The British Museum and British Antiquities

Antiquity ◽  
1963 ◽  
Vol 37 (145) ◽  
pp. 50-53
Author(s):  
Frank Francis
Keyword(s):  
British Museum ◽  
Direct Result ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Intimate Knowledge ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Post War ◽  
Great Advance

Professor Hawkes’s important article on ‘The British Museum and British Archaeology’ in the December number of ANTIQUITY is based on an intimate knowledge of the Museum and a sympathetic understanding of the disabilities which have beset it since the war. It may be that he is not fully aware of the changes in work and tempo that have markedly developed since he himself left the staff in 1946, but we know well that his article reflects a widespread impatience to see an end of the disabilities and the problems which have developed as the direct result of the war; and above all to see created in the National Museum an organization for dealing with British archaeology and antiquities which will be equal to the great advance of the subject that has taken place in this century, and with dramatic acceleration in the post-war years. No one is keener to see this development than the staff of the Department of British Antiquities who are entirely alive to what is required. We fully recognize, therefore, the importance of what Professor Hawkes has to say, but he does seem to be in some danger of falling into the mistake that many other less well-informed and less well-intentioned critics have made—of assuming that the honourable scars which still disfigure the British Museum and the overcrowding which was the inevitable concomitant of an informed and successful collecting policy in the Museum’s many departments, are being complacently lived with and that nothing has been done to bring about the speedy disappearance of these obstacles to our service.

The “Begram Ivories”: A Successful Case of Restitution of Some Antiquities Stolen from the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-477
Author(s):  
John Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
British Museum ◽  
International Exhibition ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Direct Result ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Successful Case ◽  
Afghan Civil War ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Museum Exhibition

Abstract:This article details a successful case of restitution of important antiquities stolen from the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul during the Afghan Civil War (1992–94). These items had been excavated by the Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan at the site of Begram during 1937 and 1939 and were allocated to the museum in Kabul when the excavated finds were divided between the National Museum of Afghanistan and the Musée Guimet (Paris). In Kabul, the most important objects were put on permanent display, but they were placed in storage in 1989 when the museum was officially closed and the capital threatened by war after the withdrawal of Soviet forces. Many objects were hidden, and some are now touring in an international exhibition hosted by the British Museum in 2011.1 However, most of the Begram ivories were stolen and entered different collections. The following article discusses how a group of 20 of these exquisite carvings were acquired, conserved, exhibited, and returned to Kabul as a direct result of the negotiations for the British Museum exhibition.2 This allowed the first scientific analyses of Indian ivories of this period, and the results provided important new evidence for the extent of polychromy as well as the scale of the different unrecorded conservation treatments previously applied to these highly fragile objects.3 The objects were returned safely to Kabul in 2012. This article also sets out some of the lessons learned from this chain of events and how it can provide an example for future restitutions.

Notes on Encyrtidae (Hym.-Chalcidoidea) bred from Psyllids, with Description of a New Species

1926 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 373-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. B. Gahan ◽  
J. Waterston
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New Species ◽  
British Museum ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Joint Paper ◽  
United States National Museum ◽  
The Subject ◽  
A New Species

Specimens of the interesting new species described herewith came into the hands of both authors of this paper at about the same time from the same source, and were determined by each as new to science. Each being in ignorance of the fact that the other had received specimens, both proceeded to describe it. Before either description was published, however, the duplication was discovered through correspondence, and the description has been made the subject of this joint paper. The type and allotype specimens are in the United States National Museum, but paratypes are in the British Museum as stated below.

Re-appraising and Re-classifying: a New Look at the Corpus of Miniature Socketed Axes from Britain

2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Alex Bliss
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Direct Result ◽  
Object Type ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Extensive Data ◽  
Metal Artefacts ◽  
The Subject

The advent of the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) has added a great deal to our understanding of prehistoric metal artefacts in England and Wales, namely in expanding enormously the corpuses of objects previously thought to be quite scarce. One such artefact type is the miniature socketed 'votive' axe, most of which are found in Wiltshire and Hampshire. As a direct result of developing such recording initiatives, reporting of these artefacts as detector finds from the early 2000s onwards has virtually trebled the number originally published by Paul Robinson in his 1995 analysis. Through extensive data-collection, synthesising examples recorded via the PAS with those from published excavations, the broad aims of this paper (in brief) are as follows: firstly, produce a solid typology for these artefacts; secondly, investigate their spatial distribution across England and Wales. As a more indirect third aim, this paper also seeks to redress the imbalance of focus and academic study specifically applying to Hampshire finds of this object type, which despite producing a significant proportion of the currently known corpus have never been the subject of detailed analysis.

