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Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks (20 March 182621 May 1897) was a British
antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...
and museum administrator. Franks was described by Marjorie Caygill, historian of the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, as "arguably the most important collector in the history of the British Museum, and one of the greatest collectors of his age."


Early life

Born at
Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...
, he was elder son of Captain Frederick Franks, R.N., and of Frederica Anne, daughter of Sir John Saunders Sebright. His godfather was
William Hyde Wollaston William Hyde Wollaston (; 6 August 1766 – 22 December 1828) was an English chemist and physicist who is famous for discovering the chemical elements palladium and rhodium. He also developed a way to process platinum ore into malleable ingot ...
, a friend of his mother. His early years were spent mainly in Rome and Geneva. In September 1839 he went to
Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...
, where he remained until 1843. Franks then studied at
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
. As undergraduate he began his collection of brass rubbings, ultimately given to the Society of Antiquaries; was one of the founders of the Cambridge Architectural Society and an early member of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society; and was also one of the four student members of the Ray Club. On leaving Cambridge in 1849 Franks devoted his energies to the
Royal Archæological Institute The Royal Archaeological Institute (RAI) is a learned society, established in 1844, with interests in all aspects of the archaeological, architectural and landscape history of the British Isles. Membership is open to all with an interest in these ...
, then newly established, and laid the foundations of his knowledge of ancient and medieval art, in arranging its collections for annual congresses. In 1850 he was secretary of the first exhibition of medieval art held in the rooms of the
Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...
.


At the British Museum

In 1851, Franks was appointed assistant in the Department of Antiquities of the British Museum. The post was newly founded, and the brief was to develop a collection of "British antiquities". Franks in a 45-year career at the Museum went on to launch five distinct departments.
David M. Wilson Sir David Mackenzie Wilson, FBA (born 30 October 1931) is a British archaeologist, art historian, and museum curator, specialising in Anglo-Saxon art and the Viking Age. From 1977 until 1992 he served as the Director of the British Museum, whe ...
writes that "In many respects Franks was the second founder of the British Museum".


Administrator

At the British Museum, and as director of the
Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...
, an appointment he received in 1858, he made himself the leading authority in England on medieval antiquities of all descriptions, upon porcelain, glass, artefacts of anthropological interest, and works of art later than the Classical period. In 1866, British and medieval antiquities, together with the ethnographic collections, were formed into a separate department under his superintendence, as Keeper of British and Mediaeval Antiquities and Ethnography. The Christy collection of
ethnography Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject ...
in Victoria Street, London, was also under his care before its incorporation into the British Museum collections. He became vice-president and ultimately president of the Society of Antiquaries; and in 1878 he declined the principal librarianship (then the title of the executive head of the British Museum). Franks retired on his seventieth birthday in 1896.


Acquisitions

In 1855 Franks was responsible for acquiring for the museum the finest items from the collection of Ralph Bernal, the Liberal politician and collector, including the outstanding
Lothair Crystal The Lothair Crystal (also known as the Lothar Crystal or the Susanna Crystal) is an engraved gem from Lotharingia in northwest Europe, showing scenes of the biblical story of Susanna, dating from 855–869. The Lothair Crystal is an object in th ...
. In 1892 he succeeded in raising the £8,000 needed to buy the Royal Gold Cup; "to Franks this was his greatest acquisition, and the one of which he was most proud". He had temporarily had to fund the purchase with £5,000 of his own money. Towards the end of his career, he wrote: Franks used personal influence on behalf of the Museum to help in the acquisition of collections. This he applied in the cases of Felix Slade, John Henderson, Lady Fellows for the collection of
Sir Charles Fellows Sir Charles Fellows (31 August 1799 – 8 November 1860) was a British archaeologist and explorer, known for his numerous expeditions in what is present-day Turkey. Biography Charles Fellows was born at High Pavement, Nottingham on 31 Augus ...
,
William Burges William Burges (; 2 December 1827 – 20 April 1881) was an English architect and designer. Among the greatest of the Victorian art-architects, he sought in his work to escape from both nineteenth-century industrialisation and the Neoc ...
and
Octavius Morgan Charles Octavius Swinnerton Morgan DL, JP, FRS, FSA (15 September 1803 – 5 August 1888), known as Octavius Morgan, was a British politician, historian and antiquary. He was a significant benefactor to the British Museum. Background and e ...
.


