SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – A middle kingdom bronze mirror, a faience winged scarab and a mummified falcon are among the rare Egyptian objects being transferred from the Schwennesen Collection to the Robert V. Fullerton Art Museum’s permanent holdings, further enhancing one of the finest collections of Egyptian antiquities in the Western United States.

Made up of 75 small objects, the Schwennesen Collection is being transferred from the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology in nearby Claremont to the Fullerton Art Museum on the Cal State San Bernardino campus. The collection ranges from the Predynastic to the Greco-Roman periods of ancient Egypt, and includes a group of faience amulets.

Various objects of the collection are scheduled for exhibit this fall with an opening reception set for Oct. 6.

In February 1970, the wife of geologist Alvin Schwennesen donated ancient Egyptian objects he acquired from Egypt to the Raymond M. Alf Museum located at the Webb Schools in Claremont. Since then, the Alf has built its prestigious reputation on its paleontology collection rather than ancient Egyptian art. In the spring of 2007, the Alf Museum decided to transfer the Schwennesen Collection to a museum with a mission that would better support it.

The Robert V. Fullerton Art Museum at Cal State San Bernardino is considered to have one of the largest public displays of ancient Egyptian art west of the Mississippi River. The university accepted the Schwennesen Collection without hesitation.

With the addition of the new objects, the Fullerton Art Museum’s Egyptian holdings will have swelled to nearly 500 items encompassing more than 5,000 years of ancient history.

For more information about the Schwennesen Collection or for details on current exhibits at the Robert V. Fullerton Art Museum, contact Eva Kirsch, director of the museum, at (909) 537-7373.

Mummified Hawk from Schwennesen Collection, received spring of 2007

Cartonnage Pectoral Mummy