The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane. The museum first opened to the public on 15 January 1759 in Montagu House in Bloomsbury, on the site of the current museum building. Its expansion over the following two and a half centuries was largely a result of an expanding British colonial footprint and has resulted in the creation of several branch institutions, the first being the British Museum (Natural History) in South Kensington in 1887. Some objects in the collection, most notably the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon, are the objects of intense controversy and of calls for restitution to their countries of origin.
Until 1997, when the British Library (previously centred on the Round Reading Room) moved to a new site, the British Museum was unique in that it housed both a national museum of antiquities and a national library in the same building. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and as with all other national museums in the United Kingdom it charges no admission fee. Since 2002 the director of the museum has been Neil MacGregor.
Departments
Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan
Egyptian antiquities have formed part of the British Museum collection ever since its foundation in 1753 after receiving 160 Egyptian objects from Sir Hans Sloane. After the defeat of the French forces under Napoleon at the Battle of the Nile in 1801, the Egyptian antiquities collected were confiscated by the British army and presented to the British Museum in 1803. These works, which included the famed Rosetta Stone, were the first important group of large sculptures to be acquired by the Museum. Thereafter, the UK appointed Henry Salt as consul in Egypt who amassed a huge collection of antiquities. Most of the antiquities Salt collected were purchased by the British Museum and the Musée du Louvre. By 1866 the collection consisted of some 10,000 objects. Antiquities from excavations started to come to the Museum in the later 19th century as a result of the work of the Egypt Exploration Fund under the efforts of E.A. Wallis Budge. The collection stood at 57,000 objects by 1924. Active support by the Museum for excavations in Egypt continued to result in useful acquisitions throughout the 20th century until changes in antiquities laws in Egypt led to the suspension of policies allowing finds to be exported. The size of the Egyptian collections now stands at over 110,000 objects.
In autumn 2001 the eight million objects forming the Museum's permanent collection were further expanded by the addition of six million objects from the Wendorf Collection of Egyptian and Sudanese Prehistory. These were donated by Professor Fred Wendorf of Southern Methodist University in Texas, and comprise the entire collection of artefacts and environmental remains from his excavations between 1963 and 1997. They are in the care of the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan.
Key highlights of the collections include:
- The Rosetta Stone (196 BC)
- The Battlefield Palette, (circa ~3500 to 3000 BC).
- Limestone statue of a husband and wife (1300 BC)
- Colossal bust of Ramesses II, the "Younger Memnon" (1250 BC)
- Colossal red granite statue of Amenhotep III (1350 BC)
- Colossal head from a statue of Amenhotep III (1350 BC)
- Colossal limestone bust of Amenhotep III (1350 BC)
- Saite Sarcophagus of Satsobek
- Mummy of 'Ginger' which dates to about 3300 BC
- List of the kings of Egypt from the Temple of Ramesses II (1250 BC)
- Limestone false door of Ptahshepses (2380 BC)
- Granite statue of Senwosret III (1850 BC)
- Mummy of Cleopatra from Thebes (100 AD)
- Amarna tablets (Collection of 95 out of 382 tablets found, second greatest in the world after the Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin (203 tablets) (1350 BC)
- Obelisk of Pharaoh Nectanebo II (360–343 BC)
- Gayer-Anderson cat
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Room 4 - The Rosetta Stone, 196 BC, key to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs. -
Room 4 - Three black granite statues of the pharaoh Sesotris III, c.1850 BC -
Room 4 - Colossal statue of Amenhotep III, c.1370 BC -
Room 4 - Three black granite statues of the goddess Sakhmet, c.1400 BC -
Great Court - Colossal quartzite statue of Amenhotep III, c.1350 BC -
Room 4 -
Room 4
Department of Greece and Rome
The Cycladic, Minoan and Mycenaean cultures are represented, and the Greek collection includes important sculpture from the Parthenon in Athens, as well as elements of two of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesos.
