Project « On the trail of Mariemont's antiques »

Mariemont’s Greco-Roman collections were devised and put together at the turn of the 20th century. Most of the pieces came to us from collectors and antique dealers. 

Some had been part of famous collections in Europe and are often documented with an indication of their origin (name of country, region or archaeological site).

This research programme is investigating the history of these objects, tracking them through sales catalogues and archives. The aim is to recontextualise them or to check their provenance as this information could have been invented, incorrectly documented or deliberately omitted by the merchant(s) or collector(s). By examining key examples, the project aims to investigate these issues and at the same time look at the possibility of connecting the works with those in other collections that share the same history.