Champollion, Andre Chéronnet Collection
Scope and Contents
The archival records in this accession consist of two artist notebooks, one journal from a trip Champollion made around the world in 1904, one sketch book, and one folder of loose notes. The notebooks and sketchbook appear to relate to the same trip detailed in the journal. The journal is the second volume, and outlines Champollion's travels through Japan, China, Russia, and Germany. The PM does not hold the first volume, which most likely covered his earlier travels on the same trip in India, Tibet and other eastern and south Asian countries.
The sketch book and notebooks pertain to Champollion's artistic inspirations in India. The folder of notes contains some pages entitled "Notes on Tibet" apparently taken on the published work The Buddhism of Tibet, or Lamaism, with its mystic cults, symbolism and mythology, and in its relation to Indian Buddhism (1895) by Laurence Austine Waddell. The accession also includes a large number of photographs, which have been transferred to the PM photographic archives (60-62-1; 60-62-2). An inventory of the photographs can be obtained from that department and a summary of those materials is provided in the inventory below.
Champollion's paintings and pencil sketches are an ethnographic record of the people and places he encountered on his travels in India and Tibet. Most of the works are undated, except for two items drawn in 1909.
Dates
- Creation: 1904-1909, (n.d.)
Extent
1.33 linear feet (38 paintings/sketches)Biographical / Historical
Andre Chéronnet Champollion was a gentleman scholar and artist. He was born in Paris September 20, 1880 into an adventurous family. His grandfather, Jean-François Champollion, deciphered the Rosetta stone.
His parents died when he was young and he was sent to St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire. Champollion entered Harvard University in 1898 and graduated in 1902. The next year he travelled around the world with two friends from college and kept notebooks and sketchbooks during the trip. He was inspired to become a painter by the example of Vereshchagin, who depicted scenes from the Russo-Japanese War with intense realism.
Champollion was called for military service in France. Frenchmen holding a French university degree were allowed a shorter service, but he was not eligible since his degree was from an American university. Consequently, in 1904 he became an American citizen. He later returned to France and was reinstated because of a military amnesty that allowed him to serve a shorter sentence.
He married Adelaide, daughter of John Jay Knox, in 1908. They lived in Newport, New Hampshire, and had a son, Rene, before Champollion went to France to fight in World War I. Champollion died March 23, 1915 at Bois-le-Prête fighting with France's 168th Infantry (7th Regiment) at the age of thirty-four. He was buried in Bois-le-Prête, France.
Sources:
personal communication, Mrs. Stella Trafford, 1998.
Chéronnet-Champollion, André. Letters from André Chéronnet-Champollion, 1914-1915. New York, Privately printed, 1915.
Arrangement
The Champollion Collection consists of two main materials groups: the Champollion Notebooks and Photographs (accessions 998-17, PA-IN60-62-1, 60-62-2), and the Champollion Paintings Collection (accession 31-53). The records group is organized into I. Notebooks and Notes, and II. Photographs. The second group consists of the Champollion Drawings and Paintings Collection.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Andre Chéronnet Champollion (1880-1914) Notebooks 1904, n.d.: Andre Chéronnet Champollion's notebooks and photographs were donated to the Peabody Museum by his daughter-in-law, Stella Trafford in July 1998.
Champollion Drawings and Paintings Collection: The collection was donated to the museum by Ms. Adelaide Bramwell, of New York City, in 1931.She collected most of the paintings and sketches from private sources in Newport, New Hampshire.
General note
Collections records may contain language, reflecting past collecting practices and methods of analysis, that is no longer acceptable. The Peabody Museum is committed to addressing the problem of offensive and discriminatory language present in its database. Our museum staff are continually updating these records, adding to and improving content. We welcome your feedback and any questions or concerns you may want to share.
Processed by:
Sarah R. Demb
Spring 1999
- Title
- Champollion, Andre Cheronnet (1880-1914) Collection 1904-1909, n.d.
- Author
- Peabody Museum Archives
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- pea00011
Repository Details
Part of the Peabody Museum Archives Repository
Papers in the Peabody Museum Archives consist of primary source materials that document the Museum’s archaeological and ethnographic research and fieldwork since its founding in 1866. More than 2,800 feet of archival paper collections contain documents, papers, manuscripts, correspondence, data, field notes, maps, plans, and other historical records that represent diverse peoples from around the world, and which were created or collected by the Museum, its individual affiliates, or related entities. The collections also document the history or provenience, as well as the creation of, many of the Museum’s archaeological and ethnographic collections.