The Department also houses one of the widest-ranging collections of Italic and Etruscan antiquities and extensive groups of material from Cyprus. The collections of ancient jewellery and bronzes, Greek vases and Roman glass and silver are particularly important.
Key highlights of the collections include:
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- Athenian Akropolis
- The Parthenon Gallery (Elgin Marbles)
- Erechtheion
- One of six remaining Caryatids
- Surviving Column
- Athena Nike
- Surviving Frieze Slabs
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- Bassae Sculptures
- Twenty three surviving blocks of the frieze from the interior of the temple are exhibited on an upper level.
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- Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
- One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
- Two colossal free-standing figures identified as Maussollos and his wife Artemisia.
- Part of an impressive horse from the chariot group adorning the summit of the Mausoleum
- The Amazonomachy frieze - A long section of relief frieze showing the battle between Greeks and Amazons
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- Temple of Artemis at Ephesos
- One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
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- Asia Minor
- Nereid Monument
- Partial reconstruction of the Monument, a large and elaborate Lykian tomb from the site of Xanthos in south-west Turkey
- Payava Tomb from Xanthos in south west Turkey
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- Wider Museum Collection
- Material from the Palace of Knossos
- Portland Vase
- The Warren Cup
- Discus-thrower (Discobolos)
- Towneley Sculptures
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Room 18 - Parthenon statuary from the east pediment and Metopes from the south wall -
Room 19 - Caryatid and Corinthian column from the Erechtheion, Acropolis of Athens, 421 BC -
Room 20 - Tomb of Payava, Lycia, 360 BC -
Room 22 - Column from the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, early 4th century, BC -
Room 22 - Apollo kitharoidos (holding a lyre), Roman, circa 2nd century AD -
The famous version of the 'Crouching Venus', Roman, circa 1st century AD -
Room 22 - Roman marble copy of the famous 'Spinario (Boy with Thorn)', circa 1st century AD -
Room 84 - Towneley Roman Sculptures
Department of the Middle East
The collections represent the civilisations of the ancient Near East and its adjacent areas. These include Mesopotamia, Persia, the Arabian Peninsula, Anatolia, the Caucasus, parts of Central Asia, Syria, Palestine and Phoenician settlements in the western Mediterranean from the prehistoric period until the beginning of Islam in the 7th century. The collection includes six iconic winged human-headed statues from Nimrud and Khorsabad. Stone bas-reliefs, including the famous Royal Lion Hunt relief's (Room 10), that were found in the palaces of the Assyrian kings at Nimrud and Nineveh. The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh and Sumerian treasures found in Royal Cemetery's at Ur of the Chaldees.
The earliest Mesopotamian objects to enter the collection were purchased by the British Museum in 1772 from Sir William Hamilton. The Museum also acquired at this early date a number of sculptures from Persepolis. The next significant addition (in 1825) was from the collection of Claudius James Rich. The collection was dramatically enlarged by the excavations of A. H. Layard at the Assyrian sites of Nimrud and Nineveh between 1845–1851.
Although the collections centre on Mesopotamia most of the surrounding areas are well-represented. The Achaemenid collection was enhanced with the addition of the Oxus Treasure in 1897, by acquisition from the German scholar Ernst Herzfeld, and then by the work of Sir Aurel Stein. From Palmyra there is a large collection of nearly forty funerary busts, acquired in the 19th century. A group of stone reliefs from the excavations of Max von Oppenheim at Tell Halaf, purchased in 1920. More excavated material from the excavations of Max Mallowan at Chagar Bazar and Tell Brak in 1935–1938, and from Woolley at Alalakh in the years just before and after the Second World War. The collection of Palestinian material was strengthened with the acquisition in 1980 of around 17,000 objects found at Lachish by the Wellcome-Marston expedition of 1932–1938.
