In 1856-57, Nicholson traveled throughout Egypt and then Italy where he acquired the first thousand or so primarily ancient Egyptian, Greek, South Italian and Etruscan artefacts.

Individual benefaction, donations, sponsored archaeological projects and curatorial acquisition have all contributed to the wealth of material in the Nicholson Collection.

Many of the artefacts within the collection were sourced directly from Stewart's own excavations conducted at Bellapais Vounous, Karmi Palealona, Karmi Lapasta, Nicosia Ayia Paraskevi and Vasilia Kafkallia as well as from the excavations of at the sites of Myrtou Stephania and Myrtou Sphagion, conducted by Stewart's former student Basil Hennessy, who later became Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Sydney.

During Sir Charles Nicholson's travels to Egypt and Europe between 1856 and 1858 he acquired, primarily in Rome, a range of Classical and Hellenistic Greek ceramics as well as terracotta figurines.

His proactive acquisition program involved purchasing a wide range of ceramic types of Greek origin as well as significant contributions of sherd material for teaching purposes sought from prominent museums and individual collectors and scholars, including Sir John Beazley.

The collection was then expanded following a donation of hundreds of pottery fragments and small votive objects by the family of former curator William J Woodhouse in 1948.

Sir Charles Nicholson spent considerable time in Rome collecting Latin inscriptions, Etruscan funerary urns and bronzes, South Italian vases and Roman lamps, figurines and ceramics.

[12] The Nicholson Museum's collection of Near Eastern artefacts represented many of the great cities and civilisations that flourished along the Levantine coast, across Mesopotamia and through to Pakistan and India.

In return for the University's support the Nicholson Museum received a consignment of objects at the end of each season including full tomb groups from the Bronze Age and rare finds such as our Neolithic over plastered skull.

The exhibit appears to be an attempt to appeal to contemporary audiences, and especially a younger generation, including current HSC ancient history students, as Pompeii is an early part of the curriculum taught.