Teaching classics with objects? The acquisition of classical antiquities by British schools, 1860–1950

Abstract

Abstract British secondary schools amassed collections of antiquities from the mid-nineteenth century onwards. These ordinarily contained classical objects, sometimes alongside Egyptian antiquities, and accompanied collections of natural history, geology and ethnography. This paper uses the collection formed by Bedford Modern School, now housed at the Higgins Museum, Bedford, to study the phenomenon of school classical collections. The analysis presented here places school collections within a wider history of ‘object lessons’, but suggests that these collections were more than merely teaching aids. School museums could act as signifiers of power and prestige, connection to alumni and wider local communities, and to a heritage of learning and scholarship embodied by classical antiquities. Furthermore, these collections illustrate the personalities and interests of individual collectors – usually the schoolmasters who were instrumental in their formation.

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