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pottery from Tel-el-Yahoudeh, in the Delta, has for some years past been partly concealed by slabs of wood, on which are laid photographs of Roman sculpture; and access to the principal case of Egyptian Antiquities is altogether prevented by a large work-table, at which the attendant sits before the fire to do his work of ticketing, and sometimes, alas! of cleaning and polishing up the treasures of the Museum[1] Many interesting pictures, including one of Charles 1st, have within a short period been ruthlessly torn down from the walls on which they have probably hung for near upon two centuries, and I am informed that they have been packed up in boxes and stowed away in one of the Upper Chambers of the Clarendon! An outsider might be excused for supposing that the Bodleian Gallery or the Picture Gallery in the Taylor Buildings would be a more fitting receptacle for these historical relics, but this is not the view—of "the powers that be" in Oxford, and, "Dîs alitèr visum est."
The most interesting object in the Ashmolean, and that, undoubtedly, which learned foreigners would be the most likely to come to see, is the celebrated stone which bears the name of a King of the Second Egyptian dynasty—by far the oldest piece of sculpture in Europe. Will it be believed that the other day the written description appended to this venerable monument contained no less than two instances of false spelling?—it was ascribed to the "eartiest" (sic) period of Egyptian art, and amongst the list of offerings is enumerated "Insence"(sic)! Surely such a glaring instance of gross ignorance and
carelessness ought to be impossible in a Seat of Learning. Now the cause of the over-crowding of
- ↑ This polishing process ought to be forbidden altogether to one unacquainted with Archaeology. It generally means destruction of the object polished.
