2 ACCOUNTS, k.C., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



1 X. Marble slab with bilingual inscription, Latin and Greek, recording a dedication to 

 Apollo, by L. Casperius Aelianus. Found at Isamoorli Keui near Cavak, in the district 

 ot iSamsoon, Asia Minor, 



Presented by Alfred Biliolti, Esq., H. B.M. Consul, Crete. 



X. A ■^'i/Id spiral ring, with a human mask at each end in relief. 

 Presented hy Henry Burr Tomhins, Esq. 



A. S. Murray. 



Depaktment of Buitish and Medieval Antiquities and Ethnography. 



I. — Arrangement. 



In the Asiatic Saloon the Franks Collection of Chinese and Japanese pottery and 

 porcelain has been arranged. It occupies the wall-cases of one-half of this saloon, as well 

 as three upright central cases, and four table-cases. New fittings have, in all cases, been 

 found necessary, and in the wall-cases these have been painted of an uniform colour, 

 while the central cases have been covered with merino and silk. General labels have 

 been written, and placed to the different sections, and in many cases the individual s])eci- 

 mens have been labelled. In the other half of the saloon have been arranged the various 

 other Chinese and Japanese specimens (exclusive of arms and armoui', which it has been 

 thought desirable to place with the other Oriental arms in the Ethnographical Gallery) 

 as well as the figures and implements illustrating the following religions, viz. : Shaman- 

 ism, Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. The illustrations of the last-named religion it 

 has been found ])ossible to subdivide into ancient and more modern India, Burmah, Siam 

 and Java, China, and Japan. The wall-cases have been re-numbered, 55 general Libels 

 have been written, as well as 198 card labels. The three large central cases have been 

 raised on mahogany plinths, and 28 stands and four brackets have been made for the 

 porcelain. 



Ethnographical Gallery. The arrangement of the collections in this gallery was, at 

 the end of the past year, rapidly approaching completion; but the actual opening to the 

 public did not take place until the close of the first quarter of the cuiTent year. It has 

 been thought better, however, to include the completion of this gallery and of the Asiatic 

 Saloon in this report, as the galleries have been thrown open before its presentation to 

 Parliament. The whole of this gallery, comprising 166 wall-cases, and 44 central cases, 

 has now been arranged, and the specimens cleaned. Eighty-five general labels have been 

 written Bud fixed above the sections ; the whole of the central cases have had numbers 

 painted upon them, 26 have been lined with flock paper, and the glazed ends of 10 of the 

 bases have also been lined with paper. Ten additional trophies of clubs and spears have 

 been mounted and placed on the tops of the wall-cases, as well as a number of single 

 specimens of large size, some of which have been mounted on plinths. In every case out- 

 line drawings have been made of these trophies, in order to preserve more readily marks 

 of locality or registration. A large number of ethnographical specimens have been 

 repaired, and a number of guns and other weapons cleaned and vai-nished. Three water- 

 colour drawings of South African natives have been framed and placed over the cases of 

 that section, and a number of maps, paintings, and photographs illustrating native cos- 

 tumes, etc., have been placed on the screens along the middle of the gallery. Two tablets 

 of arrows from East Central Africa have been mounted, and a large number of West Indian 

 and North American stone imi)lements have also been mounted. Two transparent exhi- 

 bition cases have been re-glazed and their stands re-polished, and the fittings of two other 

 central cases have been re-painted. 



In the Prehistoric Saloon, a number of the smaller antiquities from the Greenwell 

 Collection have been arranged in glazed boxes. The fittings of the wall-cases for pre- 

 histoi'ic implements have been commenced, 



Exliibition cases of wainscot have been erected in the workroom of the department, 

 forming an ante-room to the gallery in the new building in which the glass and majolica 

 are to be placed. This alteration necessitated the removal and reconstruction of part of 

 the range of cupboards in the workroom. Twenty-two locks of the study suite have been 

 fixed on study book-cases, and sixty-eight of the new suite have been placed on the 

 cupboards of table cases. 



Three oil paintings of megalithic monuments have been cleaned and varnished. 



Four bi'onze vases, three of pottery, twelve pieces of oriental porcelain, two glass vases, 

 and five Mexican wax models, have been repaired. 



Forty-nine Anglo-Saxon spearheads of iron have been boiled in wax to preserve them 

 from further decay. 



The permanent catalogue on slips of the Etlniographical Collections has been continued, 

 and one hundred and eighty-four specimens described, with a careful sketch of each object. 



The registration has again been much impeded by the arrangement of the public 

 galleries ; but as these approach completion it is hoped that arrears may be brought up. 

 One htindred and thirty ol)jects have been registered. 