III.—Notes on Some Post-Liassic Species of Acrodus

1887 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 101-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Smith Woodward
Keyword(s):  
British Museum ◽  
The Subject

So little is known of the extension through later Mesozoic deposits of Selachian teeth belonging to the familiar type of Acrodus, as represented in the Lias, that any additional evidence upon the subject is invested with considerable interest. It is impossible, of course, from these isolated relics, to determine whether the original Sharks were as closely allied as the resemblances in their dentition might at first lead one to suspect;inone case, indeed, it has been proved that the complete fish differs much from the Liassic species; but the persistence of the dental type is at any rate of some significance, and it may therefore be acceptable to offer a few notes upon the undescribed Jurassic and Cretaceous Acrodonts preserved in the British Museum. These specimens furnish evidence of at least two new specific modifications, and they are also suggestive of novel points in regard to some of those already known.

III.—A Portable Dial in the form of a book, with Figures derived from Raymond Lul

Archaeologia ◽  
1925 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 89-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. M. Dalton
Keyword(s):  
British Museum ◽  
Society Of Jesus ◽  
The North ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Lower Cover ◽  
Made In

The dial forming the subject of this paper, acquired by the British Museum in 1923, is of gilt copper, made in the form of a book, along the edges of which are inscribed in capitals the words: Lucerna instrumentalis | intellectus directiva | sive instrumentum sciendi. The dial-plate which is fixed in the interior has a compass and two very short gnomons. It is for use in the latitudes of 42 and 45, and would serve for Rome and one of the large towns in the North Italian plain, perhaps Milan or Venice. It was made at Rome in the year 1593, as shown by the inscription on the dial-plate. On the cover is a shield of arms, barry, and in chief the letters I H S surmounted by a cross, a feature perhaps indicating that the owner was a member of the Society of Jesus; a fuller device, in which the three nails of the Passion are seen below the sacred monogram and cross, occupies the centre of the figure on the outside of the lower cover. The identification of the arms presents difficulties. They might be those of the Caraffa (gules, three bars argent), a member of which family, Vincenzio Caraffa, was general of the Jesuits in 1645.

scholarly journals VIII.—On the calcification of the vertebral centra in sharks and rays

1921 ◽  
Vol 210 (372-381) ◽  
pp. 311-407 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Research Laboratory ◽  
British Museum ◽  
Imperial College ◽  
Vertebral Centra ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Elasmobranch Fishes ◽  
Fossil State

In this paper are recorded the results of an investigation undertaken at the instance of Dr. A. Smith Woodward for the purpose of ascertaining to what extent the pattern presented by the calcified laminæ of the centrum is of value as an aid to the classification of Elasmobranch fishes, and to the identification of vertebræ found in the fossil state. The subject was dealt with exhaustively in 1879-1885 by Hasse, who, in his monograph ‘Das natürliche System der Elasmobranchier,’ claimed that the differences in the disposition of the calcified laminæ in the various genera and families of Elasmobranchs occur with such constancy and regularity that they may be accepted with confidence as an important factor in taxonomy. During the years, however, that have passed since the publication of this monograph the thesis has come to be looked upon with suspicion, and vertebrate morphologists at the present time do not, as a whole, regard Hasse’s definitions of the Cyclospondyli, Tectospondyli, and Asterospondyli as consistently applicable to the genera and species included by him within those groups. The material studied in the course of the investigation was to a large extent accumulated several years ago (see p. 313), and it was only the superior attraction of Cephalodiscus as a subject of research that prevented the work from being brought to an earlier conclusion. The examination of this accumulated material, and of that more recently acquired, was carried on in the Huxley Research Laboratory of the Imperial College of Science during the winter of 1917 and from May, 1919, to May, 1920, and I hereby acknowledge my great indebtedness to Prof. E. W. MacBride and the administrative officers of the College for the facilities offered there for the prosecution of the work. I have further to thank Prof. MacBride for frequent advice and for valuable suggestions made during the progress of the research. My thanks are also due, and are hereby tendered, to Dr. A. Smith Woodward and Mr. C. Tate Began, of the British Museum (Natural History), for many helpful hints and suggestions. Acknowledgments and thanks for material kindly furnished by various donors are recorded on p. 313.