A representative selection, including the most important pieces, are on display in 13 galleries and total some 4500 objects. The remainder form the study collection which ranges in size from beads to large sculptures. They include approximately 130,000 cuneiform tablets from Mesopotamia.
The museum's collection of Islamic art, including archaeological material, numbers about 40,000 objects, one of the largest of its kind in the world. As such, it contains a broad range of Islamic pottery, paintings, tiles, metalwork, glass, seals, and inscriptions.
Key highlights of the collections include: Nimrud:
Alabaster bas-reliefs from:
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Sculptures:
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- Nineveh:
Alabaster bas-reliefs from:
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Royal Library of Ashurbanipal:
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Room 10 - Human Headed Winged Bulls from Khorsabad, companion pieces in the Musée du Louvre -
Room 52 - The Cyrus Cylinder; is regarded by many as the world’s first documented charter of human rights -
Room 52 - A chariot from the Oxus Treasure, most important surviving collection of Achaemenid Persian metalwork, circa 5th to 4th century BC -
Room 56 - The famous 'Ram in a Thicket' figure, from Ur, circa 2600 BC -
Room 56 - The famous Babylonian 'Queen of the Night relief' of the goddess Ishtar, circa 1790 BC -
Room 56 - The famous 'Standard of Ur' figure, from Ur, circa 2600 BC -
Room 55 - Cuneiform Collection, including the Epic of Gilgamesh -
Room 6 - Depiction of the hypocrite, Jehu, King of Israel on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, Nimrud, circa 827 BC
Department of Prints and Drawings
The Department of Prints and Drawings holds the national collection of Western Prints and Drawings. It ranks as one of the largest and best print room collections in existence alongside the Albertina in Vienna, the Paris collections and the Hermitage. The holdings are easily accessible to the general public in the Study Room, unlike many such collections. The Department also has its own exhibition gallery in Room 90, where the displays and exhibitions change several times a year.Since its foundation in 1808 the Prints and Drawings collection has grown to international renown as one of the richest and most representative collections in the world. There are approximately 50,000 drawings and over two million prints. The collection of drawings covers the period from the 14th century to the present, and includes many works of the highest quality by the leading artists of the European schools. The collection of prints covers the tradition of fine printmaking from its beginnings in the 15th century up to the present, with near complete holdings of most of the great names before the 19th century.
There are magnificent groups of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, (including his only surviving full-scale cartoon), Dürer (a collection of 138 drawings is one of the finest in existence), Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt, Claude and Watteau, and largely complete collections of the works of all the great printmakers including Dürer (99 engravings, 6 etchings and most of his 346 woodcuts), Rembrandt and Goya. More than 30,000 British drawings and watercolours include important examples of work by Hogarth, Sandby, Turner, Girtin, Constable, Cotman, Cox, Gillray, Rowlandson and Cruikshank, as well as all the great Victorians. There are about a million British prints including more than 20,000 satires and outstanding collections of works by William Blake and Thomas Bewick The great eleven volume Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum compiled between 1870 and 1954 is the definitive reference work for the study of British Satirical prints. Over 500,000 objects from the department are now on the online collection database, many with high quality images.
