Dear Motley Friends, London was bathed in Autumnal sunshine but a little chilly when I went to visit one of my favourite places in Bloomsbury – The British Museum.
The British Museum opened its doors in 1759. It was the world’s first national, public museum. When it opened the aim was to showcase artefacts from around the British Empire, establishing their prestige & influence. Nowadays the collection focuses on worldwide human history and culture. It has a permanent collection of eight million works – though only around 20% of its collection is on view. Over six million people visit the museum every year.
It all started with Sir Hans Sloane (1660 to 1753). Sloane was born in Ireland. After training as a doctor, he travelled to Jamaica, marrying a wealthy widow there. Much of her wealth came from sugar plantations worked by slaves. The couple returned to London and Sloane started to build his substantial collection of natural history artefacts.
When Sloane died, he said his huge collection of over 71,000 objects - books, manuscripts, drawings, coins & medals, plant specimens and others - should be sold to the British Government1. As agreed, they paid £20,000, which was well under the value of the collection. Sloane said in his will that he wanted everyone to see the collection, not just the upper classes (as was usual at the time), and the idea of a national, free Museum was conceived.
The 2nd Duke of Montagu had moved out of the no longer fashionable Bloomsbury area and was in need of money. Luckily he was able to sell the dilapidated Montagu House, to be used as the new British Museum. The building was renovated and opened to the public in 1759. Later, in the 1840s, Montagu House was demolished to make way for the present neo-classical building. The industrial advances and riches from the British Empire enabled the Victorians to build on a grand scale, reflecting their ideas of grandeur and success, and in the architecture to show a link to the Ancient Greeks & Romans.
The British Museum was opened in stages. The beautiful Round Reading Room, with space for a million books, opened in 1857. But with an accumulation of 14 million books by the1970s, it was moved to a purpose-built library, on Euston Road, in 1977. The Round Reading Room is now an exhibition space.
The 19th Century was a time for exploration and explorers brought back wonderful and rare treasures, many of which ended up at the British Museum. Some of its most famous exhibits include the Rosetta Stone, many Egyptian artefacts, mummified bodies and their coffins, and Greek treasures, including the Parthenon Sculptures and the Elgin Marbles. The British Museum financially supported many expeditions2.
The collection was so vast that the Natural History Museum was created to divide the stuff. Over time, as the British Museum filled up, houses around the museum were bought and demolished so that wings could be added.
The latest renovation at the British Museum saw the inner courtyard, a two acre space (originally a garden and later used as storage for books), opened up and covered with a vast glass roof3. The courtyard was opened in 2000, it is a splendid addition, which creates a centre to the museum.
The British Museum is a wonderful, free, place to visit. These are few of my favourite things in the museum.
Cat mummies. About 2600 BCE, Egyptians began to mummify dead humans. The practice continued and developed for well over 2,000 years. The Egyptians believed that the mummified body was the home for a person’s soul or spirit. If the body was destroyed, the spirit might be lost. All the organs were removed and kept in jars, except the brain, which was thrown away. Which if they thought the body could be reincarnated, seems a serious omission.
Along with their worldly goods, their animals were also mummified. There were a lot of mummified cats, who were revered as representatives of the Goddess Bastet. Judging from x-rays the cats were probably deliberately killed. I like their unique shrouds and funny faces. In room 62.
Sculpture of a Greek horse’s head, 438 - 432 BCE. The horse was one of two that drew the chariot of the Greek moon-goddess Selene. Selene is the sister of the sun god Helios and the dawn goddess Eos. She drives her moon chariot across the heavens every night. Selene’s Roman equivalent is Luna.
I love the noble and exquisite sculpture of this head, and how you can clearly see how exhausted he is after pulling a carriage through the night. In room 18.
The Lewis chessmen are named after the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, where they were found in 1831. They are a group of 12th-century chess pieces, along with other game pieces, most of which are carved from walrus ivory. There were several sets found, though none of the sets are complete. It is thought they belonged to a merchant trading between Norway & Ireland. I love the expressions on the chess pieces’ faces. Chess originated in India around 500 CE and came to Europe through the Islamic presence in Spain & Italy. It was one of the few pastimes where medieval men & women could play together. In room 40.
The Aztec double-headed serpent is stunning. It was made in what is now Mexico, in the 15th or 16th Century. The serpent is made of about 2,000 pieces of turquoise on a wooden base. It probably had ritual significance, being worn or carried during religious ceremonies. In room 27.
The Haida House Totem-Pole (one of two in the main courtyard) is 11-meters tall and was made in the village of Kayang, British Columbia, Canada, around 1850. It features crests – ancestral beings that mark identities and endow families with rights to stories and property.
The totem-pole is a sad reminder of the destruction wrought by the Europeans on the American continent. Europeans now wander around the pole, unaware of the tragedy it represents. European explorers and settlers spread infectious diseases to the Northwest Coast people, who since they had little immunity died in their hundreds. Many who died were elderly leaders, which led to a destabilised society. By 1885 Kayang had been abandoned. Haida Chief Wiah sold the Kayang totem-pole to a doctor around 1900, who then sold it to the British Museum.
The totem-pole4 above shows the chief at the top with a talking-stick, a sea-grizzly (sea monster), a shaman holding two rattles made of puffin beaks, a large whale and a sea-grizzly between the fins of a killer whale. Riding on the sea-grizzly’s head is a small human figure.
Finally, I love the British Museum shop. It has some wonderful replicas, especially jewellery, and is a great place to find an original present, or quality souvenirs. What better way to remember your trip than a pair of replica Roman pearl earrings? The best gift shop is just by the main entrance. There is also a splendid bookshop5.
The British Museum website is excellent. You can take a virtual tour of the rooms, and I particularly liked the section giving a potted history of some of the people who have contributed to the museum’s collection.
The museum is open every day, details are here. Get there early as it gets busy and there can be a long queue for security to check your bag. It is free but I suggest you pay for a map, as it is easy to get lost. It is a great place to spend the day, and there are some good kids’ activities, including object trails. Though the food is not great, there are cafes & restaurants nearby. I hope you are inspired to visit when you are in London but if not, you can explore the inside of the museum in the Google Arts & Culture virtual map.
As always, any links are provided to give the reader more information. I do not make any money from these links. Where possible permissions have been sought for the use of images and text, unless they are in the Public Domain. If there is an issue with copyright, please contact me. I am an amateur historian covering a wide range of subjects. I do careful research using secondary sources (books, articles, videos and a little bit of Wikipedia). If there are any mistakes I apologise and please let me know.
A significant proportion of Sloane’s collection later became the foundation for the Natural History Museum and his 40,000 books and 7000 manuscripts became the foundation of the British Library. Sloane also gave the Society of Apothecaries the land with the Chelsea Physic Garden.
Dear gentle reader, I write light-hearted articles and avoid politics or controversy. But I acknowledge the British Museum is full of objects that were acquired in dubious circumstances, mostly in the 18th & 19th Centuries. Many of the countries whose treasures ended up in the British Museum want their treasures back. The museum has a webpage addressing the concerns of the contested objects. It makes for interesting reading, and a lesson in colonial arrogance.
It is the largest covered courtyard in Europe.
They use a cherry picker to clean the totem poles once a year. It takes three conservators eight hours a night, for six nights, to clean the poles and check them for signs of deterioration.
Sadly, this review is not sponsored.