Art. XXI.—The Babylonian Chronicle

1887 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 655-681
Author(s):  
Theo. G. Pinches
Keyword(s):  
British Museum ◽  
Present Writer ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
The Subject

Among the tablets acquired by the British Museum in 1884, is one of peculiar interest. It is a tablet of unbaked clay, 6⅛ in. by 7¾ in., inscribed, on both sides, with two columns of writing in the Cuneiform or wedge-character. This tablet is one of a series which must have contained, when entire, a complete chronicle of all the important events which had taken place in Babylonia, Assyria, Elam, etc., in ancient times. The text (of which a paraphrase has already been published by the present writer) begins with the reign of Nabonassar (747 B.C.), and ends with the accession of Šamas-šum-ukîn or Saosduchinos, brother of Aššur-banî-âpli (667 B.C.). The subject of this tablet was continued on others of the series, a part of one of the tablets, referring to the reign of Nabonidus and relating the capture of Babylon by Cyrus, having been acquired in 1878.

scholarly journals Repatriation in Practice: A Critical Analysis of the Repatriation of Human Remains in New Zealand Museums

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Coralie O’Hara
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
British Museum ◽  
Museum Studies ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
History Museum ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Museum Staff ◽  
Museum Practice

<p>The repatriation of human remains from museum collections is becoming increasingly common in museums around the world and particularly in New Zealand. Even the most amicable repatriation cases are complex, requiring a substantial commitment of time, energy and resources from museum staff involved in the negotiation process, to successfully overcome any issues that arise. Although it is known that the repatriation process can be challenging, the literature on the subject in museum studies and related fields focuses on the beneficial outcomes of successful negotiations, rather than explaining what difficulties can be encountered and how they can be solved. This research asks how problems in the repatriation process can be overcome to create mutually rewarding relationships between museums and others involved in the repatriation of human remains. This problem was addressed through a case study of the Karanga Aotearoa Repatriation Programme at Te Papa and three examples of their work: the Natural History Museum in Rouen, France; the British Museum in London; and the Rangitāne o Wairau iwi in New Zealand. Documentary evidence relating to these three repatriation examples was reviewed and the insights of museum staff have been captured through interviews with professionals from Karanga Aotearoa, Auckland Museum and Tairāwhiti Museum in Gisborne. Together these methods provided data that presented a more detailed and rounded picture of the current New Zealand situation regarding the repatriation of human remains. The dissertation concludes by assessing the difficulties in the practical repatriation process and how they have been overcome in New Zealand museums. I argue that repatriation practice, as an important area of museum practice in its own right, requires a flexible approach based on the principle of open-minded engagement with the perspectives of others involved in repatriation negotiations. This approach, focusing on relationships rather than transactions, is a marked departure from more traditional museum practice.</p>

scholarly journals Collections of Japanese Art in Ukraine

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2(6)) ◽  
pp. 109-123
Author(s):  
Alla Ozhoha-Maslovska
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Political System ◽  
Art Museum ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Literature Information ◽  
Professional Literature ◽  
Art Collections ◽  
Japanese Art ◽  
Post War ◽  
The 19Th Century

The stages of the formation of Japanese art collections on the territory of Ukraine from the beginning of the 19th century to the present are highlighted on the basis of archival materials, periodicals and professional literature. Information about Japanese collections of the pre-war and post-war periods are systematized, while their composition and sources of formation are determined. The influence of the socio-political system on the development of the process of collecting Japanese art in Ukraine is also analysed. The sources of the formation of collections of Japanese art in the collections of The Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts in Kyiv, Odessa Museum of Western and Oriental Arts, the Chinese Palace of “Zolochiv Castle” Museum-Reserve, as well as Kharkiv Art Museum are explored. Finally, modern tendencies in the collection of Japanese art in Ukraine are determined.

On Cyamocephalus, a new Synxiphosuran from the Upper Silurian of Lesmahago, Lanarkshire

1927 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 153-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. D. Currie
Keyword(s):  
British Museum ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Upper Silurian

The Upper Silurian rocks of Lesmahago, Lanarkshire, have long been known to contain Arthropod remains. In the Kelvin-grove Museum, Glasgow, are a number of curious forms from the Logan Water Lesmahago, which Professor McNair was good enough to allow me to examine. In the hope of solving some problems presented by them, I obtained, through the kindness of the Keeper of the Geological Department of the British Museum, the loan of a specimen from the same locality, which forms the subject of this note. Instead, however, of solving any difficulties, the specimen presented a new problem.

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