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“Every empire … tells itself and the world that it is unlike all other empires, that its mission is not to plunder and control but to educate and liberate”. - Edward Said, 2003

Our chosen artefact is a promesse de mandat territorial, a French banknote issued in 1796 as part of an attempt to stabilise the economy after the French Revolution, with each note secured by land confiscated from the monarchy and the clergy.2 Originally from France, the note found its way into Egypt during Napoleon’s North African military campaign between 1798 and 1801.3 It was collected more than a century later by Sir Grafton Elliot Smith, an Australian Professor of Anatomy at the University of Cairo and a significant figure in Egyptology, whilst Egypt was under the ‘Veiled Protectorate’ of the British Empire,4 and later donated to the Chau Chak Wing Museum by Elliot Smith’s descendants and is currently housed in the Pharaonic Obsessions exhibit.

Although one of the lightest artefacts in the Nicholson Collection, it carries a weighty significance in relation to the history and evolution of global governance. The note compels us to consider two discrete but inextricably intertwined histories that have been pivotal in shaping how we understand international law. First, its genesis as a tool of state-sanctioned macroeconomic policy during the economic crisis compels us to consider the evolution of the nation-state in the wake of the French Revolution. Second, the promesse’s journey from France to Egypt to Australia reflects its colonial heritage and invites introspection into the status of the Third World within a Eurocentric world order.

In 2012 Gwenyth Jones donated funds to create a prize to celebrate undergraduate student engagement with the Nicholson Collection. The Max Le Petit and Gwenyth Jones Nicholson Collection Prize is named in memory of Gwenyth Jones's fiancé Maxwell Le Petit who died suddenly in 1947, aged 24.

Max completed his undergraduate and master’s degrees at the University of Sydney and was a teaching fellow in the Department of Classics. Gwenyth had met Max Le Petit while she was serving in the Air Force. While Max had initially enlisted, he was discharged before entering service due to his history with pneumonia. The couple were engaged in 1945.

In 1946, Professor Trendall appointed Max as Assistant Curator of the Nicholson Museum, charged with academic tutoring, and the re-organisation of the Egyptian collection in preparation for the second edition of the Nicholson Museum Handbook (1948). Max was a beloved colleague, teacher and friend who was described by Professor MacDonald as "possessing great humanity". In his memory, Professor Trendall, with contributions received from staff and students, purchased a white-ground funerary lekythos by the Athenian 'Thanatos Painter' for the Nicholson Collection (NM47.20).

1. Check eligibilty

To be eligible for the Max Le Petit and Gwenyth Jones Nicholson Collection Prize,�����ٳܻ��Գٲ������ܲ���:

• be a currently enrolled undergraduate student at the University of Sydney or have completed their undergraduate degree at the University of Sydney within the preceding two years
• have submitted the essay or another piece of written work as part of their undergraduate coursework in the two-year period stipulated during the call for nomintions

2. Gather materials

All nominations for the Max Le Petit and Gwenyth Jones Nicholson Collection Prize must include: 

• a final pdf, and/or recording of the submitted work
• a cover letter including the nominee's name, contact details, student ID number and the course for which the work was originally submitted
• the question or assessment guidelines for which the work was originally submitted

3. Submit nomination

Submissions and nominations should be sent to directly to the prize co-ordinator, Candace Richards (candace.richards@sydney.edu.au) prior to the submission deadline.

Note: Direct nominations from faculty members are encouraged. If you have any questions, please reach out to Candace Richards well in advance of the deadline.

The successful work will is chosen by a selection committee comprised of:

• Senior Curator, Nicholson Collection
• Head, Public Engagement
• Chair, Chau Chak Wing Museum Members

The submissions are anonymised prior to review. The decision of the selection committee is final. If no nominations or no suitable nominations are submitted then the prize may not be awarded in that year.

2023

• Lilian Geddes-Korb (winner)
  Subject: Cast of an Athenian Acropolis Kore (NM2008.10)

2021

• Brad Arsenault (winner)
  Subject: Early Dynastic cylinder seal (NM62.772)

2019

• Mardi Kennedy (winner)
  Subject: Assyrian archer relief from South West Palace of Sennacherib, late seventh century BC ()
• Stephen Croft (runner up)
  Subject: Ancient greek coins including a Lydian stater, 600-550 BC (), and an Athenian Tetradrachm, 449-404 BC ()
• Ella Gibbs (runner up)
  Subject: The ‘Cambitoglou Amphora’, an Athenian black-figure amphora depicting Ajax carrying the body of Achilles from the battlefield of Troy, attributed to the Antimenes Painter ()
  
  

2017

Not awarded

2015

• Barney Casey (winner)
  Subject: An Apulian bell krater depicting a comic play with Herakles, attributed to the Lecce Painter, 375-350 BC ()