BRITISH MUSEUM, THE. 



BRITISH MCSF.rM, Till-. 



Messrs. Trattle. Borrell, Thorns*, Boyne. Camnana. Rollin, Dnrnuit, 

 Cuff. Ac., or frocn individual coBeotors, such as Metn. Burgon, 

 R. Thomas. Ac., by means of which the indent collection* in th- 

 Miuwurn have been placed on MI equality with thoee of any European 

 cabinet. Much, too, has also been added by the generosity of in.li 

 Tiduals. especially in the cue of ooini belonging to England ; thus, 

 174 coin* of the Anglo-Saxon term, found at Dorking in Surrey in 

 1818, were prevented by Robert Barclay. Esq., of llury Hill, and Oorge 

 Dewdney, Esq.. of Dorking ; a large collection of the coin* of the first 

 two Edward*, found at Tutbory in Suffordahira. in June, 1831, by 

 Lord Holland, chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, together with tin- 

 produce of a find at Cueniale in Lancashire, in May, 1840, consisting of 

 iagoU of Blrrr armilue, Ac., weighing neariy 1000 <., and between 

 6000 or 7000 coin, (the moat important of which were presented to 

 the Miurum by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster). The 

 FlsrtHi collection of coin* hat aUo been enriched simultaneously with 

 the daanoal . by Urge purchana. often from the aame lalee, and also by 

 accidental purchases, such a* that of a selection from 5700 pennies 

 found at Tealby in Lincolnshire in 1814 ; 296 coins of the Styca series, 

 found at Hexham in 1832 ; and 669 varieties of the money of William 

 the Conqueror, discovered at Beaworth in Hampshire. The result has 

 been that, in coins relating to Great Britain, the collection in the 

 British Museum is._* it should be, unrivalled. 



The Oriental collection of coins, now extending to 16,000 or 17,000 

 pinna, is of the most recent growth. Originally founded in a few 

 specimens procured by Sir Hans Sloane, it remained unincreased till 

 1885, when a large assemblage of Mohammedan and other coins were 

 purchased by Parliament for 1000A of C. J. Rich, Esq. Thin collection 

 was greatly augmented by the magnificent bequest of his cabinet of 

 Oriental coins by William Marsden. Esq., in 1834. This beautiful col- 

 lection, the whole of which had been arranged and described by its 

 owner, consisted of nearly 8500 specimens, one-fifth of which were in 

 gold. Since then, large accessions have come to this series ; by the 

 purchase of the cabinets of the late James Prinsep, Esq. (comprehend- 

 ing many of the earliest discovered Bactrian coins) ; by those of Edward 

 Thomas, Esq., H.E.I.C.S., and Major Cunningham ; and by extensive 

 purchases at the sales of Messrs. Pietraszewski, Bird, &c. 



The whole of these collections the Ancient, Mediaeval, Modern, and 

 Oriental are now preserved in one room called the Medal Room ; no 

 apace having been a* yet found in which any of the coins can be 

 exhibited to the public. 



In a room behind the Medal room are preserved an admirable assem- 

 blage of engraved gems, chiefly procured by Sir W. Hamilton, the Kev. 

 C. M. Cracherode, and Charles Townley, Esq. ; the Portland Vase, lent 

 for exhibition by the Duke of Portland ; together with a collection of 

 gold ornaments, rings, Ac., from the tombs of Ancient Etruria. from 

 Wales, from the bogs of Ireland, Ac. Here also are now exhibited 

 some miscellaneous objects formerly kept in the Medal room, as the 

 snuff-box of Napoleon the Great, presented by him to Lady Holland ; 

 another, bearing his portrait, given by him to the Hon. Mrs. Damn : a 

 watch, said to have been that of Oliver Cromwell ; a gold inlaid ring. 

 bearing the name of Kthelwulf Rex ; and a gold breastplate, found at 

 Mold, in Flintshire, probably once the property of a British or Celtic 

 chieftain. 



