Billy Jamieson

is a classic rebel. He is a modern-day treasure hunter, an ancient and tribal arts collector and dealer. Part P.T. Barnum, part Indiana Jones, he searches the world for these oddities and curiosities and the historical stories behind them.



Billy established an international reputation as a dealer and collector. His collection boasts an eclectic variety of ethnographic material, including shrunken human heads and war trophy skulls, weaponry, ancient Egyptian and Peruvian mummies, and a very unique collection of curiosities.

In 1999 Billy purchased the entire contents of the Niagara Falls Museum, Canada's oldest museum, which opened in 1827. The collection included nine unidentified Egyptian mummies. While negotiating the deal, Billy and Egyptologists began an investigation, which would eventually lead to one of these mummies being identified as the missing Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses I. Billy sold the nine mummies to the Michael C. Carlos museum, which is part of Emery University in Atlanta, Georgia, where the ID was confirmed. Ramses I was then returned to Egypt and is now on display at the Luxor Museum.

Today Billy owns and operates William Jamieson Ancient and Tribal Art from his Toronto studio; a cross between a museum, and an art deco/gothic mansion. He works regularly with major auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's, and has sold and donated fine works of art to the Royal Ontario Museum, New York Metropolitan Museum, The Houston Museum of Fine Art, The Indiana State Museum and many private collectors.

Billy is also a member of the Canadian Chapter of the New York Explorers Club and holds annual events as his home. Although Billy is largely self-educated, he has become respected for his growing expertise as an Ethnologist Museoligist. He has also financed five expeditions into the jungles of Ecuador and Peru, at times visiting the Shuar tribe, among other cultures. He is also a sought-after lecturer and is often called upon to give tours of his museum/home. He is an explorer, adventurer, and art dealer with a rock and roll sensibility. Bill lists Mick Jagger, Steven Tyler, Getty Lee, Danny Elfman, Jonathan Davis, Tim Burton, and Nikki Sixx among his many celebrity visitors.

For more information on Bill Jamieson, please visit his website at jamiesontribalart.com, egyptianmuseum.com, niagaramuseum.com and explorersclub.ca.