Lives of the Founders of the British Museum, Part 2 of 2: With Notices of Its Chief Augmentors and Other Benefactors, 1570-1870.Edwards, Edward
History
Lives of the Founders of the British Museum, Part 2 of 2: With Notices of Its Chief Augmentors and Other Benefactors, 1570-1870.
Edwards, Edward
Book collectors -- Great Britain; British Museum
Among the most important contents of the CHRISTY Museum is a collection
of stone implements from the Drift. They are the most ancient remains of
human industry hitherto discovered; they include a remarkably fine
series from St. Acheul, near Amiens. Antiquities found in the Caves of
Dordogne, were excavated by Mr. CHRISTY and M. LARTET, at the expense of
the former. This collection is very extensive, and includes a number of
drawings on reindeer bone and horn, probably some of the most ancient
works of art that have been preserved. [Sidenote: Franks’ _Report on
Christy Museum_ (abridged).] It would have been still more extensive,
had it not been known that Mr. CHRISTY intended to present the unique
specimens to the French Museum, an intention which the Trustees under
his Will have felt bound to fulfil. The Museum includes many ancient
stone implements found on the surface, in England and Ireland, France,
Belgium, and Denmark. The last of these is a remarkable collection, and
includes a good series from the Danish Kitchenmiddens. A few specimens
from Italy are also to be found; a valuable collection from the caves at
Gibraltar; and specimens from the Swiss Lakes. For convenience, a case
of ancient stone implements from Asia has been placed in this room, as
well as the more modern implements, dresses, and weapons of the
Esquimaux of America and Asia, and of the maritime tribes of the
North-West Coast of America. These furnish striking illustrations of the
remains found in the Caves of Dordogne, and prove that, while the
climate was similar to that of the northern countries in question, the
inhabitants of that part of France must have resembled the Esquimaux in
their habits and implements.
[Sidenote: AFRICA AND ASIA.]
The African Collection is very extensive, and supplies a lacuna in the
collections of the British Museum, where there are few objects from this
continent. The same may be said of the series from the Asiatic Islands.
The collection from Asia proper is not very numerous; the races now
occupying that continent being generally in a more advanced state of
civilization than that which especially interested Mr. CHRISTY.
Attention should, however, be called to two valuable relics from China;
an Imperial State Seal carved in jade, and a set of tablets of the same
material, on which has been engraved a poem by the Emperor KIEN-LUNG.
[Sidenote: MELANESIA AND POLYNESIA.]
The Polynesian Room contains a valuable collection of weapons,
ornaments, and dresses, both from the islands inhabited by the black
races of the Pacific, and from those of Polynesia proper. Many of the
specimens are of interest, as belonging to a state of culture which has
now completely changed, and as illustrating manners and customs that
have disappeared before the commerce and the teaching of Europeans.
[Sidenote: ASIA.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account