Archives of associations

Throughout its history, the various tasks and activities of the museum have been supported by a variety of associations, foundations, and other non-profit organisations. They took on various roles such as the purchase of objects, financing excavations, hiring extra staff etc. when the museum budget fell short. Part of their archives can be found in the Director’s archives, but there are also some separate archive files.

• FÉRÉ/ESKE (now AÉRÉ/EGKE) - In 1923, Jean Capart created the Fondation Égyptologie Reine Élisabeth / Egyptologische Stichting Koningin Elisabeth. Its objective was to stimulate Egyptological research in Belgium. Over the years, the FÉRÉ/ESKE evolved into an important research institute with an international reputation that left its mark in an extensive archive (Download the pdf). There is also a small archive of the American branch of the FÉRÉ/ESKE in New York. (Download the pdf)
• Commission des Réclamations artistiques de la Belgique contre l’Autriche - After the First World War, a commission was set up, following the Treaties of Versailles and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, to demand the return of the Belgian works of art that had been taken to Vienna at the time of the French invasion in 1794. Several of the museum's leading figures were directly involved in the work of this commission, particularly in demanding the return of arms and armour from the museum's collections at the Coudenberg arsenal. (Download the pdf)
• Commission royale belge des Échanges internationaux - Active between 1871 and 1921, its mission was to select the country’s most significant works of art, make copies of them (mainly casts) and exchange them for casts from abroad. The commission is at the origins of the RMAH’s current collection of historical casts, as well as the plaster cast workshop, which is still active today. (Inventory in preparation)