ACCOUNTS, ESTIMATES, &C. OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 27 



(3.) Ethnographical. — A collection of iron weapons and implements found in the 

 Wurreegaon Barrow, near Karaptee, JS'agpore District, India, excavated and presented 

 by Major George Pearse, r.a. 



A collection of iron weapons in a remarkable state of preservation found iu tombs in 

 the Neilglierry Hills, India, presented by M. J. Walhouse, Esq. 



Two Chinese tablets carved and gilt. 



A paddle from the Sandwich Islands ; presented by T. E. Jones, Esq. 



III. Slade Collection. 



The collection of glass and other antiquities bequeathed to the nation by the late 

 Felix Slade, Esq., F.S.A., includes some specimens which belong to other departments of 

 antiquities, but as it has been thought desirable that they should for a time be exhibited 

 together, it will be more convenient to describe them here as a whole. 



The collection of glass contains about 950 specimens selected with care, so as to 

 represent most of the phases through which the art of glass-working has passed. Collected 

 in the first instance with a view to artistic beauty alone, the series has been since gradually 

 enriched with historical specimens, as well as with curiosities of manufacture, so as to 

 illustrate the history of glass in all its branches. 



Of early Egyptian glass there are not many examples in the collection ; one of some 

 interest is a case for holding the stibium, used by the Egyptian ladies for the eye, and 

 which is in the form of a papyrus sceptre. The later productions of Egypt are represented 

 by some very minute specimens of mosaic glass, formed of slender filaments of various 

 colours fused together, and cut into transverse sections. 



To the Phoenicians have been attributed the making of many little vases of peculiar 

 form and ornamentation that are met with not unfrequently in tombs on the shores of the 

 Mediterranean. They are of brilliant colours with zig-zag decoration, and exhibit the 

 same technical peculiarities, so that they must have been derived from one centre of fabri- 

 cation. Of these vases there is a considerable series, sho^ving most of the varieties of 

 form and colour that are known. 



The collection is especially rich in vessels moulded into singular shapes, found prin- 

 cipally in Syria and the neighbouring Islands, and which were probably produced in the 

 workshops of Sidon, but at a later time, possibly as late as the Roman dominion. The 

 Museum collections were previously very ill provided with such specimens. To the same 

 date must belong a vase handle, stamped with the name of Artas the Sidonian, in Greek 

 and Latin characters. 



Of Roman glass there is a great variety, as might be expected from the skill shown in 

 glass-making during the Imperial times of Rome, Large vases were not especially sought 

 after by Mr. Slade, but two fine cinerary urns may be noticed, remarkable not only for 

 their form, but for the beautiful iridescent colours with which time has clothed them. 

 There is also a very fine amber- coloured ewer, with blue filaments round the neck, which 

 was found in the Greek Archipelago; an elegant jug or bottle with diagonal flutings, 

 found at Barnwell, near Cambridge, and a brown bottle, splashed with opaque white, 

 from Germany. Of cut glass, an art which it was formerly denied that the Romans pos- 

 sessed, there are good examples ; such, for instance, is a boat-shaped vase of deej) emerald 

 hue, and of the same make apparently as the Sacro Catino of Genoa; a bowl cut into facets, 

 found near Merseburg, in Germany ; and a cu^j, similarly decorated, found near Cambridge. 

 The two last specimens are of a bi'illiant clear white, imitating rock crystal, a variety of 

 glass much esteemed by the Romans. Several vessels found in Germany are remarkable 

 for having patterns in coloured glass, trailed as it were over the surface. There ai'e two 

 very fine bowls of millefiori glass, one of them with patches of gold, and very numerous 

 polished fragments illustrating the great variety and taste shown by the ancients in such 

 vessels. Two vases exhibit designs in intaglio ; one of them, a subject with figures ; 

 the other, a bowl found near Merseburg, exhibits the story of Diana and Actaeon ; 

 the goddess is kneeling at a pool of water in a grotto ; Actason is looking on, and 

 a reflection of his head with sprouting horns may be distinguished in the water at the 

 goddess's feet ; to prevent any mistake, the names of the personages, in Greek, are added. 

 This bowl may be of a late date, probably early Byzantine. Of vases_ decorated in cameo, 

 fragments alone are to be found in the collection, but as only four entire vases are known, 

 this is not surprising. One of the fragments seems to be part of a large panel which 

 has represented buildings, &c., and has on it remains of a Greek inscription. There are 

 several glass cameos and intaglios, the representatives of original gems that have long since 

 been lost ; one of the cameos is a head of Augustus ; another represents an Egyptian 

 princess ; whilst among the intaghos are several of great excellence ; of these should 

 particularly be noticed a blue paste representing Achilles wounded in the heel, and 

 crouching down behind his rich shield, a gem worthy of the best period of Greek art. _ One 

 of the rarest specimens in the collection is a circular medallion of glass, on which is 

 painted a gryphon ; the colours ajipear to be burnt iu, and it is therefore a genuine speci- 

 men of ancient painting on glass, of which but three other instances are known. 



In the fourth and fifth century it was the habit to ornament the bottoms of bowls and 

 cups with designs in gold, either fixed to the surface or enclosed between two layers of 

 glass. These specimens have generally been found in the Catacombs of Rome ; but two 

 or three have been found at Cologne, one of which is in the collection. It is the remains 

 of a disc of considerable size, with a central design, now destroyed ; around are ciglit 

 .2\\, E 3 compartments, 



