Nicholson Museum Closes Today

By Jossie Warnant 

The 160-year-old Nicholson museum is set to shut its doors today, as the entire collection is moved to the Chau Chak Wing museum. 

The museum is home to the largest collection of antiquities in the Southern Hemisphere. Currently, most of the collection’s 30,000 artefacts are stored beneath MacLaurin Hall due to space restrictions. 

“While a respected museum, the Nicholson could never exhibit more than a fraction of its treasures at any one time,” said David Ellis, Director of Sydney Museums, in a University press release.

The Nicholson museum opened to the public in 1860 under the guidance of then University Vice-Provost Sir Charles Nicholson. Nicholson travelled to Italy and Egypt and acquired over 3000 artefacts for the collection, including mummies, coffins and sculptures. 

Notable artefacts acquired by Nicholson curators also include the Jericho skull, one of the earliest examples of portraiture and an Egyptian papyrus fragment of book 5 of the Iliad. 

Moving the museum marks a new era, which will offer greater access to the extensive collection. 

“The move to a dedicated space at the Chau Chak Wing Museum will allow much more of this world-class collection to be appreciated,” Ellis said. 

The new collection will be displayed alongside the Macleay and University Art collections when the Chau Chak Wing museum opens in August 2020.