136 
GOLD ORNAMENTS. 
[upper 
Case E contains ornaments from Babylonia, with some others of an 
Oriental character. 
In Cases F to Q is exhibited the series of Etruscan, Greek, and 
Roman ornaments, to which in recent years the most important addi- 
tions have been the Blacas and Castellani Collections. In Cases 
F to I the ornaments, both Greek and Etruscan, are of an early 
period. The finest specimens of Greek work are in Cases L, M, N. 
Tlie latest specimens of the goldsmiths' art among the Greeks and 
Romans are arranged in P, Q of this line of cases. 
The collection of Etruscan, Greek, and Roman rings will shortly 
be exhibited in Case U. The collection of gems comprising examples 
of Etruscan, Greek, Roman, Medieval, and modern intaglios and 
cameos, has been formed chiefly by the bequests of the Payne Knight 
and Cracherode collections, and by the purchase of the Townley, 
Hamilton, Blacas and Castellani collections. The gems in the form 
of scarabs, mostly from Etruria, are arranged in Case R. The series of 
Greek and Roman intaglios and cameos is exhibited in a large Case 
(S) in the centre of the room and in Case T. The arrangement is 
according to subject, and begins at the corner of Case S, nearest the 
entrance, with Jupiter and his cycle of mythic persons, after which 
come the other deities and heroes of mythology, followed by royal, 
imperial, and other portraits. The subjects relating to ordinary life 
follow. In Case T, then follow the figures of animals, symbols, 
inscriptions, and miscellaneous subjects. 
On Case R is placed the celebrated glass vase, deposited by its 
owner the Duke of Portland, in the British Museum, and thence 
popularly known as the Portland Vase. It was found in a marble 
sarcophagus in the Monte del Grano, near Rome, and was formerly in 
the Barberini palace. The ground of the vase is of blue glass; the 
design is cut in a layer of opaque white glass. The composition is 
supposed to represent, on the obverse, the meeting of Peleus and 
Thetis on Mount Pelion, and on the reverse, Thetis consenting to be 
the brid-e of Peleus, in the presence of Poseidon and Eros. On 
the bottom of the vase, which is detached, is a bust of Atys. 
On Case T is placed an alabaster jar, found on the site of the 
Mausoleum, at Halicarnassus, near a great stone, which probably closed 
the entrance to the sepulchral chamber. The jar is inscribed 
"Xerxes, the Great King," in the Persian, Median, Assyrian, and 
Egyptian languages. 
In Case W is exhibited a series of trays from the general collection 
of coins, Greek, Roman, and English. This exhibition is periodically 
changed. 
In the passage leading to the collection of gold ornaments and 
gems, is a case containing electrotype copies of the finest and most 
interesting Greek coins, and of the Roman gold and English gold 
coins. The Greek electrotypes are separately described in the " Guide 
to the Select Greek Coins exhibited in Electrotype," which is on sale 
in this Room. 
C. T. NEWTON. 
