IGl G78 B763 19G1 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY A GUIDE TO THE EXHIBITION GALLEEIES OF THE BKITISH MUSEUM (BLOOMSBUEY) THIRD EDITION, REVISED. WITH PLANS. PRINTED BY OEDEE OF THE TEUSTEES. 1901. (•Price Twopence.) Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029675570 A GUIDE TO THE EXHIBITION GALLEEIES OF THE BEITISH MUSEUM (BLOOMSBUEY). THIRD EDITION, REVISED. WITH PLANS. PKINTED BY OEDEE OF THE TEUSTEES ^» '« T '■■■■' •'■ use I -^l44V^-a^ LONDON : FEINTED BY WILLIAJI CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, STAMFORD STREET AND CnAEINQ CROSS. INTEODUCTION. The British Museum was incorporated in the year 1753, when an Act of Parliament was passed authorizing the purchase of the museum of Sir Hans Sloane and the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts, and placing them, together with the Cottonian Library, under the care of a body of Trustees. These collections were deposited the next year in Montagu House, Bloomsbury, the site of which is occupied by the existing Museum ; and they were opened to the public on the 15th of January, 1759. Originally there were only three departments, viz., of Manu- scripts, Printed Books, and Natural History. The antiquities, which now occupy so large, a part of the Museum, were not formed into a separate Department of Antiquities until the year 1807. During the present century the growth of the British Museum has advanced so rapidly, and the collections have become so extensive and varied, that it has been necessary from time to time to add to the number of separate departments. There are now, at Bloomsbury, nine departments, viz., the Director and Principal Librarian's Office, and the Departments of Printed Books, Manuscripts, Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts, Prints and Drawings, Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities, Greek and Eoman Antiquities, British and Mediaeval Antiquities and Ethnography, and Coins and Medals.* The * In addition to the Keading Eoom and Newspaper Koora for general reference, epeoial Students' Rooms are attached to several of the departments, viz., of Manuscripts, Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts, Prints and Drawings, Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities, and Greek and Roman Antiquities, Students are admitted, under regulations, on application to the Director. iv INTEODUCTION. Natural History collections were removed to a separate Museum, built to receive them, in Cromwell Eoad, South Kensington, in the years 1880-1883. ) The present quadrangular building was erected in the years 1823-1847, the Galleries on the southern side practically covering the ground originally occupied by Montagu House, and the rest standing on its garden. The great circular Beading Eoom was built in the central quadrangle in 1857. The " "White Wing," on the east, was erected in 1884, with funds bequeathed by Mr. William White. The present Guide has been compiled with the view of giving, briefly but sufficiently, such information as may satisfy the visitor who wishes to carry away with him a general idea of the contents of the Galleries of the British Museum. More detailed accounts of the exhibits of the several Departments are, or will be, given in special departmental guides, some of which are already published, while others are being prepared. The Exhibition Galleries of the British Museum occupy the southern, eastern, and western sides of the Ground Floor and the whole of the Upper Floor. This Guide first describes the antiquities in the Annex to the Hall (Eoom of Greek and Latin Inscriptions, p. 4), and next the Greek andEoman (pp. 5-17), the Egyptian (pp. 17-29). and the Assyrian (pp. 29-40) Sculptures, etc., in the western galleries on the Ground Floor. Thence ascending to the Upper Floor by the North-West Staircase (p. 40), the visitor is led through the Egyptian Eooms (pp. 40-47) and the Babylonian and Assyrian Eoom (p. 48) ; and then through the North Gallery (p. 51), the several rooms of which contain Cyprian and Semitic Antiquities (pp. 51-54) and collections illustrating Eeligions, chiefly of the East (pp. 54-57). The collections in the western rooms of the Upper Floor INTRODUCTION. V are then described, consisting chiefly of Greek and Eoman Antiquities, with some of mediaeval origin, viz.. Vases (pp. 58- 63), Bronzes (p. 63), Etruscan and other Antiquities (p. 65), Coins and Medals (p. 67), Gold Ornaments and engraved Gems (pp. 68-72), and Terracottas (p. 73). The Indian Sculptures on the Principal Staircase (p. 74) are then noticed; and the contents of the Central Saloon (pp. 75-82) are described, including Prehistoric, British, Eomano- British, and Gaulish Antiquities. Next come the Anglo- Saxon Eoom (p. 83), the Waddesdon Bequest Room (p. 85), the Mediaeval Eoom (p. 87), and the Asiatic Saloon (p. 88) ; and then follows some account of the English Pottery and Porcelain in the English Ceramic Ante-Eoom (pp. 89-91), and of the fine collections in the Glass and Ceramic Gallery (pp. 91-98), and of the exhibition of Drawings of various schools in the Gallery of Prints and Drawings (pp. 98-101), in the White Wing. The Ethnographical Collections (pp. 102-105) and the more ancient remains from North and South America (p. 105} occupy nearly all the eastern side of the Upper Floor. Descending thence by the North-East Staircase, the visitor finds in the King's Library a selection of Printed Books, Bindings, etc. (pp. 107-113) ; and in the Manuscript Saloon and in the Grenville Library an exhibition of Manuscripts, Autographs, etc. (pp. 114-119), and Illuminated Manuscripts (pp. 120-122), E. MAUNDE THOMPSON, Director and Principal Librarian. Pk-tish Museum, 3Ut July, 190X. H Museum FXAFOFTWeHOUNDJ^lOOIt 1. Front Colonnada 3. Entrance Hall 8. Boom of InBoriptions Roman Gallery Trustees' Boom Director's Office 8tad7 First GrsBCO-Boman Bm. Second Grseco-Boman Boom Third Orseco-Bonum Bm Staircase to Orsco- Roman Basement Archaic Greek Scnlptoia Boom Ante-Boom Ephesns Room Elgin Boom Pmgaleian Boom, with Basement Boom of Grsaco-Roman Monu- ments beneath Mansoleum Boom Nereid Room , Northern Egyptian Vestibule * Northern Egyptian GaJlery Egyptian Central Saloon 22. Befreshment Boom 23. Lavatories [Gallery 24. Southern Egyptian 25. Assyrian Transept 26. Nimroud Gallery 27 & 28. Assyrian Saloon 29. Nimroucl Central Saloon 30. Nineveh Gallery 31. North West Staircase 32. I/adies' Lavatory 33. Arch Boom 34. Second Supplementary Boom 35. First Supplementary Room. 36. North West Lobby 37. Cracherode Boom 38. Study 39 to 41. Central Northern Library 42. Music Boom. 43. Basksian Boom 44. North East Boom 45. Catalogne Room 46. North East Staircase 47. Lavatories 48. Study 49. Sorting Boom SO to 52. King's Library 53. Hebrew Ubrary 54. Stadies 55. Chinese and Japanese Library 56. Manuscript Saloon 57. Oriental Students'Boom Orenville Library Egerton Room AlAnusoript Map Boom 68. Ncjwspaper Boom 69. Newspaper Beading Boom 76. Studies 77. Oriental Ubiarr 78. Area Study Mid& Boom of MSS. South Boom of MSS. Sorting and Attendants' Rooms Students' Boom for HSS, Copyright Office , Staircase to Manuscript 79) Passaees (pyrij nay Department 71 & 72. Studies, Mann- script Department 73. Work £o9m, Mann- , script Department .74. Mounters' Km., ^ists 75. Assistants' Boom, Prints \ -_- _ ~ei^oom Corridoc 81. Female jReaders' OIoak-Boom & Lavatory 82. Male B«aders' Cloak- Room, etc. 83. Female Students' Lava- tory 84. Principal Staircase 7»c DAmeitrmti nmmn t;i!fumonieMi DEPARTMENTS OP ANTIQUITIES. The great nations of the ancient world, whose sculptures and other remains are exhibited in the British Museum, were the Hgyptiaus, the Babylonians and Assyrians, the Greeks, and the Romans. Besides these, the Phoenicians and Etruscans — the former chiefly on account of their importance as the channel of communication between other nations, the latter on account of their antiquities — will also claim attention. The history of the Egyptians has been traced back for more than 4000 years before Christ. Even in remote times they are found to be a highly civilized people; and there must have been an earlier period of many hundreds of years during which they were developing from a primitive state to the high standard to which they had attained when their history commences. The great collection of Egyptian sculp- tures, the numerous objects of art and ornament and articles of domestic life, the series of mummies and antiquities connected with the burial of the dead, which are brought together in the Museum, afibrd the means of estimating the knowledge and powers, the thought and religion and the daily life of this ancient people. The Babylonians and Assyrians were for centuries the most powerful nations of Western Asia. Their history is not quite so ancient as that of Egypt, and their civilization was far below Egyptian civilization. But the earliest kings of Babylonia are reckoned to have lived some 4000 years before Christ ; and the early developement of the Babylonian and Assyrian empires in the valleys of the Euphrates and the Tigris had a lasting influence on the destinies of the neigh- bouring peoples. Their history constantly crosses the history of the Jews ; and in many of the sculptures and antiquities displayed in the Babylonian and Assyrian galleries it will be found that persons and events already known to us from 2 DEPARTMENTS OP ANTIQUITIES, [GEOUND the Bible narrative are referred to. The collection of Baby- lonian and Assyrian antiquities in the British Mnsetini is the most extensive and the most complete. The Phoenicians, though never a great nation, yet played a great part in the history of the civilization of the ancient world. Settled from remote times on the coast of Syria, where their two greatest cities, Tyre and Sidon, flourished, and being a seafaring people, they traded in all parts of the Mediter- ranean and the Black Sea. Their colonies dotted the main coasts, and were established in the islands. Carthage, their greatest colony in the west, at a later period, rivalled the power of Eome, and was crushed only after a desperate struggle. The Phcenicians carried the germs of civilization wherever they traded; they brought the nations of the Mediterranean into communication with one another, and to the present day the world is in their debt. The alphabet which they constructed from Egyptian materials has been the foundation of all the alphabets of modern Europe, The Phoenician antiquities in the British Museum are, however, comparaitively few. The Greeks, when they first become known to authentic history, are found in possession of Greece, of the islands of the ^gean Sea, and of the western coast of Asia Minor, besides holding certain points of Southern Italy and of Sicily, and other places in the west where they had established colonies, generally between the eighth and sixth centuries B.C. They called themselves, as a nation, Hellenes, and their country Hellas. Divided into a number of small independent states, each administering its own affairs, waging war against its neighbours, and acting only for itself and without regard to the common welfare, the Greeks were, for the first time, forced into common action, as a nation, by the Persian wars, B.C. 500-479. The prominent part taken by the city of Athens m driving back the Persian invaders gave her the leadership of Greece for half a century. During this period the most beautiful buildings adorned with the most perfect sculp- tures ever wrought by the human hand arose on the Acropolis, the citadel rock of the city. No people have ever equalled the Greeks in art. Even in the archaic period, before the Persian wars, their productions in many branches give proof of their instinctive sense of beauty of form. The best inspira- tions of modern European art have been derived from Greek art ; and to the same source we still turn for our ideal models. The Greek collection in the British Museum is the most PLOOE.J DEPARTMENTS OF ANTIQUITIES. 3 representative, and in some branches, as in sculpture, it stands pre-eminently the first among all national collections. The Romans were a striking contrast to the Greeksv They were great conquerors and administrators, but they were not an artistic people; they were content to borrow their art from Greece. Originally a small tribe of the Latins, whose stronghold on the banks of the river Tiber afterwards became the great city of Eome, they gradually extended their power throughout the length of Italy, and eventually, in later times, became the masters of the greatest empire of the ancient world. The foundation of Kome has been dated in the year 754 B.C. In the earliest times it was ruled by kings ; but these were expelled, and it was as a Eepublic, established in 509 B.C., that the Eomans advanced to the front rank among the nations of the world. After a period of four hundred years, civil wars in the first century B.C. opened the way to the usurpation of supreme power by Julius Cseaar ; and his assassination was followed after a few years by the establish- ment of imperial government, Octavian, Csesar's grand- nephew, becoming the first Emperor, under the name of Augustus, in the year 27 B.C. The collection of Koman antiquities in the British Museum is not a large one. Most of the sculpture is the work of Greek artists working in Kome or for Eoman patrons, or is copied from the masterpieces of Greek artists. The Etruscans, another ancient people of Italy, are fairly represented by their antiquities in the Museum collections. Their country lay on the western coast north of Eome, and they were subdued at an early period by the Eomans. But they maintained their individuality in art, and have left considerable remains in vases, bronzes and metal work, terra- cottas, and engraved gems. On most of their work there is a strong impress of Greek influence. The collections of antiquities are divided into two series. The first, consisting of Sculpture, including Inscriptions and Architectural remains, occupies chiefly the Ground Floor of the South-western and Western portions of the building ; and to this division have been added some rooms in the basement. The second series, placed in a suite of rooms on the Upper Floor, comprehends the smaller remains, of whatever nation or period. The arrangement of the four principal series of sculptures may be stated generally as follows : the Roman sculptures, B 2 4 GEEtJK AMD ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. [feEOUND with the Greek sculptures of the time of the Eoman empire, occupy the South side, running East and West ; the Egyptian, the Assyrian, and the Greek, strictly so called, are in four parallel lines, running North and South, at right angles to the Eoman. GREEK AND ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. [Between the Entrance Hall and the Beading Boom is the Boom of Inscriptions.'^ ROOM OF GREEK AND LATIN INSCRIPTIONS. In this room are exhibited inscriptions which have a special interest either as historical records, or as illustrations of the alphabetical forms used at different periods hy the Greeks and Eomans. In the West (or left) half of the room is built up a pier or pilaster of the Temple of Prienfe, on the western coast of Asia-Minor, with inscriptions referring to Alexander the Great and other benefactors [Nos. 399-402] ; and on the opposite wall is a long inscription in several columns, being the will of C. Vibius Salutaris, a.d. 104, a public benefactor of Ephesus, cut upon stones wliich formed part of the great theatre of that city [No. 481]. Other inscriptions in the room refer to the Temple of Diana of the Ephesians [Nos. 448-476, 522]. In the centre of the room is a cast of the archaic Latin inscrip- tion found on the site of the lapis niger in the Eoman Forum, presented by H.M. Queen Victoria. The most interesting inscription in the East (or right) half of the room is the Epitaph in Greek verse, on Athenians who fell in battle before Potideea. Potidaea was a town in the Thracian peninsula, and tributary to Athens. With the help of Corinth it revolted in the summer of 432 B.C. The Athenians sent an expedition, in which they were victorious. The Peloponnesian war was an immediate consequence of this campaign [No. 37]. The room also contains a series of portrait busts, chiefly of Greek philosophers ; and some statues and decorative specimens of Eoman sculpture. On the left of the doorway leadino- to the Eeading Eoom is a fine statue of the Emperor Hadrian, a.d. 117- 138; and a prominent object is the equestrian statue of the Emperor Caligula, A.r>. 37-41. FLOOR.] EOMAN GALLERY, ETC. 5 [To the left of the Entrance Hall is the Boman Gallery, which is continued in the same line by the three Grseco-Boman Booms!] ROMAN GALLERY. Anglo-Roman Antiquities. — On the South (left) side are Eoman and other early antiquities discovered in this countr)'. (The Koman occupation of Britain lasted from a.d. 43 to a.d. 410. See other antiquities, p. 80.) Against the walls are mosaic or tesselated Pavements. In each of the first four compartments stands a stone coffin or sarcophagus, which, like most monuments of Eoman sculpture found in this country, exhibit, more or less, the rudeness of provincial art. Six specimens of Eoman tesselated work found in London and in Hampshire are attached to the upper wall on the North side of the room. Roman Portraiture. — Along the North (right) side arc arranged Eoman Portrait - Sculptures, in chronological order. Upon the pedestal of each statue, or hust, are inscribed, when known, the name of the person represented, the dates of such person's birth, death, and (if an Emperor) of his reign, and the site where the sculpture was discovered. Among them are — ^heads and busts of Julius Ceesar (a very fine work), Marcus Brutus; the Emperors Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Otho, Titus, Domitian, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, and later Emperors and members of their families. The sculptures may be generally considered as good likenesses, the Eomans having excelled in such representations of their ^reat men. FIRST GRiECO-ROMAN ROOM. This and the two succeeding rooms are, for the most part, appropriated to Statues, Busts, and Keliefs, of the mixed class termed Grseco-Roman, consisting of works discovered else- where than in Greece, but of which the style and subject have been derived, either directly or indirectly, from the Greek school of sculpture. Some few of these may, perhaps, be original Greek works, but the majority were certainly executed in Italy during the Imperial times, though generally by Greek artists, and in many instances copied from earlier Greek models. Among the statues on the side of the room next the Eoman Gallery are two representing an athlete binding his head, which are believed to be copies made in Eoman times from an original by the Greek sculptor Polycleitos (b.c. 430). On the left or South side of the room we may notice a bust of Homer ; and statues of Apollo, as a player on the lyre, of Venus entering her bath, of a dancijig Satyr, and of a Satyr playing with the infant Bacchus, 6 GEEEK AND EOMAN ANTIQUITIES. [GEOUND SECOND GRi3BC0-R0MAN ROOM. In an alcove is the Townley Venns, found at Ostia, the seaport of Kome. Opposite is an athlete hurling a disk, presumed to he a copy of the Discoholos (diso-hurler) of Myron, an Attic sculptor (B.C. 480), famous for. his skilful treatment of difficult subjects. In the angle are four finely-sculptured heads ; one being the very striking Pourtales Apollo, apparently broken from a statue of Apollo as leader of the Muses. THIRD GR-ffiCO-ROMAN ROOM. [The description commences from the North-West door leading to the Eoom of Archaic Sculpture.] On the North side the following may be noticed : Actaeon attacked by his hounds ; the head of a barbarian, probably a Gaul ; the apotheosis or deification of Homer ; a head of Bacchus ; a remarkable portrait bead of a man; a Discobolos (disc-hurler), presumed to be copied from a famous original; a head of an Amazon, perhaps copied from a statue by Polycleitos ; the beauti- ful female bust commonly called Clytie, which may be a portrait of Antonia, daughter of Marc Antony ; and a sleeping Endymion. On brackets are a head of the poetess Sappho ; a head of a Satyr ; and a head of the Phrygian youth, Atys. On the South are heads of Venus and Hercules ; a girl playing with knuckle-bones ; a head of a Satyr ; part of a group, originally of two boys quarrelling over a game of knuckle-bones ; a reclining Satyr ; and the torso of the Eiohmond Venus. A statue of Diana, from Eome, is sculptured in an archaistic manner ; that is to say, it is a deliberate copy of the archaic style, made at a late period. Several heads in the same archaistic style will be found towards the end of the room. Attached to the wall are two slabs : a Bacchic procession ; and the visit of Bacchus to Icarius, in the background of which is an interesting representation of a Greek house. At the Western end of the room are : a life-like statue of a boy extracting a thorn from his foot; and a statue of Mercury, copied from an original which must have been famous in antiquity, as it is repeated in several copies. {The adjoining stdircate leads to the Grseco-Boman Basement.'] GR-ffiCO-ROMAN BASEMENT ROOM, AND ANNEX. In this room are arranged figures and reliefs of the Greeco- Eoman period, of inferior merit, and part of the collection of tesse- lated pavements and mosaics which have been formed chiefly from FLOOE.] AECHAIC GBEEK SCULPTURE. 7 the discoveries at Carthage in 1856-8, and at Halicamassos on the western coast of Asia Minor in 1856. The greater part of these mosaics may he seen attached to the walls of the North- West Staircase (see p. 40). In two of the recesses are models of Etruscan tombs decorated with copies of original wall-paintings. In one of them the original sarcophagus is placed. In the Annex are placed, among other antiquities, an ancient Eoman wheel for raising water, found in the Rio Tiato Mine in Spain ; and a series of Etruscan tombs and sepulchral chests of stone. The latter are for the most part of comparatively late date, probably of the third and second centuries B.C. (For older Etruscan works see the Etruscan Saloon, p. 65.) The national character of these tombs is shown in their general form, in the occasional addition of Etruscan mythological figures and inscriptions, and in the thick- set portrait-figures which in many instances surmount them. The subjects of the reliefs are largely borrowed from Greek mythology in its later form, and the sculpture is of a debased type. [^Beturning to the head of the staircase, the door on the left leads to The jRoom of Archaic Greek Sculj>ture.'\ BOOM OF ARCHAIC GREEK SCULPTURE. This room contains works of early Greek Sculptiire, belonging for the most part to the sixth century B.C. The sculp- tures and caste are principally derived from sites in the Greek colonies and in Greece, viz., Mycenae, Xanthos, BranchidaB, Ephesus, Selinus, Mgiaa,, Olympia. The Greek colonies planted in Ionia, the western coast-land of Asia Minor, fell from time to time under the subjection of their powerful neighbours. First the Lydians, a nation which held the western portion of Asia Minor, and whose capital was Sardis, oppressed them; and about B.C. 550 they were aU tributary to the Lydian king Croesus. A few years later, B.C. 547, they changed masters ; the Persians under Cyrus having defeated Croesus and conquered Lydia. But in the year 500 B.C. the Ionian Greeks rebelled and attempted to throw off the Persian yoke. Assisted by the Athenians, they surprised Siud burned Sardis ; biit they were immediately defeated, and in a few years all their cities were again subdued by the Persians. The support given by the Athenians to the Ionian revolt first brought the European Greeks under the notice of the Persian king, and eventually led to the Persian invasions of Greece. 8 GREEK AND EOMAN ANTIQUITIES. [gEOUND The visitor who examines the contents of this room will find illustrations of the various characteristics of archaic art. Among the oldest works are purely decorative patterns (as those from Mycense) worked with the precision that comes of long tradition. The next step was towards the rendering of figure subjects, and here the artist is seen struggling with imperfect training and incomplete mastery of the mechanical difficulties. Nature is copied in a simple and direct but somewhat gross manner (see the sculptures of Branchidffl and Selinus). More rapid progress is made with the forms of animals than with those of human beings (see the friezes from Xanthos). In attempting to avoid grossness, the artist is occasionally too minute, and somewhat afiected in the rendering of the mouth, the hair, and the finer drapery. In aiming at truth in his study of the figure, he makes his work too pro- nouncedly anatomical (see the pediments of iEgina). Mycense. — Some fragments on the North wall of the room are derived from Mycenae, a town in the Peloponnesus, made famous by the Homeric poems. The date of these sculptures is not known, but they are certainly older than the eighth century B.C. Xanthos. — Xanthos, a town in the south-west of Lycia in Asia Minor, was inhabited by a non-Greek race, but has proved rich in Greek sculptures. It was taken and nearly destroyed by the Persians in 546 B.C. ; and it is therefore probable that most of the archaic sculptures are earlier than that date. On the North wall is a frieze (or broad band of sculpture) with satyrs and animals in combat. Below is a smaller frieze with cooks and hens, distinguished for its life-like study of nature. In the centre of the room is the Harpy tomb, so named from the figures, formerly interpreted as Harpies {Snatchers; half woman, half bird), which, on two of its sides, are seen carrying off diminutive figures, thought to represent the souls of mortals snatched away by death. The date of the sculpture is about B.C. 550. On the South side of the room is a frieze representing a funeral procession of chariots, horsemen, and foot soldiers. The size and trappings of the horses indicate an oriental influence. Branchidse. — The Branchidee were a priestly clan, who held from time immemorial the temple and oracle of ApoUo at Didyma, near Miletus, in Asia Minor. The name of the priests thus came to be used for that of the place. The temple was destroyed by the Persians, probably by Darius in B.C. 496, and it was not rebuilt before the time of Alexander. It is therefore certain that the sculptures of BranchidsB are not later than b.c. 496, and they probably fall between b.c. 580 and 520. The principal sculptures (West side of the room), namely, the ten massive seated figures, the lion, and the sphinx, stood at intervals along the Sacred "Way which connected the harbour with the temple, and were dedicatory offerings to Apollo. EphesTis.— The sculptures from Ephesus in the South-east PLOOE.J AEOHAIC GREEK SCULPTURE. 9 corner of the room, belonged to an archaic temple of Artemis (Diana), which is known to have dated from the middle of the sixth century B.C., when Croesus, king of Lydia, contributed largely to the building. This temple was burnt in B.C. 356, and was rebuilt during the reign of Alexander the Great. A com- parison of the remains of the later temple, exhibited in the Ephesus Room (see p. 10), with these ancient fragments shows that it was copied in various details, especially in its sculptured columns, from its predecessor. The sculptured column from the archaic temple has on its lower moulding parts of an inscription, which recorded that King Croesus dedicated the column and confirms the statement of Herodotus to the same effect. Selinus. — On the east wall are placed casts from four sculptured panels (metopes) from two of the temples at Selinus, in Sicily. The three complete metopes belong to the oldest of the temples, and may be assigned to about B.C. 610. .^gina. — On the sides of this room have been placed casts from the two pediments (gables) of a temple in the island of iBgina. The sculptures are now at Munich. They are usually assigned to the beginning of the fifth century B.C., and represent battles between Greeks and Trojans for the body of a wounded warrior. Athene (Minerva) stands in the middle and presides over the combat. Olympia. — On the West wall are two casts of metopes (panels) from the Temple of Zeus (Jupiter) at Olyripia, erected about B.C. 460. The subjects are : (1) Hercules subduing the Cretan bull ; (2) Hercules supporting the vault of heaven. On a high pedestal is a cast of a statue of Nike ("Victory) -by the sculptor Paionios. [Between the Boom of Archaic Sculpture and the Ephesus Boom is a small Ante-Boom leading into the Ephesus Boom, and thence into the Elgin Boom.'} ANTE-ROOM. On the left is an early and beautiful statue of Apollo, copied possibly from an original by the sculptor Calamis (fifth century b.c). Opposite is a seated figure of Demeter (Ceres) found in the sanctuary of the Infernal Deities at Cnidos on the south-west coast of Asia Minor. Demeter was bereft of her daughter Persephone (Proserpine) by Hades (Pluto), the king of the lower world. The artist has sought to express in this figure the sorrow of a mother combined with the dignity of a goddess. 10 GREEK AND ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. [GROUND EPHESTJS ROOM. Most of the sculptures and architectural remains in^ this room are from the Temple of Artemis (Diana) at.Ephesus. The remains of the older temple, which was burnt in B.C. 356, have already been noticed in the Archaic Eoom (see p. 9.) The present remains are those of the temple which was built in the time of Alexander the Great (about B.C. 330), and which is so well known to us from the/account of St. Paul's visit to Ephesus (Acts xix.). This temple lasted until the fall of paganism, and was ranked, on account of its splendour, among the wonders of the world. The most remarkable peculiarity of the temple is the use of the sculptured drums for the lower parts of the columns, which we now know to have been suggested from the archaic temple. The subject of the most perfect of these, on the West side of the room, represents Thanatos (Death) and Hermes (Mercury) con- ducting Alcestis from Hades. Alcestis, wife of Admetos, consented to die in place of her husband. But Hercules overcame Death, and Alcestis was restored- to life. Near the door from the ante-room is a remarkable sculptured capital, with projecting bulls' heads, found at Salamis, in Cyprus. On the right side of the door leading to the Elgin Eoom is a fine portrait-head of Alexander the Great. ELGIN EOOM. In this room are arranged Sculptures from the Parthenon, and other buildings at Athens, As above stated (p. 7), the help given by the Athenians to the revolt of the Ionian Greeks against the Persians led to the Persian invasions of Greece. The first great expedition was repelled by the victory of Marathon, B.C. 490 ; the later expedition, led in person by the Persian king, Xerxes, B.C. 480, was ruined at the naval battle of Salamis. In the_ last campaign the city of Athens was burnt ; but the position which the Athenians attained by their conduct in the wars, placed them at the head of the confederate states of Greece. It was during the half century in which they held the leadership of Greece, that they were enabled, chiefly under the administration of their great statesman Pericles, to adorn their new city with the buildings and sculptures, the remains of which are still objects of the admiration of the world. Among the chief of the works was the Parthenon, or temple of the virgin goddess Athene (Minerva). The architect was FLOOR.] ELGIN BOOM. 11 Ictinos, but the sculptural decorations, and probably the design of the temple, were planned and executed under the super- intendence of Pheidias, the greatest of Greek sculptors, between B.C. 464 and 438. The Parthenon stood on the Acropolis, an oblong rocky hiU which formed the citadel of Athens. It was of the Doric order of architecture, and was surrounded by a colonnade, which had eight columns at each end. The architectural arrangements can be best learnt from the model which is here exhibited. The principal chamlaer {cello) within the colonnade contained the colossal statue of Athenfe Parthenos, the Virgin. Externally the cella was decorated along the top with a frieze or band of sculpture in low relief. The two pediments, or gables, at the ends of ihe building were filled with figures sculptured in the round. Above the architrave, or beam resting on the columns, were metopes, or square panels, adorned with groups in very high relief; these served to fill up the spaces between the triglyphs, or sets of vertical bands, which are thought to have originally represented the ends of roof-beams. The whole was executed in marble. The sculptures of the Parthenon are accounted, by the consent of artists and critics, to be the finest series in the world. In the art of Pheidias complete technical mastery has been acquired, and sculpture is freed from its archaic fetters, while it is still pervaded by a certain grave dignity and simplicity which is wanting in the works of a later time. After the fall of paganism, the Parthenon served as a church and a mosque, and thus remained nearly intact until 1687, when Athens was taken by the Venetian General, Morosini. In the course of the bombardment of the Acropolis, the besiegers suc- ceeded in throwing a shell into a powder magazine in the Par- thenon, and caused an explosion which destroyed the middle of the building. Morosini did further injury by trying to take down the central group of the Western pediment, which was still nearly complete. Fortunately, many of the sculptures had been drawn by a skilful artist before the explosion. In 1674 Jacques Carrey made sketches (see facsimiles in the room) which are now presei-ved in Paris, and which include much of the spulptures. In the years 1801-1803 many of the sculptures of the Parthenon, which was still continually suffering wanton mutilations, were removed to England by the Earl of Elgin, then British Ambas- sador at Constantinople, with the consent of the Porte. The collection here exhibited, and commonly known as the "Elgin Marbles" (but also including some additional pieces), was pur- chased from Lord Elgin by the British Government in 1816. Eastern Pediment. — The group on the West side of this room belonged to this pediment, and represented, when perfect, the birth of Athene. According to the myth, Hephaestos (Vulcan) clave the head of Zeus with his axe, and Athene sprang forth in full armour. This event is indicated as taking place at dawn, when the sun 12 GBEEK AND ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. [GROUND (Helios) is seen rising from tlie sea on the extreme left of the pediment, and the moon (Selene) is seen descending below the horizon on the extreme right. Of the figures which remain, the following are the designations most generally received, though subject to much difference of opinion : — On the left, next to the chariot of Helios, are : a male figure, reclining on a rook covered with a lion's skin, popularly called Theseus, the hero-king of Athens ; two goddesses, perhaps Demeter and Persephon^ (Ceres and Proserpine), sitting on low seats; a female figure in rapid motion, supposed to be Iris (the_ Eainbow), sent to announce on earth the intelligence of the birth of the goddess. On the right : a torso of Victory ; a most beautiful group of one recumbent and two seated female figures, which have been called the three Fates; and the upper part of the body of Selene and the head of one of her chariot-horses as they sink beneath the horizon. Western Pediment. — On the opposite side are the remains of this pediment, which represented the contest of Athene with Poseidon (Neptune) for the soil of Attica. Poseidon struck the earth with his trident and produced the horse ; Athene caused the olive to spring forth, and was adjudged to be the greater bene- factor. Though this composition is now in a more fragmentary state than the other, it was the more perfect of the two in a.d. 1674, when drawings were made by Carrey (see the copies exhibited). Those statues which still remain on the temple at Athens are here represented by casts. Metopes. — Attached to the Western wall are fifteen of the metopes or panels, and a cast from another which is now in Paris. They represent combats between Centaurs and Lapiths. The latter were a legendary people of Thessaly, whose fight with the Centaurs, wild beings half man and half horse, was a favourite subject with Greek sculptors. Casts from three other metopes, still remaining at Athens, are inserted in the adjoining walls. Frieze. — Around the room, in a continuous line, are the slabs removed by Lord Elgin from the frieze, with casts of others still at Athens, forming altogether about four-fifths of the entire series. They are arranged as far as possible in their original order, commencing on the right side of the room; the different lengths of the frieze which belonged severally to the East, North, West, and South sides of the building being indicated by the labels attached to them. The subject of the bas-reliefs is the Pan- athenaic or national procession to the Acropolis, which took place at the festival celebrated every four years at Athens in honour of Athenfe. Its principal feature was the offering of a new robe, peplo8, to the goddess. East Side. — On slabs IV.