‘Now completely Americanized’: Collecting and transatlantic exchange of the Lansdowne Marbles

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the sale in 1930 by Christie’s of the collection of ancient marbles formerly belonging to William Petty-Fitzmaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, and the role that the auction played in the transatlantic trade in antiquities between Britain and the United States in the early twentieth century. It examines how provenance and collecting histories, and the prestige engendered by owning antiquities from a notable collection, became an important marker of taste and desirability for American collectors.