A new collection of artifacts from across the ancient world is on display in LMU’s Archaeology Center in University Hall thanks to a major gift from a private collector.
The bequest from the estate of Michael Shubin includes items ranging from an Etruscan frieze dated around 450 BC to a collection of Coptic fabrics from 200-500 AD. It also includes a large number of Mesoamerican figurines and rare pieces from Iran, Gandharan Afghanistan, and the Indus Valley.
Shubin specialized in helping antiquities dealers identify and assess the value of artifacts they found or had purchased. William Fulco, S.J., the National Endowment for the Humanities Professor of Ancient Mediterranean Studies, became friends with Shubin, a Russian immigrant, 10 years ago.
“He was an antiquities expert who worked for many dealers in the Los Angeles area as a scholar,” Fulco said. “Every penny he had went into the collection. He did that rather than eat.”
“He hold told me he was going to leave a few things for our students in his will, but as it turned out, he left us his entire collection,” Fulco said.
However, the catalog of Shubin’s collection existed only in his head, meaning Fulco and his students spent a good portion of summer and fall going through the $300,000 worth of artifacts and identifying their age and place of origin. Art History professor Katherine Harper also helped identify items from the Indus Valley.
Among the artifacts are more than 1,000 ancient books, including an Egyptian dictionary that Fulco described as a “high-ticket item.” A set of copper bowls and ladle were determined to be from 5th Century Persia, and a Roman bronze cuirass with the head of a Gorgon on it came from the 1st Century.
Many of the items originated from regions and eras that were not represented in LMU’s existing collection, Fulco said. In all, Shubin’s was an impressive collection and a major addition to the Archaeology Center.
“He was an avid collector because he loved the stuff,” Fulco said. “For him, that was more important than anything else.”