Art Teacher Diploma 1950-51). Taught at High Storrs Grammar School, Sheffield in 1950s, then Eastbourne School, Darlington Co Durham, until retirement (late 1970s?). Married Jessie Rae Bruce (1925-1995) in 1959; one son, Richard, born 1963, whose interest in Egyptology revived his, leading to Egyptian drawings and models.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
1) Donated by Mr Harold Parkinson in 1983.
2) Donated by Mr Harold Parkinson in September 1989.
3-7) Presented by his son Professor Richard B. Parkinson in December 2013.
8) Presented by his son Professor Richard B. Parkinson in August 2019.
9) Transferred from Magee MSS in October 2023.
10) Presented by his son Professor Richard B. Parkinson in August 2019.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
1) Original measured perspective drawing of the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings (1978) [corrected version].
2) Drawings of Eighteenth Dynasty tombs (incomplete original set and complete sets of photocopies/prints) (1980s).
3) Prints of the measured perspective drawing of the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings (1978) [version with error].
4) Drawings of reconstructions of Egyptian boats (1993-4).
5) Models, plaster and resin moulds and casts for plaque depicting a scene from the lid of box from the tomb of Tutankhamun (c. 1979) - the plaque has been sold in the British Museum shop since the late 1990s (copyright issued in the late 1990s for a while, then reissued c. 2010).
6) Model, plaster and resin moulds and casts for the mask of Tutankhamun (1978).
7) Models, plaster and resin moulds and casts for small figurines (2 seated Isis suckling Horus, Bes amulet and scarab, 1970s).
8) Album of newspaper cuttings titled "Illustrations", mostly from the Illustrated London News, bound in illustrated binding by Harold Parkinson (c. 1930).
9) Copy of Simplified Hieroglyphs arranged according to Gardiner's Signlist. Drawn in both left and right directions together with samples of cursive hieroglyphs and hieratic signs. Hieratic versions are drawn from Möller Hieratische Paläographie Vol. I (6th to 13th dynasties), of which 'Sinuhe' provides the majority of the examples, by R. B. & H. Parkinson (1988-1989).
10) Original measured perspective drawing of the White Chapel at Karnak, by H. & R. B. Parkinson (c. 1989-1990).
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Kept as received.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Property of the Griffith Institute. No restrictions.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright Griffith Institute, University of Oxford. Permission must also be arranged with Professor Richard B. Parkinson.
Language of material
English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
No problems.
Finding aids
None.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
These are originals and copies made by author.
Existence and location of copies
2) Photocopies of KV 55 in the possession of Dr C. N. Reeves.
Related units of description
Other Archives:
- 4) Complete, final set in the possession of Dr. D. Jones.
Publication note
- 1) M. A. Littauer and J. H. Crouwel, Chariots and Related Equipment from the Tomb of Tutʿankhamūn (Oxford, 1985), pl. i; C. N. Reeves, Valley of the Kings: the decline of a royal necropolis (London and New York, 1990), pl. iv; A. Wiese, 'Tutankhamun - Just a Conventional "Tomb Treasure" of the 18th Dynasty? On the Tomb Equipment of Royal and Non-royal Personages in the Valley of the Kings', in A. Wiese and A. Brodbeck (eds.), Tutankhamun - The Golden Beyond: Tomb Treasures from the Valley of the Kings (Basel, 2004), figs. 1, 15; W. M. Weiss, Tutanchamun. Sein Grab und die Schätze (Bayreuth, 2008), fig. on 55 [upper].
- 2) KV 46: A. Wiese, 'Tutankhamun - Just a Conventional "Tomb Treasure" of the 18th Dynasty? On the Tomb Equipment of Royal and Non-royal Personages in the Valley of the Kings', in A. Wiese and A. Brodbeck (eds.), Tutankhamun - The Golden Beyond: tomb treasures from the Valley of the Kings (Basel, 2004), fig. 76.
- 4) D. Jones, Boats (London, 1995), figs. frontispiece, 20, 28, 29, 43.
- 10) R. B. Parkinson, Voices from Ancient Egypt: An Anthology of Middle Kingdom Writings (London, 1991), fig. on p. 123.
Notes area
Note
- Photograph provided by Professor Richard B. Parkinson (son).