From Parlor to Castle:
The Egyptian Collection at Glencairn Museum

Ed Gyllenhaal

Published in Millions of Jubilees: Studies in Honor of David P. Silverman, Zahi Hawass and Jennifer Houser Wegner (eds.). Supreme Council of Antiquities (Cairo, 2010), 175-203.

This article traces the origin and development of the Ancient Egyptian collection at Glencairn Museum, sets it within the context of early New Church (Swedenborgian) interest in ancient religions, and tells the story of the Museum's original founding in Philadelphia. The Egyptian collection was assembled by Reverend William Henry Benade, John Pitcairn, and his son Raymond. According to the author, "their personal correspondence and dealer records have been carefully preserved, and their activities and motivations are well documented. Their interactions with Egyptologists and art dealers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries enhance our understanding of the history of collecting, and their unique New Church perspective on ancient Egypt highlights the diversity of motives that lie behind the formation of Egyptian collections now in museums" (p. 198).

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