64 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 192 8 



28.11. Persian, early fifteenth century. Timurid period. A battle scene, the 

 siege of a fortress, painted in colors and gold ; an illustration in a page 

 of manuscript. 



The work of the care and preservation of objects in the collec- 

 tion, which goes forward year by year, has this year included the 

 remounting of four Japanese screens, in addition to completing the 

 work on Japanese screen 01.173, which was begun in the spring of 

 1927. Twenty-two paintings in the American section have been 

 put in condition. Changes in exhibition during the year have 

 involved 168 diiferent objects, itemized as follows: 



63 Whistler etchings. 



40 Whistler and other oil paintings. 



11 Japanese screens. 



6 Japanese lacquer and sculpture. 



7 Japanese panels. 

 4 Chinese pottery. 



28 Near Eastern paintings. 



1 Indian sculpture. 



6 Near Eastern pottery. 



2 Siamese sculptures. 



Two hundred and twenty-four objects have been submitted for an 

 expert opinion upon them, or for translation of their oriental inscrip- 

 tions. Thirty-four other translations of inscriptions have been made 

 from photographs submitted to the curator. 



Additions to the library include 26 volumes, 28 periodicals, and 59 

 pamphlets. The Chinese library of the eminent oriental scholar, the 

 late William Woodville Rockhill, which was presented by Mrs. Rock- 

 hill to the Smithsonian Institution in the autumn of 1927 and de- 

 posited in the Freer Gallery, forms an important addition to the 

 Chinese section of the library. The Eockliill collection comprises 

 1,100 volumes, ranging in date of publication from 1659 to 1913. 

 A list of the new accessions accompanies this report as Appendix A 

 (not printed). 



The books of the field staff comprise a separate and movable unit 

 of the general reference library and are at present installed at the 

 gallery. The total number of volumes in this branch is 661 ; unbound 

 periodicals, 134; pamphlets, 439; catalogues, 36; and bulletins, 9. 

 Thirty-six volumes have been added during the current year. A 

 complete list of books in the field library accompanies this report 

 as Part II, Appendix A (not printed). 



As noted in the report of last year, the demand for photographs 

 by special students and others is constantly increasing the store of 

 negatives. The total number of these is now 1,491, in addition to 

 829 negatives of Biblical MSS. A certain number of prints from 

 these negatives are always kept in stock to meet the popular demand ; 