-VI. are deities, seated, towards whom the several parts of the procession are supposed to be.moving ; and a priest or other functionary receiving from a boy the new rob^ pf FLOOB.J ELGIN ROOM. 13 Athend. On each side approach trains of young women, bearing religious offerings. It is known that the Athenian maidens, selected to prepare the new robe, walked in the Panathenaic procession. North Side. — A series of victims for the sacrifice, youths with offerings, musicians, citizens, and a long cavalcade of chariots and horsemen. Among the latter are the most beautiful examples of low relief which the ancients have left us. West Side. — Slabs I. II. are the only marbles from this side, the remaining slabs being cast from the originals which are still in position on the temple. They represent horsemen preparing to join the procession. It will be noticed that the casts are in dupli- cate, the upper series having been made by Lord Elgin, the lower series in 1872. The damage which the originals have sustained by exposure to weather in the interval can be estimated by com- paring the two series. South Side. — The slabs from this side are in a very fragmentary condition. They represent horsemen, chariots, and victims led to sacrifice. On the East wall of the room are casts obtained by Lord Elgin from sculptures still decorating the so-called Temple of Theseus at Athens, a building thought to have been erected about twenty years earlier than the Parthenon, to commemorate the removal of the bones of the hero Theseus from the island of Scyros to Athens. Towards the South end of the room is a head of Pericles, made in Eoman times apparently from a Greek original ; also casts of two marble chairs that are still in the Theatre of Dionysos at Athens. Towards the North end of the room are some remains taken from the Ereohtheum, a temple erected, in honour of the mythical king Erechtheus, on the Acropolis of Athens, towards the close of the fifth century b.c. It is the purest and most characteristic monument of the Ionic order of architecture remaining in Greece. It hag a porch supported by six figures of maidens known as Caryatids, or basket-bearers, one of which stands here. This statue is admirably designed, both in composition and drapery ; as part of an architectural structure, it is massive in form, but at the same time is light and graceful in pose. [ The door at the North end leads into the Phigaleian Boom.] PHIGALEIAN ROOM. Among the marbles exhibited in this room the first in impor- tance are those discovered in 1812 among the ruins of the Temple of Apollo Epicurios (the Helper), near the ancient Phigaleia in Arcadia. This edifice was erected by Ictinos, the architect of 14 GREEK AND ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. [gEOUND the Parthenon at Athens, in commemoration of the delivery of the Phigaleians by the god from the plague, B.C. 430. Views and plans of the temple are exhibited in a table-case. Round the walls are placed twenty-three sculptured slabs from a frieze or band of sculpture, which decorated the interior of the cella or inner chamber of the temple. Two sides of the frieze represent the contest between the Centaurs and Lapiths, which has been noticed in describing the metopes of the Parthenon. The other two sides represent the invasion of Greece by the Amazons. The sculpture, which is in very high relief, is of coarse execution, and was probably the work of local sculptors. Next in importance are four marble slabs and the cast of a fifth slab from the frieze of the temple of Wingless Victory, which stands in front of the Propylaea or grand entrance to the Acropolis at Athens. (^See the restored view of the Acropolis, exhibited in the Elgin Eoom.) The designs represent Athenian warriors in combat with enemies, some in Asiatic, others in Greek costume. To the same wall are attached casts from several slabs of the balustrade which surrounded the temple ; in particular the very beautiful figure of Victory fastening her sandal. In this room are also a number of beautiful and interesting Greek stelse, or tombstones, both original and casts. The scenes represented are domestic. The reliefs are often hasty and slight works by nameless sculptors, but they reveal the instinctive feeling for grace and beauty which marks the ancient Greek craftsman. The type of Greek tombstone which took the form of a marble vase is represented by several good examples. [TAe door in the North-east angle of the room leads down to the Mausoleum Moom.'] MAUSOLEUM ROOM. In this room are arranged the sculptures of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassos, excavated in 1867, and other sculptures from sites in Asia Minor. Mausolos, Prince of Caria, died in B.C. 353. His widow, Artemisia, resolved to commemorate him with a monu- ment of unequalled splendour. Accordingly she built a tomb which so greatly surpassed all others in size, beauty of design, and richness of decoration, that it was reckoned one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and the name of Mausoleum came to be applied to all similar monuments. It consisted of a lofty basement, on which stood an oblong edifice, surrounded by a colonnade of thirty-six Ionic columns and surmounted by a pyramidal roof of twenty-four steps. This was crowned by a chariot group in white marble. The edifice which supported the FLOOR.] MAUSOLEUM ROOM. 15 pyramidal roof was encircled by a frieze ricUy sculptured in high relief and representing a battle of Greeks and Amazons. Eemains have been found of three other friezes, but their place on the building has not yet been ascertained. The monument was further adorned with many statues and groups, some of which probably stood between the columns, and with a number of lions, which we may suppose to have been placed round the edifice as guardians of the tomb. The four sides of the monument were severally decorated by four celebrated artists of the later Athenian school. A fifth sculptor, Pythios, who was at the same time the architect of the Mausoleum, made the chaiiot group on the top of the pyramid. The whole structure was richly ornamented with colour. Plans and drawings are exhibited on the Western wall of the room. The colonnade is here represented by one of the columns which has been erected on the west side of the room (but without its base), surmounted by original pieces of architrave, frieze and cornice, and showing part of a coffered ceiling stretching back to the wall of the room, the lacunaria or coffers (sunken panels) being richly ornamented. Opposite, is the base and lowermost drum of the column. The remains of the chariot group have been arranged so as to suggest a chariot within which stands Mausolos himself, with Artemisia (?) on his right, acting as driver. The two colossal figures are sculptured in a broad and simple style ; that of Mausolos, the better preserved of the two, being a remarkable production which impresses one with a sense of dignity and repose. On the west side of the room is a colossal equestrian torso of a Persian or an Amazon! of fine workmanship, the position of which in the monument has not yet been ascertained. Of the frieze placed on the east side of the room there are seventeen slabs, representing combats of Greeks and Amazons. In the composition, the groups and figures are much less inter- mixed than in the Parthenon and Phigaleian friezes. The relief is exceedingly high, the limbs being constantly sculptured in the round ; bold foreshortening is sometimes used. The outlines are marked with extreme force, and in some of the slabs the figures are singularly elongated in their proportions. The other friezes, of which we possess fragments, represent a combat of Greeks and Centaurs, and a chariot-race. Part of one of the slabs of the chariot-race is placed low down on the western wall, so that the extraordinary beauty of the face of the charioteer (who wears the long hair and long robe of his calling) may be seen. It is believed that this extremely beautiful work may be traced to the famous sculptor Scopas. To the Eastern wall of the room has been attached a restoration of the cornice of the Mausoleum, richly decorated with projecting lions' heads, as waterspouts, and floral ornaments. 16 QEEEK AND EOMAN ANTIQUITIES. [gBOUND An alabaster jar found on tlie site of the Mausoleum, and inscribed "Xerxes tlie great king," in the Persian, Median, Assyrian, and Egyptian languages, is placed at the north end of the room. Facing the northern staircase is a colossal lion from Cnidos, ■which originally surmounted a tomb on a promontory at that place, in commemoration, as it is supposed, of a naval victory gained by the Athenians over the Lacedemonians, B.C. 394. At the South end of the room are two lofty Lycian tombs, sculp- tured ou the roofs and on the sides, and having inscriptions in Lycian characters. The construction of earlier timber-built tombs is imitated by reproducing in stone the ends of cross-beams. [A door in the West wall of the Mausoleum Boom leads into the Boom of Greeco-Boman Monuments. '\ ROOM OF GRiECO-BOMAN MONUMENTS. This room contains sculptures in relief generally of a sepulchral character, but partly also votive. The sculptures attached to the walls of the room are mostly parts of Eoman tombs. Among these may be noticed a long slab with figures of the nine Muses; another slab with Apollo, Minerva, and the Muses ; a group of a poet reading and a Muse holding a mask ; and part of a sarco- phagus, representing some of the labours of Hercules. On the floor of the room are : a very finely sculptured slab with two portrait heads of Antistius Sarculo and Antistia Plutia, erected by two of their freedmen ; and a large sarcophagus from Sidon, sculp- tured in very high relief with a battle of Grreeks and Amazons. [The stair at the South end of the Mausoleum Boom leads up to the Nereid Boom.^ NEREID ROOM. In tbis room are exhibited the sculptures of the Nereid Monu- ment from Xanthos, in Lycia, in Asia Minor. The Monument, as restored, is a building surrounded by a colonnade of fourteen Ionic columns, which are placed round a solid central chamber (celld), which may have been used as a tomb. It was probably erected about the year 370 B.C. On the South side of the room is a reproduction of one of the short sides of the building ; and over the doorway to the Mausoleum Eoom has been placed the eastern pediment of the monument, containing sculptures in relief. FLOOE.J EGYPTIAN GALLEEIES. 17 On the floor of the room and also hetween the columns of the monument are the statues of Nereids or sea-nymphs, from which the monument takes its name. It has, however, been suggested that they may he intended to represent sea-hreezes. They originally stood between the columns in the manner shown on the restored end of the building and in the model. Under their feet are marine creatures, probably to indicate the sea over which they are moving. The advance in the art of Greek sculpture is here seen in the treatment of the draperies, and the clearer suggestion of the forms of the limbs under them. Two crouchiiig lions, found at the base of the monument, now flank the doorway of the Mausoleum Eoom. On the walls of the room are the several friezes which decorated the building, representing scenes of war and the chase, etc. ^Passing Eastward from the Nereid Boom, and traversing the Assyrian Central Saloon, the visitor enters the Egyptian Galleries. He should turn to the left and proceed to the North end, and, passing through the Northern door, first examine the antiquities exhibited in the Northern Egyptian VestibuleJ] EGYPTIAN GALLERIES. [Consisting of the Northern Egyptian Vestibule, and the long gallery which is divided into three portions called the Northern Egyptian Gallery, the Egyptian Centual Saloon, and the Southeen Egyptian Gallery.] The collection of Egyptian Antiquities exhibited in these Galleries has been formed by antiquities surrendered by the French at the capitulation of Alexandria in 1801 ; and by subsequent purchases and donations. The greater number of the sepulchral monuments which belong to the earliest periods were brought from Memphis, the first capital of Egypt, situated a little to the south of the modern Cairo. Other early monuments came from Abydos, one of the most ancient cities, situated on the west of the Nile, in Upper Egypt. The main portion of the collection, however, was obtained from Thebes, the second capital of Egypt. The collection covers a period of nearly four thousand years. As far as possible it has been arranged in chronological order. c 18 EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. [GROUND Ancient Egypt under the Pharaohs, in the earliest period known to history, was formed by the narrow strip of territory through which flow the lower waters of the Eiyer Mle. It was divided into two kingdoms : the northern kingdom, or Lower Egypt, comprising the whole of the Delta and the district of Memphis ; the southern kingdom, or Upper Egypt, extending from thence to the First Cataract, where stood the frontier town of Sunnu, the Greek Syene, the modern Aswan. According to ancient writers, the Egyptian Race descended the Nile from Ethiopia. But the ancient Egyptian differed entirely from the negro, and more nearly resembled the inhabitants of Europe and Western Asia. Further, the evidence of the monuments goes to prove that civilization ascended the Nile, and did not enter Egypt from the south. The Neighbours of Egypt were as follows : — On the south were the Nubians, or Ethiopians, the dwellers in the land of Cush, which extended south into the Soudan, On the west lay the Libyans, a fair-skinned and warlike race, who made frequent inroads into the western provinces of the Delta. On the north-east were the nomad Semitic tribes of Edom and Southern Syria, who from time immemorial had been accustomed to lead down their herds to feed in the fertile plains of the eastern Delta, and many of whom in course of ages had fixed themselves in the land and formed a large proportion of the inhabitants of that part of Lower Egypt. In connection with these Semites must also be counted the trading Phoenicians, who settled in the towns and throve as merchants or skilled workmen. This large admixture of the foreign, and particularly the Semitic, element in the north had an important influence on the future destiny of the country. We know how the sons of Jacob came down with their father and dwelt " in the best of the land — in the land of Goshen," and how their race "increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was flUed with them " (Exodus i. 7). The Religion of the Egyptians was of a mixed nature. They believed in God, but they also worshipped many gods, the personifications of natural phenomena and whatso- ever is permanent or subject to fixed rule in time and space: such as Earth, Sky, Sun, Moon and Stars, Light and Darkness, the Inundation, the Year, the Seasons, and the Hours. The same object was often worshipped under different names in different localities. The goddesses Nut FLOOE.J EGYPTIAN GALLERIES. 19 Neith, Isis, Nephthys, Hath or, Uatchit, Nekhebit, Sekhet are names of the Sky, especially at sun-rise or sun-set. The Sun has countless names, Ptah, Tmu, Ea, Horus, Khnum, Sebek, Amen ; and some of them, such as Osiris and Sekru, are names of the Sun after he has set or, in mythological language, has died and been buried. Osiris the setting sun, and god of the under-world, might be said to be slain by his brother Set, the personification of Night, who in his turn was overthrown by the rising sun, Horus, the heir of Osiris. The Egyptians often formed combinations of gods, two, three, four, or more. The gods were represented not only in human shape, but also in animal form. The Egyptians believed in a future state. The soul would again inhabit the body. Hence the care which they bestowed upon the preservation of the dead. The corruptible body was the Khat, the spiritual body was the Sahu. A man also had a double, Ka, and a soul, Ba (the latter is often represented as a human-headed hawk). He also had a Khii,, corresponding to our idea of spirit ; a Khaibit, or shadow ; and a Sehhem, or divine form. Judging from the scenes of Domestic Life sculptured or painted on their monuments, and from the specimens of articles of daily use which have been recovered, the Egyptians appear to have been of a happy temperament, enjoying the pleasures and refinem*ents of life. Their dress was simple ; their habits cleanly. The position of the mother of the house was honourable. The Egyptian, at times, traced descent from his mother rather than from his father. The Language of Egypt is thought by some to be connected with the Semitic branch of tongues. The Writing of the Egyptians is known to us in three forms : the hieroglyphic, or sacred writing, the form in which it appears as sculptured on the monuments ; the hieratic, or priests' writing, a cursive or running form of the hieroglyphic, when written on papyrus * or other ordinary writing material ; and the demotic, or the people's writing, a still later develope- ment of the cursive style. The age of Egyptian writing is of an unknown remote period. All attempts to decipher it were baffled until the discovery, near Eosetta, in 1798, of the "Eosetta Stone," now in the British Museum (see below, * Papyrus was the -writing material made from the papyrus plant. The stalks were cut into thin strips, which were laid in two layers, the strips of the upper layer being at right angles to those of the lower layer, and were pasted and pressed The sheets thus made were joined together to form rolJs. C 2 20 EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES, [GROUND p. 28). On this stone is graven, in the Egyptian language in the hieroglyphic and in the demotic forms of writing, and in Greek, a decree of the year 195 B.C. With the key thus provided, scholars succeeded in unlocking the secret of the Egyptian inscriptions. The remains of their Literature preserved to us in papyri, apart from the inscriptions upon their monuments, prove that the Egyptians were skilled, from a very early period of their history, in astronomy, in mathematics, in medicine, in philosophy, in poetoy, and in fiction. Their knowledge of Art is attested by their monuments, by their wall sculptures and paintings, and by the multitude of beautiful objects for religious or domestic use or for personal adornment which have been recovered from their temples or their tombs. Egyptian art was at its best in the time of the earlier dynasties. The great pyramid builders of the Fourth Dynasty (b.c. 3766-3566) have never been sur- passed as architects. The earliest statues of the human form are nearer to nature than those of later periods. The History of Egypt can be traced back for more than 4000 years before the Christian era. Her kings, or, as they came to be designated, her " Pharaohs " (from the title " Per-aa " — " great house "), have been arranged in thirty -dynasties, or lines of kings, whose succession, as among other nations, was the result of failure of the original line, of marriage of one of lower rank with the female representative of the house, of conquest, or of revolution. The period of time covered by these thirty dynasties has been calculated to extend from B.C. 4400 to B.C. 340. They are divided into three groups : — Dynasties I.-XI. (b.c. 4400-2466). The Ancient Empire. „ XII.-XIX. (B.C. 2466-1200). The Middle Empire. „ XX.-XXX. (B.C. 1200-340). The New Empire. Of the first three dynasties (B.C, 4400-3766 ?) we know very little, beyond the bare lists of the kings' names. The first king of the First Dynasty was Menes (B.C. 4400- 4366), the founder of Memphis. The Fourth Dynasty (B.C. 3766 .0-3566) was a line of kings who more than all others have left behind them lasting records of their greatness and of the high civilization of their time. The founder of the house was Seneferu (B.C. 3766 P- 3733). His son Khufu (Kheops) (B.C. 3733-3700) was the builder of the Great Pyramid at Gizeh, which he spent FLOOR.] EGYPTIAN GALLERIES, 21 years in erecting as his tomb. The Second Pyramid was the work of king Kha-f-Ra (Khephren) (B.C. 3666-3633); and the Third Pyramid was built by his son Men-kau-Ba (Mykerinos) (B.C. 3633-3600).* The Sphinx which is near these great pyramids, fashioned out of solid rock in the shape of a man-headed lion, may have been the work of a still earlier period.t In the Northers Egyptian Vestibule are some of the casing stones of the Great Pyramid [Nob. 56 a, b, c]. There are also a cast of a statue of king Kha-f-Ra or Khephren [No. 1110], and casts of several small statnes of ear]y_kings. In the centre of the room is a cast of the tomb of Ehufu-Ankh, a high official who lived in the reign of Khufu ; near it are a very well executed statue of an official, bearing the remains of colour [No. 35], and a cast of a life- like statue of a man [No. 1144]. In the Northern Egyptian GrALLERY, flanking the doorway, are two finely sculptured false- doors from the tomb of Teta, an officer of the Fourth Dynasty, and there is also an admirable statue of An-kheft-ka, a royal kinsman, of the same period. The period covered by the Fifth to the Eleventh Dynasties (B.C. 3566-2466) is one of which but little is known. In the Twelfth Dynasty (B.C. 2466-2233) we have a series of kings bearing the names of Amenemhat and Usertsen, and renowned in the history of Egypt for progress of the arts of peace, and particularly for great engineering works which conferred long-lasting benefits upon the land. The most famous work was the construction of the great artificial lake on the west of the Nile to receive the surplus waters of the river and to control its inundations. This lake, the lake Moeris of the Greeks, the site of which is now called by the Arabs El-Fayyum, was completed in the reign of Amenemhat III. (B.C. 2300-2266). Specimens of the sculptures of this period, but few in number, will be found in the Northern Egyptian Vestibule and in the Northern Egyptian Gallery. We again enter a dark period of about five hundred years (B.C. 2233-1700), but an eventful one in the history of the country. In its course Egypt passed under a foreign domina- * The remains of a mummy, believed to be that of Men-tau-Ea, ale exhibited In the First Egyptian Room (see p. 43). t Portions of the beard of the Sphinx and of the serpent on its head are in the Northern Egyptian Gallery, east side, No 58. 22 EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. [GROUND tion, which lasted for many generations, and from which she freed herself only after a long and severe struggle. Forced on by a wave of migration of the peoples of Western Asia, the nomad tribes of Syria made a sudden irruption into the north- eastern borders of Egypt and, conquering the country as they advanced, apparently without difficulty, finally established themselves in power in Memphis. Their course of conquest was undoubtedly made smooth for them by the large foreign element (see above, p. 18) in the population of the lower country, where, on this account, they may have been welcomed as a kindred people, or at least not opposed as a foreign enemy. The dynasties which the new comers founded we know as those of the Hyksos or Shepherd kings. It has been conjectured that the name is derived from " Hek-Shasu,",King of the " Shasu," an Egyptian name for the thieving nomad tribes.* After the rough work of conquest had been accomplished, the Hyksos gradually conformed to Egyptian customs, adopted Egyptian forms of worship, and governed the country just as it had been governed by the native kings. The Fifteenth and Sixteenth Dynasties are Hyksos dynasties. The period of the Seventeenth Dynasty was one of revolt. The Theban under-king, Sekenen-Ra, refused tribute, and the war of liberation began, which, after a struggle of nearly a century, resulted in the expulsion of the Hyksos by Ahmes, or Amasis I., the founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty.f The period of the foreign domination has a particular interest on account of its connection with Bible history. It was probably towards the end of the Hyksos rule that the patriarch Joseph was sold into Egypt. A king named Nubti (B.C. 1750) is supposed to have occupied the throne at the time ; and the famous Hyksos king, Apepa II., is said to have been the Pharaoh who raised Joseph to high rank and wel- comed the patriarch Jacob and his family into Egypt. With the accession of the Eighteenth Dynasty (B.C. 1700-1400) the history of Egypt enters on a new phase. Hitherto she had been engaged in the settlement of successive internal changes, or at war only with her immediate neigh- • In the middle of the Egyptian Central Saloon is the east of a Hyksos ephinx, the features of which are of quite a different mould from the Egyptian. t The mummies of Sekenen-Ea and of some famous kings of the eighteenth Bi'.d nineteenth dynasties were discovered a few years ago, and are now in the Museum at Gizeh. Photographs of them are placed in the Firet Eo-yptian Eoom (see p. If). FLOOE.J EGYPTIAN GALLERIES. 23 bours. But now that the oppressing hand of the Hyksos was removed, the national spirit expanded, and under the leader- ship of the kings of the Eighteenth Dynasty, and more especially of those of the Nineteenth Dynasty, Egypt em- barked upon a course of foreign Asiatic wars, which brought her into collision with, and eventually under the subjection of, the great empires of Western Asia. Thothmes I. (B.C. 1633- 1600) was the first king who crossed the Asiatic frontier and waged successful war. The route by which the Egyptians marched in their inva- sions of the East, and which in later times was followed in the reverse direction by tho Assyrians in their invasions of Syria and Egypt, formed two sides of a triangle, wedged apart by the great northern desert-land of Arabia. After leaving the Egyptian frontier, it lay along the shores of the Medi- terranean, and, passing north through the strip of territory held at a later period by the Philistines, diverged towards the north-east through Palestine and Syria, and emerged upon the open country of the upper waters of the Euphrates — the country of the powerful nation of the Khita. At the apex of the triangle, near to the Euphrates, lay the city of Karkemish, the possession of which gave to the Egyptian invader the command of the road leading to the south-east along the course of the great river into Assyria and Babylonia, and afforded to the Assyrian his northern starting point for a descent upon Syria and Egypt. The famous Thothmes III. (about B.C. 1600) was the most successful warrior of his race. His long reign of more than fifty years was a period of almost ceaseless wars in Asia. His conquests extended at least as far north as Karkemish, and the rising kingdom of Assyria was compelled to pay tribute. But foreign conquests were not the only achievements of these kings. Under their hands rose great temples and monu- meats whose remains are still objects of admiration at Thebes, at Karnak, at Luxor, and at other places.* Among other works, Amenophis III. (B.C. 1500-1466) erected on the west of the Nile, at Thebes, the two colossal statues of him- self, which the Greeks named the statues of Memnon, the fabled king of Egypt who was slain in the Trojan war. Amenopliis IV. (B.C. 1466-1433) was distinguished in a peculiar manner as the leader of a new form of worship, Photographs of many of the monuments and buildings mentioned in the text will be found on the screens in the middle of the Northern Gallery. 24 EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. [gEOUND which, however, took no hold upon the people. Possibly owing to religious opinions imbibed from his mother, whom late discoveries have proved to have been a Mesopotamian princess, Amenophis revolted from the worship of the Sun-god Amen and set up that of the god of the Sun-disk, Aten.* The Northern Egyptian Gallery contains a good series of sculptures of the Eighteenth Dynasty, the most conspicuous object among them being the head from a colossal statue of Thothmes III. in the middle of the Gallery. In front of this head is the cast of a Sphinx, inscribed with the name of the same king. Herfe also are three large heads [Nos. 4, 6 and 30] and two black-granite seated statues of Amenophis III. [Nos. 14 and 21] ; and a pair of granite recumbent lions inscribed with his name [Nos. 1 and 34]. In different positions in the Gallery are also placed a number of statues of the lion-headed goddess Sekhet (the Sun-flame), likewise bearing his name. The graceful column with capital in the form of a lotus-bud, of the same reign, should also be noticed [No. 64]. On the Eastern wall is a series of most admirable paintings from tombs of the Eighteenth Dynasty, representing chiefly domestic and social scenes. (It was the custom of the Egyptians thus to decorate the walls of their sepulchral chambers with such paintings, in order that the dead might review events in their lives on earth.") Above, on the same wall, is a part of the Tablet of Abydos [No. 117], which is inscribed with the names of the kings of Egypt from about B.C. 4400 to B.C. 1333 and is of great importance as a record of the order of their succession. The Nineteenth Dynasty (B.C. 1400-1200) was founded by Rameses I. (B.C. 1400-1366), who carried on war against the Khita in Northern Syria, which was continued with more effect by his son Seti I. (B.C. 1366-1333), who was also a renowned builder. To him is owing the great Hall of Columns at Karnak. He was succeeded by his famous son Rameses II. (B.C. 1333-1300), the Sesostris of the Greeks. The name of Eameses has perhaps become more widely known than that of any other Egyptian monarch, partly through the traditions of Greek historians, partly from the multitude of the monu- ments of his own construction or bearing his name. His chief wars, like those of his predecessors, were waged in Syria. The details of a great campaign, which he undertook in the fifth year of his reign against the Khita, are made known to us by the poem of a Theban poet. In a stubborn battle, * See the tablets from Tell-el-Amarna (the ancient Khu-en-aten, founded by Amenophia IV.), exhibited in the Fourth Egyptian Room, p. 48. FLOOR.] EGYPTIAN GALLERIES. 25 which nearly proved disastrous to the Egyptian army, it was in great measure owing to Eameses' personal valour that the day was saved and the Khita defeated with great slaughter. Of the numerous buildings of Eameses, the most famous is the rock-hewn temple which faces the Nile at Ipsamboul, or Abu-Simbel, in Nubia. On the front of this temple four colossal seated figures of the king are cut from the living rock, and on its walls are sculptures and inscriptions recording his triumphs.* It is this king who is identified as the Pharaoh who oppressed the children of Israel, and for whom they built the "treasure-cities, Pithom and Kaamses." The foreign population of Egypt had been greatly increased by the influx of the captives of the wars, and the Semitic element had by this time probably become almost threateningly preponderant in the Eastern Delta. That the captives and foreigners should be put to enforced labour upon the public works of Egypt was to be expected ; and how the natives viewed with alarm the increasing number of the Hebrews and their kindred we learn from the opening chapter of the Book of Exodus. The period of the release of the children of Israel from bondage is placed by some in the reign of Eameses' successor Menephthah (B.C. 1300-1266) ; others have dated it somewhat later ; and it has been surmised that their desertion of the country where they had dwelt so long and their march into the wilderness was perhaps only part of a wide-spread revolt of the strangers in the land against their task-masters. The monuments of the Nineteenth Dynasty fill the Central Saloon, and also extend a little way into both the Northern and Southern divisions of the Gallery. Among them are : an interest- ing wooden statue of Seti 1. [No. 854], standing between two of the columns, and, opposite, a granite statue of Eameses II. [No. 61]; also part of a colossal granite statue of Eameses II. [No. 19], and a cast from the head of another colossal statue [No. 868], besides other figures [Nos. 67, 109, 27, 42, 96]; and, between the two columns at the south-western angle of the Saloon, a wooden statue of the same king. Opposite is another ancient wooden figure of a king. In the centre of the Saloon is a cast of a Hyksos Sphinx (see above, p. 22), on which the names of Eameses II. and other kings of his race have been cut. The two graceful granite columns [Nos. 1123, 1065] with palm-leaf capitals further on, in the Southern Gallery, are of the period of the Nineteenth Dynasty ; the first being cut from a single block. * A east from the head of one of these colossal figures is plsiced in the wall above the Northern Vestibule, No. 1071. 26 EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. [GROUND After the year 1200 B.C., the so-called Middle Empire comes to an end; and then follows a chequered period of occasional triumphs, of internal troubles and of defeats, and subjection to a foreign yoke. Now and again there arose an energetic king who raised the fortunes of the country for a brief interval. Such was Shashank, the founder of the Twenty-second Dynasty (B.C. 966-766), whom we know from Bible history, where he is named Shishak, as the friend and protector of Jeroboam. After the secession of the Ten Tribes and the election of Jeroboam as their king, Shashank made war upon Judah and " came up against Jerusalem ; and he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house" (1 Kings xiv. 25, 26). The kings of this dynasty are belicYed to have been of foreign race. There are several interesting monuments of this dynasty in the SouTHEEN Egyptian Galleey. A pair of black granite figures of the goddess Sekhet (the Sun-flame), inscribed with the name of king Shashank, stand to right and left ; and further on, to the left, is a colossal broken statue bearing the name of king Osorkon II.-, with the detached head of the same, the features of which are of a foreign cast. On the right will be noticed a very fine kneeling figure (placed between the two palm- leaf columns) of TJah-ab-Ea, an official, and, further on, against the wall is placed a series of granite slabs from Bubastis, the capital city of this dynasty, sculptured with names and inscrip- tions of kings of Egypt from the earliest times. Egypt was now rapidly passing into the stage of dissolution, in which she was divided into small states ruled over by petty kings. She was at the mercy of two powers, the Assyrian and the Ethiopian, which assailed her on the north and on the south. Nubia or Ethiopia, which during the reign of the powerful dynasties had become a province of the empire, was now independent, and revenged her former submission by moving north to the conquest of her former masters. The Ethiopian kings actually held the government as the Twenty- fifth Dynasty. In the first king of this dynasty, Shabaka, we have the "So, king of Egypt," of the Bible, to whom Hoshea, king of Israel, sent messengers (2 Kings xvii. 4), and who, as the ally of the tribes of Syria, opposed Sargon of Assyria, and was defeated by him on the frontier, about B.C. 720. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, again, B.C. 701, defeated the Egyptian army in the south of Palestine. An PLOOE.J EGYPTIAN GALLERIES. 27 invasion of Egypt was, however, baulked by the sudden break- up of the Assyrian army when it had advanced almost to the frontier — an event which also saved Hezekiah, king of Judah, from the vengeance of the Assyrians (2 Kings xix. 35). This removed the danger for some years, but in B.C. 672 the Assyrians again invaded Egypt, defeated the Egyptian forces and occupied the country. The native kings became the Assyrian king's vassals, and Assyrian garrisons held all important places. An attempted rising was vigorously suppressed in B.C. 669, and ended in the destruction of Thebes by the Assyrians, B.C. 666, So long as Assyria retained her empire, Egypt continued subject to her; but as soon as Babylonia revolted and the Modes began to threaten Nineveh, Psammetichus shook off the Assyrian yoke, drove out the garrisons, and was acknow- ledged king of Egypt. He thus became the founder of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (B.C. 666-528). The country again revived. The ancient cities were rebuilt ; the monuments restored ; and a revival of art, which was distinguished by its elaborate finish and delicacy, proved that the people, in spite of long years of civil war and foreign rule, had still some of the artistic spirit of their ancestors. Psammetichus was succeeded by his son Necho (B.C. 612-596), a warlike king, who in B.C. 608 advanced to the reconquest of Syria, defeated and slew Josiah, king of Judah, at Megiddo, and marched north as far as the Euphrates ; but was defeated in a great battle at Karkemish by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The Babylonians of the Second Empire, however, do not appear to have gained any footing in Egypt, which remained under her native rulers until the rise of the Persian Empire. Among the sculptures and monuments of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty we have two very handsome sarcophagi, or stone coffins : the one, of dark-green granite, being that of a royal scribe named HApimen [No. 23] ; the other, of black basalt, being that of a daughter of king Psammetichus II., who became the wife of Amasis II. [No. 32]. They are sculptured, as was the custom, with figures and inscriptions connected with the ritual of the dead. There is also part of a statue of a daughter of Amasis II. [No. 776]. The Persians captured Babylon in B.C. 539, and pushed their conquests westward. In B.C. 527 the Persian army, led by King Cambyses, invaded Egypt and defeated the Egyptians with great slaughter. Memphis fell after a short siege, and Egypt submitted. For more than a hundred years the country 28 EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. [gEOUND was nothing more than a province of the Persian Empire. Then followed a brief interval of independence, which, however, was again brought to an end by Persian conquest, Egypt's last native king, Nechtnebf, or Nectanebus II., submitting to the arms of Artaxerxes III., B.C. 340. Among the monuments of the last native line of kings, the Thirtieth Dynasty (B.C. 378-358), are included a pair of obelisks, standing right and left [Nos. 623 and 524], set up by Nectanebus I. ; the massive stone tomb of that king (to the right) sculptured with inscriptions and scenes referring to the passage of the sun through the hours of the day and night [No. 10] ; and a beautifully-cut basalt slab, bearing an inscription and the figure of Nectanebus II. [No. 22]. In B.C. 332, when the Persian power had succumbed to Alexander the Great, Egypt passed into the hands of the conqueror. On his death she was ruled, not without success in the early reigns, by the kings of the Macedonian house of Ptolemy, one of Alexander's generals. During this period Greek became the official and polite language of the country. Hence, recent researches in Egypt have recovered many valuable works of Greek literature, besides numerous official and domestic documents in that tongue. After the wars which ended in the death of Cleopatra, the last of the Ptolemaic line, Egypt became a Eoman province, B.C. 30. Of the Ptolemaic period there are several monuments, chiefly consisting of stone coffins and tombs and inscriptions. The casts of the tomb of the general, Tche-hra, and its cover [Nos. 1128 and 1129] present us with a fine example of the delicate sculpture of the time. The large granite shrine [No. 1134] is also of interest. In it was caged a hawk, the emblem of the Sun-god. It is of about the year 150 B.C. The most famous inscription is The Kosetta Stone, inscribed with a decree of the priests of Memphis, con- ferring divine honours on Ptolemy V., Epiphanes, king of Egypt, B.C. 195. It stands in the middle of the G-allery. The msoriptiou is in three forms : 1. In the Egyptian language, in hieroglyphics or writing of the priests ; 2. In the same language, in demotic or writing of the people ; 3. In the Greek language and character. From this inscription was first obtained the key to the decipherment of the hieroglyphics and the interpretation of the ancient language of Egypt ; the names of the kings, which in the hieroglyphics are enclosed in oblong rings or " cartouches," giving the clue to the identification of the letters of the hiero"-lyphio alphabet. The stone gets its name from having been found by the French, in 1798, among the ruins of a fort near the Eosetta mouth FLOOR.] ASSYRIAN GALLEEIES. 