TOLEDO, OHIO.- On October 22, 2004, the Toledo Museum of Art will unveil an ancient Hellenistic Greek silver bowl recently acquired in memory of the late Kurt Luckner, TMA’s curator of ancient art from 1969 to 1995. Luckner is widely recognized in museum and ancient art circles for organizing the first international loan exhibition of Greek and Roman silver in 1977. This collaboration with Andrew Oliver, entitled Silver for the Gods: 800 Years of Greek and Roman Silver, included important loans from renowned museums around the world.

“Kurt had a great eye for ancient art and made important acquisitions of ancient Greek silver for the Museum, including our unusual Macedonian kalpis and the splendid Hellenistic-Persian gilded rhyton,” TMA associate curator of ancient art Sandra Knudsen said. Since Luckner’s death in 1995, more than 300 donors have contributed to an acquisition fund created in his memory. The Greek footless silver bowl from about 100 B.C. is the first work of art acquired with the fund and complements several pieces of Hellenistic silver tableware in the TMA collection.

At 7:30 P.M., Luckner’s former colleague Mr. Oliver will present a public talk about the bowl’s significance in the context of ancient Greek art made of precious metals during the Hellenistic period (323 B.C. to 44 B.C.). Mr. Oliver and other speakers will also remember Luckner and his legacy to the Toledo Museum of Art. Afterwards, the silver bowl will be unveiled in the Museum’s Classic Court, where it will remain on view as a significant addition to TMA’s collection of ancient art. This presentation is cosponsored by the Toledo Museum of Art and the Archaeological Institute of America–Toledo Society.