Chania Archaeological Museum - The Return Of The Wardle Scrolls

Many moons ago I was given some sheets containing handmade drawings of Minoan and Mycenaean pottery. They had been created by Elizabeth French (Lisa), an expert in dating by pottery, Ken Wardle & his wife, Diane. They had been part of his personal collection for his PhD. Ken was an expert on Mycenaean culture and participated in several excavations in Crete. He was also my lecturer at the time and spotted my interest in the dating-systems. More importantly, from my perspective, I had an exam coming up and needed some assistance. Ken didn’t hesitate to supply his personal possessions.

These scrolls had been languishing in my studio for years. Suddenly, I was off to Chania for a holiday. I hadn’t explored the north-west region, so I was quite excited about visiting Chania and the west coast. I wanted to see the newly-constructed Museum too, with its wealth of Bronze Age exhibits. Then I had a brainwave. I decided to take the scrolls with me and offer them to the Museum in Chania. They were going home. Some time before we departed I learned that Ken had just died. This made me more determined that his work should return to their rightful place, Crete.

The new Archaeological Museum is slightly out of town, so we took a taxi. It has a glorious new interior with modern facilities and wonderful technology. There’s a lovely cafeteria on the rooftop with fantastic views overlooking the sea and Chania.

Anyway, I went into reception and explained my mission. Immediately, phone calls were made and we were invited in without paying. We waited until the receptionist said we could carry on exploring and the Director would pop down sometime to find me - she was in a meeting.

Right, let’s explore the museum and have a look around, I thought. Below are some of the amazing items on show. Most you would see in textbooks or online, so it was exciting to see them up close. The size of some things is not possible to convey in an image. Stunning place. As I studied one of the objects, a woman approached me and introduced herself. She thanked me for bringing the drawings - of course, she knew of the people who had created them. We chatted for a while, then she had to return to her meeting. Mission accomplished. I wasn’t sure if they would even be interested in my tale, but they welcomed us enthusiastically and courteously. The rest of the exhibition was brilliant too.

In the right-hand image there is a reconstruction of the artwork. It’s pure guesswork most of the time and it just goes to show how tricky it is to reconstruct anything with accuracy from such small fragments. Some of the swords are incredible with their inlay and intricate artwork. The jewellery is outstanding.

Just look at the size and condition of these pithoi below.