29 of the Nile. It passed into the hands of the British on the capitulation of Alexandria, and was deposited in the British Museum in the year 1802 [No. 24]. In A.U, 638 Egypt was conquered by the Arabs, and was ruled by them until A.D. 1517, when it became a part of the Turkish dominions. lAt the Southern end of this Gallery is the Assyrian Transept ; and from it are approached the Nimroud Gallery, the Nimroud Central Saloon, and the Nineveh Gallery, lying from south to north between the Greek and Egyptian Galleries.'] ASSYRIAN GALLERIES. The antiquities exhibited in these galleries are the result of a series of excavations which have been prosecuted in Assyria and Babylonia (Mesopotamia) during the last half century. The two great nations which, in historical times, are found in possession of Babylonia and Assyria came of one stock, Assyria being colonized from Babylonia. Of the origin and rise of the Old Babylonian Empire nothing whatever is known. The primeval inhabitants of the country dwelt in Southern Babylonia, in the country lying at the head of the Persian Gulf, which then extended farther into the land. At a remote period an immigration of another race into Eastern Babylonia took place. According to the Bible {Genesis x. 8-11), the leader of this invasion was Nimrod, the son of Gush, who built Babel (Babylon), Erech, Accad, and Calneh in the land of Shinar. These invaders, known as Sumerians or Accadians, are believed to have come from Central Asia. They appear to have amalgamated with the original inhabitants, their language being current with the morargenerally used Semitic dialects, which gradually adopted* um.i(ii<>. FLOOE.J EGYPTIAN BOOMS. 41 these rooms is as follows : — In the First Boom are disposed, in chronological order, a remarkably fine series of mummies and mummy-cases ; in the Second Room are mummies and mummy-cases, generally of a later period, and figures and jars and other objects connected with funeral rites ; in the Third Room are exhibited sepulchral furniture, mummied animals, a fine series of figures of the gods, writing imple- ments, weapons, tools, foods, sandals, textile fabrics, and other objects for personal use ; and in the Fourth Room are a great series of vessels in alabaster, porphyry, porcelain, and earthenware; portrait-figures, scarabs and amulets, utensils and furniture for domestic use, and articles for amusement and for personal adornment. The art of Mummifying the Dead was practised in Egypt certainly as early as b.c. 4500, and probably earlier ; it was con- tinued down to A.D. 500. The belief that the soul, haTing passed through various transformations, would reinhabit the body imposed upon the relatives the obligation of using the best means at their command to preserve the body and to deposit it in a secure resting- place. Mummy is the term which is generally applied to the body of a human being or animal .which has been preserved from decay by means of bitumen, spices, gums, and natron. It is derived from the Arabic mumia, " bitumen." We obtain our knowledge of the way in which the ancient Egyptians mummified their dead from Greek historians, and from actual examination of mummies. According to Herodotus, the art was carried on by a special guild, appointed by law. A body might be mummified in different ways, and the price varied accordingly. In the most expensive method the intestines were removed from the body and placed in separate jars (see p. 45). The body was filled with fragrant and astringent substances, and, after being soaked in natron, it was swathed in strips of fine linen. The cheaper methods generally consisted of simply soaking the body in various inexpensive preparations.. The linen bandages employed to swathe the body were three or four inches in width, the length varied according to circumstances : as inany as 400 yards are said to have been employed for one mummy. Some mummies have an outer linen shroud dyed red, and over that a net-work of porcelain bugles. A common, but generally late, mode of ornamentation, of the mummy was the cartonnage, composed of layers of linen pressed and glued together like pasteboard, and covered with a thin layer of stucco. This was modelled in shape of the figure of the dead, and appropriately painted with figures of deities and inscriptions. The finished mummy was placed in the wooden coffin, which 42 EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES, [UPPER was either left plain with inBoriptions cut upon it, or was covered with a coat of painted plaster. In some instances two or three coffins were used, fitting into one another like a nest of boxes. The bodies of kings and persons of rank or wealth were also deposited in massive sarcophagi, or stone coffins. Coffins of the period of the first six dynasties, B.C. 4400-3100, found at Sakkdrah are carved with human faces. Under the 11th dynasty, B.C. 2400, the coffin took the shape of the mummy, being hollowed out of the trunk of a tree, or it was rectangular. The rectangular coffins with flat covers had the inscriptions outside deeply cut, but those inside painted in colours or traced in red and black ink. From about B.C. 1700 the shape of the mummy pre- vailed, and bright colours, "particularly yellow, were in favour, and scenes and inscriptions connected with religious belief and the ritual of the dead formed the decoration. In the Boman period, and even earlier, the coffins consisted of a flat board, over which was the cover, straight at the sides and vaulted above, with four upright posts. The paintings of the period are of an inferior style of art. The earliest forms of Egyptian tombs are the Mastaba or truncated oblong pyramid, and the Pyramid.' First, there was a chamber or chapel for memorial services, from which a compart- ment containing a figure of the deceased was walled off. In the floor was sunk a deep shaft communicating with a passage which led to the underground chamber of the dead, and which was blocked and walled up after the body had been deposited. Brick- lined vaults, somewhat similar to ordinary modern vaults were also in use. There were also the extensive rock-hewn tombs, consisting of numerous chambers connected by corridors and adapted for the reception of members of a family or dynasty. Paintings of scenes in the life of the deceased decorated the walls of his last resting-place (see examples of such paintings described on p. 24). In the chamber of the dead the body in its coffin was placed upon a bier, beneath or near which stood the four Canopic jars (see p. 45) containing the intestines. If the coffin was enclosed in a sarcophagus, the bier was necessarily dispensed with. In the coffin or near it were laid Ushabti figures (see p. 45) to do service for the dead. Either within the bandages of the mummy or in the^ coffin, or in a Ptah-Socharis-Osiris figure (see p. 45), was deposited a papyrus roll inscribed with chapters of the ritual or Book of the Dead. For the use of the deceased, alabaster or other vessels filled with wine, articles of food, unguents, etc., were placed on tables near at hand. Near to the bier also would be arranged the instruments or objects which the deceased used or prized in life, together with gifts from relatives and friends. FLOOR.] EGYPTIAN EOOMS. 43 FIEST EGYPTIAN ROOM. In this room is exhibited a series of Mummies and Mummy- cases, from the earliest periods, generally in chronological order. The most interesting historical relics are (Case A) the fragments of the inner wooden coffin of Men-kau-Ra (Mykerinos), a king of the IVth dynasty (b.c. 3633?) and builder of the Third Pyramid at Gizeh (see p. 21); and a wrecked mummy, believed to be the remains of that king, which was found within the pyramid. Among the Egyptians Men-kau-Ea's memory was revered as that of a just and merciful king, whose gentle rule was a period of relief after the harsh government of his pre- decessors. The stone sarcophagus and part of the coffin and portions of the mummy were lost at sea while being conveyed to England. The inscription on the cover reads : " Osiris, King of the North and South, Men-kau-Ea, living for ever, born of Heaven; conceived of Nut; heir of Seb. Thy mother Nut spreadeth herself over thee in her name of 'heivenly mystery.' She granteth that thou shalt be a god, without foes, Men- kau-Ea, King of North and South, living for ever ! " The contents of the standard cases all deserve attention, but the following may be specially noticed : — A case containing the mummy of a man of a very remote time, before the rule of the historic kings of Egypt. Flint implements of the later neolithic period were found in the grave. Case B. Eectangular coffin of Amamu, inscribed with an ancient Egyptian text ; before b.o. 2600. Cases E and F. Skeletons of the bodies of two officials who lived about B.C. 2600. Artificial indentations will be noticed in the skull in Case E. Case H. Two very handsomely painted coffins of priests of the god Amen-Ea at Thebes ; about B.C. 1000. Case K. Mummy of a lady in a cartonnage casing. The whole of the inscription and some of the scenes have been obliterated with a coat of bitumen, probably in order to conceal the name during some disturbance. The arms are of wood, which is unusual. About B.C. 1000 (?). [No. 20744.] Case N. Mummy and coffin of Katebet, a lady in the College of Amen-Ea at Thebes, with breast-plate and scarab and Ushabti figure in the position in which they were found; about B.C. 800, [No. 6665.] Case Q. Mummy of a lady, in a double coffin ; about b.c. 650. Presented by H.E.H. the Prince of Wales, K.G., 1869. In the Wall-Cases on the left and at the end of the room, among other mummy-eases, is a handsome series of coffins of members of the priestly brotherhood of the god Amen, many oi which were presented by the Egyptian Government in 1893. They were discovered in 1891, at Der el-bahari, which is situated on the left or west bank of the Nile, opposite the site of ancient 44 EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. [UPPER Thebes. In 1881 was brought from the same place a remarkable collection of mummies, coffins and funeral furniture, including the mummies of Sekenen-Ra, Amasis I., Amenhetsp I., Thothmes II., Thothmes III., Rameses I., Seti I., Rameses II., Rameses III., the greatest kings of the Middle Empire who had supported and protected the _ brotherhood. Photographs of some of these mummies are exhibited. On the walls of this room are casts and paintings of portraits of kings, etc. The large cast represents Seti I. (see p. 24) overcoming his enemies. At the end of the room is the Judgment Scene in the Book of the Dead, enlarged from a painting in the papyrus of Ani, scribe and controller of revenues of the gods at Abydos, about B.C. 1500. The upper line represents gods seated as judges in order before a table of offerings. Below is the scene of the Weighing oi the Conscience. The heart (or Conscience) of the dead man is weighed in the balance against the Feather, symbolical of Law. Anubis (with the head of a jackal) examines the tongue of the Balance. Opposite to Anubis stands Destiny; behind him are Fortune and the goddess of Birth. The human-headed bird is the soul of the dead man. Ani and his wife stand on the left in an attitude of devotion. On the right of the scene, Thoth, the scribe of the gods (with the head of an ibis), notes the result of the trial. Behind him is the monster Amemit, the Devourer, with the head of a crocodile, the middle parts of a lion, and the hindquarters of a hippopotamus. Thoth pronounces judgment : " The heart of Ani hath been weighed, and his soul standeth as a witness for him. It hath been found true by trial in the great Balance." The right-hand portion of the painting is occupied by a scene repre- senting Ani being introduced by the god Horus into the presence of the god Osiris, judge of the dead. (See p. 19.) SECOND EGYPTIAN ROOM. Here are the later Mummies and Mummy- Cases, including those of the time of the Greek and Boman occupations of Egypt. Among the contents of the standard cases may be noticed three fine examples of cartonnage mummy-cases, one of them having on the soles of the feet paintings of enemies of Egypt in bonds (Case Y) ; and a mummy of a musician, with his cymbals (Case Z). In Wall-Cases 66-70 are some very remarkable mummies and mnmmy-cases of the Greek period, in which portraiture is a prominent feature ; and an interesting set of terra-cotta heads, hands, and feet, which formed parts of coffins, about a.d. 100. Notice also the large embroidered bier-cloth in Wall-cases 73 74 of the third or fourth century. In this room are also : — Wall-cases 76-79. Canopio Jars (so called on account of FLOOB.] EGYPTIAN ROOMS. 45 their resemblance to the particular vase-shape of Osiris, called Canopus) made of limestone, terra-cotta, and wood. They held the intestines of the human body, which were embalmed separately. A set consisted of four jars, dedicated to the four genii of the dead, and was placed under or near the bier (see p. 42). For the poor, models only were used ; and finally small wax figures of the genii were laid on the body under the bandages, and the use of jars was discontinued. Wall-Cases 81-92. A large collection of Ushabti Figures (so called as the " answerers " to the bidding of the deceased). Few, if any, are older than about B.C. 1700. The god represented by such figures is Osiris, carrying a hoe, piciaxe and basket. They were deposited in the tomb to do, for the dead, the field-labours in the under-world, decreed by the god Osiris, judge of the dead. Wall-Cases 97-102. Wooden figures of Ptah-Socharis-Osiris, a triad of deities connected with the resurrection of the body and the future life. About B.C. 1400 these figures or their stands were made hollow, and papyri inscribed with religious compositions were placed in them. At a later period cavities were sunk iu the stands, to hold papyri and small portions of the human body. THIRD EGYPTIAN ROOM. Here are exhibited Sepulchral Furniture, Mummied Ani- mals, Figures of the Gods, Writing Implements, Weapons, Tools, Foods, Sandals and Shoes, Textile Fabrics, etc. The Mummied Animals (Wall-Cases 48-53 and 86-91) include apis-bulls, gazelles, etc. ; cats, and cat-cases in wood and bronze ; crocodile, dogs, and apes. The animals and reptiles sacred to the gods were kept in the temples, and were carefully tended. After death they were embalmed and deposited in tombs or pits, specially prepared for them. The worship of the Apis- bull, " the sacred bull of Memphis," is very ancient. According to Herodotus " Apis is a young buU, whose mother can have no other offspring, and who is said to conceive from lightning, and thus to produce the god Apis." The idolatrous worship of the Golden Calf, practised by the Israelites in their journey through the wilderness, was probably derived from the Egyptian worship of the Apis-bull. The great series of figures of Gods of Egypt, in various materials, and of animals sacred to them, fill Wall-Cases 59-80. Those of wood and stone belonged to temples; those of bronze and silver were principally votive, and the small figures in gold and porcelain were placed as amulets on the dead. The names of the several gods will be found on the labels. Under the windows is a coloured fac-simile of the illustrated Papyrus of the official Ani (see p. 44), about B.C. 1500. The text is a valuable copy of the Tliebau version of tho Book of the Dead, a ritual containing services and directions for the burial 46 EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. [UPPER and for the guidance of the departed. The pictures illustrate^ the prf gress of the dead man through his trial and transformations,^ etc., in the under-world, until he arrives at the Fields of the Blessed. They are fully described in the accompanying labels. In Table-Case A are Writing-pallets and implements and writing materials of the ancient Egyptians, etc. Pallets were made of wood, stone, ivory, etc., and had cavities for holding the different coloured inks. In the upper part of the Case are rough drafts of documents written on pieces of stone. In the Greek and Eoman periods wooden tablets covered with wax, or painted white, were used for writing purposes. For common purposes, such as tax-receipts and memoranda, potsherds (ostraka) were used. Thousands of inscribed potsherds have been found. Of the Weapons (Table-Case B), some belonged to kings of Egypt ; and with regard to the Artisans' Tools and implements in Table-Case F, it will be noticed how similar in shape many of them are to modern tools ; articles of every-day use being scarcely liable to change. Among the wooden implements in Table- Case K will be seen specimens of the curved throwing-stick, which was used in the same way as the Australian boomerang. Some of the sticks, or staves, are inscribed with the names and titles of their owriers, and one or two with addresses in which the speaker begs the stick to support him in his old age. In Case I are Models of Boats, with their crews, which transport dead bodies from the eastera bank of the river Nile to the western bank, where nearly all the cemeteries were situated. Some are as old as B.C. 2500. In a standard frame is a hieroglyphic papyrus of Netchemet, a queen of about B.C. 1100, with paintings and chapters from the Book of the Dead. Lent by H.E.H. the Prince of Wales. FOURTH EGYPTIAN ROOM. In this room are : a great series of Vases and other Vessels in alabaster, porphyry, porcelain and earthenware, and glass; Portrait-figures, Scarabs, Amulets, Jewellery, Furniture, Domestic utensils, and articles for amusement and for personal adornment. In the Wall-Cases 100-105, 163-167 is a beautiful collection of vases, bowls, saucers, and other vessels, which were placed in the tombs to hold wine, oil, honey, sweetmeats, perfumes, and cosmetics for the dead. The most important bear the names of their owners, or the kings who reigned when they were made. Some are very ancient. The contents of some of them, when found, were still in a liquid condition. The oldest specimens of the large series of Egyptian earthen- ware and porcelain, filling the wall-cases on the left of the room, date back to B.C. 1700. Of many of the objects in porcelain] the modelling is very graceful, and the colours beautiful. FLOOB.J EGYPTIAN ROOBTS. 47 In Wall-Case 138 are sun-dried Bricks, made of clay mixed with sand, broken pottery and straw. The most interesting are those hearing the names of Thothmes I., B.C. 1633 ; Thothmes III., B.C. 1600; Thothmes IV., B.C. 1533; Amenophis III., B.C. 1500 ; and Rameses II. (the Pharaoh who oppressed the Children of Israel), B.C. 1333. In Standard-Case C is an interesting collection of Toys, including wooden dolls, animals, halls, draughtsmen, etc. On the floor of the case are models of a granary, with seven bins ; of a house, with courtyard and staircase leading to a chamber on the roof, in which sits the owner, while his wife kneads bread in the courtyard below ; a potter's house, etc. Among the charms or amulets which were placed on the bodies of the dead, the Scarabs, or beetles, held an important place. In Table-Case D is a fine series, inscribed with the names and titles of the principal kings and queens of Egypt ; B.C. 4400-250. The beetle was an emblem of the god Khepera, from whom sprang gods and men. Ea, the sun-god, who rose again daily, was, according to an Egyptian myth, a form of Khepera; and the burial of scarabs with mummies probably had reference to the resurrection of the dead. Among them will be noticed a large green glazed scarab, gilded and set in gold, which was found on the mummy of Thothmes III., B.C. 1600. [No. 18190.] The large scarabs in Table-Case H are usually inscribed with a chapter of the Book of the Dead, in which the dead man prays : " May there be no witness against me ; may the Powers not oppose me ; may I not be rejected in the presence of the Guardian of the Scale." In Table-Case E are Toilet articles : Combs, tweezers, hair- pins ; razors or scrapers ; bronze mirrors and mirror- cases ; handles of fans ; vessels or small boxes for holding antimony or bismuth for the eyelids, unguents, perfumes, etc. Of the Jewellery in Table-Case I, it will be seen that some specimens are of thin metal and were ■ evidently made only as funeral ornaments. On the other hand, the smaller rings, studs, flowers, etc., of gold and silver show the consummate skill of the Egyptian worker in precious metals. Many of the necklaces are very beautifully made. Table-Case N contains Gnostic Gems, or engraved stones. The Gnostics were a Christian sect which arose in the second cen- tury. They flourished during the third, and were suppressed in the fourth or fi.fth' century. Their founders were chiefly natives of Egypt or Syria, who, having adopted some Christian notions, . blended therewith many obscure beliefs, which they derived from the older pagan religions. Their name (" Those who have the faculty of knowing "), which expressed a superiority of knowledge, was . either assumed by them from pride, or was - ironically bestowed upon them by their adversaries. The gems are engraved with magical sentences, and with figures of gods, demons, animals, etc. 48 EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. [UPPEE [From the Fourth Egyptian Boom the visitor passes into the Baby- lonian and Assyrian Boom.] BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN ROOM. Here are the antiquities from Babylonia, and the mis- cellaneous smaller antiquities from Assyria, including many objects of the later periods of Persian, Greek, Parthian, Eoman and Sasanian dominion. After the overthrow of the later Babylonian Empire by Cyrus, B.C. 539 (see above, p. 33), the Persian power held possession of the country until the conquest of Alexander, B.C. 330. In succession to the dominion of Alexander and the Macedonian dynasty which succeeded him, the Parthian empire was established about B.C. 147. This empire was in its turn overthrown by the Romans under Trajan and his successors, and was finally destroyed by Artaxerxes I., of the new Sasanian or native Persian dynasty, about a.d. 226. The arrangement of the antiquities is, as far as possible, both national and chronological. On the left, or Northern side of the room, in Wall-Cases 1-22, is a great series of inscribed bricks from the ruins of palaces and other buildings of Babylonian and Assyrian kings ; gate sockets consisting of blocks of hard stone, which formed the pivots on which gates turned, and which are inscribed with the names and titles of kings and rulers ; boundary-stones, on which are recorded grants of land, etc.; memorial-tablets set up in celebration of important events ; and other inscribed antiquities. The inscriptions illustrate the developement of cuneiform writing in early and late Babylonian, early and late Assyrian, Elamite, Vannic, old Persian, and Scythian characters, ranging from about B.C. 4500 to B.C. 340. The earliest examples are in a stage of developement not far removed from picture-writing. The series closes with casts from cuneiform inscriptions in Persia, from which Sir Henry Eawlinson and other scholars found the key for the decipherment of the records of Babylonia and Assyria. An interesting object is a bronze step (No. 180), from an ancient temple at Borsippa, which bears the name and titles of Nebu- chadnezzar XL, B.C. 605-561. On the right, or Southern side of the room, in Wall-Cases 23- 44, is a large and varied collection of Babylonian, Assyrian, Vannic, Greek, Parthian, and Eoman objects and vessels and figures, in bronze, alabaster, glass, terra-cotta, and other materials, dating from about B.C. 1200 to the Christian Era. The general arrangement of the antiquities in the Table-Cases is as follows :— In the upper parts of Table-Cases C, G, D, H, are FLOOR.] feAS*LONlAN AND ASSYBIAN BOOM. 49 placed the chief historical records of the earlier and later Babylonian Empires, and of Assyria. In Tahle-Cases A, B, C (lower part), E, F, G (lower part), and in part of I, are series of tablets inscribed in cuneiform. In Table- Cases D (lower part), part of I, and J, are cylinder-seals and other engraved precious stones, etc. Table-Case O (upper part). A series of memorial-tablets, bronze figures, clay cones, fragments of stone and alabaster vases, etc., inscribed in the early Babylonian character with votive and other texts, dating from about B.C. 4500 to about B.C. 626. The earliest inscriptions are in the archaic semi-pictorial character. One of the most interesting objects is the tablet engraved with a scene representing the worship of the Sun-god in the Temple of Sippara (No. 94). Table-Case G (upper part). Original documents recording historical events and building operations in Babylon and other cities during the reigns of the kings of the later Babylonian Empire; from about B.C. 625 to about B.C. 260. Among them is the series of cylinders (Nos. 6-51) recording the building works of Nebuchadnezzar II. In Nos. 53-56, which are cylinders of Nabonidus (b.c. 555-538), the son of Nebuchadnezzar, is included a prayer on behalf of Nabonidus and his eldest son Belshazzar. No. 67 is a portion of a cylinder of Cyrus, b.c. 538- 529, giving an account of his conquest of Babylonia and of the chief events of his reign there. ^ Table-Case D (upper part). Inscribed stone slabs, clay cylinders, etc., recording the history of Assyria from about B.C. 2000 to B.C. 705. Nos. 3-5 contain the account of the campaigns and building works of Tiglath-Pileser I., King of Assyria, about b.c. 1100. Table-Case H (upper part). An important series of cylinders recording the history of Assyria from B.C. 705 to about B.C. 625. Nos. 1-6 contain an account of the campaigns of Sennacherib, b.c. 705-681, including the siege of Jerusalem and the submission of Hezekiah, King of Judah. Other cylinders relate to the reigns of the two powerful kings Esarhaddon and Ashur-banipal. Table-Case A. Tablets inscribed in the cuneiform character, from the sites of ancient cities in Babylonia, from about B.C. 2300 to B.C. 2000. These tablets were found enclosed in cases or envelopes of clay (which are here exhibited side by side with them), and are on that account called " case-tablets." It was the practice to repeat the deed on the envelope, on which also seals were impressed. The deeds relate to the conveyance of property, legal and commercial transactions, and domestic matters. Table-Case B. Two series of Tablets of the period of early kings of Babylonia, from about B.C. 2300 to about B.C. 2100. Those of the first series (Nos. 1-36), circular in, shape, contain surveys of lands in Southern Babylonia, drawn up for purposes of taxation. The second series (Nos. 36-105) consists of royal letters, 50 BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN ANTIQUITIES. [uPPER issued to officials of the cities of Larsam and Sippar, regarding details of administration. Table-Case C (lower part). A series of large Tablets inscribed with accounts, statements of produce, lists of slaves, cattle and sheep, etc., in connection with the administration of public property and of the estates of the great temples of Southern Babylonia, about B.C. 2400. Table-Case E. A seiies of Tablets containing conveyances of property, legal decisions, deeds of gift, marriage-contracts, and other domestic documents, in the reigns of early kings of Babylonia, from about B.C. 2300 to B.C. 2100, Also a collection of Tablets connected with chronology, magic, divination, grammar, etc., of a later period. Table-Case F. Tablets containing correspondence of kings and governors of provinces and cities in Western Asia with Amenophis III. and Amenophis IV., kings of Egypt, about B.C. 1450 (see above, p. 23). They were found at Tell-el-Amarna, the site of the ancient capital of Amenophis IV., whose mother was a Mesopotamian princess. The correspondence relates to treaties of alliance and marriage ; and it also includes despatches from the local governors of cities in Syria (Tyre, Sidon, etc.) subject to the Egyptian king, on the rebellious state of the country, etc. Some of the tablets have endorsements in Egyptian. Table-Case G (lower part). A large selection of legal and commercial Tablets of Babylonia, of the later period, from about B.C. 675 to B.C. 100. * Table-Case I (western side). Babylonian Tablets, containing hymns written in the Sumerian and Babylonian languages, religious' ceremonies, omens and forecasts, and mathematical calcxdationss and astronomical observations. Under the sloping glasses of Table-Case D is arranged a series of hard stone Cylinder-seals used by the Babylonians for pur- poses of business or on solemn occasions. The hole pierced through the length of the seal would enable the owner to secure it by a string; and it might also be worn as an ortiament or amulet, or talisman. The engraving in its simplest form consisted of a figure of the owner and his name, and perhaps that of his father; later were added the figure and name of the god whom he worshipped. In process of time the whole surface became filled up with figures of gods and mythical animals. Impressions of the seals here exhibited are shown in white plaster. Among them will be noticed one bearing the name of Darius. In Table-Cases I and J is a large collection of engraved stones, cut into seals, finger-rings, etc., generally of a late period, and mostly inscribed in Pehlevi, a character thought to be derived from a Semitic alphabet, probably Syriac. [Beturning to the Second Egyptian Boom, and passing thence thrmgh the Southern doorway, and turning to the left, the visitor enters the North GalleryJ] FLOOR.] CyPEIAN ANTIQUITIES. 51 NORTH GALLERY. This Gallery is divided into five rooms in which are exhibited Cyprian, Phoenician and other Semitic antiquities, and collections illustrating various Religions, chiefly those of the East. CYPRIAN AUTTIQiriTIES. The geographical position of the Island of Cyprus has always made it a desirable possession, either as a trading station or as a military stronghold, to the nations whose shores are washed by the Eastern Mediterranean or who have in- terests to maintain in those regions. Lying at a convenient distance from the southern coast of Asia Minor and the long line of the coast of Syria and Phoenicia, and not too far from the mouth of the Nile, it formed, in ancient history, a strong outpost for the attack or defence of the neighbouring countries ; while its central position and convenient harbours offered the best advantages for commerce. Cyprus, then, was occupied successively by various nations of the old world ; Phoenicians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, Eomans, have all held it in turn, and have all left traces of their occupation in the antiquities which have been discovered in the island. The Cyprian antiquities exhibited in the North Gallery are objects of native manufacture. The sculptures, though of no great artistic merit, are of interest as illustrations of the mingling of oriental and western ideas of art. Purely Greek and Eoman objects which were only imported into the island, are incorporated with the antiquities of the Greek and Eoman Department. In the Wall-Cases at the entrance of this gallery is exhibited a series of sculptures, inscriptions, etc., obtained chiefly from Idalium in Cyprus. They are arranged as far as possible chronologically, and illustrate the archaic and Greek periods of Cyprian art from about B.C. 650 to 150. EOOM I. Here is arranged a series of small sculptures and terra-cotta figures which exhibit Egyptian, Assyrian and Greek influence upon Cyprian art ; and on the floors of the cases are some good examples of bilingual inscriptions in Cyprian and Phoenician. The terra-cotta figures in Wall-Case 13, and the sculptures in WaU-Cases 14-20, belong to the Archaic period, about B.C. 650- E 2 52 SEMITIC ANTIQUITIES. [UPPEB 500; those in Wall-Cases 21-28 belong to the Greek period, about B.C. 500-150. In the centre of the room stands a monument of alabaster, elected in honour of the god Eshmun ; about B.C. 380. EOOM II. SEMITIC ANTIQUITIES. This room contains monuments from Phoenicia or the ancient Canaan (i.e., the " lowland " Palestine), Carthage, and Cyprus ; and from Palmyra and Arabia. The tract of land occupied by the Phoenicians or Canaanites in very early times extended from Lebanon on the north to the Dead Sea on the south ; and from the Mediterranean on the west to the River Jordan on the east. These ancient in- habitants were probably immigrants from the East. It is certain that they were settled on the little plain at the foot of the Lebanon mountains as early as the time of Abraham (Gen. X. 19 ; xv. 21). About B.C. 1300, the Israelites invaded the country and gradually drove the inhabitants from the interior, and confined them to the Mediterranean coast. This position, however, left them in command of the Eastern Mediterranean ; and they were the great traders of the ancient world, to which they were known by the name of Phoenicians. Their chief cities were Tyre and Sidon, both being settlements of great antiquity. Phoenician colonies were found in nearly all civilized countries of the ancient world, scattered through the islands of the Mediterranean and along its coasts. Their great city in the west, Carthage, i.e., the " new city," is said to have been built about B.C. 1800. They traded with Egypt at a remote period. They had trading stations in Ethiopia and India. Their principal articles of merchandise consisted of glass, ivory, metal work, perfumes, wine, precious stones, purple and fine linen, and embroidery. Phoenician work in bronze and the precious metals was famous all over the world. The Phoenician Language belongs to the Canaanitic group of the Semitic tongues, and is closely allied to the Hebrew. The oldest known inscription in Phoenician characters is that of Mesha, king of Moab, about b.c. 900; and that in the Siloam tunnel is most probably the next in point of antiquity, being of about B.C. 700. ^ PLOOB.] NORTH GALLEET. 53 The Phoenician Alphabet was derived from the Egyptian hieratic characters ; and, as the alphabet of the great trading nation of the world, it was transmitted to other peoples. It thus became the mother-alphabet of the Greek and Latin, and eyentually of the modern European alphabets. The names of the gods most commonly found on the Phoenician monuments are Baal-Hamman, Taanith, Eshmun, Eesef-Mikal, Melkarth, and Ashtoreth. The chief objects of interest in this room are : — Wall-Case 29. Cast of trie Phoenician inscription from tlie Moabite stone, which was discovered in the land of Moab in 1868. It gives an account of the war of Mesha, king of Moab, against Oinri, Ahab, and other kings of Israel about B.C. 900. After the death of Ahab, Mesha, who had agreed to pay to tho king of Israel " an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool" (2 Kings iii. 4), rebelled; and Jehoram, together with his allies, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and the king of Edom, marched against him. The Moabites were defeated and driven from city to city, until they came to Kir-hareseth (2 Kings iii. 26). Here Mesha sacrificed his eldest son, as an offering to his god Kemosh, upon the city wall, in sight of the invaders ; and his army, inspired with fresh courage, drove back the victorious armies of the allied kings with great slaughter, there being " great indignation against Israel." Wall-Case 30. Cast of the Phoenician inscription of the Pool of Siloam, about B.C. 700. The inscription, which was cut on the wall of the conduit which fed the pool, states that the excavators began to work at the ends and met in the middle of the tunnel. When as yet the two bodies of miners were separated by a distance of three cubits, they heard each others' voices ; they hewed away "pickaxe against pickaxe," and the waters flowed from the spring to the pool, a distance of one thousand two hundred cubits. Wall-Cases 31—34. Votive Phoenician inscriptions from the site of ancient Carthage ; casts of Libyan inscriptions ; cast of an inscription in Hebrew, from the so-called " Tomb of St. James," in the valley of Jehoshaphat, probably of about the year a.d. 300, and perhaps, the oldest Hebrew inscription in the square character. Wall-Cases 35-43. An important series of tombstones, from Carthage, sculptured with figures of deities and mythological symbols ; a few bear inscriptions. Wall-Cases 44-46. Busts of ofScials of Palmyra, and of members of their families. Palmyra, an important city of Syria, lying to the north-east of Damascus, was the ancient Tadmor built by King Solomon (1 Kings ix. 18). The busts represent persons living in the period of the Koman Empire, about B.C. 200- 54 EASTERN EBLIGIONS, ETC. [UPPEB A.D. 200. They are specially of value on account of the minute- ness with which the personal ornaments and details of dress are sculptured. Wall-Oases 47-50. Himyaritic inscriptions. They were brought from the ancient kingdom of Saba (which Arabic writers call the kingdom of Himyar, after the name of a dynasty which succeeded about A.D. 24), and from Yemen, in Arabia. Wall-Cases 51-54. Tombstones inscribed in the Cufic character of Arabic, from Egypt; of the first six centuries of the Hijra, beginning in a.d. 622. BOOMS III.