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Leonardo da Vinci - Profile of a warrior in helmet (c. 1472) -
Michelangelo - Studies of a reclining male nude: Adam in the fresco 'The Creation of Man' on the vault of the Sistine Chapel (c. 1511) -
Raphael - Study of a Sibyl (recto) (c. 1512-12) -
Titian - Drowning of the Pharaoh's Host in the Red Sea (1515-17) -
Rembrandt - The Lamentation at the Foot of the Cross (1634-35) -
Rubens - Sir Théodore de Mayerne, a portrait drawing (c. 1630)
Department of Prehistory and Europe
The Department of Prehistory and Europe is responsible for collections that cover a vast expanse of time and geography. It includes the some of the earliest objects made by humans 2 million years ago; the art and archaeology of Europe from the earliest times to the present day, including the history of Britain under Roman occupation. It also includes the national collection of horology. In particular, the British Museum’s collections covering the period AD 300 to 1100 are among the largest and most comprehensive in the world, extending from Spain to the Black Sea and from North Africa to Scandinavia.Key highlights of the collections include:
- The Sutton Hoo treasure
- The Lewis chessmen
- The Ringlemere Cup
- Vindolanda Tablets
- Lycurgus Cup
- Royal Gold Cup
- Holy Thorn Reliquary
- Franks Casket
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Room 2 - Handaxe, Lower Palaeolithic, Olduvai Gorge, circa 1.2 million years -
Room 3 - Swimming Reindeer carving, France, Ice-Age 13,000 years (both one of the world's oldest works of art, as well as the oldest work of art in the British Museum's collection) -
Room 2 - Ain Sakhri lovers, from the cave of Ain Sakhri, near Bethlehem, 11,000 years old (oldest known representation of two people engaged in sexual intercourse) -
Room 51 - Mold gold cape, North Wales, Bronze Age, c. 1900-1600 BC (one of the finest examples of prehistoric sheet-gold working) -
Room 49 - Hinton St Mary Mosaic, Roman Britian, circa 4th century (one of the earliest representations of Christ and the only such portrait on a mosaic floor from anywhere in the Roman Empire) -
Room 2 - Sutton Hoo helmet, Angle-Saxon, early 7th century AD -
Room 40 - Royal Gold Cup or Saint Agnes Cup, c. AD 1370-80 (generally agreed to be the outstanding surviving example of late medieval French plate) -
Room 45 - Holy Thorn Reliquary, Paris, c. AD 1390s
Department of Asia
Main article: The British Museum Department of Asia
The scope of the Department of Asia is extremely broad, its
collections of over 75,000 objects covers the material culture of the
whole Asian continent (from East, South, Central and South-East Asia)
and from the Neolithic up to the present dayKey highlights of the collections include:
- The most comprehensive collection of sculpture from the Indian subcontinent in the world, including the celebrated Buddhist limestone reliefs from Amaravati
- An outstanding collection of Chinese antiquities, paintings, and porcelain, lacquer, bronze, jade, and other applied arts
- A fine collection of Buddhist paintings from Dunhuang and the Admonitions Scroll by Chinese artist Gu Kaizhi (344–406 AD)
- The most comprehensive collection of Japanese pre-20th century art in the Western world
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Amravati Sculptures, 1st century BC and 3rd century AD -
Painting by Chinese artist Gu Kaizhi, c. 380 AD -
Painting by Chinese artist Gu Kaizhi, c. 380 AD -
Portrait of Ibrâhîm 'Âdil Shâh II (1580–1626), Mughal Empire of India, 1615 AD -
A Hamsa sacred swan vessel made of crystal, from Gandhara, 1st century AD
Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas
The British Museum houses one of the world's greatest and most comprehensive collections of Ethnographic material from Africa, Oceania and the Americas, representing the cultures of indigenous peoples throughout the world. Over 350,000 objects spanning two million years tells the story of the history of man, from three major continents and many rich and diverse cultures.The Sainsbury African Galleries display 600 objects from the greatest permanent collection of African arts and culture in the world. The three permanent galleries provide a substantial exhibition space for the Museum's African collection comprising over 200,000 objects. A curatorial scope that encompasses both archaeological and contemporary material, including both unique masterpieces of artistry and objects of everyday life.
Highlights of the African collection include the Benin Bronzes, a magnificent brass head of a Yoruba ruler from Ife, Nigeria; Asante goldwork from Ghana and the Torday collection of Central African sculpture, textiles and weaponry.
The Americas collection mainly consists of 19th and 20th century items although the Inca, Aztec, Maya and other early cultures are well represented; collecting of modern artefacts is ongoing.
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Room 24 - The Wellcome Trust Gallery with Hoa Hakananai'a in the centre -
Otobo masquerade
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