Georges Zacos

Georges Zacos (* 1911 in Constantinople , † 1983 in Basel) was a Greek antiques dealer and an important connoisseur and collector of Byzantine seals .

He first worked as antiques dealers in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul at the famous dealer Andronikos before he independently made. In the 1960s he moved his antique trade to Basel, Switzerland.

Zacos was involved in the sale of important ancient works of art, especially from Turkey, such as 1966–70 in the sale of the so-called 'Lydian Treasure' to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the sale of the so-called ' Kumluca Treasure ' to Dumbarton Oaks Collection , a treasure trove of jewelry from the Bronze Age at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (inv. 68.116-68.139).

Zacos brought together two large collections of Byzantine seals in Istanbul in the 1950s, which he sold to the Dumbarton Oaks Collection in 1953-55 (5121 pieces) and 1956-57 (5753 pieces). Even after that, he continued to collect seals. Parts of this collection were auctioned after his death (650 pieces at Spink in London); a large part came in 1998 as a gift to the Cabinet des Médailles in Paris (6,234 pieces). The catalogs of his collections that he wrote became standard works of Byzantine sealing studies.

Some of the Byzantine works of art in the Georges Zacos collection were sold to the Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe after his death. His widow Janine Zacos donated pieces of Byzantine ceramics to the Byzantine Museum in Athens, the Benaki Museum in Athens and the Cabinet des Médailles in Paris. Further parts of the collection came to the Antikenmuseum Basel and the Musée d'art et d'histoire in Geneva after the death of Janine Zacos († 2003) .

Fonts

• with Alexander Veglery: Enigmatic inscriptions on Byzantine coins, The Numismatic Circular 63, no. 3 (March 1955) 107–111.
• with Alexander Veglery: An unknown solidus of Anastasios I, The Numismatic Circular 67, no. 9 (September 1959) 154–155.
• with Alexander Veglery: Marriage solidi of the fifth Century, The Numismatic Circular 68, no. 4 (April 1960) 73-74.
• with Alexander Veglery: C for Σ on coins of the eleventh century, The Numismatic Circular 68, nos. 7-8 (July-August 1960) 154-157.
• with Alexander Veglery: The miliaresion of Leo III, The Numismatic Circular 71 (1963) 162-164.
• with Alexander Veglery: Byzantine Lead Seals. Volume One. Basel 1972. Part 1: Nos. 1-1095; Imperial seals: Vth to XVth centuries. Non-imperial seals: VIth to IXth centuries. Part 2: Nos. 1096-2671A. Non-imperial seals: VIth to IXth centuries. Part 3: Nos. 2672-3231, Imperial and allied seals: Vth to XIVth centuries. Non-imperial seals: VIth to IXth centuries. Plates
  • Reviews: Werner Seibt, Byzantinoslavica 36 (1975) 208–213.
• with Cécile Morrisson : L'image de l'empereur byzantin sur les sceaux et les monnaies, In: Exposition La Monnaie, miroir des rois, Paris 1978, pp. 57–72.
• Byzantine lead seals. Volume Two. Compiled and edited by John W. Nesbitt. Bern, Benteli 1985. (Tetradia archaiologias kai technes 3) 1: Nos. 1-1089. ISBN 3-7165-0477-7 ; 2: Plates. ISBN 3-7165-0501-3
  • Reviews: Herbert Hunger, Yearbook of Austrian Byzantine Studies 36 (1986) 333–339; N. Oikonomides, Revue des études byzantines 44 (1986) 263-267
• with Alexander Veglery: Patriarchal lead seals of the years 552-1450. Istanbul 1986. 14 pp.

Catalogs of the posthumous seal collection

• Byzantine seals from the collection of George Zacos. London, Spink & Son
  • Part I: Auction 127, 7 October 1998
  • Part II: Auction 132, 25 May 1999
  • Part III: Auction 135, 6 October 1999
• Jean-Claude Cheynet: La donation Zacos (1998), In: Denis Feissel; Cécile Morrisson; Jean-Claude Cheynet: Trois donations byzantines au Cabinet des Médailles: Froehner (1925); Schlumberger (1929); Zacos (1998). Exposition organisée à l'occasion du XXe Congrès International des Etudes Byzantines; [Paris, 16 July - 14 October 2001]. Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France 2001, p. 51. ISBN 2-9517158-8-9
• Jean-Claude Cheynet: Sceaux de la collection Zacos (Bibliothèque nationale de France) se rapportante aux provinces orientales de l'empire byzantin. Exposition organisée par le Département des monnaies, medailles et antiques Bibliothèque Nationale de France (16 july 2002 - 14 octobre 2001). Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France 2001. ISBN 2-9517158-9-7

literature

• Karl E. Meyer: Looted Past. The illegal art trade - forgers, thieves and keepers, Zug 1977, ISBN 3-88065-052-7 (here Georges Zacos is mentioned several times under the pseudonym 'Gregory Omega')

Web links

• Objects acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts Boston from Zacos ( memento from October 25, 2007 in the Internet Archive )