— V. COLLECTIONS ILLUSTBATIN& EELIGIONS. In these rooms have been brought together a number of objects illustrating Religions chiefly of the East. They consist generally of figures of saints and deities, architectural sculptures, shrines, emblems ; and of various implements, dresses, etc., employed in the ceremonies of the difierent creeds. EooM III. BUDDHISM. The collections in this room illustrate fairly the various phases of the Buddhist Religion as it has existed in times past, or still exists, in various countries. Buddhism owes its origin to the Sakya Muni, otherwise Gautama Buddha, an Indian prince, who lived in the fifth century B.C. The only son of a king, he abandoned his state to become an ascetic, and, dissenting from Brahmanism, the old national religion of India, he founded Buddhism, which has still very numerous followers, believed to outnumber all other creeds except Christianity. None, however, remain in India, whence it was driven out about the twelfth century by the prevalence of other creeds, principally Brahmanism and Mahommedanism. It exists, however, in Ceylon ; and it spread to Burmah and Siam, to Nepal, Tibet, China, and Japan. The leading feature of pure Buddhism is the obliteration of the individual self of man. Misery always accompanies existence, and all existence comes from passion or desire • by the awakening of the heart, impure desires, revengeful FLOOR.] KOBTH GALLERY. 55, feelings, ignorance, and unkindliness must be purged away, until, after passing through successive states of purer and purer existence the Buddhist attains Nirvana, a state of everlasting peaceful rest which releases him from the necessity of further individual existence. Buddha dissented from the creed of Brahmanism in denying the existence of the soul ; and he allowed only certain intellectual faculties which perished with the body ; and the ultimate extinction for which man was" to strive was to be attained, not by penances and sacrificial worship, but simply by practising virtue. The oldest Buddhist remains in the collection are chiefly from Northern India, and are in Wall-Cases 59-76 and Standard-Cases A and B. Many of the ' sculptures show traces of classical art, derived probably from the Greek kingdom of Bactria, founded by the successors of Alexander the Great, but also probably from Eoman captives. Their date is about the first century of our era. The more recent Buddhist sculptures from India are in Wall-Cases 46-58. In the upper part of Wall-Cases 56-58 are specimens from Ceylon, where Buddhism still survives. It will be seen that the images are mostly representations of Buddha. These were not originally intended to be worshipped as idols, but were to serve merely as ideal likenesses to assist worshippers, who con- templated them, in their prayers and meditations. In course of time, however, in certain countries and districts, with the degra- dation and degeneration of Buddhist worship, the figures have come to be regarded as idols. There are also a number of dagohas or reliquaries in. the form of domed buildings, intended to hold sacred relics. In the course of its dissemination through the East, Buddhism has naturally incorporated ideas from local creeds and super- stitions, and,, as was to be expected, local deities have been pro- moted to a share in its system. While in Burmah and Siam (Wall- Cases 28-45), countries lying close to India, Buddhism is but little corrupted; in China (23-27) and in Japan (1-18) it is much mixed with the native local creeds. The Buddhism of Tibet (19-22) under the Grand Lama, has been much corrupted by importations from the Brahmanism of India. Among the smaller Tibetan objects in Table-Case D are specimens of the well-known prayer-mills, or revolving cylinders containing sacred texts, the revolutions of which count for prayers. At the east end of the room is Case E, containing a curious apparatus, used by the Shingon sect of Japan in exorcizing demons. 56 EASTEBN RELIGIONS, ETC. [UPPEB EooM IV. BEAHMANISM AND OTHER EiSTEKN RELIGIONS. Brahmanism is the religious system originated by the Brahmans, the priestly caste of the Hindoos. Hindoo worship was originally a nature-worship in which the striking phen- omena of nature were regarded as conscious beings and were classified as deities of the earth, of the air, and of the sky. Each division having its recognized leading god, the idea of a supreme independent Power, superior to all and creator of all, was the natural consequence. This Power was Brahma, the spiritual principle, the all-pervading Eternal Soul, mani- fested in the numberless individual existences of animate nature. Union with Brahma was the goal of supreme bliss, to be attained by subjection of the passions, pure life, and contemplation and knowledge of the deity. The soul of the devout worshipper was absorbed after death into the Eternal Soul Brahma. The gods of the Hindoo pantheon were thirty-three in number, eleven in each of the three classes named above : Agni (fire), pre- siding over the gods in the earth ; Indra (&ky), or Yayu (wind), over those in the air ; and Surya (sun), over those in the sky. This system was amplified by the various impersonations and incarnations (avataras) of individual deities, by their corresponding female forms, and by the incorporation of local deities, whom the priesthood found it necessary to add to the system, in order to keep a hold on the people. There are in India several sects, but they may be classed as the Vaishnavas, who worship Vishnu (the maintainer of the Universe) ; the Saivas, who worship Siva (the male principle in creation) ; the Saktas, who worship Devi (the Sakti or consort of Siva) ; the Sawras, who worship Surya (the Sun-god) ; and the Ganapatyas, who worship Ganapati or Ganesa (the god of wisdom and of the minor gods). The figures of the same deities vary considerably in their forms, and also in their names at different places. In the Wall-Cases 1-24, which illustrate Brahmanism in India, will be seen, among others, images of Brahma, Surya, Agni, Vishnu and his incarnations Krishna and Eama ; Lakshmi (beauty, fortune), the consort of Vishnu ; Siva ; Parvati, Durga, Kali, and Mahakali, varieties of the goddess Devi ; the elephant- headed Ganesa ; Juggernaut, a form of Vishnu ; Kartikeya, the War-god ; Hanuman, the Ape-god, etc. In an upright case at one end of the room is a model of a car or moveable temple from the Oarnatic, probably for Vishnu. TLOOR.] NORTH GALLEET. 57 The Wall-Caees 25-29 contain images and other objects from Java, some of -wbich are clearly representations of Buddha, while otners are Brahman; and in the upper part of Wall-Case 30 should be noticed two wooden figures of Siva and Bama, from Bali, the only island of the Asiatic Archipelago where Brahmanism prevails. The religion of the Sikhs, which is practised in the Panjab, is a purified form of Brahmanism, and was founded by the guru or teacher Nanak, who was born in 1469, and obtained many adherents. The word Sikh means " disciple." There are no images, but the sacred book, the Adi Grant'h, is the principal object of worship. A version of it is exhibited in a standard case, on a low lectern, and surrounded by various appliances for the use of the priest ; the canopy overhead is the outer wrapper of the book. The Wall-Cases 30-48 illustrate various Eastern religions. In the lower part of 30-46 are sacred images of the Indian sect of Jains who worship certain saints or Jins. Above are small collections of objects used in their worship by the Jews and by the Mahommedans. To the right are others illustrating Shintoism, the state religion of Japan, including the curious Gdheis, sacred symbols formed of sticks with streamers of cut paper ; the philosophical creeds of China, viz., Taouism, in which the objects of worship are chiefly human beings who have attained immortality, and Confucianism, founded by the sage Confucius, the state religion of China, chiefly connected with the worship of ancestors, who are commemorated by " tablets " (Case 44) ; and Shamanism, a superstition of some of the wilder tribes of Central and Northern Asia, dealing with evil spirits. EooM V. CHRISTIAIJITY. The collections in this room, in illustration of Western Christianity, are confined to Early Christian Antiquities, generally of Soman origin, which include various objects in silver and other metals, ivory carvingfi, lamps in bronze and terra-cotta, etc. These are placed in the Cases on the left. Among the smaller objects in Table-Case L are gems and specimens of glass from the Catacombs of Rome. In the Cases on the right are various objects illustrating the Christian worship of the Greek Church, of the Church of Abyssinia, and of the Coptic Church of Egypt. [Betracing Ms steps ihrough the North Gallery to the landing of the North-West Staircase, and then turning to the left, the visitor enters the Vase Booms of the Department of Greek and Boman Antiquities,'] 58 GBEEK AND EOMAN ANTIQUITIES. [UPPER GREEK AND ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. The smaller Greek and Roman antiquities occupy the series of rooms which form the Western Gallery of the Upper Floor, viz., the four Vase Eooms, the Bronze Eoom, and the Etruscan Saloon ; and two rooms on the Southern side, the Eoom of Gold Ornaments and Gems, and the Eoom of Terra-cottas. VASE ROOMS. Even a slight study of ancient vases, when brought to such a pitch of artistic excellence as they were by the Greeks, wiU be found most instructive. The progress of developement both of shape and ornamentation in this pleasing branch of art may be followed step by step ; and, when we reach th© climax of per- fection, we are at a loss whether most to admire the graceful outline of the vessel or the exquisite skill of the -drawing which decorates it. Greek vases have been used to some extent, aa models, by artists and makers of modern pottery. The decorated and painted vases exhibited in these rooms have been found in the course of excavations in Athens and other centres of Greece, but mostly in those islands and shores of the Medi. terranean which had been taken possession of by Greek colonists in or before the sixth century B.C. and were held by them con- tinuously for several centuries thereafter. In addition, a very large number of vases had been imported into Italy from Greece, or from Greek colonies, by the Etruscans — a people whose art was deeply influenced by that of Greece in the sixth and fifth cen- turies B.C. From the circumstance that Etruria was the first country in which vases of this kind were discovered in striking abundance, the name Etruscan vases came to be wrongly attached to the whole class. The true name for them is Greek vases. Comparatively few can be strictly called Etruscan. As a rule, the Greek vases have been found in tombs, and it may fairly be assumed that most of them were made for funereal purposes ; but in certain instances — as for example when we md the prize vases of athletic games buried with the ashes of their owners — ^they were clearly not originally intended for the sei-vice of the dead. We also know from ancient representations ttat clay vases painted with designs were employed in the ordinary life of the Greeks. At Naucratis, however, a Greek city established in the Delta of Egypt, apparently in the seventh century B.C., a large number of fragments of pottery have been found in heaps close to the ruins of the temples of Apollo and Aphrodite (Venus). FLOOB.J VASE BOOMS. 59 No doubt they are the remains of vases used in the service of the gods. , The shapes of the vases vary .oonsideraHy in the different periods of the art ; hut the following are the principal ones : — Atnpbora. Hyclria. Crater. Iiebes. Oinochoe. Lehythos. Aryballos. Cantharoa. Kyllx. The Amphora was used for carrying wine ; the Hydria for carrying water ; the Crater for mixing wine and water ; the Lebes was a round howl: on a stand ; the Oinocho^ was used for pouring wine ; the Lekythos for pouring oil ; the Aryballos to contain thick liquid perfumes or oil ; the Cantharos for drinking wine ; and the Kylix also for drinking wine in quantities. FIRST VASE ROOM. The chief characteristic of the earliest vases, here exhibited, is that the natural colour of the clay is retained in the body of the vase to form the groundwork for decoration, or is only lightly tinted in shades of pale brown or red, or covered with a thin coating of white. The history of the developement of Greek Pottery is perfectly clear in its stages between the Seventh and the Third centuries B.C., at which latter date the art ceased. But before the seventh century our information is imperfect, and rests mainly on speci- mens found on very ancient sites. The most primitive class is that which has been named His- sarlik ware, after HissarUk, the supposed site of Troy, where 60 GREEK AND KOMAN ANTIQUITIES. [UPPER much of it has been found. It is hand-made, of a lude descrip- tion, attempting to imitate natural forms, such as shells, gourds, horns, etc. ; and it is decorated with simple tints or line patterns scratched on the clay when moist. See Wall-Oases 1-4. In Wall-Cases 5-13 is Mycente wars, named after the ancient site of Mycenss, where specimens of it first attracted attention. It is found among the southern islands as well as in parts of the mainlands of Greece. Here we find a distinct advance ; the vases have been made on the wheel, and in their shapes and decoration we see the first beginnings of the artistic pottery of Greece. The decorations are now painted on the vase; and the designs are borrowed from marine and vegetable forms, accompanied with linear patterns and spirals. Table-Case A contains objects of the Mycenaean class from lalysoB, in Khodes. The large standing cases, B and C, and Wall-Cases 20-26, contain objects of the same class, obtained by excavations at Enkomi, in Cyprus. (Other specimens of Cyprian pottery are in Wall- Cases 56-64.) Allied to the Mycenae ware is that which is called Dipylon ware, many examples of it having been found near the Dipylon gate at Athens. Here we have geometric patterns of straight and curved lines as the prominent feature of decoration ; and gradually rude figures of men and animals are introduced, in contrast to the marine decoration of the Mycenas ware. Examples of the Dipylon ware are in Wall-Cases 14-19. The next de velopement gave greater prominence to the figures of animals and less to mere geometric pat- terns. This class is called Phaleron ware, from specimens having been first found on the road to Phaleron from Athens : see Table- Case D. In Wall-Cases 31-32 are examples from various sites. We should here also notice the influence which the importation of oriental designs in relief exercised upon western pottery. In Wall-Case 27 will be found vases ornamented with bands of raised patterns, such as would be produced by rolling an engraved cylinder, like those of Assyria. With the seventh century came a closer connection with the East, as Greek colonies established themselves on the coasts of Asia Minor, and generally around the shores of the Mediterranean. The imported influence of oriental embroidery, stamped metal, and engraved cylinders is most marked. The figures on the vases are now arranged in continuous friezes or bands, and the forms of the vases are shorter and rounder. The introduction of the continuous friezes, mostly composed of animals, had stiU furtherthe effect of increasing thefigure decoration and reducing the geometric patterns. If we examine the series of vases in Wall-Cases 38-45, we find the animal decoration becom- ing very prominent and the linear patterns gradually disappearing ; and in place of the latter a new form of decoration also comes up in the form of rosettes^ such as are found in Assyrian and FLOOE.J tASE BOOMS. 61 Egyptian ornamentation, which in the end fill the blank spaces to excess, and mark the style of Corinth. Here too we see the developement of a principal frieze, and the introduction into it of human forms in place of animals. Fram the frieze of human forms grew the subject-scene, which is the leading decoration of the vases of the following periods. Connected in style with this class of pottery are the plates, etc. (from Rhodes), in Table-Case P and in Wall-Cases 33-37, and the two sarcophagi in Wall-Cases 48, 49, as well as the pot-tery from Naucratis in Wall-Cases 46, 47, 50, 51. A most prominent object in the room is the large archaic terra- cotta sarcophagus which occupies two cases on the floor, the chest being in the one, and the cover in the other. It was found at Clazomen^ in Asia Minor, and is decorated with battle scenes, funeral ^ames, etc. SECOND VASE ROOM. In the collection in this room a great advance is at once evident. Instead of the prevalence of light colour for the body of the vase, a taste for a highly-polished brown or red glaze asserts itself, and on this ground the figures of the designs are painted in black — with the exception that white is also used for the flesh of female figures, and purple for details. The general effect of the designs is that of silhouettes ; the archaic stiffness of the figures and elongation of the limbs marking the early period to which these vases belong, viz., the sixth century, B.C. By degrees the black used in the designs invades other parts of the vase, until at length it covers the body, with the exception of square panels of red which are left as a background to the designs. This develope- ment is no doubt to be ascribed to the recognised rules of vase- painting, which required the body of the vase to be covered as far as possible with decoration. In these vases the principal designs filling only a limited space, and not being adapted to amplification, simple black was employed, instead of further decoration, to cover the naked spaces. The transition from the earlier light-coloured ground may be followed to some extent in the specimens in Wall-Cases 1-13 ; and the two main divisions of red-body vases and black-body vases are respectively arranged on the left and the right sides of the room. The subjects of the designs on the vases in this room and in the Third Boom are largely derived from the myths of the gods and heroes. THIRD VASE ROOM. Now an apparently abrupt change takes place : ftom black figures on a red ground to red figures on a black ground. The design no longer consists of a series of black silhouettes, but of figures drawn in on the natural red ground of the vase, and 62 GKEBK AND ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. [UPPEB thi-own up by black glaze with which all the space surroTinding them is covered. This change is, in fact, only the result of the invasion of the body of the vase by the black colouring, as has been described above, carried to an extreme : the black gi-adually covering everything but the actual design, the artist had to leave his figures in the red of the material. The best examples of Greek vase painting — severe and pure in the drawing and very simple in the composition of the designs — occur at this stage, the period covered being about B.C. 500 to B.C. 400. Among them, in Table-Cases A, B, D, E, a very fine series is formed by the kjrlikes, or broad and shallow wine-cups, many of which are signed by the artists who produced them. The principal deco- ration is on the underside of the cups, on which account they are turned over in the Table-Cases. Contemporary with the red-figure style was that of the Athenian lekythi, or oil-jars, on which designs, appropriate to the funeral ceremonies for which these vases were made, are drawn in outline on a prepared white ground, the draperies being occasionally filled in with colour. "They are arranged in and upon Table-Case F. In some instances the sentiment is finely 'expressed, and the drawing very delicate. At Athens also was practised a very delicate style of vase-painting on a white ground, which is exem- plified by four cups in the central Case C. In this room also will be found examples of moulding in human and animal shapes. In Wall-Cases 41-42 are rhytom (drinking horns) of this class. On Pedestal 2 is a rhyton in the form of a seated Sphinx, remarkable for vigour of invention and harmonious colouring. In Wall-Cases 17-24 are vases of black moulded ware from Italy, remarkable for elegance of shape and richness of gilt ornament. In this class the influence of vases in metal is easily perceptible. FOTJE.TH VASE ROOM. This room contains the later examples of vases of the red- figure style from about B.C. 400 to B.C. 200. Carelessness in drawing and the common use of whites for decoration mark the period. The myths of the gods and heroes now give place to scenes connected directly with funeral rites, or with banquets and ordinary life, and not unfrequently with the comic stage. Wall-Cases 1-13 and 60-72, and the upright cases A and F, contain some of the earliest and most refined examples of this period; Wall-Cases 14-29 and 44-59 contain the more florid examples. No more interesting examples of vase painting, as it was practised during the 4th century B.C., are to be found than the Fanatheuaic amphorae, the prizes won at the games in Athens, TLOOE.] BEONZE BOOM. 63 -wHcli are placed on pedestals or taWe-cases chiefly on the left side of the room. On one side of the vase the design is always a figure of Athene (Minerva), drawn in what is called an arehaistic manner, imitative of true archaic drawing ; hut on the other side of the vase the artist was free to design in the manner natural to him and his day. Still, conservatively following the ancient style, he painted his figures in' hlack on a red ground. Several large Crateres (mixing vessels), very elaborately orna- mented, will be seen in this room, chiefly disposed on pedestals on the right hand side. ' A series of vases will be seen in Wall-Cases 32-41 illustrating one of the latest methods of decoration, in which the designs are painted on the black glaze of the vase in white, or in white and purple. With them are occasionally associated reliefs, moulded separately and attached to the 'Vases. From this the next step was to vases with no other decJoration but moulded reliefs ; see Table-Case E. ' : BRONZE ROOM. Bronze, as we know from existing examples, supplied a favourite material for artistic productions in' the ancient world. The heauty of its colour and its durability' naturally recommended its employment ; but its \'alue as a metal in; times of war or emergency has also been the cause of the destruction of countless works of art. Although bronze statues of life size, arid' over it, were sculptured in great numbers in Greece, hardly one of them has been preserved entire. The Bronzes here exhibited have either been found in tombs, or they are the survivals of religious and ordinary life among the Greeks and Eomans. The earliest date from the 5th century b.c. Those that have been obtained from tombs are usually armour, weapons, vases, mirrors, caskets, and personal ornaments, such as brooches and armlets. The bronze of some of the vases is so extremely thin that they must have been itiade only for show at funeral ceremonies. Bronze armour and weapons were dedicated in temples to commemorate victories ; and on less important occasions vases and works in bronze of various kinds were similarly dedicated.- ■ But few examples survive. A considerable part of the Museum collection consists of statuettes. From Greece they are comparatively rare. From Home and the Roman Empire they abound. In Eoman houses they were frequently placed in small shrines. As already stated, large statues have rarely survived ; but several heads of artistic merit, which have been evidently broken from such statues, will be seen in this room. Bronze sculpture in relief was much practised in Greece, and apparently also in Etruria. The best examples belong to the early part of the fourth century B.C.; and the 84 (jBfiEK AND BOMAN ANTlQUlflES. [UPPEB collection is particularly rich in them. These reliefs are some- limes cast from moulds and sometimes beaten Tip with great skill. Engraved designs in bronze occur more frequently in Etruria than in Greece, and are found on caskets and mirrors. The best artistic specimens of the collection are placed generally in the Table-Oases and on the Pedestals on the floor of the room. Immediately on the left is a Pedestal on which are_ shown some ohoiee Greek statuettes, mostly of the archaic age, sixth and fifth centuries B.C. ; among them may be noticed a beautiful female figure with diamond eyes and drapery inlaid with silver, and figures of Apollo, Athene (Minerva), Aphrodite (Venus), and athletes. Next, in Table-Case A, are a series of Greek mirror- cases, ornamental pieces from vases, etc., either worked in relief or engraved in the best style, generally of the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.; and a selection of small bronze vases of refined shape, mostly from a site near Delphi. The large Case B contains statuettes or portions of statues, among wWoh may be noticed the satyr Marsyas ; a Greek philosopher ; a very beautiful winged head, thought to represent Hypnos, the god of sleep (the wings being those of the night-owl, which flies noiselessly) ; a life- size head of an aged poet ; and a portrait-head, very realistic in style. At the end of the room on the left is a Pedestal on which are airanged bronzes of Eoman and Gallic workmanship, those made in Gaul (France) showing local influence. On the opposite side of the room is the right leg of a heroic statue, a fine piece of ancient sculpture ; flanked by a statue of Apollo of a late date, about B.C. 100. In the centre of the room is the head of a goddess, identified as Aphrodite (Venus), sculptured in a large commanding style, one of the most beautiful examples of Greek work in bronze of the best period. Table-Case E contains a collection of Greek and Eoman weapons and inscriptions. The personal ornaments and trappings in TaUe-Case D, and the collection of domestic implements, etc., in Table- Case C, will be examined with interest. They exemplify the rule that, when once fitting shapes or designs have been found for such objects, the lapse of centuries eifects little change in them. The Eoman brooch is identical, in principle, with the modem safety- pin, and needles and pins, keys, locks, bracelets, rings, and other such domestic articles have remained practically the same for ages. In the Wall-Cases, commencing from the left, will be found the miscellaneous portions of the collection. Among them may be noticed : in Wall-Cases 54, 55, A figure-head of a galley, found on the scene of the battle of Aotium (presented by H.M. Queen Victoria) ; — 10, 11, Scrapers and other objects used in bathing ; — 12-19, An interesting collection of armour, helmets, body- armour, greaves, etc., mostly Greek. IfLOOit.] iETRtrsCAN SAtOON. 65 ETRUSCAN SALOON. In this Eoom are arranged the smaller Etruscan antiquities, chiefly bronzes (with which are also some of the archaic Greek' bronzes) and terracotta coffins, occupying the bays immediately to the right and left, on entering from the Bronze Eoom, and the large central bay on the left. Here also are placed miscel- laneous Greek and Roman antiquities, viz., electrotypes of a selection of Greek and other coins, and articles of domestic use, in the central bay on the right ; and paintings, terracotta reliefs, and objects in ivory and other materials, at the end of the room. The Etruscans, or, as they called themselves, Rasena, are best known in ancient history for their wars with Eome. Their territory lay close to that of Eome, and they had . existed as a considerable power when that of Eome was still in its infancy. As Eome gathered strength, wars with Etruria ensued, ending early in the third century B.C. in its conquest. Eome had mean- while learned much from the arts of the Etruscans, a people who excelled in works of bronze and gold, in gem-engraving, in work- ing in terracotta, and in fresco-painting. Their artists drew largely upon Greek myth and legend for their designs. They were active and judicious importers of Greek works of art, in particular of painted vases. As builders their skill is attested by the ruins of their city walls and their massively constructed tombs. But they have not left us their literature. There survives, indeed, a large series of inscriptions, but these chiefly record only names of persons, and little remains from which to make out the character of their language. Their alphabet was almost identical with the Greek. In the bay on the left is a remarkable archaic teia-acotta sarcophagus, or tomb, of the sixth century b.c. On the lid recline a man and a woman ; and the four sides are decorated with subjects representing a battle scene, a banquet, female mourners, and a farewell scene. In Wall-Cases 88-97 are placed archaic armour, weapons, and utensils ; among them a helmet dedicated at Olympia by Hiero I. of Syracuse as part of a trophy for his victory over the Etruscans, b.c. 474. In the opposite bay, formed by Wall-Cases 54-75, are arranged terracotta chests and sar- cophagi, of about the second century b.c, the most prominent being the tomb of a lady named Seianti Thanunia, whose bones lie in it, and whose toilet -mirror, flesh scraper, etc., are here represented by articles in thin metal made specially for burial. On the right are some ciirious archaic figures; and (in Cases 71-75) some remarkable archaic paintings which lined the walls of a tomb, about 600 b.c At the end of the central bay on the left, Wall-Cases 108-115, should be noticed an important series of statuettes, dating from the archaic period. But the most interesting collection of Etruscan P 66 GREEK AND EOMAN ANTIQUITIES. [UPPEB remains is contained in Wall-Cases 126-135, from the PoUedrara tomb near Vulci. The date of the tomb can be determined as not earlier than the Egyptian King, Psammetichns I., B.C. 656-611, whose name appears on a porcelain scarab found in the tomb. The bronze vases, etc., could never have been used except for show at funeral ceremonies, so thin and slight is the metal. It may be concluded that most of the bronze work was produced in Etruria, but this is not the case with the other objects : the porcelain scarabs ; the vases in porcelain, alabaster, and marble ; ostrich eggs with engraved and painted designs ; and terracotta figures. They were probably the production of foreign settlers in Egypt — either Phoenicians or Greeks. In Standard-Cases A— E and H are toilet-caskets, with engraved designs, vases, and toilet implements. The finest casket is that in Case C. In the lower part of Case E are various toUet- implements and materials, boxes, combs, chalk, rouge, etc., found in the casket above them. Attention may also be drawn to the very beautiful strigil (flesh-scraper) in Case A.' In Case I is an archaic bronze chair, on which is a terracotta jar for the ashes of a deceased person. In connection with the toilet-furniture the mirrors in Table-Cases K and L should also be examined, some of the engraved designs on them being very delicate and refined. In the lower part of Wall-Cases 26-35, which form the left- hand pier of the central bay on the right of the room, are Etruscan sepulchral chests of limestone ; and above (Cases 26-31) is a most interesting archaic cornice of painted terracotta, from a temple at Lanuvium (Civita Lavinia), of the 6th century B.C. Among the Miscellaneous Antiquities in this room may be noticed, in and upon Table-Case M, a collection of Greek and Koman weights, and Eoman steelyards ; stamps with which Boman oculists marked their medicines and unguenis; among various objects in lead, a pair of halteres or weights which the athlete held in his hands to give him an impetus in leaping ; a series of thin sheets of lead, inscribed with imprecations or forms of sorcery, which were used for purposes of secret revenge, etc. ; leaden sling-bolts ; a bowl, from Ehodes, of about B.C. 400, in which are lying some eggs and knuckle bones, just as they were found ; and corn and fruit from the ruins of Pompeii, which was destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in a.d. 79. In Table-Case N is an interesting collection of objects in bone, ivory, and other materials, among which are a seriea of tickets for the theatre ; tokens or tickets which were given to gladiators on special occasions; hair-pins, needles, and other domestic implements; dice ; flutes ; and the fragments of a lyre. At the extreme end of the room is a good series of terracotta ajid stucco panels with designs in relief, some of which are very graceful. FLOOR.] COINS AND MEDALS. 67 COINS AND MEDALS. In the western central bay of the Etruscan Saloon are four standard cases bearing eight frames, seven of which are filled with a selection of Greek coins with some of those of the nations in close relations with the Greeks, arranged in such a manner as to afford a view, at once historical and geographical, of the coinage of the ancient world, from the invention of the art of coining money early in the seventh century B.C. down to the Christian Era. The eighth frame contains a selection of Biblical coins and some other ancient coins of special interest. The cases of Greek coins are divided vertically into seven historical compartments, representing seven periods; and each compartment is divided horizontally into three geographical sections. In common with other remains of archaic art, the coins of the Archaic Period, B.C. 700-480 (Frame I.) are characterised by extreme rudeness in the forms and by vigour and force in the actions ; and, later, by a gradual developement into more clearly defined forms, but still with angularity and stiffness. The earliest known coin dates from about B.C. 700, and was struck in Lydia, in Asia Minor. In the period of Transitional and Early Pine Art, B.C. 480-400 (Frame II.), the devices are worked with more delicacy and a true I understanding of the anatomy of the human body. The coinage of Elis, Crete, and Sicily may be specially noticed. In the Finest Period of Art, B.C. 400-336 (Frame III.), Greek coins reach the highest point of excellence, both in design and execution. The coins of Clazomenae, the Macedonian series, and the coins of Syracuse and other cities of SicUy are of great merit. The Period of Late Fine Art, B.C. 336-280 (Frame IV.), in which the coinage of Alexander the Great holds the first place, is marked by a very general cessation of the issue of money by independent states. True portraits now begin to make their appearance. The head on the coin of Lysimachus (No. 20) is believed to be an actual portrait of Alexander. The Period of the Decline of Art begins b.c. 280, and may be followed in Frames V.-VII. At first the coinage throughout Asia is almost exclusively regal, even independent states issuing their coins in the name of Alexander and with the types of his money. But after the defeat of Antiochus the Great, King of Syria, by the Eomans, b.c 190, many cities in Western Asia regained their freedom and their right of coining money. In the coins of the last century b.c. can be traced the rapid extension of the Eoman Power. The upper poi-tion of Frame VIII. contains a series of coins illustrative of Greek portraiture. The lower portion is filled with a selection of coins illustrating the Bible. Passing into the Department of Coins and Medals the 68 GBEEK AltD KOMAN ANTIQUITIES. [UPPElt visitor will find in the Corridor different series of coins and medals exhibited. In Standard-Cases placed at right-angles to the windows is arranged an extensive series of Anglo-Saxon, English, Scottish, and Irish coins in gold, silver, and copper. This selection has been made for the purpose of showing the growth and developement of the coinage of the British Isles from the seventh century to the present time. (Specimens of earlier British coins will be found with the Greek series, described above, Frame vii., row 9, Nos. 5-9.) The arrangement throughout is strictly chronological, and in the case of the Anglo-Saxon series the coinage of each kingdom is classed separately, commencing with that of Mercia and concluding with that of Wessex, which in course of time became the money of all England. The coinage of each reign is divided into its various issues, and where possible the concurrent issues of gold, silver, and copper are classed together. On the left in the Frames against the wall is arranged a series of Roman Coins from the earliest times down to the fall of Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Empire, in 1453. In the first eight sloping cases is a selection of Medals illustra- ting English History from the reign of Edward IV. to the end of the eighteenth century. The next case contains War-Medals. Then follows a series af Italian Medals from the fifteenth century downwards, which is continued from left to right along the north wall, the third case here containing medals issued by the Popes. Between the first and second windows are placed Medals illustrating French History ; between the second and third, German Medals, and between the third and fourth, Dutch Medals and a series of portraits of distinguished persons of various nationalities. [^Tke door-way in the South wall of the Etruscan Saloon leads to the Boom of Gold Ornaments and Gems.'