Hüseyin Kocabaş Collection, an Anatolian civilizations collection comprising nearly 30 different types of artifact, primarily coins and archaeological pieces. In 1983, the collection of nearly 7,000 pieces was bought by the
Vehbi Koç Foundation (VKV) and brought to the
Sadberk Hanım Museum for exhibition.
Hüseyin Kocabaş (1909-81) was a businessman from Bursa, who began collecting antiquities at the age of 10, over the years amassing a large collection. Once a week, he used to open up a floor of his apartment building in Nişantaşı, in order to exhibit the items to interested persons and scholars. Following the death of Kocabaş, the collection, composed of coins and archaeological pieces, which was the second greatest of it kind in the world, was put up for sale by his heirs. It was bought by the VKV with donations from members of the
Koç family and companies in
Koç Holding. The disused waterside residence next to the
Azaryan Mansion, which hosts the Sadberk Hanım Museum, was bought and renovated as a venue for the collection. It opened in 1988 and was named the “Sevgi Gönül Building”.
The Hüseyin Kocabaş Collection reflects the cultural treasures of the civilizations living in Anatolia between the sixth millennium BCE and the end of the Byzantine era, including a variety of terracotta and metal pots, figurines, early cutting tools, glasswork, beads, early examples of seals, coins, decorative items, early musical instruments, grave stelae, tablets, lamps and various metal pieces. These pieces are exhibited in the museum in chronological order according to their period of origin: Prehistoric, Protohistoric, Neolithic, Phrygian, Mycenaean, Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine.