Richard Payne Knight, Priapus, and the Parthenon Marbles

CNG 97, Lot: 25. Estimate $1000. Sold for $3750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SICILY, Entella. Punic issues. Circa 320/15-300 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25mm, 17.00 g, 9h). Wreathed head of Arethusa left; four dolphins around / Head of horse left; palm tree to right, Punic ‘MMḤNT below. Jenkins, Punic 197 (O59/R173); HGC 2, 284; SNG Ashmolean 2161 (same dies); Ward 362 (same dies). VF, old collection toning, some minor marks under tone, spot of roughness on obverse, die break on reverse.

Lot includes old ticket stating “Ex Payne Knight Collection” and “BM in exchange”.

Excelling in ancient languages from an early age, Richard Payne Knight (1751-1824) formed a vast collection of Greek and Roman coins, gems, and ancient bronzes, many acquired during a series of tours of Italy and at dispersals of celebrated cabinets of the age such as the Duane sale in 1785. From 1780 to 1806, Payne Knight served as a Member of Parliament, first for Leominster then Ludlow, though it was as a scholar and collector that he would make his name. His first publication, An Account of the Remains of the Worship of Priapus, issued by the Society of Dilettanti in 1786, scandalized many in the political and religious establishment with its identification of the Christian cross as a phallic symbol. Nevertheless, Payne Knight’s further publications on the arts and aesthetics and the language, mythology, and material culture of ancient civilizations, together with his extensive society connections, propelled him to the forefront of British cultural life. In the early 19th century, he entered the debate over the significance of the Parthenon marbles which had recently been brought back to Britain by Thomas Bruce, 7th earl of Elgin. Payne Knight, whose knowledge of ancient Greek sculpture was derived almost entirely from Hellenistic pieces and later Roman copies, failed to perceive the importance of the Parthenon marbles as the zenith of the art of the Classical period. In 1816, Payne Knight, by this point a Trustee of the British Museum, was asked to give evidence to parliamentary select committee created to determine the value and legal status of the marbles. Despite having initially suggested that they could be later Hadrianic copies and maintaining his doubts over their quality, Knight did advise that the sculptures should be bought for the nation. His reputation, though, would never recover. On his death he left his collections, including 5025 coins, to the British Museum. While it is not possible to verify the pedigree of this piece with certainty, the BM disposed of duplicates in the early 20th century (see, e.g., Naville V [1923]), and the Museum has another coin from the same dies as the present piece (referenced and illustrated in Jenkins).