} ROOM OP GOLD ORNAMENTS AND GEMS. This room and the vestibule leading to it contain the larger part of the works of art in precious materials belonging to the Departments of Greek and Soman Antiquities, and of British and ■Mediaaval Antiquities. The cases in the vestibule contain the jewellery of various periods bequeathed by Sir A. WoUaston Franks, K.C.B. On the west side are exhibited the Treasure of the Oxus (about B.C. SOO"*, Greek, and Eomano-Egyptian jewellery (about e.g. 200 to a.d. 200) ; and European and Oriental jewellery of later date. The opposite side is chiefly occupied by the remarkable collection of finger- rings of all periods formed by Sir A. W. Franks. The general arrangement of the Room of gold ornaments and gems is as follows. A series of Wall-Cases, bearing the letters A P, FLOOR.] KOOM OF GOLD ORNAMENTS AND GEMS. 69 occupy three Bides of the room ; on the floor is a range of Bhow-tables forming three sides of a square, and marked T, U, and W, each divided into several compartments; and in the middle is a large standard Case X. Beside the windows are three upright Cases Q — S. Gold Ornaments and Jewellery. Ancient and classical gold ornaments and jewellery are in Wall-Cases A to H, Table-Case T (on the right), and the three Window-Cases ; those of other periods are in Wall-Cases J to P, and Table-Case W (on the left). The oldest examples of Greek goldsmiths' work are displayed ia the three Window-Cases containing objects from Enkomi, in Cyprus, and in Table-Case T (compartments 1, 2, 37, 38), which latter were all found together in a tomb in one of the Greek islands. These ornaments belong to the early period, which is known as the Mycenaean period (not later than the 8th cent, b.c), and in several instances they reflect the influence of Egyptian art. In compartments 4, 5, 34, 35, are ornaments of a somewhat later period from Ehodes, etc., several of which show a marked oriental influence. In the Wall-Cases A, B, are early objects of Phoenician character, chiefly from Sardinia and Cyprus ; and archaic ornaments in amber (an imported material, no doubt prized for its rarity), with accessories of gold and silver, chiefly from Etruria and Latium. These are followed by Etruscan, Greek, and Eoman jewellery, Cases C — H, in a general chronological arrangement, in which the superiority of Greek work is conspicuous. Starting with the i archaic Etruscan ornaments, 7th-6th century B.C., in Case C, we have here the most favourable specimens of the jeweller's art as I executed in Italy. Copying his Greek models with taste, the early Etruscan workman excelled in a process of ornamentation whereby minute globules of gold were applied to the surface of the jewels in patterns or as an enrichment of the general design. But even the excellence of this series is far surpassed by the beauty of the contents of Case D, the gold ornaments of the finest Grce'c period (about 420 — 300 B.C.), in which filigree is largely, and enamel sparingly, employed with an extremely delicate eifect. The artistic designs of most of the pieces here exhibited, among which the diadem in the centre of the case and several of the necklaces and earrings are especially attractive, place this portion of the Greek series in the first rank in the classical jewellery on this side of the room. In Cases E and P, the Etruscan series is continued and has now entered on a later period in which the delicacy of the earlier work has given place to a coarser style, a taste for wealth of material and display being exemplified in heavy necklaces and large bullae or pendants, and in earrings of 70 GREEK AND BOMAN ANTIQUITIES. [UPPER Timzsual size. At the same time some of the ohjeots, such as the gold wreaths in Case E, are finished with great heauty. The later Greek jewellery, from the fourth to the second century B.C., follow in Case G, among them being noteworthy a series of artistic ornaments in terracotta gilt, made for funeral purposes. In the ornaments of the late Eoman period, shown in Case H, the tendency to lavish display seen in the later Etruscan work continues to manifest itself, precious stones now heing employed as a means of adding to the adornment and enhanciag the value of this decadent style of classical jewellery. In this Case wiU be seen specimens of Eoman bar-gold, stamped with the names of the assayer and of the examining official. Above the Cases on this side of the room is a series of frescoes from Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Eome ; and a prominent object, placed upon Table-Case T, is the Portland Vase (deposited by the Duke of Portland), a beautiful example of Graeco-Eoman workman- ship, of the beginning of our era, the body being of blue glass, and the design being carved in an overlying layer of opaque white glass. The subjects are taken from the mythological tale of Peleus and Thetis. The vase was broken to atoms by a lunatic in 1845. Passing over to the opposite side of the room, the Wall-Cases J — P and the Table-Case W are occupied chiefly by specimens of British and medieval gold ornaments and jewellery, together with objects of a similar nature, of various periods, from different parts of the world. Specimens of ancient British and Irish gold work- are in Cases J — L, and in Cases M and P (upper part) are series of Ashanti gold work, including the regalia of King Prempeh. In Table-Case W are many objects of Eoman and later times which are either artistically or historically worthy of attention. Beginning at the extreme right, compartment 20 contains Eoman jewellery found in Britain, and in compartment 19 are Byzantine and Anglo-Saxon jewellery, some of the brooches being excellent pieces of delicate workmanship, and a small series of finger-rings, prin- cipally Anglo-Saxon, including the ring of Ethel wulf, King of Wessex and father of Alfred the Great. In compartment 20 are also exhibited four gems from the Marlborough collection, includ- ing a double cameo of Hercules and Omphale, presented by the Emperor Charles V. to Pope Clement VII. Among the many interesting pieces in compartment 16 are: a richly enamelled jewel with a portrait of Queen Elizabeth ; the signet ring of Mary Queen of Scots ; a small book of prayers, which once belonged to Queen Elizabeth ; and also two ancient gold Buddhist reliquaries, from topes in Afghanistan. And in compartment 15 is the so- called " Cellini Cup," of elaborate German workmanship of the sixteenth century. In_ exception to the general system of separating ancient and classical from more modem jewellery, the fine collection of finger- rings of all periods is placed together in Cases O and P. FLOOR.] BOOM OF GOLD ORNAMENTS AND GEMS. 71 In a prominent position above Table-Case W, is the very- remarkable Gold Cup, acquired in 1892, partly by a private BTibscription, partly by a grant from the Treasury. It is a stand- ing cup, or hanap, of gold of fine quality, and is decorated with enamels (representing scenes from the martyrdom of Saint Agnes), executed by the process known as translucent on relief, and is one of the finest specimens of its kind. Its history seems to be as follows : It was probably made to be presented to Charles V., King of France, who was born on the feast of Saint Agnes, 21 Januarj', 1337, and who had a special devotion for that saint. He died in 1380 ; and in 1391 the cup was given by his brother, Jean duo de Berry, to his nephew, Charles VI., in whose posses- sion it remained, at any rate, till 1400. From Charles VI. it passed to his grandson, Henry VI., King of England, who cer- tainly possessed the cup in 1449-51. We next find it in the inventories of King Henry VIII., by whom certain alterations were probably made. It was also found in the inventories of Queen Elizabeth, and in documents of James I., by whom the cup was given in 1604 to Don Juan Velasco, Ducque de Frias and Constable of Castile, when he came to England to conclude the treaty of peace between England and Spaia. The Constable gave it in 1610 to the nunnery of Santa Clara de Medina de Pomar, near Burgos ; and a few years since it was sold to the well-known French collector. Baron Pichon, from whom it was purchased by Messrs. Wertheimer. It was afterwards ceded by them to the British Museum at cost price. ENGEAVED GEMS. The art of engraving designs on stones, such as steatite, agate, camelian, sard, jasper, onyx, haematite, etc., was exten- sively practised in the ancient world, and was applied either to practical purposes, as, for example, to the production of seals or signet-rings, or simply to ornamental objects. The engraved gems exhibited in this Eoom represent most, if not all, of the known stages of the art, as practised by the Greeks, Etruscans, and Eomans, from about the seventh century B.C. to the third century of our era or later. There are also a certain number of examples of mediaeval work. The various classes of engraved gems are distinguished as Intaglios, which have a sunk design ; Cameos, which have a design in relief ; and Scarabs, in which the two styles are com- bined, the back being carved in relief to represent a scarab or beetle, while the face is cut with a sunk design. The collection is set out chiefly in the several compartments of the long Table- Case U and in the large Case X in the centre of the room. The earliest examples are placed in Case U, compartments 7 and 8. They are in intaglio. In general, the engraving is primitive, the subjects being either simple natural objects, such as 72 GREEK AND EOMAN ANTIQUITIES. [UPPEB fish, plants, animals ; or fantastic creatures, such as Pegasus, the Chimaera, the Gryphon, or human figures. These gems, having been chiefly obtained from the Greek islands, are usually spoken of as Island Gems; but their production also appears to have extended to Greece and the early Greek colonies. The next oldest stage of the art is seen in the Scarabs (Case U, 9 — 12). The Scarab vi^as essentially an Egyptian type of gem, vsrhich was imported into Etruria through Phoenician and other channels, and was there generally adopted. In compartments 9 and 10 are examples, in the designs of which Egyptian and Assyrian elements prevail over the Greek element, and which are probably of Phoenician origin. These are followed, in com- partments 10 — 12, by a series in which the designs are taken from Greek art, though of Etruscan workmanship. They generally represent figures or groups derived from the heroic legends of Greece. The later, Graeco-Eoman, intaglios are grouped according to their subjects in Case U, compartments 13 and 14, and (on the reverse slope) 28 — 33. The finest specimens of Greek and Eoman gem-engraving are displayed in the central Case X. On the side nearest the door are the intaglios, which range from the sixth century B.C. down to the Eoman Empire, classed in compartments. In 39 and 40 are examples of the best Greek workmanship, among which are several of the most delicate and refined execution ; 41-43, gems engraved by Greek artists working in Eome at the end of the Eepublic and under the early Empire ; 44, 45, gems signed by the engravers; and 46, 47, portraits, the most noteworthy being a head of an old man (46 6), head of Brutus (46 d), and two heads of Julius CiBsar (46 e). On the other side of Case X are cameos, or gems in relief, belong- ing almost exclusively to the Eoman period. The finest examples are in compartments 60 — 63, the splendid head of Augustus (53) being conspicuous. Some fine cameos, purchased at the recent sale of the Marlborough collection, are placed in the middle of Case W. Cameos of medieval or later date are also ranged on the reverse slope of Case W, 21 and 22; 24, 25, including some interesting portraits ; and modern intaglios are in Case U 26, 27. A series of ancient and modern pastes, that is, casts in glass from gems, is arranged in frames in the window. The upright case R contains specimens of silversmiths' work, mainly of the Eoman period. In the upper part of cases J — L are three sets of Eoman silver dishes found in France. In Q and S are drinking vessels of mediaeval and later date from the Franks Bequest. [Beturning to the Etruscan Saloon and turning to the right the visitor enters the Boom of Teiracotta^.'] PLOOE.] EOOM OF TEEEAC0TTA8. 73 EOOM OF TERRACOTTAS. The collections in this room illnstrate the art of working in • Terracotta as practised by the Greeks and Eomans from about 600 B.C. to 100 A.D. It should be borne in mind that the term terracotta (baked clay) is applied generally to those objects which are left in the plain material, unglazed, or, at least, are only slightly decorated, as distinct from such highly-painted and ornamented specimens of earthenware as the Greek and Etruscan vases. The ease with which clay can be modelled, and the lightness and durability of the objects made from it, account for the prevalent manufacture of terracottas, both for useful and for ornamental purposes, from very early times. The arrangement of the room (beginning from the eastern door) follows an historical order : on the left are terracottas found in Greece and in ancient Greek colonies ; on the right are those found in Italy. In the Etruscan Saloon we have seen specimens used in building, such as cornices and panels. In this room (Wall-Cases 66 — 71) we have further examples of archaic masks, from Capua in Italy, which were used as finials, or antefixes, to screen the ends of roof-tiles in buildings. But the most attractive objects are the statuettes and other small antiquities which have been found generally in tombs in Italy and Greece, and particularly, in recent years, at Tanagra in Boeotia, and at Eretria in Eubcea. In the tombs of Tanagra numbers were found packed away in large earthen jars, and are supposed to have been used in funeral ceremonies before being placed in the tombs. A series of moulds in Wall-Cases 62 — 65 and in Table-Case B will show how the statuettes are made. It was enough to have a mould of the front of the figure, the back being put on in clay by the hand and roughly modelled. Among the archaic specimens exhibited in Wall-Cases 6 — 11 will bo noticed a series of finely executed reliefs (Scylla, Sappho, Perseus, etc.) from Melos and Cameiros, in Bhodes, which prove how skilful the Greeks were in such work even at a very early period. In Wall-Cases 14 — 24 are placed the most attractive portion, of the collection, being statuettes from Greek sites, and notably from Eretria and Tanagra, -mentioned above. They date from the fourth century b.c. It is remarkable that they seldom represent heroes or god^ ; they mostly illustrate ordinary life. An instance of exception to this practice, however, is to be seen in the exceed- ingly fine figure of Eros (Cupid) of about b.c. 350, perhaps the roost beautiful specimen of its period (Wall-Case 18). Nothing 74 GREEK AND SOMAN ANTIQUITIES. [UPPEB can he more graceful and cliarming than many of these little figures ; and, although they are not always truly proportioned, their simplicity and easy attitudes at once captivate the fancy. Among the most graceful will be noticed many which represent young women in various costumes. Nor is the humorous side of life unrepresented, as for example in the old woman asleep on her truckle-bed, the old woman scratching her chin, and the old nurse with a child in her lap (Case 16). Part of Table-Case A is occupied by a series of children's toys. Such things are scarcely liable to change. The Greek or Eoman doll, with its jointed limbs, is practically the same as the child's wooden doll of our own day ; and the animals laden with various objects are not very different from modern toys of the same kind. Here also are models of ships and boats, from Cyprus ; and in particular the toy war-ship should be noticed : it was found at Corinth and is of about the year 600 B.C., the period when war- ships were first built there. On the top of the case is a vase from Athens in which were placed the ashes of a human body, A fragment of the jaw-bone remains, having attached to it a coin which, according to custom, was placed in the mouth of the dead person to pay the passage to Charon, who ferried the shades of the departed over the Styx. On the top of Table-Case B are two fine archaic statuettes of Athene (Minerva) and Poseidon (Neptune), and a set of grotesque figures, representing actors wearing the masks and other costume of the stage ; and on Table-Case D is a beautiful group of two girls playing with knuckle-bones. The decline in the art of working in terracotta will be followed in the later specimens as the visitor advances through the room. Extravagance of decoration is seen in the large vases in Wall- Cases 40 — 42 and on Table-Case D. [On leaving the Boom of Terracottas the visitor may turn to the left, and before continuing the circuit of the Upper Floor, may examine the Indian Sculptures, which line the walls of the Principal Staircase.] PRINCIPAL STAIRCASE. On the walls of the Staircase have been arranged some of the sculptures from the great Buddhist tope at Amaravati, in Southern India. It is probable that the construction of this tope extended over some centuries, perhaps between A.D 200 and A.D. 400. A Tope or dagola is a shrine peculiar to the Buddhist religion (see p. 56). In the centre is a solid dome-shaped structure, enclosing relics of Buddha or of his principal followers. This FLOOR.] OENTBAL SALOON. 75 is generally surrounded by an elaborately carved rail. The sculp- tures from Amaravati may be divided into three classes. The older and coarser slabs are considered to have formed part of the central building. The delicately carved slabs representing topes lined an internal wall. The large upright slabs and inter- vening discs formed the outer rail, which was surmounted by a rich frieze and was sculptured on both sides. Some of the subjects illustrate events in the life of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. \0n reaching the top of the Principal Staircase, the visitor enters the Central Saloon.'] CENTRAL SALOON. The Central Saloon consists of three compartments. In the left or northern division are arranged Prehistoric Antiquities ; in the middle are British and Romano-British Antiquities ; and on the right are Antiquities from Prance. Prehistoric Antiquities. The antiquities and remains here exhibited illustrate the manner of life of man from his primitive state down to the time when he emerges from barbarism, as far as it can be ascertained from his implements, weapons, and methods of burial. They have been called Prehistoric Antiquities, as they belonged to the early races of men of whom we have no history ; and they are usually divided into four classes or periods — viz., 1, The Palaeolithic, or Earliest Stone Period ; 2, The Neolithic, or Later Stone Period ; 3, The Bronze Period; and 4, The Early Iron Period. These names indicate the principal material which was used for the implements and weapons of the several periods. The remains of the Palaeolithic, or Earliest Stone Period, are the most ancient records of the existence of man. They are chiefly found in river gravels, known as Drift, or in caves which were used as dwellings. The implements are made of flint or quartzite, roughly chipped into shape, but never ground or polished, and of bone and deer's horn. The animals whose bones have been found among these remains include the mammoth, the rhinoceros, the reindeer, and others, which are now extinct or have migrated. Human remains have been very rarely found. It is doubtful if pottery was made in this period. A map of paleolithic sites in England and Wales is on the wall near Wall-Case 51. The collections illustrating the Stone Age are now in course of arrangement in the gallery of this room, and comprise the follow- ing sections. Starting from the top of the west spiral staircase, the Wall-Cases contain Flint Implements of the Drift of a flattened, pear-shape form, or oval. If they were hafted, they must have been bound to, or inserted into, handles of wood or 76 CENTRAL SALOON. [UPPEK bone or horn, and thus used as picks or axes, or hammers. But there is no evidence to show that they were hafted, and they may have been only used, just as they are, in the grip of the hand. Eemains from Caves which have been discovered in England, principally in Kent's Cavern, near Torquay, where the earliest specimens were found under a layer of stalagmite. Above the stalagmite were later remains, coming down even to the time of the Eoman occupation of Britain, as indicated by the specimens of Eoman Pottery. Among the palseolithic remains of this cavern are teeth of the cave bear, besides flint knives, bones, etc. Eemains from caves at Bruniquel in France, which, in addition to flint knives, include various implements made chiefly from reindeer horn and mammoth tusk and bone, such as hunting and fishing gear, ornaments of teeth and shell, etc. A collection of neatly made needles arranged with some of the flint tools used in their manufacture, shows that the makers were possessed of much mechanical skill. But the objects which above all others are of interest are the models of a mammoth and of reindeer, carved from the ivory and horns of those animals, and used probably as handles for daggers ; and the outlines on stones and pebbles of the reindeer, horse, etc., di'awn with remarkable fidelity to nature. These remains are chiefly from Dordogne in Prance, and are of the same character as those just noticed, but are on a rather larger scale. The drawings on horn, bone, etc., should be specially noticed ; they represent the mammoth, horses, and other animals, and, in a few instances, men. The period which has just been described stands quite by itself, and is separated from that which follows by a distinct gap, which must represent a considerable space of time. Between the three successive periods of later stone, bronze, and early iron there are no such distinct lines of separation. They grew out of one another by natural development, and consequently there are times of transition when we find bronze implements appearing side by side with those of stone, and, again, those of stone used later in the bronze period ; and in the same way the bronze period and the early iron period overlap. In the small Table-Case T is a portion of the floor of a cave in France which was used as a dwelling, showing how such remains are accumulated and trodden into the earth by successive inhabi- tants, and are caked together by the drippings of water charged with petrifying matter. In the Neolithic, or Later Stone Period, the stone implements were often ground and polished ; but in some instances the imple- ment served its purpose better without being ground, as, for example, in the case of arrow-heads. The animals which 'supplied bone or horn for implements were those which still exist, includ- ing, however, the aurochs (wild cattle), which is now nearly extinct. '' FLOOB.] CENTRAL SALOON. 77 Here are also some interesting remains from sites whicli may be called "factories," The flint implements of this Later Stone Period seem to have heen made by regular workmen at certain favourable spots where flint was both abundant and good. Two such places are Grime's Graves in Norfolk and Cissbury Hill in Sussex. On such sites the remains now to be found are naturally the tools used in the manufacture, such as deer-horn picks and other implements employed in extracting the flints from the chalk, hammers, etc. ; and also the faulty manufactured implements which were thrown aside as unfit for use or barter ; in a word, we should not look in the factories for the finished implements which would have been sent out for sale, and which are therefore to be found wherever their owners have left them. Among the finished implements may be seen an'ow-heads, knives, axes (wodge-shaped with a cutting edge), hammers, etc. ; and in Table-Case A are selected specimens of the characteristic stone implements of this Period. It will be noticed that the stone axes and axe-hammers are generally made solid, and therefore had to be hafted by fixing them into the handle. (See methods of hafting i^ Table-Case B.) On the other hand, they were sometimes pierced with a hole to receive the haft, as will be seen by the specimens in one of the compartments of Table-Case B. In order to appreciate the wonderful skill which could be attained in flint work, the visitor should examine some beautiful examples (Table-Case G) of parallel-flaking and saw-edging on daggers and spearheads made in Denmark. On the floor of the room are antiquities chiefly of the Bronze Period. We find in the burial places of the Later Stone and Early Bronze Periods rough pottery, hand-made and slightly baked, and often decorated with simple patterns scratched or impressed in the clay. The dead were either burnt and their ashes were deposited in the earthen vessels, or their bodies were simply buried. If the body was burnt the earthen vessel (or urn, as it is usually called) was placed either in a grave or on the ground, with a mound of earth and stones (barrow, tumulus) raised over it. In simple burial, the body was generally laid upon its side in a crouching posture, with the implements, arms, etc., used in life, lying beside it. Implements are also found with burnt remains. In the Wall- Gases 10' — 30 are British urns ; those in Wall-Cases 31 — 36 are foreign. In Table-Cases P and H are objects which have been found in British barrows. These British urns and remains may be placed generally at the end of the Later Stone Period, but some are of the early part of the Bronze Period, for bronze implements have been found among them, although none are of a late type. In the Bronze Period, we find implements and weapons made of bronze, a mixture of copper and tin. But at the same time the metal was comparatively scarce and must have been regarded as too valuable to be applied to common purposes. Consequently, 78 CENTRAL SALOON. [UPPEE the use of stone would continue for certain instruments, as for arrow-heads, which would be lost by being shot away, or for those •domestic tools for which stone or flint was a sufficient material. Pottery now begins to improve ; it is still hand-made, but is finer. The dead were generally burnt. While gold was used for ornaments in this period, silver was scarcely known. British bronze implements will be seen in Wall-Cases 1 and onward. Among them are collections of implements more or less broken, with cakes of molten copper, which have been found in various places and are probably the " hoards " of the bronze- founders, brought together for casting new implements from this old metal. Conspicuous also is a similar, but varied "hoard" from Ireland, comprising broken weapons, trumpets, bells, etc. In the lower part of the Cases is ranged a ijeries of bronze axes, technically called " celts," which illustrates the developement of this implement in the British Islands. Pirst we have flat wedge- shaped implements, copied apparently from the flat stone axes which preceded them. These would be hafted by insertion into the handle. Next come axes, the butt-ends of which are provided with side flanges to hold firmly when the implement was hafted, and thus give ii greater rigidity. These are succeeded by " Palstaves," that is, axes in which the butt is specially adapted for insertion into a cleft handle (see methods of hafting in Table- Case B). In this last improvement we find a stop-ridge provided to prevent the axe from being driven back too far into the handle. Finally axes were made with hollow sockets into which the handle fitted. It will be noticed that both the flanged and socketed axes have small loops by which they were tied to the handle. Only flat axes are found in barrows, the other forms being of too late a time. The manufacture of British weapons of the Bronze Period is exemplified by the collection of swords, daggers, etc., in Table- Case O. The consistent form of the sword-blade of Northern Europe is the leaf-shape, which is seen in these examples. In Table-Case D will be found a selected series of bronze axes, arranged according to the types described above, as well as hammers, gouges, knives, and sickles, and spear heads of various types. The very fine bronze shields in two of the Wall-Cases should not be overlooked ; and in one of the compartments of Table-Case B will be found a very instructive collection of moulds used for casting bronze implements and weapons. The foreign specimens of the Later Stone and Bronze Periods arranged at the further end of the room afibrd ample material for comparison with those of our own Islands. In the centre of the Saloon is a large Standard Case S containing antiquities and remains from the Lake Dwellings of Switzerland and Savoy. Such dwellings were built (just as they are built at the present time among native tribes) on stakes and piles in the water of the lakes, the inhabitants thereby having ready means of PLOOB.] CENTEAL SALOON. 79 catcUng fish for food, and better security from the attacks of enemies. These remains have been found at various sites, and are of different periods. Nearly all of them are of the Later Stone and Bronze Periods ; a very few are of the Early Iron Period. They are of great interest from the light which they have thrown on the way of life of the early inhabitants of Europe. The periodical destruction of such dwellings, often by fire, has resulted in the preservation of many fragile articles, which under ordinary condi- tions would have totally perished. On the collapse of a dwelling, its contents would be carried along with its ruins (perhaps partially fused or caked by the action of fire, and thus better prepared to resist dissolution and the decay of time) into the mud of the bottom of the lake, in which they have been preserved. Hence, there' have been recovered not only implements of hard material, such as stone or horn or bronze, and pottery, but also such delicate things as nets, twine, and other fishing material, woven stuffs, and the remains of grain and fruit. British Antiquities. The Early Iron Period is here represented by the collections in Wall-Cases 51 — 60. The use of iron in Europe commenced in the south, and in course of time spread northward. Most of the objects here exhibited are British, or at least northern-European, and their date may range from about 300 b.c. to 100 a.d. ; and to many antiquities of this time the term Late Celtic has also been applied. While the use of iron, of course, marks the Early Iron Period, the use of bronze was not abandoned ; it was not, however, employed as an alternative material for iron, but usually for objects more or less ornamental. Thus we find the blades of swords (of which there are here several examples) of iron, of good make, while the scabbards and ornaments are usually of bronze, equally well made. The presence of enamel in orna- mentation is also a distinctive mark of Celtic work ; it is often employed in decorating horse-trappings, numerous specimens of which occur. In the lower part of the cases will also be seen some iron wheel-tyres of chariots, which have been found in England. But the objects in these cases which will attract most attention are the very fine bronze shields, placed in the centre (the larger one found in the River Witham in Lincolnshire, and the smaller one in the Thames) and the helmets, one of which (from the Thames) is fitted with horns. The ornaments include the peculiar spiral or volute which has been named the trumpet- pattern, the origin of which has been traced back to a, Greek origin, and which at this period and at a later time is distinctively Celtic. A bronze bucket (on the right), found at Aylesford in Kent, is also remarkable for its ornament, which includes a band of fantastic bosses worked in relief. The period of these last- named antiqnilies is about the beginning of the Christian era. 80 CENTEAL SALOOll. [UPPEE Eomauo-British Antiquities. This collection was recently arranged in a separate room, which, is now the " Waddesdon Bequest Koom." The more important objects are here exhibited, while the rest of the collection is for the time transferred to a room in the base- ment. These antiquities illustrate the Roman occupation of Britain, being objects either made in this country under the Eomans or imported into it by them during the period of 367 years in which they governed it. The first expedition of the Eomans into Britain was under Julius C^sar, 55 B.C., but the actual conquest of the country was not commenced till a.d. 43, under the Emperor Claudius, and the final withdrawal of the Eoman garrisons took place in a.d. 410. The antiquities have been found on the sites of Eoman strongholds and cities, such as London, Col- chester, Winchester ; among the remains of Eoman country houses (villas) ; in rivers, such as the Thames ; and in various other places. In the centre of the room is a colossal head of the Emperor Hadrian, a bronze statuette of an imperial personage, and a fine helmet fitted with a vizor. The smaller objects exhibited in the Table-Cases wiU well repay examination. Personal ornaments of various kinds, brooches, armlets, hair-pins, and specimens worked in jet, are set out in Table-Case A. Among those in Table-Case B there are oculists' stamps (see p. 66), keys, spoons, mirrors, toilet-imple- ments, ointment dippers, shears, needles, spindle whorls, knives, and a very good set of styli, or writing implements, used for writing on tablets coated with wax. A leaf of a tablet is in the Case. Among the objects in metal-work in Table-Case C is a handsome bronze vessel, used for religious libations, which bears the name of the maker, Boduogenus ; and in Table-Case D is an interesting collection of military objects, including a very perfect centre-plate of a shield, found in the Tyne, with the name of the soldier who owned it, Junius Dubitatus, of the company of Julius Magnus, in the Eighth Legion ; and several diplomas, or certifi- cates of service given to the soldiers on their discharge. The most perfect of these is in a mahogany frame and consists of two bronze plates, on which the record of service is engraved. Here, too, are some good specimens of work in bronze and silver. In Table-Case E is a remarkable set of clay moulds for casting false coins, and a good collection of leathern shoes, of various patterns, mostly found in London. Some of the choicer specimens of bronze, glass, etc., are placed in the four cases near the Principal Staircase. Gaulish and French Antiquities. In Wall-Cases 61 — 78 is a collection of antiquities from France recently acquired, and exhibited temporarily as a whole. It was FLOOR.] CENTEAL SALOON. 