BRITISH AND MEDIiEVAL ANTIQUITIES. 43 



Department of British and Medieval Antiquities and 

 Ethnography. 



1. — Arrangement, Cataloguing, ^c. 



Prehistoric Room. — Most o£ the wall-cases in the iron gallery of 

 this room, as well as the table-cases, have been painted and re- 

 arranged, to illustrate the Stone and Bronze Ages respectively in 

 foreign countries. 



Central Saloon. — Bronze Age remains from Great Britain and 

 Ireland will occupy the centre, and three table-cases and two ranges 

 of wall-cases have already been arranged. The Greenwell collection 

 of bronzes has been incorporated, and in the south wing Stone Age 

 antiquities from these islands have been exhibited. 



Iron Age Gallery. — In what was formerly the Glass and 

 Ceramic Gallery have been exhibited British and Foreign remains 

 of the Iron Age. The Hallstatt and La Tene periods of the 

 Continent with the Late Keltic series occupy the northern side, 

 dating from the 9th cent. B.C. to the Roman period in Britain ; 

 on the south side are Anglo-Saxon and Viking remains with the 

 corresponding collections from Europe, usually assigned to the later 

 Iron Age. Two Ogham inscriptions on stone slabs have been 

 transferred from the ground floor ; and the gallery, which was 

 opened December 1st, contains national antiquities of about 1,500 

 years, exclusive of the Roman period. 



Ro7na7i Britain. — Six table-cases of Roman remains from 

 Britain have been transferred to what was formerly the Medigeval 

 Room, and the wall-cases have been cleared for refitting. The 

 collection of " Samian '' ware and the lead coffins have already been 

 arranged in wall-cases ; and the removal of the remainder from the 

 Central Saloon is in progress. 



King Edward VII. Gallery (Ground floor). — This gallery has 

 been cleared and prepared for the Waddesdon collection, the Franks 

 collection of mediaeval cups and metalwork, the mediaeval collection, 

 the English, continental and oriental porcelain and pottery, and 

 glass of all periods. Progress has been made with the transfer and 

 arrangement of several sections. 



Christian Room. — The Christian Antiquities will be accommodated 

 at the south end of what was formerly the exhibition gallery of 

 Prints and Drawings. The former Christian Room and the two 

 adjoining rooms are being cleared for transfer to the Department 

 of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities. A Coptic fresco from Egypt 

 has been restored and mounted. 



Buddhist Room. — Some progress has been made with the 

 arrangement of the Buddhist collection from the Northern Gallery, 

 in what was formerly the exhibition gallery of the Department of 

 Prints and Drawings. 



