Clik here to view.
Portland vase
This vase is one of the most famous objects in the Museum as well as one of the most famous examples of cameo-glass vessel from antiquity. To make such vessels requires great skill and technical...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pegasus vase
THIS VASE IS made of jasper ware, a type of unglazed stoneware that can be stained with colour before firing. Josiah Wedgwood (1730-95) perfected the technique by 1775, after a number of experiments.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Casket depicting the Adoration of the Magi
This gilded casket was made in France in around ad 1200 and shows a scene from the New Testament on the front of the casket depicting the journey of the Magi to Bethlehem and their Adoration of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Geometric krater painted with a couple and a ship with oarsmen
This KRATER (wine-mixing bowl) is decorated with a scene of a couple standing beside a ship. The scene clearly seems to portray a leave-taking and has been interpreted as a mythological scene, possibly...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rock crystal skull
LARGE QUARTZ CRYSTAL skulls such as this began to surface in public and private collections during the second half of the nineteenth century. Some of them have been attributed to the work of Aztec,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
‘Seal of God’ from Dr John Dee’s magic set
THE BRITISH MUSEUM has a number of objects associated with the Elizabethan mathematician, astrologer and magician John Dee (1527-1608/9). Dee was one of the most learned men of his time, but later in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Piranesi vase
THIS VASE WAS restored by the celebrated Italian architect and engraver Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-78). Piranesi, better known for his architectural views of ancient and modern Rome aimed at the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Colossal marble foot
THIS COLOSSAL R I G H T foot originally belonged to a statue several times larger than life-size. In antiquity this scale was only used for images of gods and emperors. Although the statue from which...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Swimming reindeer carved from the tip of a mammoth tusk
THIS CARVING IN the form of two reindeer is one of the most beautiful pieces of Stone Age art ever found. The reindeer are depicted with their noses up and antlers back, apparently in the act of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Stone handaxe
THIS small handaxe is one of the most beautiful in the British Museum. It is made from quartz with attractive amethyst banding, a difficult material from which to make tools because it is extremely...
View Article