81 fonned by Monsieur Leon Morel, of Eheims, and is for tlie most part from discoveries in the old province of Champagne, now divided into the departments of Marne, Auhe, etc. It illustrates in a fairly complete fashion the archaeology of the district from the earliest times down to the Merovingian Period. In Wall-Cases 63, 64, 75, 76 are the remains of the Stone and Bronze Ages ; among these are a few of the Palaeolithic Period, and a large number of axes, etc., of the later Stone or Neolithic Age. Some of the latter are notable for the beauty of the material of which they are made. The Bronze Age objects comprise swords, armlets, pins, etc. Some of the swords are of interest from having been found in graves, two of them in the department of Vaucluse, in the south, another at Courtavant ( Aube). In our own country there is scarcely any well-authenticated instance of a bronze sword having been found with an interment, a fact that led some authorities to class them as of Eoman date. In Wall-Cases 77, 78 is a limited representation of the Boman remains of Bheims and the neighbourhood. The city was an important centre during the Koman rule in Gaul, though a Eoman arch is almost the only evidence of their domination still above ground. The city is the central point of a number of converging Boman roads, and it is fairly certain that a variety of manufactures were carried on there. Among these was probably a factory of white , pottery like pipe-clay, of which numbers of examples are found. Prom Aries comes a bust of the Emperor Diocletian (a.d. 246-313 ), whose portraits are rar.e, and over the case is a terracotta head of Jupiter or Neptune from the same place. Wall-Cases 65 — 74 contain, however, the most important section of the collection — via., the relics from graves of the Gauls before the country became subject to Borne. These antiquities are very nearly related to those from Britain in Cases 51 — 60, though it is probable that the French examples are usually of somewhat earlier date. In one instance — the chariot burial of Somme Bionne — the presence in the grave of a Greek bowl and an Etruscan jug, both belonging to the 3rd century B.C., furnishes evidence that the Gaulish chief lived and died not long after that time. The generality of the British finds are a century, or even two, later in date, thus coming up to, or at times overlapping, the Eoman invasion. One of the characteristic ornaments of the Gauls was the tore (torquis), a twisted collar, sometimes of gold, but obviously more often of bronze ; another was the safety-pin brooch, worn in pairs. The Morel collection contains more than a hundred of the former ornaments, the designs of which are often of great originality and beauty. There is also a bronze helmet with a projecting peak for the neck, and a large number of swords and daggers, some entirely of iron, others with iron blades and bronze sheaths. The shields were of perishable material, such as wood and leather, and only the iron bosses of them remain. Many of a 82 CENTRAL SALOON, [UPPEE the swords were purposely teiit before placing them in the grave, to mate them harmless to the living, it is thought. _ The urns found often contained the ashes of the dead, but sometimes accom- panied an unburnt body ; most of them are made without the use of the potter's wheel, and are remarkable for their decoration, being often painted in colours. In Wall-Oases 61, 62 are the post-Eoman remains, generally of the Merovingian Period, and contemporary with the earlier of our 8axon anticjuities, which are placed in the adjoining room. The iron and bronze belt buckles, though large, are less in size than the similar objects of the Gaulish times. [T/ie doorway on the east side of the Central Saloon leads into the Anglo-Saxon Boom, and thence into the Waddesdon Bequest Boom.'] TLOOB.] ANQLO-SAXON BOOM. 83 ANGLO-SAXON ROOM. This room containB Saxon antiquities found in England, airanged chiefly on the north or left-hand side, and a small coUeotion of Teutonic remains and a series of Irish relics. The greater number of the Anglo-Saxon antiquities have been recovered either from isolated graves or barrows, or from cemeteries, and are of the pagan times, that is, from the first settlement of the Saxons in England to about the seventh century. The method of burial varied in different districts ; for example, in Kent, Sussex, and the Isle of Wight, simple burial in the earth seems to have been the exclusive practice ; in part of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Derbyshire the bodies were burnt; and in other counties both cremation and burial in the earth appear to have been indifferently used. In the graves of men there are specially found knives ; a spear, and, rarely, a sword ; the boss which belonged to the wooden shield which has perished by decay; brooches which were worn as breast ornaments in pairs, one at each shoulder; and buckles which fastened the belt. In women's graves knives are also found ; as well as articles of housewifery, personal adornment, and the toilet. And from graves of both sexes beads and jewelled ornaments have been recovered. Earthenware vessels or urns were also used to contain either the burnt remains of the bodies, or other objects ; for example, toilet implements have been found in them. In cases of simple burial in the earth, a small bucket or other vessel was placed near the head : to hold food, as some think. Large bronze bowls and other articles have also been recovered, but these were probably only buried as objects of value which had been prized by the deceased. Fittings of coffins have been unearthed ; but it is probable that the body was usually placed in the grave clad in the best clothes and uncoffined. The Wall-Cases 29 — 35 contain pagan antiquities recovered from Anglo-Saxon cemeteries : viz., earthenware vessels or urns, which are generally hand-made and which, it is interesting to note, are exactly of the same type as the urns found in North Germany, the original home of the Saxons ; spear-heads, swords, and knives; shield-bosses, which it should be noticed are deep enough to receive the warrior's hand, which held the shield by a bar within the boss ; the metal frames of food-buckets, the wooden portions having perished; cross-shaped brooches, resembling the Koman fibulae, generally of bronze, and often plated with gold or silver; round saucer-shaped brooches ornamented with various patterns ; necklaces composed of beads of amber and amethyst, and glass, and sometimes of porcelain ; small crystal balls ; per- G 2 84 Anglo-Saxon Antiquities. [upper sonal ornaments, including a few Eoman coins pierced to serve as pendants (^Cases 29 and 32); and a number of glass cnps and drinking vessels, sometimes made witli curious lobes attached to them. It is probable that all these glass vessels were imported. In Wall-Case 28 are the contents of the Anglo-Saxon barrov/ at Taplow in Buckinghamshire, which was evidently the grave of a great person, with whom some objects of special value were buried. Here will be seen a beautiful buckle of gold -worked with interlaced patterns and set with garnets ; a pair of clasps ; a large bronze vase ; remains of drinking boms with silver mountings ; some gold thread which was used in the texture of the robe or wrappings of the dead man, the woollen material having perished ; a large lobed drinking-glass, and a set of bone draughtsmen. In the Table-Case G other remains from Anglo-Saxon graves are exhibited, among which will be noticed some fine circular brooches, made with great skill, with interlaced and other orna- mentation in filigree, etc., and set "with small slices of garnet, etc. ; also Eoman and Byzantine coins, or imitations of such coins made by the Anglo-Saxon jewellers, as pendants. In the same case is also a collection of Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian swords, including a knife-sword inlaid with an alphabet of Anglo-Saxon runes (the letters which were in use among the northern Teutonic nations before they adopted the Eoman alphabet), and a knife, which was found at Sittingboume in Kent, engraved with the names of the maker and the owner. Crossing the room the Pagan series of Anglo-Saxon antiquities is continued in Table-Case H (compartments 1 and 2) ; and in Wall-Cases 20 and 21 is placed the bulk of a collection which was found at Faversham, in Kent, consisting of iron swords, spears, bosses, personal ornaments, and good glass vessels. The choicest portion of the personal ornaments from this Faversham collection is exhibited in compartment 4 of Table-Case H ; it includes some very fine specimens of Anglo-Saxon jewellery, such as brooches, pendants, and buckles. A small collection of Anglo-Saxon antiquities of the later, Christian, period, is displayed in compartment 3 of Table-Case H, comprising brooches in the form of a cross, ivory combs, a hand- some sword handle of wood decorated with gold, specimens of coloured enamels and three - seals, one of which is the double seal of Godwin, a thane, and Godgytha, a nun, of ivory, with a delicately carved handle. Other late Saxon antiquities are in Wall-Case 22. The Toreign Teutonic Antiquities, that is, antiquities 'from Germany and Scandinavia, which are exhibited in Wall- Cases 23-26 and in Table-Case H (compartment 6), chiefly consist of weapons and personal ornaments, and serve for com- parison with those of Anglo-Saxon manufacture. Here, it will be observed, the brooches which form a considerable part of the FLOOft.] WAbDESUOl^ BEQUeST BOOM. 85 f collection, are of an oval convex shape. Like the Anglo-Saxon brooches noticed ahove, they were worn in pairs at the shoulders, and are connected with chains which hung across the breast. The Irish relics chiefly consist of ecclesiastical bells (WalU Case 27) and circular long-pinned brooches (Table-Case H, compartment 5), the ornamentation of which is mainly of the interlaced patterns so much in vogue in Irish art. A remarkable casket made of whale's bone stands on a pedestal in this room. Among the subjects carved upon it is a scene from the Teutonic legend of Egil, brother of Wayland Smith. The inscriptions are in Anglo-Saxon runes, and the casket was made about a.d. 700, probably in Northumbria. WADDBSDON BEQUEST ROOM. Baron Terdinand Eothschild, M.P., a Trustee of the British Museum, who died on the 17th of December, 1898, bequeathed to the British Museum the invaluable collection of arms, jewels, plate, enamels, carvings, and other works of art, chiefly of the cinque-cento period, now exhibited in this room. The collection formed part of the artistic treasures of Waddesdon Manor, Baron Ferdinand Eothschild's country house near Aylesbury. The bequest was subject to the condition that the collection should be kept, apart from the general collections of the Museum, in a room to be called the " Waddesdon Bequest Eoom." The collection is arranged as follows : — In Case A are the only objects of great antiquity in the collec- tion, viz., two pairs of circular medallions [Nos. 1, 2] with loose rings, to form handles of litters, of Greek workmanship of the third century B.C. ; on each of the larger pair is a head of a Bacchante in prominent relief, of the highest artistic excellence. In this case also are : a reliquary of Limoges champleve enamel [No. 19], the subject represented being the martyrdom of St. Valerie, patron of Limoges, about a.d. 1280-1290; a circular shield of hammered iron [No. 5], damascened with gold and plated with silver, made by Giorgio Ghisi of Mantua in 1554, with a headpiece or morion of iron embossed and chased and inlaid with gold, of about the same date ; and two door-knockers of bronze, of Italian work of the sixteenth century. >■ Among the Arms in Case B will be noticed the four arquebuses [Nos. 7-10] of French and German workmanship of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the barrels elaborately chased and the stocks inlaid with ivory; also an Italian rapier [No. 12] of the sixteenth century, damascened in gold. The Painted Enamels of the sixteenth century, of which there is a fine series of upwards of thirty pieces, are placed in Cases B, C, and D, and include examples by artists of the families of Penicaud, Limousin, Reymond, Court, and Courtois. Among 86 WADDESDON BEQUEST EOOM. [UPPEK i them are :— In Case B : two caskets [Nos. 22, 23] ; together with panels from caskets ; and a large panel [No. 24] with a portrait of Catherine of Lorraine, about a.d. 1570, the work of Leonard Limousin. In Case O : dishes, candlesticks, etc. [Nos. 30-34, 86], generally of brilliant colouring, the work of Martial and Jean Gourtois ; and a large oval dish [No. 48], by Susanne Court. In Case D : a large panel [No. 21] composed of fifteen plaques, with subjects from the Aeneid, by one of the Penioaud family; and a series of panels, cups, plates, spoons, etc., chiefly by Jean Limousin and Susanne Court. The specimens of Glass [Nos. 53-59] exhibited in Case E are Venetian of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, with the exception of two pieces, viz., a goblet of clear glass [No. 53], enamelled and gilt, of Arab workmanship early in the fourteenth century, set in a contemporary silver-gilt mount of French origin ; and an Arab mosque-lamp [No. 54], of the fourteenth century. A few specimens of Italian Majolica [Nos. 60-65] are placed in Cases E and M. A very choice series of Cups, vases, and other objects carved from agate, crystal, and other hard stones, with a few examples made of gold, is exhibited in Case J. The most valuable specimen is No. 68, a vase of chalcedony carved with vine branches in relief, of Eoman work, with Italian enamelled mounts of unusual rich- ness, of the sixteenth century. No. 70, a vase and cover, of lapis lazuli, is also believed to be antique Eoman, the mounts being probably Italian of the sixteenth century. Of the other pieces, the majority are of German origin of the sixteenth century, and a few are Italian and French. They are all remarkable either for material, design, or the exquisite character of their mountings. Of Silver Plate there is a large series [Nos. 87-146], exhibited in Cases F, G and L, comprising standing-cups, goblets, ewers, dishes, ostrich-egg cups, and other table ornaments, chiefly in silver-gilt, and most of them German workmanship of the stjcond half of the sixteenth century. A few pieces are of earlier and later dates ; and some are of Flemish origin. In Case P may be noticed two covers for the binding of books of the Gospels [Nos. 87, 88], of about the year 1500 ; a ewer, richly embossed and chased, of unusually fine work [No. 89]; a large circular salver [No. 92] of unusually elaborate design ; and a set of twelve tazze or standard-dishes [No. 97]. The pieces in Case G are chiefly standing-cups and covers of various designs, including two examples [Nos. 109, 110] of double standing-cups, each pair of cups fitting together at the mouth; ostrich-egg cups [Nos. Ill, 112], one of which bears the date of 1554; nautilus-shell cups [Nos. 114-116]; and cups cut from precious stones, such as onyx [No. 121], chalcedony [No. 119], bloodstone [No. 120], etc. In Case L there are examples of table ornaments and standing-cups in fanciful shapes, such as a youthful Bacchus [No. 131], a peasant [No. Ib3], a peasant woman [No. 132], a huntsman [No. 134], a PLOOK.] MEDIEVAL KOOM. 87 boar [No. 135], stags [Nos. 136-138], a bear [No. 139], a unicorn [No. 140], cocks [Nos. 141, 142], etc. One of the most attractive sections of the collection is the rich; series of Jewels [No. 147-193] exhibited in Case H. They com- prise pendent-jewels, lockets, medallions, reliquaries and other articles, the majority being of G-erman workmanship of the six- teenth and also of the seYenteenth centuries. There are also examples of English, French, and Dutch work. The pendent- jewels are generally of most elaborate design, and many are exquisite productions of the jeweller's art. They frequently take the form of animals and fanciful monsters, such as a mermaid, nereid, hippocamp, dragon, hawk, hind, lamb, parrot, etc. One of the most valuable and interesting is the Lyte jewel [No. 167], which was given by James I. to Thomas Lyte, and contains a portrait of the king. ringer-rings ; knives, forks, and spoons ; caskets and miscel- laneous objects occupy part of Cases J and L. A very remarkable series of Carvings iu wood and stone is exhibited in Case K. They consist of devotional pieces, rosary beads, etc., cut with the most marvellous minuteness, and in some instances ingeniously contrived to open in segments and disclose interior designs. No. 231 is a carving, probably of English work of about the year 1340. The miniature altar-piece [No. 232] made in Flanders in the year 1511, and tie tabernacle [No. 233] carved in open work, once belonging to the Emperor Charles V., may be specially noticed. There is also a series of medallion portraits. Belonging to the series of wood -carvings, but placed in Case C, is the remarkable pair of portrait busts of a man and a woman, of G-erman work of about the year 1530. [Meturning to the Prehistoric Saloon, and turning to the right, the visitor enters the Mediaeval Soom, and thence the Asiatic Saloon/] MEDI-ffiVAL ROOM. This room contains specimens of Mediaeval and more Recent Art. In the Wall-Cases 1 — 9, on the left, is a small collection of Arms and Armour, chiefly derived from the bequest of William Burges, A.E.A., in 1881, and from the Meyrick Collection. Specimens of Metal Work, including some good examples of early Oriental and Venetian origin, bequeathed by Mr. John Henderson, are placed in Wall-Cases 10 — 18 ; followed by others, chiefly Continental, in Wall-Cases 19 — 20. A very fine collection of Clocks and Astrolabes and Watches and Sun-dials, formed by Mi-. Octavius Morgan, and bequeathed by him to the Museum, is displayed in Wall-Cases 21 — 26, and in the Table-Case G. The fine clock at the head of the Principal Stair- case is part of this bequest. The collection illustrates very fully the progress of the manufacture of time-pieces from an early date. 88 ASIATIC SALOON. [uPPEH A similar collection of watclies, formed, however, rather with a regard to the historical interest of the several specimens, was bequeathed by Lady Fellows, and is exhibited in Table-Case K. Continuing the Wall-Cases on the right of the room, a series of enamels, some of them of early Limoges wort, are placed in Cases 27-32. With them should be examined the fine enamels displayed in Table-Case E. In Wall-Cases 35 — 43 are carvings in various materials, cKiefly ivory, forming, with these in Table-Case F, a most valuable series, many of the specimens being masterpieces of this beautiful form of art. Among the other many objects in this room, attention may be drawn to the Historical Relics, several being connected with sovereigns and other persons celebrated in English history, which are exhibited in Table-Case A ; to the various domestic objects in Table-Case B, including sets of English fruit trenchers of the sixteenth century ; to the large collection of matrices of Seals, both English and foreign, in Table-Cases O and D ; to the collections of Chamberlain's Keys and Papal Rings in Table-Case H; and to the objects used in games in Table-Case L, including a remarkable set of chessmen, of the twelfth century, carved from walrus-tusk, and found in the island of Lewis, Hebrides. ASIATIC SALOON. This room, which has been fitted with new cases, is undergoing rearrangement. It contains Porcelain and Pottery from Corea and Japan, and China and Siam ; and Works of Art from Japan, China, India, and Persia. The ceramic collections were chiefly formed and presented by Sir A. W. Pranks, K.C.B. The Pottery and Porcelain from Corea and Japan com- mences in Wall-Cases 1 — 9 with the earliest specimens, obtained chiefly from the sepulchral mounds of Corea and the chambered tombs of Japan. There is also included a selection of utensils, the earlier dating from the sixteenth century, employed in the ceremonial drinking of tea, a custom observed with grea-t formality in Japan, such utensils being usually made in a primitive st^le. These are followed in Cases 10 — 38 by the productions of the several potteries of Japan, and by the Japanese porcelain, arranged by the locality of manufacture. The Siamese and Chinese ceramic collections, forming the second part of the series, are being arranged in the Wall-Cases commencing with 39. Part of the Chinese Porcelain occupies Wall-Cases 60 and onwards; three of the large Standard-Cases 1, K, L, and two Table-Cases D and E. As it is seldom known in what part of China any individual specimen is made, it has been FLOOit.] ENGLISH CERAMIC AKTE-EOOM. 89 found necessary to classify the porcelain according to the mode of decoration. In Case I are specimens of single-colour glazes; in Case K is a fine series of hlue porcelain ; and in Case L, in the centre of the room, are the largest specimens of enamelled poicelain. In the Wall-Cases on the left of the doorway of the Ethno- graphical Gallery (beginning with Case 71) is a series of Chinese porcelain with decorations, coats of arms, etc., in European style, made no doubt for the European market. This class of porcelain is frequently sold as Lowestoft ware. Some of the choicer specimens of Chinese and Japanese porcelain with rich decoration in enamel colours are shown in Table-Cases E and C. The objects of Oriental line art are not very numerous, and are at present without arrangement. The remarkable series of Japanese Netsukes exhibited in a large case in the centre of the eastern bay should be examined. The Netsuke served as a button or catch to prevent the cords of the pouch, which hung from the waist, from slipping through the girdle. They are principally of ivory elaborately carved with a great variety of subjects drawn from the religion, popular stories, arts, trades, customs, and the national life generally of Japan. The earliest date back about two centuries. In Table-Cases G and H there is a collection of Japanese sword-guards, for the most part chased and inlaid with various designs; the oldest and more simple being of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries ; the more elaborate of t%e seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. l^The doorway on the South of the Asiatic Saloon leads into the Ceramic and Glass Galleries.'] ENGLISH CEEAMIC ANTE-IIOOM. In Ihis Eoom is brought together the principal part of the collection of English pottery and porcelain. The rest of the English collection occupies some cases in the Glass and Ceramic Gallery. Wall Cases 1—8 contain specimens of Early English Pottery, ranging in date from Norman times to about 1690. These wares were not made in great centres of ceramic industry as at present, but in any place where the necessary materials were found. The vessels are of a common clay, and generally of simple forms, coated with a green glaze. In Case 2 are three stamps found at Lincoln, used to impress faces on pottery of the early part of the fourteenth century. The rest of the early collection consists 90 ENGLISH OEEAMlC ANTE-EOOM. [tJPPEB chiefly of paving tiles, which may be seen in Cases 27 — 32. They are prohably the best ceramic prodnctions of England of their time, dating from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century. In Wall-Cases 9 — 20 is a collection of the pottery known as Slip Ware (so called because the ornamentation is applied in liquid clay, technically called slip) and other glazed wares of the sixteenth and two following centuries. Here are dishes, tygs, posset bowls, candlesticks, and other objects. The principal factories seem to have been Wrotham in Kent, Cockpit Hill, near Derby, and various places in Staffordshire. The vessels often bear the names of the makers, or of the persons for whom they were made, and are generally dated. The collection in Wall-Cases 21 — 26 is principally from Staffordshire. The salt-glazed pottery is a beautiful ware, chiefly made in England ; the glaze was produced by the fumes of salt in the kiln. Besides the salt-glaze specimens will be found examples of Elers, Astbury, tortoiseshell and agate wares, a few other Staffordshire fabrics, Swansea, Leeds, Eye in Sussex, and Notting- ham stoneware, as indicated by the labels. Wall-Case 33 contains specimens of Pulham Stoneware made by John Dwight, who settled at Eulham about 1670. The busts and figures which he made do not seem to have succeeded commercially, and the few specimens of them which have been preserved have all been obtained from his descendants and successors. The most remarkable is a life-size bust of Prince Eupert, nephew of Charles I. The collection in WaU-Cases 35 — 42 illustrates most of the factories of Porcelain that have existed in England up to about the beginning of this century. Specimens will be found of Bow, Chelsea, Derby- Chelsea, Derby, Longton HaU, Plymouth, Bristol, Lowestoft, Worcester, Liverpool, etc., ending with a few specimens of Nantgarw and Eockingham, somewhat later in date than the rest. In Cases 43 — 46 is a series of inferior specimens of English pottery or porcelain, only interesting from the marks they bear, and intended as a reference series. These are followed, in Cases 47 — 50, by a collection of Liverpool tiles, transfer-printed. The Central Case contains examples of the wares made at Chelsea and Derby, including the intermediate style known as Chelsea-Derby, and a few pieces of Chinese porcelain which have been decorated at these factories. On the shelves at the two ends there is a remarkable collection of the so-called Chelsea Toys, consisting of scent-bottles, etuis, seals, boxes, etc. But the most important specimens of Chelsea are a pair of large vases with dark blue ground, presented to the Museum in 1763, it is believed by Dr. Gamier. There may also be noticed a large vase of the Dresden style, a vase with a turquoise ground (on a detached FLOOR. I GLASS AND OEEAMIO GALLEEY. 91 pedestal), a bust of the Duke of Cumberland, Britannia weeping over a medallion of Trederick Prince of Wales, statuettes of tlie Marquis of Granby, John Wilkes, Lord Chatham, Marshal Conway, and George III. GLASS AND CERAMIC GALLERY. In this gallery is brought together the Pottery of various foreign countries ; together with the rest of the English collection, in continuation of that placed in the Ante-Eoom ; and the collection of Glass of all ages and countries. The British Museum owes the greater part of these beautiful collections to the bequests or dona- tions of many benefactors ; among others the names of Sir William Temple, Mr. Felix Slade, Mr. John Henderson, and Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks should be specially mentioned. The continuation of the series of English Pottery is in the Wall- Cases immediately on the right and left of the visitor on entering the gallery, and in Table-Case N ; then, in the Wall-Cases on the left and at the end of the room and in Table-Case A, is ranged the Foreign Pottery ; and in the Wall-Cases on the right and in the Table-Cases and large Central-Cases B — P, J — M is the Glass. COIiLECTION OF POTTERY. English Potteey. The English collection occupies a few cases on each side of the entrance door, those on the right containing Staffordshire wares (chiefly Wedgwood), and Bristol Delft ; those on the left the Delft wares of Lambeth, etc. Wall-Cases 64 — 66. Wedgwood. The productions of Josiah Wedgwood take very high rank in the history of English pottery, and have attained world-wide distinction. These specimens illustrate his granite and basalt wares, and some of his finer jasper wares, with cameo decoration. Among the specimens will be noticed some find medallion portraits ; and a large series of medallions is also exhibited in Case N. In the lower part of Cases 64 — 66, are specimens of the Delft ware made at Bristol. Wall-Cases 1, 2, English Delft. Most of these specimens were made at Lambeth from the beginning of the seventeenth to the middle of the eighteenth century, the manufacture being probably introduced by workmen from Holland. Lambeth seems to have been the most important manufactory of Delft ware in England. Among the plates there is a set which often occurs, on which are inscribed the doggerel lines :— 1. What is a merry man ? 2. Let him do what he can, 3. To entertain his guests. 4. With 92 GLASS AND CERAMIC GALLEKY. [uPPER wine and meriy jests. 5. But if his wife do frown, 6. All merriment goes down. Foreign Pottery. Wall-Case 3 contains Dutch and German Delft, and in 4 — 7 is German Pottery and Stone-ware made in the neigh- bourhood of Bonn, Aix-la-Ohapelle, Cologne, and in the Duchy of Nassau. The fabric at Frechen near Cologne probably supplied the numerous stoneware jugs known as " Bellarmines " or " grey- beards," which were largely imported into England under the name of " Cologne pots," and are frequently found in England on the sites of old buildings. From the Nassau factories were derived the grey jugs with the initials of William III., Queen Anne, and George I., which are frequently miscalled Fulham ware. In Wall-Case 8 are specimens of Italian Pottery ; and in Wall- Cases 9 — 23 is the fine collection of Italian Majolica, the later specimens being placed first in order, so that the earlier, or lustred, wares, should come next to the Spanish examples. This enamelled earthenware derives its name from the Island of Majorca, whence it is supposed to have been first imported into Italy. Here the art was cultivated in some of the smaller states. Specimens are here exhibited, made at Faenza, Gubbio, Pesaro, Castel Durante, Urbino, Dlruta, Cafiagiolo, Eimini, Padua, Siena, and Venice. The earlier, which date from A.D. 1480-1510, are large dishes enamelled on one side only, and painted either in strong bright colours or in blue and yellow alone : in the latter case the yellow has a metallic lustre or iridescence. The next class, dating from about A.D. 1510-1525, is smaller in size, frequently ornamented with arabesque borders, and with golden and ruby lustre. Some of the finest specimens were painted, or at any rate lustred, at Gubbio, by Giorgio Andreoli fCases 20 — 23). The third class, A.D. 1530-1550, is painted with subjects occupying the whole of the plate, and generally taken from Boman mythology ; the colours are bright, rarely lustred, and with a great preponderance of yellow. In the next class, a.d. 1560-1580, the drawing deteriorates, the colouring becomes dull and brown, and the subjects are frequently enclosed in arabesque borders on a white ground. In the next century Majolica almost entirely disappears, having been probably driven out of esteem by Oriental porcelain. In two centre cases are (1) a series of fifteenth century Italian pottery, the precursor of Majolica, and (2) a selection of some of the more remarkable pieces of Majolica. In Wall-Cases 24 — 26 are specimens of Spanish Pottery. They are chiefly decorated in metallic lustre, from the golden hue of the earlier specimens to the coppery tint of the later. The art of making these wares was probably introduced into Spain by the FLOOB.J GLASS AND CERAMIC GALLBRT. 93 Arabs, and it will be seen that there is some analogy between these productions and those of Persia. Wall-Cases 27 — 31 contain Rhodian and Damascus Ware. Ehodian ware has a bold floral decoration, portions of which are colotired red, and are slightly in relief. It was probably made in the sixteenth century. In the following century it had already fallen to a low level, both in colouring and design. Damascus ware, under which title are no doubt comprised the products of other factories in Asia Minor, resembles the Ehodian in character, but the designs are of greater excellence ; the peculiar red is wanting, and is replaced by a purplish colour, not in relief. The older specimens of Persian Pottery in Wall-Cases 32, 33 are wall tiles of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, from ancient buildings ; the others are vases in a kind of porcelain or siliceous pottery, chiefly decorated in blue, and frequently enriched with metallic lustres. There are among them some beautiful bowls, with ornaments pierced and filled in with glaze, which were known in the last century under the name of Gombroon ware. In Table-Case A, is a collection of fragments of Persian pottery, some of them with drawings of remarkable delicacy, and some good examples of Persian lustred ware. Wall-Cases 34, 35. French Pottery : a small series exhibiting products of some of the more important French factories ; among other specimens will be noticed dishes made by the famous Bernard Palissy, who died in 1589. COIiIiECTION OF aiiASS. The general arrangement of this collection is as follows : — The Antique glass (Egyptian, Phoenician, Greek, and Eoman) is displayed in Wall-Cases 37 — 45, and in the Table-Cases B, D, E, J, K, L and Central-Case C ; and the Mediaeval and Modern Glass is in Wall-Cases 46 — 63, and in Central-Cases P, L, and Table-Cases M, N. In examining the Antique Glass it will be found more convenient to take the Standard-Cases first. The Egyptians, if not the inventors of making glass, were great workers in that substance, and applied a vitreous coating to pottery and even to stone. Egyptian specimens will be found in Table-Case B, and include a very remarkable amulet with the prenomen of a king of the eleventh dynasty, B.C. 2423 — 2380, and vases and fragments dating from about 1450 to 1250 bc. The glass works of Egypt must have been in full operation under ihe Ptolemies; and during the Eoman dominion they produced very- elaborate specimens, especially some minute mosaic patterns, of which there are good examples. These were made by arranging in the required patterns a number of slender rods of glass of 94 GLASS AND OEKAMIC GALLERY. [UPPEB various colours, fusing them together, and then drawing them out, so as to reduce the whole uniformly ; transverse sections of the rod thus ohtained would each e:iibit the same pattern. Specimens produced hy this process, of which numerous varieties will be seen among the Boman glass, afterwards had among the Italians the name of millefiori (thousand flowers). To the Phoenicians may in all probability be referred the numerous little vases of brilliant colours found in tombs through- out the borders of the Mediterranean, a good collection of which are in this Case. They exhibit everywhere the same technical peculiarities, and, as they differ somewhat in form and make from unquestionably Egyptian specimens, it is probable that they are the products of the only other great centre of glass-making, the celebrated works at Sidon. The colouring is striking, generally in zigzag patterns of yellow, turquoise, or white relieved by blue, brown, or green grounds. Of the manufacture of glass in Greece practically nothing is known, and early Greek specimens are comparatively few ; but among the series of the Eoman period there are many pieces which are, no doubt, of Greek origin. In Table-Case £! are exhibited some remarkable and beautiful bowls with designs in gold, two millefiori dishes, and other vessels, which were found in a tomb at Canosa in Southern Italy, and which are probably of ancient Greek manufacture. Here also are some howls from Cyprus, the Hds of which have painted designs. And the thick bowls in this Case may also be of Greek origin. The making of glass at Eome is said to have been introduced by Egyptian workmen, and must have been much practised there, as specimens of Eoman glass are very numerous. The material was applied to a groat number of uses, and the processes seem to have been quite as varied and as well understood as in later times. The common clear glass has generally a greenish or blueish hue, though sometimes it is as white and brilliant as rock crystal ; this latter kind was much valued by the Eomans. The other transparent colours generally found are various shades of blue, purple, yellow, and green, A delicate pink is supposed to derive its colour from gold. The opaque colours are less commonly employed singly, but they occur in shades of yellow, blue, green, and black. The beautiful iridescence with which many vases are covered is not intentionally produced, but is the effect of time, which has partially decomposed the surface of the glass. The simpler vases are merely blown, with handles, feet, or ornamental fillets subsequently added; others are blown into moulds, and exhibit various designs in relief; some of the bowls have projecting ribs, and have been termed pillar-moulded. On some vessels, chiefly belonging to a late period, shallow engraving, executed on the wjieel, has been added ; others are cut in regular patterns. Sometimes a coloured ground was coated with white FLOOE.J GLASS AND CEEAMIO GALLERY. 95 opaque glass, which was afterwards cut away, so as to produce a cameo, as in the Auldjo Tase. The Central-Case C contains a number of select specimens of antique glass, chiefly Boman, but including some examples made by Greek workmen. In this Case is the cameo-cut Auldjo Vase just referred to. A favourite method was to employ a number of different colours, sometimes, as in the Egyptian specimens above noticed, forming regular mosaic designs, sometimes blended into a mass of scrolls, rosettes, etc., and at others imitating onyx, agate, madrepore marble, or porphyries and other hard stones, though generally in more brilliant colours. Of these designs the variety is inconceivable, as may be seen by the remarkable collection brought together in Table-Case D. The mosaic glass, and especially that imitating various stones, was much used to line the walls or to form the pavements of rooms. Other antique glass of the Eoman period is contained in Table- Case K, including bottles of very varied forms, blown in moulds ; a number of cameos, many of them of great beauty, but generally made in moulds ; as well as specimens of cameo decoration in white on a coloured ground, out in the same manner as cameos in stone. Here also are glass pastes in intaglio, imitating gems in a harder material, as well as complete dishes and bowls and portions of otherS; with subjects cut in intaglio, Among the miscellaneous specimens in Table-Case M may be noticed a series of glass armlets, a fragile class of personal ornaments, which has naturally seldom suirvived ; and in the same case is a collection of beads of various periods and localities. In Table-Case J is exhibited a collection of glass of the Eoman time, found in tombs near Nazareth and on other sites in Palestine, many of the specimens being of curious and interesting shapes. Turning next to the Wall-Cases 37 — 45, a fine series of Greek and Eoman glass (but chiefly Eoman) is here displayed. On the upper and lower shelves are ranges of cinerary urns, such as are frequently found in Eoman tombs, and which seem to have been made for the purpose; but this scarcely can be the case with the large square bottles, though these also are often found containing burnt bones. In the lower part of Case 41 is a very rare cinerary cjst and cover of glass from the neighbourhood of Naples. The numerous slender bottles that accompany the urns are also found in tombs, and are supposed to have contained unguents or scented wine. The richest specimens of iridescent glass have been found in Cyprus, but are probably of the Eoman period (Cases 42—43). In Case 41 will be found specimens of Eoman window-glass, which does not appear to have been blown, but rolled out on slabs, like modern plate glass. On the bottom of Cases 44, 45 are illustrations of the mode of decorating the walls and^ pavements of buildings with shaped slabs of glass pf 96 GLASS AND CEBAMIO GALLEET. [uPPER various colours, differing from the tiBiial tesselated work or mosaic. After the fall of the Eoman Empire the glass works of the West must have gone to decay. In the East the manufacture was still carried on, prohably in the neighbourhood of Damascus. In the Middle Ages the principal centre of glass manufacture in the West was Venice ; the oldest known specimens of Venetian make being of the fourteenth century. These earlier examples seem to imitate the shapes of silver plate or eastern forms, and are frequently massive and richly gilt and enamelled. Many of the Venetian vases of blown glass are very elegant, especially those in uncoloured glass ; the stems are often decorated with knots, and wings, and other fantastic additions in blue glass. Vases were also made entirely or partially of coloured glass, generally blue, purple, or green ; sometimes a milky opalescent colour was produced, due, it is said, to arsenic ; also an opaque white, derived probably from tin, which is further diversified with splashes of other colours. Another kind of variegated glass, which was called calcedonio, imitates the tints of the onyx. Great use was also made by the Venetians of rods of glass enclosing threads of opaque white glass (laticinio), arranged in various patterns. Thus was produced the elegant lace glass (vitro di trina) in which Venice was unrivalled. Another variety (a reticelli) is ornamented with a network of opaque white lines, enclosing at the intersections bubbles of air. The opaque white decoration is sometimes applied in parallel lines, sometimes in a wavy pattern, and exhibits endless variety. It is to be noted also that the Venetians were great makers of beads, with which, for many centuries, they supplied the world. The Venetian Glass occupies Wall-Cases 46 — 54 and Central- Case F. In Cases 46, 47 are the early examples, with gold and enamelled decorations, comprising cups and vases of the fourteenth — sixteenth centuries. In Cases 48, 49 are vessels of elegant forms, chiefly of transparent glass. Case 50 contains specimens of elaborate coloured glass, and some of the larger specimens of lace glass. In Cases 51, 52 are examples of clear glass of elegant shape, and specimens of frosted or crackled glass; and in Cases 53, 54 are specimens of millefiori glass, copied probably from the antique, and of calcedonio and other kindred examples. The most attractive pieces of the Venetian collection are brought together in Central-Case F. Along the upper shelf is a range of drinking glasses, selected for the elegance of their shapes ; at the two ends are other choice specimens, including a vase of opaque white, with arabesques in gold. On the upper shelves of the central portion are vases of fine or curious forms, including some imitations of fruit ; and in the lower part are specimens of opaque white glass, opal glass, and the greater part of the collection of lace glass. FLOOR.] GLASS AND OEEAMIO GALLERY. 