FUNDRAISING

We are pleased to announce that following our successful fundraising initiatives last year, we will be hosting a similar campaign to benefit the Arms & Armor Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Part proceeds and some of our related commission from various owners will be donated to the department’s acquisition fund.

Should you wish to support this initiative by consigning to the sale, please email fundraising@olympiaauctions.com. Alternatively, you may submit images and further details of items you wish to sell on our Online Valuation Form.

For those who wish to support the fundraising but are not looking to sell at this time, donations may be given directly via this link. Please state clearly in the notes section that your donation is ‘to benefit the arms and armour departments acquisition fund’.

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in two iconic sites in New York City—The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters. Millions of people also take part in The Met experience online.

Since its founding in 1870, The Met has always aspired to be more than a treasury of rare and beautiful objects. Every day, art comes alive in the Museum's galleries and through its exhibitions and events, revealing new ideas and unexpected connections across time and across cultures.

THE ARMS & ARMOR DEPARTMENT

The principal goals of the Arms and Armor Department are to collect, preserve, research, publish, and exhibit distinguished examples representing the art of the armorer, swordsmith, and gunmaker. Arms and armour have been a vital part of virtually all cultures for thousands of years, pivotal not only in conquest and defence, but also in court pageantry and ceremonial events. Throughout time the best armour and weapons have represented the highest artistic and technical capabilities of the society and period in which they were made, forming a unique aspect of both art history and material culture.

The Met collection of arms and armour is a modern one, formed through the activities and interests of curators, trustees, private collectors, and donors over the past 125 years. The collection comprises approximately fourteen thousand objects, of which more than five thousand are European, two thousand are from the Near East, and four thousand from the Far East. It is one of the most comprehensive and encyclopaedic collections of its kind.

Click here to view previous fundraising initiatives