Tkt Kf/yplian CoUtetioiu, which are now arranged in one large saloon 

 on the ground floor, and in two smaller rooms up-stairs, in mainly 

 founded upon the great monuments of that country, collected by 

 the French savans during the occupation of Egypt by the army of 

 Napoleon, and ceded to England at the capitulation of Alexandria in 

 1801. From this time no material additions were made to this part of 

 the department of antiquities; but in 1817 the upper part of a fine 

 colossal statue, commonly though incorrectly called the Mcmnon, taken 

 from Thebes by Belzoni, was given to the Museum in the joint names 

 of Henry Salt, Esq., the British consul at Alexandria, and Louis Burck- 

 hardt, Esq. In 1823 the trustees, by the aid of parliament, obtained 

 Mr. Salt's first collection of Egyptian antiquities (exclusive of an 

 alabaster sarcophagus, afterwards purchased by Sir John Soane) for 

 20001 Another collection, particularly illustrative of the domestic 

 manners of the ancient inhabitants of Egypt, belonging to Mr. Joseph 

 Hams, was purchased by parliament in 1834, for 25001. : a considerable 

 number of antiquities of the same description were presented to the 

 Museum in the same year by J. O. Wilkinson, Esq , and in 1835 a still 

 larger aeoesaion was obtained by an expenditure of 6081/. !., at the 

 sale of Mr. Halt's third collection of antiquities, including numerous 



papyri which have been since unrolled. In this year also Lord Pru.ll 



presented to the Museum the two fine lions of red granite which his 

 lordship had procured at Jebel Barkal in Nubia. From that time to 

 the present day, no year has passed without considerable ad>liti..i,. 

 brinn made to the Egyptian collection ; these have, however, been for 

 the roost part object* small in size, such as scarabrei, gems, bronzes, 

 and vitreous ornamraU, together with many papyri, in which ancient 

 writing the Museum is now very rich. 



HesiJss the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Classical monuments nlready 

 noticed, two rooms on the upper story are now appropriated to the 

 Omco lulUn vanes, a class of which.th* Musrum possesses the most 

 rateable and interesting assemblage in the world, with the exception 

 of that in the Mosso Borbonioo at Naples. A portion of anoth, 



devoted to the exhibition of a noble collection of miscel- 



laneous antiquitim, fonned by the late Hon. Sir William T 

 during twenty years in which he held the office ! KM i.,n,;-t, 

 court of Naples, and munificently bequeathed hy liini t<> hi* , 

 his death in 1856. A third room contains a very valuable collection of 

 bronze statuettes, vases, ornaments, articles of domestic use, candelabra, 

 helmets, Ac., founded originally on those which had belonged 

 W. Hamilton and Mr. Townley, but largely increased in 1824 by Mr. 

 Payne Knight's bequest of his bronzes, 798 in number, the finest 

 collection which has ever been brought together by one man. In this 

 room also are preserved the bronzes of Siria, so called because stated 

 to have been found in 1820 near the river of that name, which were 

 purchased in 1833 by subscription for loon/, of the Chev. Brondsted. 

 Since this period many excellent individual specimens have been placed 

 in this room, and especially the contents of a very ancient Etruscan 

 tomb, from the necropolis of Vulci, known as " La Polledrara ; " and 

 an attempt has been made to arrange the various objects in it according 

 (i the principles so admirably laid down in C. O. Muller's ' Hand-book 

 of Ancient Art.' A fourth room, called the British and Medieval 

 room, adjoining the bronze room, contains a large and miscellaneous 

 collection of objects, comprising, 1. British antiquities ant. : i . i T. . 1 1,.- 

 Romans, flint knives, arrow heads, stone hammers, bronze implements, 

 swords, shields, spears, daggers, Ac ; Roman antiquities, glass and 

 earthenware vessels from tombs, pottery, Samian and Arretine ware, 

 roof and flue tiles. With these are arranged the bulk of Mr. Roach 

 Smith's collections, as peculiarly illustrative of Roman London. 

 2. Anglo-Saxon antiquities, weapons, urns, Ac., from ancient ceme- 

 teries. 3. The Medueva! collection, comprising metal work, paintings 

 from St Stephen's chapel, Westminster ; ivory carvings of great beauty 

 from the 14th to 17th centuries; enamels, English pottery, German 

 and Venetian glass, and a rich collection of Majolica, many fine speci- 

 mens of which were procured at the sale of Mr. Bernal's collection, and 

 Flemish stoneware. 



