Sir Arthur John Evans (1851-1941)
When Sir John Evans died, his obituary in the Aethenaeum read that he was survived by “his distinguished son Dr. Arthur Evans, keeper of the Ashmolean Museum and first discoverer of Mycenaean remains in Crete”. Also a numismatist – President of the Royal Numismatic Society from 1914 to 1919 – Sir Arthur Evans is especially remembered as an archaeologist – Extraordinary Professor at Oxford University. Evans coined the term ‘Minoan’ in 1896, and in 1900 started to excavate the site of Knossos (Crete), discovering much about this formerly unknown civilization. Evans is also credited with identifying the two Minoan scripts, Linear A and Linear B.
The younger Evans was an even more prolific collector than his father, and duplicates and inferior examples were sold in a number of sales before the remainder of his estate was sold by Ars Classica in 1934. Many of the examples had been inherited from his father, though the 1934 sale also included a large selection of pieces from the Arras Hoard. Those coins which were not sold were largely donated to the Ashmolean Museum, of which he was keeper.
The younger Evans was an even more prolific collector than his father, and duplicates and inferior examples were sold in a number of sales before the remainder of his estate was sold by Ars Classica in 1934. Many of the examples had been inherited from his father, though the 1934 sale also included a large selection of pieces from the Arras Hoard. Those coins which were not sold were largely donated to the Ashmolean Museum, of which he was keeper.
Biblio: Hadrien J. Rambach, Provenance Glossary of Coins in the George W. LaBorde Collection (published over three auctions in NAC 91, 99 and 105) (description); Gisling (image)