THE MUSEUM. 
25 
For The Museum. 
An interesting relic was found some time ago in 
an Indian grave in Lancaster County, Pa. It is an 
ancient jug, probably two hundred years old, which 
was brought to this country by one of the early set¬ 
tlers. It is what is commonly known as a “ gray- 
beard ” or “ Bellarmine ” jug, of gray stone ware. 
Such vessels were used to a great extent in England 
during the seventeenth century, and were common 
in taverns where ale and beer were served. 
Mr. Llewellynn Jewitt, 
in The Ceramic Art of 
Great Britain , writes :— 
“ These jugs were deri¬ 
sively named after Cardinal 
Bellarmine, who died in 
1621. The Cardinal hav¬ 
ing, by his determined and 
bigoted opposition to the 
reformed religion, made 
himself obnoxious in the 
Low Counties, became 
naturally an object of de¬ 
rision and contempt with 
the Protestants, who, among 
other modes of showing their detestation of the 
man, seized on the potter’s art to exhibit his short 
stature, his hard features and his rotund figure, to 
become the jest of the ale-house and the byword of 
the people.” The specimen alluded to, which is 
here figured, measures eight inches in height. A 
similar one is represented on the lower right hand 
corner of the cover of this magazine. 
AN ANCIENT TABLET. 
At the regular meeting of the Numismatic and 
Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia, on the evening 
of May 7th last, an interesting relic was exhibited, 
from Nineveh. It was a slab of mottled alabaster, 
nine feet in length, and three and a half in width, 
on which was inscribed the winged figure of a man 
with double-horned helmet, facing the right, holding 
in one hand a fir-cone, and in the other a basket. 
An inscription in cuneiform characters was engraved 
on the lower third of the tablet. 
About forty years ago, a young missionary, Rev. 
W. F. Williams, visited the site of the ancient city, 
where he procured for a friend in Philadelphia this 
fine specimen of Assyrian sculpture. The caravan 
which started with the stone (or stones, as it had 
been sawed into three portions to facilitate trans¬ 
portation) for Alexandretta, was attacked by a band 
of robbers, and the tablet was left on the desert. 
Some years later it was recovered, and finally 
(twenty-five years ago) reached Philadelphia, and 
was deposited in the cellar of a warehouse and for¬ 
gotten, until brought to light a few days ago. 
It is not probable that the winged figure engraved 
on it is intended to represent the king, but rather an 
attendant or god. So far as can be ascertained by 
a comparative translation of the inscription, the 
slab is supposed to have been erected in the temple 
from which it was taken, in the ninth century 
B. C., and is, therefore, nearly 3000 years of age. 
There are probably not more than half a dozen 
Assyrian sculptures of this character in thft United 
States. 
An old German tumulus, which has just been 
opened near Rosenheim, was found to contain a 
human skull, some broken earthen vessels, and a 
piece of charred wood, presumably the sole relics 
of a funeral pyre. The geological surroundings 
show that the tumulus must have been built previ¬ 
ously to the eighth century before Christ. The 
skull is, therefore, the oldest human remnant known 
to exist in Germany.— The Collector (Hull, Eng.) 
In the archaeological collection of Philip Sharpies, 
of West Chester, Pa., is a delicately chipped and 
barbed arrow point of volcanic glass (obsidian) 
found in Chester county, Pa. The form of the 
specimen is western, the material having been 
obtained either in Mexico or Montana. 
We have just received from a correspondent in 
Southern Utah a large collection of prehistoric 
Pueblo pottery, from the ruined cliff-houses. The 
ware is of the most superior quality—white, lustred, 
with designs in black, brilliant red ware with black 
ornamentation, corrugated ware, handles of jugs, 
and small fragments, ground round, with holes for 
suspension. 