97 German Glass. The earliest dated specimen from Germany in the collection is of the year 1571 ; it is a large cylindrical cup (wiederkom) with the Imperial eagle, hearing on its wings the arms of the states, towns, etc., composing the German Empire.* The German specimens are heavy in form, and often richly enamelled with heraldic devices and figures.- Some are painted in grisaille or colours, like window-glass; and there are engraved specimens, well executed. The Euby glass, for which Germany was renowned, is said to have been invented by the chemist, John Kunckel, about 1680, when he was Director of the glass houses at Potsdam. Wall-Cases 55 — 58. On the upper shelves are the so-called " flugelglaser " (winged glasses), sometimes considered to be Venetian ; but it is more probable that they were made on the Ehine, from Venetian inspirations. On the steps below are a number of " wiederkoms " and other vessels, enamelled in opaque colours, with the arms of the German States and of private individuals, as well as portraits, which occur on glasses probably made on the occasion of marriages. Many of these specimens bear dates. A continuation of the German series will be found in Central-Case L. Specimens of Flemish and Dutch Glass also are exhibited in Central-Case L. In Tlanders, glass seems to have been made in early times. In the sixteenth century many glass vessels (whether of native make or not is uncertain) are found etched with various designs. Some of the specimens in the collection have portraits of historical personages, such as Philip IV. of Spain, William II. of Orange, his wife, Mary of England, and others. At a later time a delicate etching in dots was introduced. Some of the Dutch engraved goblets are well designed and show much richness of pattern. In the lower pai-t of Wall-Cases 57, 58 is a small collection of Spanish Glass. Some of the examples seem to derive their forms from Arab pottery ; the rest are coarse imitations of Venetian or Dutch originals, due no doubt to the close connection of Spain with Venice and the Low Countries. Wall-Cases 59-61 contain Oriental Glass. In Case 59 are specimens of Chinese glass, very peculiar in make and of unusually dense hard material, generally imitating stones of various kinds. Some of these are cut in cameo. The smaller bottles were made to contain snuff; and in the manufacture of these great ingenuity and variety has been displayed, due partly to such bottles bejng favourite New Year's gifts in China. Cases 60, 61 contain seven of the well-known mosque lamps, probably made in Damascus. One has on it the titles of an emir who died in 1356 ; two others, those of a Viceroy of Egypt who died in 1345. There are also other specimens both of early and late Persian manufacture ; and some examples of Arab glass, „ 98 GALLERY OF PBINTS AND DEAWINGS. [UPPEB "Wall-Case 62 contains a small series of French Glass. The manufacture was long practised in Prance, but it is difficult to distinguish the products of that country. Some of the specimens date back to the sixteenth century. Of English Glass there is likewise only a small collection in Wall-Case 63, the most conspicuous specimens being of Bristol manufacture, painted more in the style of porcelain than of glass, and generally on opaque white grounds. Here also may be seen a number of examples of iridescence of the iinest tints, being fragments of wine bottles of the seventeenth century, found in the bed of the Thames. In Table-Case N there are some specimens of English engraved glass. [The doorway at the Eastern end of this Gallery leads into the Exhibition Gallery of the Department of Prints and Drawings.] GALLERY OP PRINTS AND DRAWINGS. In this Gallery are exhibited periodically selections from the treasures preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings. The contents of this department consist of a collection of Drawings by old masters of the various Conti- nental schools and deceased masters of the British school; and a collection of Engravings of all kinds by masters of all schools, foreign and British. In both kinds, dravdngs and engravings, the collections are extremely varied and compre- hensiTC, and are distinguished among public collections by their general richness and representative character. The present exhibition is of a miscellaneous character, its object being to place on view a selection of the most important Drawings of various schools acquired for the Department in the last six years ; subsequently, that is, to the purchase of the Malcolm collection, which was separately exhibited in the same gallery from 1894 to 1899. The exhibition is confined to drawings only, except in a few cases where engravings made from and corre- sponding with the drawings shown are placed beside them for their better elucidation. These drawings have come into the Museum partly by purchase out of the regular annual grant and partly by incidental gifts and bequests. Much the most important of such bequests is that of Mr. Henry Vaughan, who died in the spring of 1900, leaving to the Museum, besides a number of rare specimens of Turner's engraved series of the Liber Studiorum, a considerable collection of drawings by the old masters, a very large number by Flaxman and Stothard respectively, and some fifty or sixty chosen FLOOR,] .FOREIGN SCHOOLS. 99 examples by various painters of the English water-colour school between 1800 and 1860. The drawings by foreign masters occupy seven of the standard cases on the floor of the room and the high screen in the centre. The English drawings are arranged, mainly in chronological order, in the wall-oases round the room and one of the floor-oases. Both series begin by the left at the entrance from the Glass and Ceramic Gallery. FoEEiGN Schools. Italian. — Among the Italian examples the most important are the following: — A design on vellum for a wall-painting of the March to Calvary, with figures of Apostles on brackets, being a very rare and fine specimen of Sienese fourteenth-century art. Three pen and sepia drawings of historical subjects by Maso Fiuiguerra, completing the Chronicle series by the same hand, purchased of Mr. Euskin in 1888 : these are the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Severn. The head of an old man by Leonardo da Vinci ; two fine studies in red chalk by Andrea del Sarto, for pictures in the Wallace Gallery and the Berlin Gallery respec- tively ; the famous Deposition of Christ, by Michelangelo, from the Warwick Cellection, and a finished study by the same master in his late period for a Virgin in a picture executed from his design, by Marcello Venusti ; four sketches by Kaphael or his scholars for the Dispute of the Sacrament, the Madonna di FoHgno, another Madonna, and the Creation in the Vatican Loggie ; two studies for historical portraits by Giorgio Vasari ; four remarkably fine drawings by Primaticcio, two of them for the decorations of the palace of Francis I. at Fontainbleau, all presented by Miss Eadford, of Sidmouth. Landscape studies by Cima da Conegli- ano and Carpaccio ; followed by fine and characteristic examples of Paolo Veronese, Paolo Parinati, Zelotto, and Tintoretto respectively. A youthful portrait of the sculptor Bernini by himself, and a series of thirteen brilliantly-executed drawings by Stefano della Bella, first sketched in pencil, worked up with the pen, and coloured in part with water-colours and gold, representing in the form of a procession the entry of the Ambassador of King Ladislas of Poland into Paris, September 26, 1645. German. — The chief drawings of the German school exhibited are : A head of a young man laughing, elaborately finished in silver point by Hans Holbein the elder; fine male portrait in distemper by an unidentified artist of the school of Augsburg about 1520; design for a triptych by Hans von Kulmbach, and designs for glass painting by Beham, Nicolas Manuel Deutsch, Hans Leu, and others (these are not new acquisitions, but have been recently identified and removed from a large album of drawings of the Nuremberg school, which formerly belonged to Sir Hans Sloane). Diana and Oalisto, sepia sketch for a composition by Adam Elsheimer. ^ h2 100 GALLERY OF FEINTS AND DEAWINGS. [uPPER ButcJi and Flemish. — Bernard van Orley, Dives and Lazarus, Lighly-finislied composition of many figures in indian-ink and white on a grey ground. Dirk van Star, Holy Family. Hans Liefrinck, portrait heads in black and red chalk of Henry III. and' Charles IX. of France. Rubens, the Martyrdom of St. Andrew, a large and highly-finished drawing made by the master from, a painting of his own for the use of the engraver ; life-sized study in distemper and oils of the head of a negress; and three others. Jordaens, St. Martin of Tours driving out the evil spirit from a man possessed, being a first design in body colours for a picture subse- quently carried out. Van Dyck, two portrait drawings and a land- scape. Rembrandt, study of a young man reclining ; the Heal- ing of Tobit ; Judith returning in triumph with the head of Holo- fernes ; the interior of Joseph's house at Nazareth ; and two others. Hermann van Swaneveldt, two Italian landscapes in pen and bistre and indian-ink. Wouwerman, a skating scene with children on the ice. Thomas Wyck, a view of London from Blackheath. French. — Six fine drawings of Eoman landscape by Claude, all from the Vaughan collection. Five sheets of drawings by Watteau, four of them from the Vaughan collection, including two of the first qiiality and importance ; a study of trees by Lancret, and one of landscape by Fragonard ; various studies for vignettes by Cochin and St. Aubin ; study of a lady seated by Boucher ; design for a composition of The Shepherd's Eeturn by Greuze ; one for the Femmea d' Alger, by Delacroix ; and four sketches in black chalk by J. P. Millet. Spanish. — A Moorish bivouac, impression in body colours, by Francisco Goya. English School. The drawings by native artists arranged round the walls of the room illustrate almost all phases of the school from the middle of the seventeenth century to our own day. First come two studies of children's heads in coloured crayons by Richard Gibson,, the favourite dwarf and miniature painter of the two Charles's. From the earlier years of the eighteenth century come an exceedingly interesting series of sixteen original drawings, some slight and some finished, by William Hogarth for his celebrated series of the Industrious and the Idle Apprentice. Then follows a fine black chalk portrait, somewhat in the manner of Hudson, of Sir Joshua Eeynolds as a young man ; this was executed at Eome in 1750 by his companion John Astley, the eccentric jiortrait painter, who was at this time a penniless student, but afterwards married a Dukinfield heiress and became the founder of a wealthy family. By Reynolds's great rival Gainsborough are eight drawings in various manners, three of them landscape studies, four sketches for single portraits, and one bequeathed by Mr. Vaughan, a vigorous and flowing sketch in chalk, charcoal, and body colour for a family group of a country mother and children. FLOOE.J teMGLISH SCHOOLS. 101 Early English water-colour landscape, contemporary with GainshoroTigh and Eeynolds, is represented hy a series of upwards of twenty landscapes made from nature by John Robert Cozens during a tour in Switzerland in 1776. These are remarkable examples of the fine effects both of style and natural suggestion obtainable within the limits of the strictly conventional scale of colour — little more than monochrome — which was then in use by artists in this medium. The generation of graceful portrait painters, whether in large or miniature, of fanciful figure-designers and book-illusti-ators, who followed next upon Gainsborough and Eeynolds, finds full illustration at the hands of John Raphael Smith, of William Peters, of Richard Cosway (by whom are two full-length portrait drawings in his most characteristic manner), and, above all, of the sculptor Plaxman, the purest and most expressive master of linear design whom our school has known, and of Thomas Stothard, the most prolific and facile of book illustrators; by whose works, both in colour and in monochrome, this section of the exhibition, through the bequest of Mr. Vaughan, is a good deal dominated. By the visionary Blake, the companion in youth of Elaxman and Stothard, are four drawings acquired from the representative of his biographer, Mr. Gilchrist. Two portrait drawings in chalks, one of a Polish lady, the other of the poet Eogers, illustrate the delicate manner of Sir Thomas Lawrence in that medium. Then follows a series, mostly derived from the Vaughan bequest, of representa- tive water-colour drawings by English artists of 1800 to 1860 or 1860, including such names as Edridge, Chambers, Prout, Nash, Cattermole, Bonington, David Cox, Copley Fielding, P. F. Poole, R.A., F. Goodall, Louis Haghe, Viekers, and Frederic Tayler. Passing next to English figure- painters and draughtsmen more recently deceased, the two most recent presidents of the Eoyal Academy are both represented. Sir Frederic Leighton by a selection of thirty drawings of various periods and manners, some few being early studies of plants or architecture, the majority figure and drapery studies for his pictures ; and Sir John Millais by six, of which the most important is the very dramatic and care- fully-studied Pre-Eaphaelite design for the Deluge. By Sir Edward Burne- Jones are shown a fine series of roundels illustrating the seven works of mercy, and two drawings in gold on a purple ground ; by the famous critic, John Ruskin, six varied studies of architecture, still life, and landscape ; and by Mr. George Du Maurier a score of finished drawings in pen and ink for his well-known subjects in Punch and other periodicals. Lastly, seven views in India, Abyssinia, and Greece, are exhibited, the work of one of the first and best of newspaper artists and war and travel correspondents, the late Mr. William Simpson. 102 ETHNOGRAPHICAL GALLEEY. [cPPEE [Eeturning to the Asiatic Saloon, the visitor passes thence into the Ethnographical Gallery.'] ETHNOGRAPHICAL GALLERY. This Gallery, -wMcli extends the length of the eastern side of the Museum, contains the Ethnographical Collections from different parts of the world (excepting those from China, which are placed in the Asiatic Saloon). It is divided into a series of bays, five on each side, by the Cases which project at right angles from the walls. The general arrangement of the collection is as follows : — Entering from the Asiatic Saloon, the first two bays, left and right, contain a series of Oriental Arms and Armonr and collections from Asia. In the second and third pairs of bays are objects from the Asiatic Islands and from Oceania : the collections from the black races of the Pacific, inhabiting Australia and Melanesia, being on the left; those from the brown races, inhabiting the islands grouped under the names of Polynesia and Micronesia, being on the right. The fourth pair of bays is occupied chiefly with objects from Africa ; the specimens from southern, western, and northern Africa and Madagascar being on the left ; and those from Egypt and from Eastern and Central Africa being on the right. America occupies the last bays. On the maps attached to the glass-doors of the Cases are indicated, in red, the positions of the several countries from which the collections are derived. Ethnography is the name given to the scientific study of the manners and customs of particular peoples and of their develope- ment from savagery towards civilization ; and it more especially concerns itself with those races which have no written records. The purpose for which a collection such as the one here exhibited is brought together, is to enable us to understand by what methods man, in his earlier efforts of developement towards civilization, supplies the wants of existence, protects his life, expresses his religious ideas, and gradually advances towards the cultivation of the industrial and ornamental arts. The material and form and make of his instruments and utensils for peaceful occupations, of his weapons for the chase and war, and of his clothing and ornament for the body will indicate the stage of savagery or of primitive civilization in which he exists, and also the conditions, and more particularly the climate, of the land which he inhabits ; the form in which he represents his idea of a god or a supernatural power and the objects used in his superstitious or religious cere- monials afford a clue to the inner workings of his mind and the effect upon it of the wonders and phenomena of nature. The savage does nothing and makes nothing without a reason. He has his periods of progress from the more debased to the less FLOOR.] ETHNOGEAPHICAL GALLERY. 103 debased, from the lower to the higher, and, as in all other developements, there is a method in his progress. An ethno- graphical collection is not to be regarded as a mere haphazard gaUery of native curiosities without educational value. The primitive races with which modem research has made us acquainted stand on a higher level than the prehistoric races who made the implements of the False olithic or Early Stone Period (see pp. 75-77). They may rather be compared with the races of the Neolithic or Later Stone Period, for most of them when first discovered used implements of ground stone, and had no know- ledge of working in metals. The principal exceptions to this rule are to be found in the half-civilized countries of ancient Mexico and Peru, the natives of which knew how to make bronze, and among the African tribes, where iron had long been introduced, probably from Asia. Taking them as a whole, the primitive races of to-day represent stages of culture through which our own ancestors passed on their upward path; in all probability the implements and weapons and utensils which they make and use are similar to those made and used in Europe thousands of years ago. Conversely, the more perishable objects in use among them no doubt had also their prototypes in objects of similar uses among the races of the prehistoric times. Wall-Cases 1 — 6, standard case B, and Table-Cases 167 — 170 and 208 contain Oriental Arms and Armour, including Japanese and Chinese, Persian, Indian, and other specimens. Wall-Cases 149 — 166 contain objects from the countries and islands adjacent to India, viz., the Nicobar Islands, the Andam.an Islands and Ceylon, from some districts of Central Asia, and Siberia, and from the Island of Yezo, north of Japan, inhabited by the Ainos. India, Burmah, and Siam are barely represented. For a better study of the civilized products of these countries the Indian Museum at South Kensington should be visited. Among the objects from the Nicobar Islands, and still more among those from the Andaman Islands, will be noticed implements and charms of a very primitive character ; the bones of dead relatives worn as necl^laces or in other ways being held to have curative or other virtues. While Ceylon is practically a civilized country, superstitious ceremonies are still observed among the lower orders and among the tribes of the interior. In Cases 155 and 156 is a group of devil-dancers' masks, each of which has the virtue of repelling some disease when used in the dance which the physician undertakes in order to cure his patient. In the adjacent Table- Cases are various ornaments, arms, utensils, and instruments, etc., from the same countries. Wall-Cases 7—17 (on the left) and 146 (on the right), and Table-Cases 170, 171, 203, 204, contain objects from the Asiatic Islands, viz., Java, the Moluccas, Sumatra, 104 ETHNOGEAPHICAL GALLERV. [VPPES Borneo, and the smaller islands of tlie Archipelago. The primitive life and customs of the inhabitants of most of the islands has been much modified by the exterior influences of India and China, and of the Arabs and early European traders. In the more remote islands and in the inaccessible districts there still remains a residue of primitive barbarism. Wall-Cases 18—52 (on the left) and the neighbouring Cases on the floor contain the collections from the black races of the Pacific inhabiting Australia and Melanesia, viz., New Guinea, Torres Straits islands, New Ireland, and New Britain, Admiralty Islands, Solomon Islands, New Hebrides, Santa Cruz, New Caledonia, and the Fiji Islands. In Australia (27 — 32) boomerangs and implements for throwing spears were inventions among tribes who had no knowledge of the bow. The large Central Case E is occupied by objects 'from Torres Straits, and, belonging to them, in Case P is a curious set of masks, made of tortoiseshell, used in dances, to ensure success in hunting and fishing. In Wall-Cases 36, 37 a series of elaborately carved wooden figures and masks from New Ireland attract attention. The large Central Case H contains canoes from the Solomon Islands. Wall-Cases 114 — 145 (on the right) and the neighbouring Cases on the floor are occupied by collections from the islands of the Pacific, grouped under the general names of Polynesia and Micronesia, and inhabited by brown races, the principal being Easter Island, the Marquesas Islands, Hervey Islands, Tahitian or Society Islands, Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands, Tongan or Friendly Islands, Samoan or Navigator's Islands, and New Zealand. In Wall-Cases 124 — 126 are very remarkable idols, cloaks, and helmets of feather work from the Hawaiian Islands ^ and in Case N is a collection made on the voyage of Captain Vancouver, in 1795, from the Sandwich and Society groups. Among the objects from New Zealand will be noticed, in Table-Case 200 and Screen D, an interesting collection of objects worked in jade, principally breast ornaments and short paddle-shaped battle-axes, which are generally greatly prized, and are often regarded as heirlooms, some even having names of their own. In Wall-Cases 141 — 143 is a valuable series of idols and other objects, brought home by early missionaries from the South Pacific Islands, and lent by the London Missionary Society. Wall-Cases 53 — 67 (on the left), and the other Cases near them, contain collections from Southern, Western, and Northern Africa. Most conspicuous are the carved ivory tusks and other objects (59—60), and the large series of bronze castings, occupying the centre of the floor, recently obtained from Benin. Many of the bronzes date back to the sixteenth century, and among them are figures of European soldiers of that FLOOR.] AMERICAN ROOM. 105 period. In Case R is a curious set of figures and other objects used in fetish ceremonies, from Dahomey and Lagos. Wall-Cases 98 — 111 (on the right) and neighbouring Cases on the floor represent Abyssinia, Egypt, and Eastern and Central Africa. Many of the objects from Abyssinia (98, 101) were obtained in the war of 1867, and some of them belonged to King Theodore. The collections from America are arranged in the two bays at the end of the gallery, commencing in Wall-Case 84, on the right of the door, with objects from Tierra del Fuego in- the extreme south, and thence moving northward, and ending with the Esquimaux in Wall- Cases 74—83. [Crossing the landing of the North-east Staircase, the visitor enters the American JSoom.] AMERICAN BOOM. In this room are placed the more ancient remains from North and South America, and the West Indies. It will be noticed how closely the stone implements and weapons resemble those of the old world, and that many of the patterns have some afSnity with those furnished by the early antiquities of Europe. Wall-Cases 1 — 6 and Table-Cases A and B contain antiquities from North America. The vast majority of such antiquities consist of objects of stone and earthenware, those in the former material being the more common. Stone axe-heads, spears, and arrow-heads are found almost everywhere. Pottery was made all over the eastern part of the continent as far north as the great lakes. But the natives had no knowledge of smelting or dealing with metals, except in the case of copper, which they shaped by hammering. Many of the antiquities have been derived from the numerous mounds which are scattered over a large area, some having been used for burial, others apparently as foundations for buildings. In Table-Cases A and B are placed collections of interesting objects in stone, flint, wampum, and other materials, including tobacco pipes, spear and arrow heads, shell money, etc. Wall-Cases 7 — 9 are occupied by stone implements, including some of superior make, and wood carvings from the West Indies. The ancient kingdoms of Mexico and Peru are instances of countries which had advanced under organized governments some way on the path of civilization, when they were conquered by the Spaniards early in the sixteenth century. . Whether the seeds of their civilization were first planted by contact with the people of Asia, or whether its developement was entirely unconnected 106 AMEEICAN ANTIQUITIES. with outside influence remains undecided. At tlie time of the Conquest the peoples of Mexico and Peru were found living under despotic gorernments : Mexico under the forcible despotism of Aztec rulers, Peru under the henevolent despotism of the Incas. Both nations had standing armies, a system of education, and were acquainted in some degree with art and science. The Mexican could record events in the picture-writing of which some few examples have survived the wholesale destruction of native books by the Spanish invaders ; and the Peruvian was acquainted with an elaborate system of computation by means of coloured and knotted strings and fringes. Both nations worked in metals, excepting iron, which was unknown to them; but at the same time stone was very commonly employed for implements and weapons. In pottery their skill in manufacture had developed to considerable proficiency, and they could produce well-made and burnished examples, but they were unacquainted with the process of glazing. The Mexicans also were skilful in the production of mosaics in various precious stones, such as turquoise and malachite, and in carving in jade and other hard stones. Wall-Cases 10 — 20 contain sculptures in stone, and pottery, and stone implements from Ancient Mexico, including some from Central America. In Table-Case C are examples of arrow- heads and flakes of obsidian, or volcanic glass, which takes an extremely sharp cutting edge ; stone axes, some finely polished ; bronze and copper axes, and small bells, etc. In Table-Case D are musical instruments in terra-ootta, chiefly flutes and whistles (string-instruments appear to have been unknown in Mexico), and a series of curious little terra-cotta heads, used probably for interment with the dead. Wall-Cases 21 — 25 contain a series of well-made pottery and other objects from the Island of Sacrificios, Mexico, and an elaborate head-piece in m.osaic. Other examples of mosaic work are seen in Table-Case E, including masks, sup- posed to have been used to screen the faces of the idols on special occasions, and a flint knife used in cutting out the hearts of victims in human sacrifices ; and among other objects will be noticed a large human skull carved from rock-crystal. Close by stands a specimen of Mexican carving in hard stone, representing a coiled rattle-snake. Cases 26 — 31 contain pottery from New Granada, Ecuador, etc. ; and in Cases 32 — 35 are specimens of black or grey wares, and in Cases 36 — 45 red and buff wares, from Ancient Peru; stone and bronze implements and objects from graves of that country being in Table-Case F. [Beturning to the landing and descending the North-east Staircase the visitor enters the King's Library of the Department of Printed Books.^ king's libraey. 107 DEPARTMENT OF PRINTED BOOKS. The Library of Printed Books consists of not less than 2,000,000 volumes, acquired partly by copyright — the Trustees of the British Museum having the right to a copy of every book published in the United Kingdom — partly by purchase, and f)autly by donation or bequest. Among the most important ibraries of books which have been presented or bequeathed are : that given by King George II. in 1757, containing books collected by English sovereigns from the time of Henry VII. ; the rare books bequeathed by the Eev. 0. M. Cracherode in 1799 ; the library of Sir Joseph Banks, consisting principally of works on Natural History, received in 1820 ; the magnificent; library formed by King G-eorge III., and presented to the Museum in 1823, known as the " King's Library " ; and the choice collection bequeathed by the Eight Hon. Thomas Grenville, and received in 1847. KING'S LIBRARY. The Gallery in which the " King's Library " is placed, and to which it gives its name, was specially built for the reception of this collection in 1828, and was the first portion of the present building to be erected. Here are exhibited books, etc., selected from the several collections of the Department of Printed Books, together with Bome specimens from the Department of Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts. The arrangement of the Show-Cases runs from South to North. At the southern end there are three Cases in which is a small selection of Oriental MSS., including specimens of illumination and ornamentation of Chinese, Arabic, Persian and Hindoo art. Among the more ancient MSS. may specially be noticed, in Case A two in Syriac, viz. (4) The Recognitions of Clement of Eome and other works ; written at Edessa, a.d. 411. The oldest dated MS. extant. (5) The Books of Genesis and Exodus, accord- ing to the Peshitta or Syriac version ; written a.d. 464. Believed to be the earliest dated MS. extant of any entire Books of the Scriptures. In the northern section of the gallery two other Cases, XXIII. and XXIV., are devoted to Oriental exhibits, the first containing specimens of Chinese, Japanese, and Corean printing ; the second, Japanese illustrated books. In the remaining Cases are exhibited Printed Books of historical or artistic interest. The descriptive labels attached to the several books and documents supply details which need not be repeated in this Guide; but it may be profitable to attempt a brief account of the Origin and progress of Printing, as illustrated by the specimens. 108 toEPAETMEKt OP PElNTEl) BOOKS. [GEOtHfi The Chinese have the credit of being the first inventors of printing. In a.d. 593 the Emperor Wen-ti is said to have ordered the various texts vs^hich vrere in circulation to be collected and engraved on wood for the purpose of being printed and published. About the year 927 a system of printing books from tablets of stone was introduced. The characters were incised, and the unengraved surface of the stone was blackened over, so that a sheet of paper pressed upon it gave back the characters as white figures upon a black ground. When, after a brief interval, the tablets came to be made of wood, the process was reversed ; the surface was cut away, and the inked characters left standing in relief. This system of block-printing still prevails in China and the neighbouring countries, notwith- standing that the great step of introducing movable types was taken as early as 1048. The neglect of this improvement must probably be ascribed to the enormous number of Chinese characters, which it might be less expensive to carve out of the block than to cast separately. The same reason probably determined the Coreans to return to stereotype after actually printing books from movable types in the fourteenth century. (See Cases XXIII. and XXIV.) Europe was centuries behind China in the employment of block- printing ; and her first attempts were made probably early in the fifteenth century. Case I. — Block-Books. — The earliest dated example of a picture printed from a wood-block is the " Saint Christopher " of 1423, now in the John llylands Library at Manchester. At what date the very difiScult task of cutting letterpress as well as pictures was first attempted is not known. No block-book exists with a date earlier than 1470, and the long-accepted belief that letterpress printing from the solid block was necessarily prior to printing from movable types, and must, therefore, have been introduced about 1440, is now seriously challenged. Only works of the most popular description were printed in this way from blocks, which thus served the purpose of stereotype plates, and the advantage of being able to print fresh copies, as required, without re-setting, caused block-books to be produced as late as about 1530, the approximate date of the last copy here shown. In the first two compartments of the case are exhibited the books for which the earliest dates have been claimed, the Bihlia Pauperum (which had existed in manuscript since the 14th century), the Ars Moriendi, Gantica Ganticorum and Apocalypse. All these appear to have been produced in the district of the lower Ehine, and are now dated about 1460. In the third conipartment are block-books produced in Germany and Italy, between 1470 and 1530. Case II. — Earliest examples of printing with movable type. — It has been proved from contemporary documents that experiments with some kind of printing (not necessarily book- FLOOE.J BOOKS EXHIBITED IN THE KING'S LIBEARY. 