MUSEUM BULLETIN 



OF THE 



Staten tfsland Association of Arts and Sciences 



EDITED FOR THE PUBLICATION COMMITTEE 



BY CHARLES LOUIS POLLARD. CURATOR-IN-CHIEF 



No. J J. Published Monthly at New Brighton, N. Y JUNE, J909. 



THE COMMITTEE on Exhibits of the Section of Art has placed on view 

 in the Museum a loan collection of old china consisting- chiefly of Lowestoft 

 ware, but including; also some pieces of English, French, Russian, Indian and 

 Chinese porcelain. The exhibit is interesting from more than one point of view. 

 To the china collector, the age and genuineness of each piece is, naturally, of the 

 first importance, and from this standpoint the collection is one of unusual dis- 

 tinction. But the pleasure of looking at beautiful objects, whatever their historic 

 value, is one that the most inexpert of Museum visitors can indulge in, and the 

 purely aesthetic point of view has its place. Among china experts, the genuine- 

 ness of Lowestoft ware seems as debatable a subject as the authenticity of Chip- 

 pendale chairs or Cremona violins. In this exhibition, a whole case is given up 

 to this famous ware. These pieces repay careful study, for they differ greatly in 

 detail of ornament and even of glaze, though the ground color is uniform. 



Mrs. George William Curtis loans part of a Lowestoft dinner service imported 

 by Major Shaw, aid to General Knox, who was aid to General Washington. 

 Major Shaw had three sets made, one for Gen. Washington, of which a few 

 pieces remain at Mt. Vernon. A beautiful Lowestoft bowl, decorated in blue 

 and gold, is loaned by Mrs. Willcox, and a slightly fluted bowl, ornamented by 

 Rose with great perfection of detail, is loaned by Mr. Callison. Besides the 

 Lowestoft there are many pieces of old blue, notably an English platter loaned 

 by Mrs. Joseph R. Clark; there are cups and pitchers of copper luster, and a 

 tea set of pink luster, loaned by Mrs. T. L. Kennedy. A coffee set of Royal 

 Meissen china decorated with minute hunting scenes is an heirloom in the family 

 of Mrs. Walter Mayer, and a plate made in St. Peterburg during the reign of 

 Catherine II. and bearing the royal arms is loaned by Mrs. Lewis Nixon. 



E. M. P. 



TWELVE cases of exotic butterflies have been placed on exhibition in the 

 reading room of the St. George library. In addition to the collection donated 

 by Mr. Charles P. Benedict last year, they include a number of rare specimens 

 obtained in exchange from the United States National Museum, the Guatemalan 

 butterflies presented by Mr. George P. Engelhardt, and a number of Japanese 

 and Formosan species given by Mr. Charles L. Pollard. A collection of Ceylon 

 butterflies belonging to Master Flavel Hubbard will also be placed on exhibition 

 when mounted. 



In the Museum is shown a fine pair of Ornithoptera hecuba, one of the gor-. 

 geously colored "bird-wing" butterflies from the East Indies; also four gigantic 

 oddly-shaped walking-sticks from the same region. These four species are rep- 

 resented at present in only one other American Museum besides our own, 

 namely, that of the Brooklyn Institute. 



THE Curator-in-chief will leave about July 15 for a month's collecting trip 

 in company with Mr. H. S. Barber, of New York, and Mr. Geo. P. Engelhardt, 

 of the Children's Museum in Brooklyn. The party will visit the Dismal Swamp 

 in Virginia, various points on the coast of North Carolina, and will explore 

 some of the higher peaks in the Alleghenies. It is expected that valuable col- 

 lections will be secured for the Museum. 



THE telephone number of the Museum is 1135 Tompkinsville. 



Entered as second-class matter in the Post office at New Brighton, N,Y., under Act of Congress of July 16. 1894. 