Personal collecting

Franks had a substantial personal fortune, which he used to build up some remarkable personal collections in parallel with his museum work on acquisitions. Though this activity was as an independent collector, it was of benefit also to the holdings of the British Museum, either in the short or longer term. It was largely devoted to the collection of ceramics and precious objects of medieval art; it also included many items from the
Oxus Treasure The Oxus treasure (Persian: گنجینه آمودریا) is a collection of about 180 surviving pieces of metalwork in gold and silver, most relatively small, and around 200 coins, from the Achaemenid Persian period which were found by the Oxus ...
, and Franks built up that side of his collection through dealers in India and by purchase from
Alexander Cunningham Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham (23 January 1814 – 28 November 1893) was a British Army engineer with the Bengal Engineer Group who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India. In 1861, he was appointed to the newl ...
. Franks was also an authority on classical art, especially Roman remains in Britain. He set up an exhibition of his Asian ceramics, mainly porcelain, at the
Bethnal Green Museum Bethnal were a British rock band formed in 1972. In 1978, they released two albums on Vertigo Records: ''Dangerous Times'', produced by Kenny Laguna; and ''Crash Landing''; produced by Jon Astley and Phil Chapman, with special thanks to Pete To ...
in 1876. He collected '' netsuke'' and ''
tsuba Japanese sword mountings are the various housings and associated fittings ('' tosogu'') that hold the blade of a Japanese sword when it is being worn or stored. refers to the ornate mountings of a Japanese sword (e.g. '' katana'') used when t ...
'' from Japan, finger rings and
drinking vessel upTypical drinkware The list of glassware includes drinking vessels (drinkware) and tableware used to set a table for eating a meal, general glass items such as vases, and glasses used in the catering industry. It does not include laboratory glas ...
s. He was interested too in
bookplate An ''Ex Libris'' (from ''ex-librīs'', ), also known as a bookplate (or book-plate, as it was commonly styled until the early 20th century), is a printed or decorative label pasted into a book, often on the front endpaper, to indicate ownership. ...
s and
playing-cards A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a fi ...
, of both of which he formed important collections; the friendship of John Warren, 3rd Baron de Tabley led him to bookplates, and he completed the reference work of Charlotte Elizabeth Schreiber on playing cards. Franks' great-grandmother, Sarah Knight, was a cousin of
Richard Payne Knight Richard Payne Knight (11 February 1751 – 23 April 1824) of Downton Castle in Herefordshire, and of 5 Soho Square,History of Parliament biography London, England, was a classical scholar, connoisseur, archaeologist and numismatist best ...
, another wealthy bachelor benefactor of the British Museum. Augustus blamed his obsessive collecting on his genes. In a manuscript account of his life, which was discovered in 1983, Franks began, "Collecting is a hereditary disease, and I fear incurable."


Death and legacy

Franks died 21 May 1897, and was buried at
Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...
, London. Most of the items in his collections became the property of the nation, by bequest at his death, where they had not been donations in his lifetime. Franks purchased over 20,000 important objects for the British Museum's collections.Objects donated by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks
British Museum Collection database. Accessed 17 August 2010
One of his best known donations was the ninth-century ivory
Franks Casket The Franks Casket (or the Auzon Casket) is a small Anglo-Saxon whale's bone (not "whalebone" in the sense of baleen) chest from the early 8th century, now in the British Museum. The casket is densely decorated with knife-cut narrative scenes ...
from
Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
, with its
runic Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised ...
inscriptions. It had been dismissed as 'some Ancient carvings in ivory', and turned down by the Museum's Trustees in 1858 when offered to them for 100 guineas. In 1867, Franks gave the casket to the British Museum as a gift. In the case of the collection of Samuel Rush Meyrick, of arms and armour, Franks failed to persuade George Ward Hunt to purchase it complete for the nation when Augustus W. H. Meyrick put it up for sale around 1871. The Meyrick Collection went to auction and was broken up, but Franks did buy and then donate items such as the
Meyrick Helmet The Meyrick Helmet is an Iron Age bronze peaked helmet, with La Tène style decoration, that is held at the British Museum in London. It is one of only four Iron Age helmets to have been discovered in Britain, the other three being the more famo ...
. When the British Museum was considering buying the ceramics collection of
Sir Andrew Fountaine Sir Andrew Fountaine (1676 in Salle, Norfolk – 4 September 1753 in Narford Hall, Narford), son and heir of Andrew Fountaine M.P. of Salle, Norfolk and Sarah Chicheley, one of the daughters of Sir Thomas Chicheley, was an English antiquarian, ...
and his heirs, which came onto the market in 1884, Franks eased the deal by matching the money required with purchases of his own.


Works

He wrote numerous memoirs on archaeological subjects. His major publications were:
‘Book of Ornamental Glazing Quarries,’
London, 1849. * ‘Examples of Ornamental Art in Glass and Enamel,’ 1858. * ‘Himyaritic Inscriptions from Southern Arabia,’ 1863. * ‘Catalogue of Oriental Porcelain and Pottery,’ 1876 and 1878. * ‘Japanese Pottery,’ 1880
2nd edition, 1906
* ‘Catalogue of a Collection of Continental Porcelain,’ 1896. He also edited
John Mitchell Kemble John Mitchell Kemble (2 April 1807 – 26 March 1857), English scholar and historian, was the eldest son of Charles Kemble the actor and Maria Theresa Kemble. He is known for his major contribution to the history of the Anglo-Saxons and philolog ...
's ''Horæ Ferales'' (1863); and Edward Hawkins's ''Medallic Illustrations of British History'', 1885. In writing about British
Celtic art Celtic art is associated with the peoples known as Celts; those who spoke the Celtic languages in Europe from pre-history through to the modern period, as well as the art of ancient peoples whose language is uncertain, but have cultural and styli ...
he introduced the term "Late Celtic period", but its application proved contentious, and was considered somewhat misleading in the European picture of Celtic art.Edward Thurlow Leeds, ''Celtic Ornament in the British Isles'' (2002 reprint), p. 1
Google Books


References

;Attribution


Further reading

* *. Reprint


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Franks, Augustus Wollaston 1826 births 1897 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Employees of the British Museum English antiquarians Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Presidents of the Society of Antiquaries of London Curators from Geneva