REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 21 



contemporary British artists; and the annual exhibition of the Wash- 

 ington Water Color Club. Among the withdrawals of loans to the 

 gallery should be mentioned 20 old masters lent by Mrs. Ralph Cross 

 Johnson in 1924, 14 paintings by British and Dutch masters lent by 

 Henry Cleveland PeAiins, Esq., in 1922, and the John H. McFadden 

 collection of 43 British masters temporarily placed in the gallery 

 in 1922. 



Accessions to the gallery library numbered 1,096 volumes, pam- 

 phlets and periodicals, and 12 water-color paintings by Doctor 

 Holmes, the gift of the artist. 



FEEEE GALLERY OF ART 



Additions to the collections in the Freer Gallery during the year 

 include two pieces of Persian pottery, three of Chinese porcelain, and 

 six Persian paintings dating from the thirteenth to the seventeenth 

 century. The most important addition to the library was the Chinese 

 library of the late William Woodville Rockhill, comprising 1,100 

 volumes. 



Two hundred and twenty-four objects were submitted for expert 

 opinion or for translation of their oriental inscriptions, and 34 trans- 

 lations were made of inscriptions from photographs submitted to the 

 curator. In answ^er to a constantly increasing demand, there are now 

 available for purchase 1,491 photographs of objects in the gallery in 

 addition to 829 negatives of the Biblical manuscripts. The gallery 

 sold during the year 1,089 photographs, 2,017 post cards, and 1,031 

 copies of gallery publications. 



The total attendance for the year was 111,288; of these, 1,218 came 

 to the office for special information, to study the building and meth- 

 ods, to see objects in storage, to make drawings, or for similar pur- 

 poses. Thirty-three classes were given instruction, four groups were 

 given clocent service in the galleries, and two lectures were given in 

 the auditorium. 



The gallery's field work in China, in charge of Mr. C. W. Bishop, 

 was suspended, owing in part to conditions there, and Mr. Bishop 

 returned to Washington temporarily, visiting en route important 

 archeological collections and sites in Egypt and the principal western 

 European countries. In Washington he has been occupied chiefly in 

 studying the material collected during four and a half years in China. 

 Dr. C. Li and JNIr. K. Z. Tung, the Chinese members of the field staff, 

 stayed in China to maintain the contacts established there and to 

 prepare for future field work. Mr. Li came to Washington in the 

 summer of 1928 to discuss plans for future work in China. 



24034—29 3 



