Winchester began to collect ancient artefacts in preparation for the opening of the School’s first museum in 1897. The study of Latin and Greek was then at the core of the curriculum and the original purchases were mostly of objects from ancient Greece. The Revd Arthur Bather, one of the masters, travelled to Athens to buy Greek vases, and casts of classical sculptures were purchased.
In the first half of the twentieth century a number of gifts from old Wykehamists and other benefactors were added to the College’s collection of antiquities. It now includes items from Egypt, Rome, Etruria and the Indo-Greek Kingdom. The objects on display reveal the connections between different parts of the ancient world, and demonstrate the influence of Greek art across Asia and the Mediterranean.
Kylix by the Wincester Painter, c. 515-510 BC