109 printing) from movable types were being made at Avignon in 1444, and we have references at about the same date to other experiments in Holland, which have been connected by a very confused tradition with the name of Lourens Janszoen Coster of Haarlem. But the first printed documents which can be assigned any place or date are the earliest issues of the two Indulgences shown in the central compartment of this Case. These were printed at Mainz in the autumn of 1464, and before August 1466 the splendid Latin Bible shown in the first compartment was already in existence. The printing of this " 42-line " Bible is generally attributed to Johann Gutenberg, to whom nearly contemporary evidence ascribes the invention of the art. But in 1465 a gold- smith, Johann Fust, had brought and won an action against Gutenberg for the balance of two loans advanced, in 1450 and 1452, in connection with his experiments, and it seems probable that Gutenberg was ruined at the very moment of success. His name is not found as the printer of any extant book, and there are rival claimants to every anonymous book which has been attributed to him, including the other large Bible, with 36 lines to a page, shown in this Case. But whether or no he brought any single book to the point of publication, he has no serious rival for the honour of having brought printing into existence as a practical art. Cases III. — V. — Germany. — In 1457 appeared the earliest book bearing the name of its printer. This was the first of the two liturgical Psalters shown in Case III., its last paragraph or colophon stating that it was produced by Johann Fust, a citizen of Mainz, and Peter Schoffer, of Gernszheim, on the Vigil of the Assumption (14 August), 1457. Fust was the goldsmith who had won the lawsuit against Gutenberg, Schoffer, his son-in-law, had been an illuminator, and to his influence may be ascribed the splendid initials printed in blue and red, by which an attempt was made to rival the beauty of illuminated manuscripts. A second Psalter was printed in 1459, and (after some other books) a fine Bible in 1462. But in that year Mainz underwent a siege and sack, and the progress of printing there was temporarily checked. Meanwhile not only had some of the type used in printing the 36-line Bible been used in Bamberg, but without any obvious connection with the Mainz printers another great Latin Bible had been produced, in or before 1460, by Johann Mentelin at Strassburg, a city where Gutenberg is said to have made experi- ments as early as 1439. In 1466 Ulrich Zel, a clerk -of Mainz, issued his first dated book at Cologne, and among other printers afterwards found at work there was Arnold ter Hoernen, who is distinguished for his early use of a separate page for a title, of leaf numeration, and headlines. , ^ , At Augsburg the first dated book was issued by Gunther Zamer in 1468, and their skill in the production of woodcuts for devotional 110 DEPARTMENT OP PKINTED BOOKS. [GROUND pictures and playing cards soon gave to this and the neighbouring city of Ulm great importance in the history of printing. Book illustration quickly became popular throughout Germany, and early examples of it are shown in Case IV.j and in the famous Nuremberg Chronicle in Case V. The Yirgil of 1602 and the Petrarch of 1632 are examples of the later period, in which much more delicate and ambitious illustrations were accompanied by a steady deterioration in print and paper, which gradually brought woodcuts into disrepute. On the other hand the vellum Prayer Book and the romance of Theuerdanok, produced for the Emperor Maximilian, illustrate the excellent work which could be produced even in the sixteenth century by German printers when working under favourable circumstances. Cases VI. — VII. — Italy. — German printers soon carried the new art into other countries, and Italy, then the home of scholar- ship, was the first to receive it. The earliest printers here were Sweynheym and Pannartz, who after printing a few books in 1466-67 at the Benedictine Monastery at Subiaco, where many of the monks were Germans, at the end of 1467 removed to Eome, where a compatriot, TJlrich Han, was also just beginning to work. The books of these printers exhibited in Case VI. show that they adopted the restored book-hand, imitated from the fine manuscripts of the time of Charlemagne, which had come into use in Italy at the end of the previous century. But it was at Venice, where Johann of Speier began to work in 1469 and Nicolas Jenson, a Frenchman, in 1470, that the " Boman " type attained its greatest beautj', and that of Jenson has never been siu-passed. Within the next five years printing was introduced into most of the chief cities of Italy, and before the end of the century presses had been set up in more than seventy different towns, though Venice monopolised about two-fifths of the whole book-production of Italy. Almost from the outset many books in the vernacular were decorated with woodcuts, and some of these, exemplifying the different schools of illustration which grew up in different towns, are exhibited in Case VII., together with specimens of the italic type introduced by the great.scholar-publisher Aldo Manuzio in 1501. Cases VIII. — X. — Prance, the Low Countries, Spain. — In France German printers set up a press at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1470, at the expense and under the supervision of two of the professors. Being intended mainly for scholastic use, these Sorbonne books were all printed in Eoman type ; but both at Paris and at Lyons French books of a more popular character were soon printed in great numbers, and for these were used " black- letter " types similar to the handwriting of French manuscripts. In illustrated books France ranks after Germany and Italy ; but in liturgical books, more especially in the profusely-decorated Books of Hours, she attained pre-eminence, and several specimens of them are shown in Case VIII. FLOOR. j BOOKS EXHIBITED IN THE KING'S LIBBABY. Ill In the Low Countries the technical defects in numerous undated books of primitive appearance make it improbable that their printers had been trained in Germany after the art had fully developed. There may have been an altogether separate inven- tion, or the report or sight of books printed in Germany may have suffloed to give the necessary suggestions. The books for which an early date is claimed afford no clue to the time when they appeared, save that some of them cannot be earlier than 1468, and others not later than 1474. The dates which should be assigned to them a.re thus matters of controversy. In 1473 dated books appear in Utrecht and Alost, and thereafter printing in the Netherlands proceeded on normal lines, and speedily developed an interesting school of book-illustration. The earliest English printer, William Caxton (See Case XL), printed for a time at Bruges, and a specimen is here shown of the work of Colard Mansion, for some time his partner. In Spain the first press was set up at Yalencia in 1474 by Lambert Falmart, a German or Fleming, and Alonzo Fernandez of Cordova. Throughout the fifteenth century printing remained largely in the hands of Germans, but, as in other countries, the handwriting to which readers were accustomed was taken as a model, and Spanish books, as the specimens shown in Case X. testify, both in their types and their illustrations have a massive and dignified appearance, which they retained throughout the first half of the sixteenth century, when in other countries printing was undergoing great changes, mostly for the worse. Oases XI. — XVI. — England. — In England printing was introduced by William Caxton, a mercer, for many years Governor of the English merchants at Bruges, and afterwards secretary to Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy, the sister of Edward IV. By her he was encouraged to continue a translation he had begun of the Becueil des histoires de Troye of Kaoul Lefevre, and on its completion found himself so importuned for copies that he resolved to print it. For this purpose he associated himself with Colard Mansion, a calligrapher, and together they produced at Bruges Caxton's Becuyell, the Game and Play of the Cheese, and perhaps other books. On 18th November, 1477, Caxton having returned to England and set up his press within the precincts of West- minster Abbey, issued The Bietes or Sayinges of the Philosophers, the first book which we know to have been printed on English soil. This was quickly followed by an edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and by upwards of a hundred other books and editions, many of them translated or edited by Caxton himself. On his death in 1491 he was succeeded by his foreman, Wynkyn de Worde (of Lorraine), specimens from whose press (1491-1533) are shown in the front of Case XII. Meanwhile in 1478 printing had been introduced into Oxford, presumably by Theodorious Eood, of Cologne, whose name, together with that of an English stationer, 112 DBPABTMENT OF PRINTED BOOKS. [GEOUND Thomas Hunte, is found in books of a slightly later date. A schoolmaster, -whose name has not come down to us, had also printed a few books at St. Albans, apparently with the help or goodwill of Caxton. Lastly, printing had been introduced into the City of London itself by John Lettou, who was first joined and afterwards succeeded by William Machlinia (i.e., of Mechlin). Specimens of all these presses and of that of Julian Notary, another printer in London, aro shown in the back of Case XI., while in that of Case XII. are books from the press of Eichard Pynson, a Norman, who succeeded Machlinia, and in rivalry with Wynkyn produced the best books England had yet seen. But from Caxton's day onwards foreign printers had found it worth their while to print a few service books and works of a popular character for the English market. Some of these are shown in the back of Case XIII., and with them a fragment of the first English New Testament and the first English Bible, both also printed abroad. In the front of the Case the history of printing in England is continued by specimens of the work of Berthelet, Grafton, and Day, all of them good printers ; and in the opposite Case a - few specimens are shown of later work, including books printed by Horace Walpole, by Baskerville, and at the Kelmscott Press. At the back of Case XIV. are examples of early printing in Scotland and Ireland, and in seme of the chief British Colonies, including New England. Cases XV. — XVI. — Some famous English Books. — ^In illustrating the history of printing in England in the preceding four cases, several famous books have been introduced ; the series is now continued with others, many of which have no claim to typographical excellence. Among those shown are the first edition of the Book of Common Prayer, and of the Authorised Version of the Bible, two plays of Shakespeare in quarto form, the famous "First Folio," of 1623; first editions of the "Faery Queen," " Paradise Lost," Walton's " Angler," the " Pilgrim's Progress," and other celebrated books. Cases XVII. — XX. — In the first of these cases are shown some specimens of books printed in Greek and Hebrew during the 15th and 16th centuries. Opposite to this. Case XVIII., are examples of the efforts of the illuminators to continue their craft in decorating printed books, and two early examples of printing in colours. Case XIX. is reserved for the exhibition of books recently acquired, and Case XX. for some specimens of the very valuable collection of Postage Stamps bequeathed in 1891 by Thomas Keay Tapling, M.P. Cases XXI. — XXII.— Music. — In the earliest books requiring musical examples, blank spaces were left for the music to be written by hand. Later on either the notes were printed and the lines of the stave left to be inserted in manuscript, as in Gerson's GoUeetormm super Magnificat (Esslingen, Conrad Fyner, 1473), or FLOOB.] BOOKS tXHIBlTEb IK THE KING'S LIBRAE Y. 113 the lines were printed and the notes written, as in rrancisco Tovar's Libra de Musica pratica (Barcelona,- J. Eosenbaoh, 1510). Use was also sometimes made of wooden or metal blocks, a method which first appears in the Musiees Opusculum of Nicolaus Burtius (Bologna, Ugo de Eugeriis, 1487), and in the Floreg Musice of Hugo Spechtshart (Strasbnrg, J. Pryss, 1488), and which was occasionally used (as in Turbervile's "Booke of Faulconrie," 1575) long after type-printing had been brought to perfection. The introduction of movable mnsic types was due in Germany to Jorg Reyser, the second edition of whose Missale Herhipolense (Wiirzburg, 1484) is exhibited. Almost simultaneously Octavianus Scotus, of Venice, printed plain song in the same way, i.e., from movable types, with two printings. Further important progress was made by Ottaviano Petrucoi (Fossombrone and Venic^, Erhard Oeglin (Augsburg), Andreas Antiquus de Montona (Rome), and Pierre Attaignant (Paris), examples of whose printing are shown. The earliest dated engraved musical work (Verovio's Biletto Spirituale, Rome, 1586) and rare works in Organ, Lute, and Guitar Tablature are also exhibited. In the lower divisions of the cases will be found some fine choir books and full scores remarkable for their great size. The Music Exhibition is followed by the two Cases, XXIII. and XXIV., already mentioned (p. 105), containing examples of printing and book illustration in China and Japan, and by four others, XXV. — XXVIII., reserved for temporary exhibitions. Bookbindings. — The last six show-cases in the gallery contain examples of fine bindings of printed books, in continuation of the exhibition of bindings of manuscript in the Grenville Room. Cases XXIX. and XXX. contain a series of English Royal Bindings, with a compartment reserved for temporary exhibitions, at present filled by examples of English embroidered books. Cases XXXI. — XXXIV. illustrate the history of binding from the fifteenth to the end of the eighteenth century. After a com- partment reserved for examples of the early iingilded bindings of various countries, specimens of German and Dutch work are shown in the other half of the Case, and the history of binding in Italy, France and England is illustrated in the three remaining show-cases. Among the more noteworthy Italian exhibits are the bindings designed tor Grolier and Maioli, and the sunk cameo work and " fan " patterns ; among the French bindings those executed for Henri II., Henri III., Grolier and De Thou, or assoeiated with the names of Nicolas and Clovis Eve, Le Gascon, Monnier, the Deromes and Padeloups. The English bindings in Case XXXIV. must be studied in connection with the work of Berthelet, Day and Mearne shown among the Royal Bindings in Cases XXIX. and XXX. Attention may be directed to the books bound for Thomas Wotton and Robert Dudley, to the specimens of embroidered and stamped velvet binding, and to the work of Roger Payne. 114 DEPAETMENT OF MANUSCRIPT'S. [OEOtTUD [From tie Southern door of the King's Library the visitor enters the department of Manuscripts.'] DEPARTMENT OF MANUSCRIPTS. The Collections of this Department have been formed partly by the acquisition of private libraries and partly by purchases and donations accumulated from year to year. The Manu- scripts of Sir . Hans Sloane, of Sir Eobert Cotton, and of Edward Harley, Earl of Oxford, were among the first collec- tions brought together by the Act of Parliament of 1753, to which the British Museum owes its origin. The Cotton MSS. had been presented to the nation by Sir John Cotton, grand- son of Sir Eobert, as early as 1700, and in 1731, while deposited at Ashburnham House, Westminster, had suffered severely from fire. The Royal MSS., collected by successive English Sovereigns, were transferred to the Museum by George II. in 1757, and were followed at intervals by the King s MSS., collected by George III., and the Lansdowne, Arundel, Burney, Egerton, Stowe, and other MSS. still forming separate collections. The Additional MSS. form the largest of all the collections, being purchased from the annual parliamentary grant or acquired by donation or bequest. The Department contains upwards of 50,000 volumes; 66,000 charters and rolls ; 15,000 detached seals and casts of seals ; and over 1,000 ancient Greek and Latin papyri. THE MANUSCRIPT SALOON. In this room are exhibited specimens of Ancient Manuscripts, Autograph Letters and Literary Works, Charters and Seals. The visitor is referred to the printed labels attached to the several volumes and documents for descriptive details. A series of Manuscripts in Greek, Latin and modem languages, •which, apart from the interest of their subject-matter, illustrate the progress of writing from the third century before Christ to the fifteenth century of our era, is displayed in six Cases (A — P) which occupy the middle of the Saloon. In Cases A and B are Greek MSS., the earliest of which are written on papyrus. FLOOR.] MANUSOBIPTS AND AUTOGRAPHS. 115 Papyrus was used for writing purposes in Egypt from very re- mote times, the oldest extant roll dating from about B.C. 3500. It was prepared from thin strips out vertically from the stem of the papyrus-reed. The manufactured material was early imported into Greece and Italy, and under the Empire it was in common use at Borne. It continued to be the ordinary writing material of Egypt until the tenth century, and in Europe, long after vellum was preferred for literary works, it was still employed for letters and for public and private documents of various kinds. Excepting the calcined rolls disinterred at Herculaneum, all the Greek papyri known have come from tombs and other excavated buildings in Egypt, the first discovery dating from 1778. Of particular literary interest are the papyri of the classical authors which have from time to time come to light. The Museum is fortunate in possessing the most important of those hitherto found. Among the most recently acquired are copies of the treatise by Aristotle on the Constitution of Athens, and of the poems of Baochylides, literary works which, with the exception of a few quotations, had been lost for centuries. These will be found, with other papyri, dating from the third century B.C. to the sixth century a.d., in Case A. A series of Greek MSS. on vellum, together with a waxen-tablet of the second century used by a schoolboy as his copy-book, will be seen in Case B. In Cases C and D are arranged MSS. in Latin and modern languages in which the developement of the writing of Western Europe can be followed from about a.d. 600 to the end of the fifteenth century. The earliest specimens are written in large letters called uncials, which difier from ordinary capitals chiefly in the rounded forms of A, D, E, H, M. To these succeed various specimens of national handwritings in half-uncials (or mixed large and small letters) or in minuscules or small letters, as practised in England, Ireland, France, Italys and Spain, until in the ninth century the Carlo- vingian form of minuscule writing, which developed in the French schools established under the rule of Charlemagne, gi;adually superseded them, and became the common hand of Western Europe which survives to the present day; as maybe seen in the specimens numbered 79 and onwards.' In Case O (the large upright case) are several volumes in uncials, dating from the sixth or seventh century, followed by specimens of various styles from the seventh to the thirteenth centuries, supplemented by a few large volumes of later date. Among them are seven MSS. (65-70, 72) written in England, and one (71) in Ireland, of the eighth and ninth centuries ; one (73) in Lombardic minuscules, written in Italy in the ninth century; two (74, 75) in Merovingian minuscules, of the seventh and eighth centuries; and (77, 78) two Spanish MSS. in Visigothic minusctdes, of the ninth and tenth centuries. In Case D are MSS. of the twelfth to the fifteenth i2 116 DEPAETMENT OF MANUSCRIPTS. [GEOUND centuries, in continuation of the series in Case C. Among them are ten MSS. written in England and one in Ireland. In Case E are MSS. in Anglo-Saxon and English, from the tenth to the fifteenth centuries. They include, among others (134) the unique MS. of the epic poem of Beowulf, written about A. D. 1000; — (135) the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, from the invasion of Julius Csesar to a.d. 1066;— (141) the " Ayenhite of Inwyt," or Eemorse of Conscience, an autograph MS. by Dan Michel, of Northgate, ia Kent, a monk of St. Augustine's Abbey, Canter- bury, written A.D. 1340;— (143-147) five Wycliffite MSS. including the Bible and New Testament; — (149) "Piers Plowman," a poem by William Langland, written before a.d. 1400; — (150) Chaucer's Canterbury Tales; — (152) Gower's "Confessio Amantis " ;— (1 54) Lydgate's " Storie of Thebes." In the octagonal Case P ia the centre of the saloon is a small typical selection of Manuscript Chronicles of England and other MSS., intended to illustrate the manner in which the history of this country was recorded and handed down during the middle ages before the invention of printing. Against two of the pilasters are placed four upright Cases (G-K) in which are exhibited early Biblical manuscripts : — Case G. A volume of the Codex Alexandrinus, a MS. of the Bible in Greek, written in tincial letters on very thia vellum, iu the fifth century. One of the three earliest and most important MSS. of the Holy Scriptures, containing both Old and New Testa- ments and the Epistles of St. Clement of Eorae. It formerly belonged to the Patriarchal Chamber at Alexandria (whence its name), and was presented in 1627 to Charles I. by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, and previously of Alexandria. In the lower division of the case is a palimpsest manuscript (one, that is, in which the original writing has been partially washed out, and another work written above it), containing portions of St. Luke's Gospel in Greek, in large uncials of the sixth century, with a Syriac treatise written above it, at right angles to the Greek, in the ninth century. Case H. The Bible in Latin, of St. Jerome's version (commonly known as the Vulgate), as revised by Alcuin of York, then Abbat of Tours, by command of the Emperor Charlemagne, between A.D. 796 and 801. The present copy was probably written about A.D. 840. Case I. The Bible in Latin, of St. Jerome's version. Written at Stavelot, in Belgium, and illuminated and bound within four years ending a.d. 1097. Case K. The Bible in the earlier English version of Wyoliffe, beginning with the Book of Proverbs. It belonged to Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, youngest son of Edward III., who was put to death by his nephew, Bichard II., in J 397. Deeds ftnd Papyri are exhibited in frames attached to the TLOOK.] MANUSCRIPTS AND AUTOGRAPHS. 117 wainscot, on either side of the entrance to the King's Library. They include — On the West Side. — ^Photographs of two copies of the Magna Charta of King John, dated at Eimnymede, 15 June, in the seventeenth year of his reign [a.d. 1216]. Both copies are pre- served in the Department. The first was so much damaged by fire in 1731 as to be now almost illegible. The second Charter is a contemporary and ofiScial copy. Original Bull of Pope Leo X., conferring on King Henry VIII. the title of Defender of the Faith [a.d. 1521]. It was much damaged in the fire of 1731. On the pilaster by the side of Case H is the counterpart of a deed of conveyance of land at Port Philip, now the site of Melbourne, Victoria, from the native chiefs to John Batman, founder of Victoria Colony ; 6 June, 1835. On either side of the entrance to the Newspaper Beading Eoom are two Table-Cases, containing impressions of Seals ; the greater number being attached to original documents. In Case L is a complete set of 72 impressions of the Great Seals of English Sovereigns, from Edward the Confessor to Queen Victoria. In Case M are seals of Archbishops and Bishops of England and Wales, of Abbats and Abbeys of England, and of persons of rank, from the eleventh to the eighteenth century. On either side of the doorway leading into the Grenville Library, is exhibited a selection of autograph letters and other documents, intended to illustrate the course of English history. They begin (Case I.) with a complete series of autographs of English sovereigns from Eichard II. to Victoria, no signature or other handwriting of any earlier sovereign being known to exist. In the last compartment of the same case are also shown autographs of six of the most famous of foreign sovereigns. Further examples of English royal handwriting will be found in the general series of Historical Autographs and Papers in Cases II. — IV. This series begins in the reign of Henry VI., and ends in the year 1885. The documents are arranged in order of date, and, so far as the limits of space and the resources of the Department permit, the aim has been, by means of autograph letters, etc., of kings and queens, statesmen, naval and military commanders, ecclesiastics and others, to direct attention to the leading events and most eminent historical characters of each reign. The interesting points of the several documents are given in the printed descriptive labels. Turning again towards the centre of the Saloon, the visitor will find at right angles to Cases II. and III. two Cases numbered V. and VI., containing a selection of Charters, ranging in date from 786 to 1508. They are chiefly in Latin and of English origin, but two Papal Bulls (so called from the leaden "bulla" or seal), an imperial charter with a goldeo " bulla," and a Spanislt royal charter are ipclnded, 118 DEPAKTMENT OF MANUSCKIPTS. [GEOTTifD The term Charter (Lat. GJiarta, paper) comprises not only royal grants of privileges and recognitions of rights, such as the "Magna Charta" of King John and the Charters of municipal and other corporations, but any formal document of the nature of a covenant or record, whether public or private. The usual mode of attestation of such documents after the Norman Conquest was by means of a seal without a signature ; " Magna Charta," for example, was not actually signed in writing by the King, but had his great seal appended. The seal was in fact the signum or legal signature; and written signatures only became common, and eventually necessary, when ability to write was more general. In Saxon times, before Edward the Confessor, seals were very rarely employed ; the names (usually of the King and his Witan or Council) were written by the same hand as the body of the document, and a cross prefixed or added. At the comer of Case V. is a facsimile of the original Articles of Liberties demanded by the Barons from King John, which formed the foundation of Magna Charta, A.D. 1215. The original is preserved in the Department. On the pilaster on the right of Case C are : — 1. Collotype facsimile of a deed, preserved in the Department, whereby " William Shakespeare, of Stratford-upon-Avon, Gentleman," and others mortgage a house within the precincts of the Blaokfriars, London, 1612[3]; with Shakespeare's signature affixed. This signature, another at the Guildhall, London, and those affixed to his will at Somerset House are the only remains of Shakespeare's writing knovsrn to exist. 2. Grant from the poet Edmund Spenser, of property in Ireland. Written and signed by the poet. 3. The original Articles of Agreement- for the sale of the copy- right of " Paradise Lost," in 1667. Signed " John Milton " ; with his seal of arms. As he was blind at the time, the signature was perhaps written by an amanuensis. In two Cases VII. and VIII., on either side of the entrance to the Students' Boom, are exhibited Literary and other Auto- graphs. They consist of letters and other documents divided into two series, English and Foreign, the latter being in Case VIII. ■ and they include not only autographs of eminent poets and prose^ writers, but those of actors, artists, musicians, philosophers and theologians. In Cases IX. and X., on the opposite side of the saloon, at the entrance to the King's Library, is exhibited a series of Autograph Literary Works, together with a few other MSS. of personal interest. Among them are : — Case IX.— (1) Book of Hours, fifteenth century, with autograph inscriptions of Henry VII., Henry VIIL, and members of their families ;— (2) Metrical Psalms, bound in gold worked in open leaf tracery, with rings at the top to attach the book to the girdle. FLOOE.J MANUSCRIPTS AND AUTOGRAPHS. 119 Traditionally said to have been given by Queen Anne Boleyn, on the scaffold, to one of her maids of honour ; — (3) Treatise on the Sacrament, composed by Edward VI. in 1549, in his own hand; — (4) Calendar, with Scriptural verses written by Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, on the eve of his execution, 1652 ; — (5) Manual of prayers, said to have been used by Lady Jane Grey on the scaffold, 1554 ; — (6) Prayers by Queen Katherine Parr, translated into Latin, French and Italian by Princess Elizabeth, 1645 ; — (8) The original " Basilikon Doron," or Book of the Institution of a Prince, written by James I. for his son. Prince Henry ; — (9) Selections from the Latin poets, in the hand of Charles I. when Prince; — (10) The original MS. of the Life of Cardinal Wolsey, by George Cavendish, his gentleman usher; — (13) Sir Walter Ealegh's Journal of his Second Voyage to Guiana, 1617-1618;— (16) Family Bible, belonging to John Milton, with notes in his hand of the dates of birth, etc., of himself and members of his family; — (17) The book of English Ballads and Eomances, seventeenth century, from which Bishop Percy printed his Beliqiies of Ancient English Poetry, 1765; — (22). Draft of Alexander Pope's translation of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, chiefly written on the backs of envelopes, etc.; — (23) Corrected draft of Laurence Sterne's " Sentimental Journey," 1767 ; — (26) Autobiography of Edward Gibbon [1787-1794] ;— (27) Literary forgeries by Thomas Chatterton. Case X. — (28) Thomas Gray's "Elegy written in a Country Churchyard," 1750; — (30) "The Entertaining and Facetious History of John Gilpin," by William Cowper, [1782] ;— (32) First and second Cantos of " Childe Harold's Pilgrimage," by Lord Byron, as copied for the press, 1812, with autograph corrections and notes; — (36) Autograph of " Kenilworth," by Sir Walter Scott, 1820-1821; — (37) Note-book of John Keats, with auto- graph copies of " The Pot of Basil," an Ode, and " The Eve of St. Mark," etc. ; — (38) Article on " Gladstone on Church and State " contributed to the Edinburgh Review, 1839, by Lord Maoaulay ; — (40) " The Dream of Gerontius," by John Henry Newman, with autograph corrections and additions ;— (41) Epilogue to the " Idylls of the King," by Lord Tennyson, [1872];— (42) "The^pell" and other stories, by Charlotte Bronte ; — (43) " Adam Bede," by George Eliot [Marian Evans], with dedication to George Henry Lewes. {Leaving the Manuscript Saloon hy the Western doorway, the visitor enters the Grenville Library.'] 120 DEPABTMBNT OP MANtJSCEIPTS. [cEOUNt) THE GRBNVILLE LIBRARY. [This room contains the library of choice books collected by the Et. Hon. Thomas Granville, and bequeathed by him to the nation in 1847.] Here (beginniug on the left of the door as the visitor enters from the Hall) is exhibited a series of Illuminated Manuscripts, selected from the various collections in the Department of Manu- scripts. They are arranged chronologically, and show the progress of Illumination and Miniature-painting from the tenth to the sixteenth century. The contents of the several Cases are : Case 1. — Greek MSS. and MSS. ornamented in England before the Norman Conquest. Case 2. — ^MSS. of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Cases 3 and 4. — MSS. of the fourteenth century. Cases 5 and 6. — ^MSS. of the fifteenth century. Case 7. — MSS. of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. An illuminated MS. is one enriched with gold and colours, in miniatures, in borders, and in ornamental initials. Of the selection here shown (Case 1) 'Nos. 1 — 9 are examples of the Byzantine school, dating from the tenth to the thirteenth century, and characterized by a rigid conventionalism, most apparent in the stereotyped figures and attitudes of the Four Evangelists in copies of the Gospels. A marked feature of Greek MSS. is the rectan- gular headpiece, the designs of which have often a striking resemblance to oriental carpet-patterns. The same Case also contains a few English MSS. of the tenth and eleventh centuries (Nos. 10 — 15). They illustrate the two styles of book-decoration practised at the time in the south of England, in one of which thick body-colours and gold are employed, with elaborate borders of foliage and interlaced work, while in the other style borders are absent and the figures are sketched freely in outline and only lightly touched or washed with colour. In the other Cases 2 — 7, Illuminated MSS. of different countries are brought together for comparison, and the progress of the art may be traced from the twelfth century to its final decline in the sixteenth. Generally speaking, in the twelfth century (Case 2) the figure-drawing is bold, the colours thickly laid on, and the background of highly burnished gold. The initials are often of large size, and are filled with intricate masses of foliage, amid which figures of various kinds are sometimes introduced. In the thirteenth century (Case 2) a minuter and more refined style came in. The features, hair, and drapery are more carefully treated, and latterly the body becomes more flexible ; delicate little minia- FLOOR.] ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS. 121 tures occTipy the interior of the initials, and plain gold grounds begin to give place to diapers and other patterns in gold and colours. This style reached its perfection in the fourteenth century (Case 3), the finest period of the art in Western Europe. English and French MSS. may be chiefly distinguished by the colouring, the English preferring lighter tones, especially of blue and green, the French a deep blue and other more brilliant colours, together with a ruddy, copper-like gold. Flemish work is recognizable by its heavy outlines and generally dark colours. Meanwhile the border also developed. At first a mere prolonga- tion of a limb of the initial, terminating in a simple volute or bud, it gradually extends the whole height of the text, turns the corners along the top and bottom, and ultimately surrounds the page on all four sides, branching out more and more in the process into foliage, flowers, scroU-work, and other ornamentation. French borders of the fifteenth century (see Cases 4 — 6) are largely of the so-called " ivy-leaf" pattern, which in its simpler form dates from the century preceding. This pattern frequently overruns the whole of a wide margin, and is latterly combined with gaily- painted flowers, birds, grotesques, etc., small miniatures also being sometimes inserted at intervals. A typical example of the form taken by a border of the English school just before its extinction is shown in Case 6, No. 69. A different style was evolved by Flemish artists, the border consisting of -a broad band of colour or flat gold, serving as a ground for minutely realistic flowers, fruit, insects, jewels, oto. In miniatures of the fifteenth century, among other changes in the direction of realism, diapered and other ornamental back- grounds were gradually supplanted by landscape. This was at first rude and conventional, with impossible rocks and trees and no attempt at perspective ; but as the century drew near its end the drawing became more accurate and the scenery truer to nature. In England, largely owing no doubt to the Wars of the Eoses, miniature art was practically dead soon after the middle of the century, and before 1500 the productions of the French school, now become hard, tasteless, and overladen, were surpassed by those of Flemish artists. The latter are remarkable for depth and soft- ness of colour, power of expression, and fine landscape effects. The Italian school of illumination is less well represented. The revival of the art began later in Italy than further north, and the earliest MS. exhibited (Case 3, No. 36) is of the fourteenth century, and shows a strong Byzantine influence. No. 37 is more distinctively Italian ; the somewhat stunted figures, greenish flesh-tints, and heavy drapery, together with the peculiar red and other colours, being marked characteristics. The elementary border consists of foliated scrolls springing from the initial, surrounded by exterior spots or studs of gold. Developements of this style may be seen in Cases 4 and 5 (No. 50). In illumination, E 122 DBPAETMElfT OF MAKUBCEIPTS. as in other branclies of art, the Italians advanced rapidly in the fifteenth century, and eventually they proved successful rivals of the Flemings. A familiar type of ornamentation is formed of a twining vine-pattern, apparently a revival of the interlaced Lombardic work of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Beautiful borders were also composed of the most delicate flower and scroll work, studded with glittering spots of gold (No. 68) ; and in another style the text was enclosed within rectangular panels, richly painted, and covered with floreated and other designs in gold and colours (No. 66). Both these styles were afterwards much elaborated, the artists availing themselves of the resources of the classical renaissance, and adding graceful details, such as trophies and vases, medallions, Cupids, fawns, sphinxes, and jewels. This brilliant period, however, was of brief duration. Not long after 1600 the art declined in Italy, as it had done elsewhere. In the lower divisions of the four tall Cases are Illuminated MSS. of large size, dating from the thirteentli century to A.D. 1522. The majority of them are of the iifteenth century, and were executed in France and Flanders, several of the latter bearing the arms of Edward IV. and Henry VII. of England. In a special Case in the middle of the room are exhibited the Manuscripts bequeathed by Baron Ferdinand Rothschild (see p. 85). They include thirteen illuminated MSS. of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and a large volume of drawings of Funeral Processions, including that of Queen Elizabeth. In Case 8 is shown a small typical selection of Bindings of Manuscripts from the tenth to the sixteenth century. LOHDOK : FEINTED BT WIHIAM ClOWIS ANI> SONS, IIMITED, SIAMTORD STKEEX AND CHASIKO ClIOSS. BRITISH MUSEUM GUIDE BOOKS, ETC. «. d. Guide to the Exhibition Oallehies. With plans . . 2 Guide to Fiest and Second Egyptian Eooms . . c Ditto Ditto With plates ] o Guide to the Babylonian and Assyrian Antiquities. With plates 10 Guide to the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities. With plates 6 Guide to the Archaic Greek Sculptures. With plates ... .06 Guide to the Sculptures oe the Parthenon. With plates . . 10 Guide to the Sculptures by the Successors of Pheidias. With plates . i Guide to the Nereid Monument and Later Lycian Sculpture. With plates . . ...10 Guide to the Mausoleum and Sculptures of Halicar- NASSOS AND Priene. With pktes 10 Guide to the Sculptures of Ephksus, Onidos, Gyrene AND Salamis. With plates 10 (The six Guides to the Greek Sculptures form Vols. I & U of the Catalogue of Sculpture, 3s. each volume) Guide to the Department of Coins and Medals. With Illustrations 6 Guide to the Coins of the Ancients exhibited in Electrotype in the Etruscan Saloon ... i Ditto Ditto With 7 autotype plates 2 6 Ditto Ditto With 70 autotype plates 26 Guide to the Waddesdon Bequest Room. With plates 6 Guide to the MSS. Autographs, Charters, Seals, etc. With plates ......... . . 06 Guide to the Printed Books exhibited in the King's Library .06 Guide to the Exhibition of Drawings . - . 3 Plan of the Reading Room ..06 Description of the Reading Room and New Library o l BRITISH MUSEUM. The British Museum is open to the public daily — Oa WEEKDAYS from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. After 4 p.m. in January, February, November, December, and after 5 p.m. in March, September, October, only certain of the' galleries remain open, viz. : — On MONDAYS \ Exhibitions of Manuscripts, Printed Books, Prints and Drawings, Porcelain, Glass, and Majolica ; Prehistoric, British, Anglo-Saxon, Mediseval and Ethnogra- phical Collections. WEDNESDAYS and FRIDAYS On TUESDAYS, ^ Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek and Roman THURSDAYS I Galleries (exclusive of the Vase Rooms and I and Bropze Room) ; American Collec- SATURDAYS j tions, and the Waddesdon Room. On SUNDAY AFTEENOONS:— From 2 to 4 p.m. in January, February, November, December. „ 2 „ 5 „ „ October. ,, -i „ o.iiO „ „ March, September. „ 2 „ 6 „ „ AprD, May, June, July, August. The Museum is closed on Good Friday and on Christmas Day. Guide-books are sold in the Museum. Cornell University Library AM101.G78 B763 1901 Guide to the exhibition galleries of the olin 3 1924 029 675 570 f