Print ROOM. In the Department which contains drawings and engrav- 

 ings there are one or two.superb drawings by Rubens ; a large collection 

 of drawings of the Italian school ; three volumes, a part of Mr. R. P. 

 Knight's bequest, containing 272 original drawings of Claude !,<> 

 a numerous assemblage of drawings of the Dutch school ; several hun- 

 dred drawings by Albert Durer and other old German masters ; a large 

 collection of Van Huysum's drawings of plants, which formerly belonged 

 to the Sloane collection ; a collection of drawings of plants and cos- 

 tumes by native artists of I 'hin.-i ; Parr's and Revett's views in Greece 

 and Asia Minor, chiefly architectural, in two volumes, accompanied by 

 a third volume, containing Towne's views in Rome and its vicinity"; 



three volumes of highly finished drawings in black chalk, copied i 

 the most celebrated pictures in Rome, and accompanied by an extra 

 volume after the frescoes of Guido in the private chapel of the \ 

 by Mosinan ; these were presented to the Museum by the Earl of 

 Exeter, and cost nearly 3000/. There is also a large collection ,.f draw- 

 ings from antique marbles, gems, Ac., formerly belonging to Mr. Charles 

 Townley ; and there are two folios of drawings mode under the direc- 

 tion of the Earl of Elgin at Athens. 



In the collection of prints, among numerous impressions of the 

 works of Niello, is a sulphur of the celehr.it., I \:,\ !, v Ma-. 

 guerra, of the Assumption of the Virgin, anno 1452, purchased in 1835 

 for -J70 guineas. The prints of the different masters are for the most 

 part arranged in schools, na the Florentine school, the scho 

 the Roman school, the Bolognese, Lombard, and Venetian schools, the 

 schools of Genoa and Naples, the French school, Ac. There are large 

 and almost complete collections of the works of Marc Antonio, Bena- 

 Honi, Rembrandt, and Hollar; a very fine and extensive assemblage of 

 Hogarth's prints, the foundation of which was laid in 1828 by the 

 purchase of Mr. Packer's collection, of Dunmow, for 315/. ; a Granger 

 collection of English portraits of great extent; a very large coll, 

 of early German prints in wood; an almost perfect collniion , ,f 

 prints engraved after the pictures of Sir Joshua Reynolds ; a large 

 collection of Barto! ' ivings; Dr. Burney's collection of thea- 

 trical portraits; on immense collection of foreign portraits, purchased 

 with the library of the Baron von Moll, of Munich ; and a Pennant's 

 ' History of London,' illustrated with printa and drawings, in fourteen 

 volumes in folio of the largest size, mode by the late Mr. Cole at an 

 expense of 7000/., by whom it was bequeathed to the Mii-cmn. 



In the print room also is preserved one of the most wonderful 

 mens of art, in a carving in stone by Albert Durer, in alto-rilievo, 

 representing the birth of St. John the Baptist, dated 1610, for which 

 Mr. Knight, who bequeathed it to the Museum, gave .".mi/. 



In 1836 this department w.is considerably enriched by the purchase 

 of the Sheepshanks collection of Dutch etching for the BIIIM of 5uoo/. 

 It was described hy the then keeper of the department, Mr. Josi, in his 

 evidence before the select committee of the House of Commons in the 

 same year, as more perfect than any similar collect i ., M , \i-.ting at 

 Vienna, or at Paris or Amsterdam. The entire collection embraces as 

 many as 8450 engravings and drawings, bound in thirty-two volumes. 

 The sum annually allowed at that time for the purchase of prints and 

 _< amounted only to about 2501., which has since he, n increased 

 t> 1 10'. ,,r I.''" 1 / . and has occasionally even reached a high as 2000/. 

 Thin is exclusive .,f any x|-ci:d grants for extraordinary purchases, like 

 that of the Sheepshanks colic, 



The more recent acquisitions of importance in this department are : 



