Firstly, we are grateful to North Yorkshire Council for allowing the Harrogate collection to go on loan to Swansea University for three years. May Catt (Visitor & Cultural Services Manager), Karen Southworth (Curator), and Nicola Baxter (Curator) were fundamental in making this loan happen and were always willing to answer object-related question after it arrived at the Egypt Centre. The volunteers at the Mercer Art Gallery (Ann Beeby, Jennie Forster, Julie Goldsmith, Paul Greening, Clare Hunter, Isabella Ladigus, Jon Pierce, Andrew Sloane, and Sarah Stamp) worked diligently in preparing the collection for transport. It was a pleasure to meet some of them and to discuss new insights into the collection on a recent visit to Harrogate. 

Part of the Harrogate collection originates from the generous gift of James Roberts Ogden (JRO), a local Harrogate jeweller. It was wonderful to meet the current Ogden generation (Emily, Ben, and Robert) during a visit to the town and to see the small exhibition dedicated to JRO within their Ogden of Harrogate shop. Robert Ogden, in particular, has been helpful in trying to understand more about JRO and his collection, and we are grateful to him for giving us permission to use photos from the family archives.

The Harrogate loan would not have been possible without the visit of our award-winning volunteer, Sam Powell, to see a wooden tomb model in the collection. Not only was Sam instrumental in suggesting the possible loan to colleagues in Harrogate, but she has also created this online collection to host the objects. Abaset Collections Ltd is a bespoke platform that allows the collection to be appreciated virtually from anywhere in the world!

The journey of the Harrogate loan was beautifully captured and produced by Katie Greenhalf and Gary Lawson of This Film Production Ltd. Eleven videos documenting the packing up of the collection in Harrogate, followed by some of the early stories uncovered about the objects were made. Swansea University’s Press Office, particularly Kathy Thomas and Sam John, worked hard on the initial press release relating to the loan, and were just as excited as we were when opening the boxes!

A number of people have been responsible for writing the entries for the objects, including the Egypt Centre’s curatorial staff Ken Griffin (Curator) and Meg Gundlach (Collections Access Manager). Having so many of the objects catalogued in such a short period of time would not have been possible without the help and support of Catherine Bishop, Urška Furlan, Christian Knoblauch (Lecturer of Egyptology), Sam Powell, and Olga Zapletniuk. Additionally, since the collection arrived, participants of the Swansea University Pottery Project (SUPP) have been cataloguing the ceramic vessels from Harrogate. To Isabelle Capewell, Cody Cook, Claire Emanuel, Jessica Evans, Aidan Falvey, Jenna Hiscock, Harry Horn, Jade Jenkins, Rose Kearney, James Rouse, Molly Stanley, Rebecca Toghill, Isabella Wintone, and Tianjiao Zhang - we hope that you enjoyed being some of the first people in Swansea to work directly with this fantastic collection!

In order to make the collection as accessible as possible, the Causing their Names to Live trail has been translated into multiple languages. We are grateful to Dulcie Engel (French), Carla San Miguel (Spanish), Noura Seada (Arabic), Sophie Smith (Welsh), and Olga Zapletniuk (Ukrainian). We hope that more translations will follow in due course!

Numerous other scholars and colleagues have helped us along the way with discussions or information about aspects of the collection. They include, but are not limited to, Adrienn Almásy-Martin, Marion Claude, Rob Demarée, Xavier Droux, Joann Fletcher, Erhart Graefe, Marsha Hill, Ersin Hussein, Alexander Ilin-Tomich, Glenn Janes, Andrea Kucharek, Courtney Lyons, Marcel Marée, Cary Martin, Martin Odler, Maria Pretzler, Anna Reeve, Peter Robinson, John Rogers, Mathijs Smith, Kristin Thompson, and Alexandra von Lieven.