Nature and Art, September 1, 1866.] 
FOREIGN ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES. 
119 
other objects, six. feet below ground, during the de- 
molition of a house at Rennes, in the year 1774, 
and presented to the king. 
Next is a small bust in agate, which originally 
formed the top of a staff carried by the leader of 
the choir in the Sainte Chapelle. The bust has 
been supposed at various times to represent Saint 
Louis, the Emperor Titus, and Constantine the 
Great. 
Another very curious object is a noble plateau, 
having eighteen medallions in rock crystal and 
coloured translucent glass. In the centre is a 
medallion representing an Oriental personage 
seated on a throne : this is said to be the Saracenic 
king Chosroes. This plateau was presented to the 
Abbey of Saint Denis by Charles the Bald, and it 
remained amongst the treasures of that monastery 
for a thousand years, under the denomination of 
Solomon’s Cup. How it fell into the French king’s 
hands is not recorded. 
The last object in this cabinet of jewels is also 
from Saint Denis, one of the finest known cups in 
Oriental sardonyx ; the material is beautiful in 
itself, and the workmanship worthy of it ; the cup 
and its handles are all formed out of the solid 
block, and the sides are decorated with Bacchanalian 
scenes hi bas-relief. It is known as Ptolemy’s 
cup, and it is conjectured to have belonged to 
Ptolemy, the husband of Cleopatra, who was sur- 
named Bacchus, and whose vases are described by 
Athenseus. Others have called it the cup of 
Mithridates. Whatever be its origin, it is a right 
royal cup. It was consecrated to Saint Denis by 
one of the Carlovingian kings in the ninth century, 
and tradition says that in olden times the queens 
of France, on the day of them coronation, drank 
the consecrated wine from this imperial chalice. 
The collection of medals, engraved stones, and 
antiquities, has been greatly enriched by the 
donation of the fine museum of the Due de Luynes, 
which includes many Greek coins, cameos, intaglios, 
vases, and engraved cylinders. 
Another very fine collection, that of the late 
Vicomte de Janz6, left by will, with important 
additions by his widow, has been added to the new 
gallery. The Vicomte de Janze’s museum was one 
of the most celebrated private collections in France ; 
and the portion presented to the Bibliotheque Im- 
periale includes, amongst other objects of interest, 
no less than 89 bronze statuettes, and 81 works in 
terra-cotta. Amongst the former are the following- 
celebrated pieces : — Sophocles, seated ; the Etruscan 
Apollo; the Diadumene ; Adonis; Venus and 
Cupid ; a Muse wearing in her hair a feather taken 
from a Siren ; Alexander the Great ; the Etruscan 
Athlete; Jupiter; and Minerva Promachos, antique 
style. Among the terra-cottas are pieces equally 
celebrated ; such as the V enus, Hebe, and groups 
of Europa, of Cupid and Psyche, and of Proserpine 
gathering flowers in the fields of Enna. 
The museum of medals has also received valuable 
additions from the Comte de Nieuwekerke, Mr. 
Waddington, and other collectors. 
The Due de Luynes has also presented a magni- 
ficent Arab sword, the scabbard of which bears, on 
a plate of enamel, the device of the Moorish 
kings of Granada : it is said to have belonged to 
one of the last kings of the dynasty of Beni Nasr. 
M. Blanchard de Farges has presented to the de- 
partment of engravings 110 plans, designed by 
Le Notre and Mansard, or under their direction, 
for works in the palaces and gai'dens of Versailles, 
the Trianon, and Saint Germain, together with two 
inventories in MS., one of which is. annotated by 
the hand of Louis Quatorze, of the apartments at 
the Trianon and Saint Germain in 1684 and 1685 : 
these lists come direct from the family of Le 
Notre. 
Many other donations have been made to the 
new galleries, affording another proof of the im- 
mense wealth that’ pours into a national collection 
when a suitable establishment is prepared for its 
public exhibition. 
Another museum is to be opened on the 15th 
of August, in the establishment of the Imperial 
Archives ; this will contain a curious collection of 
manuscripts, seals, and other interesting archseolo- 
gical curiosities. The gallery devoted to the pur- 
pose formed the apartments of the Princess Rohan 
Soubise, to whose family the edifice belonged. The 
wood-work of the rooms is said to be of great 
beauty and in perfect preservation. 
Still another collection of antiquities is being 
formed at the Hotel de Ville, under the direction 
of Baron Haussmann, the Prefect of the Seine. 
This will be confined to objects illustrative of the 
history of Paris, of which large numbers are in 
the hands of the muncipality and of private in- 
dividuals. The authorities have purchased the 
collection of M. Legras, rich in manuscripts, seals, 
ancient leaden medallions, badges, and emblems 
and other curiosities, and have secured a fine 
mansion for the new museum. 
Lastly, the fine old chateau of Saint Germain 
is being rapidly restored, and will be devoted to a 
collection of antiquities illustrative of the history 
of France. 
A. number of tombs have been uncovered by 
accident in the commune of Griel, in the canton of 
Eu ; they are supposed to belong to the Frank or 
Merovingian periods of the seventh and eighth cen- 
turies. Vases in red and black pottery and scrama- 
saxes were found, near the/ tombs, and it is re- 
marked that some of the vases and arms were 
outside of the coffins. 
At a recent meeting of the Academy of Inscrip- 
tions, M. d’Archiac presented a curious ancient 
work of art, a design engraved in line on a piece 
of schist, greyish -green in colour, micacious, lus- 
trous, and very close in the grain. The lines are 
firm, well drawn, and equal throughout. The design 
represents a bear walking ; the outline is good, the 
ears and eyes well placed, and the proportions 
observed throughout. The stone measures about 
seven inches by four, and was found in the lower 
grotto of Massart, in the Ariege, in the midst of a 
large quantity of bones and flint implements. 
Two leaden coffins were found the other day by 
