IMPORTANT ADDITION TO THE MUSEUM.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 10954, 2 May 1901, Page 5

IMPORTANT ADDITION TO THE MUSEUM.

J RELICS OF TYRE AND SIDON.

■ An interesting addition has ju?'t been made to the Museum by th-e purchase of the whole of the late Robert Dayman's collection of Ph'-onieisn glass. It includes about 155 articles of glass, and some 20 or 30 of terra ootta, found by him between the years 1873 and 18.1 near Tyre and Sidon, and in Cyprus. Li anckaib days, owing to the quality of the sand of the neighbouring rivers, Sidon was the headquarters of glass manufacturing, aiS the finding of these articles in tho city itself, and in the neighbouring city of Tyi_, leave.', no doubt as to the genuineness of their Phoenician origin. There are a number of bowls, dishes, vases, and jars, some oi them as ancient as 300 to 400 8.C., and in the course of time ths reflection of ligu. has given them beautiful tints, which vary with the position from which they arc seen. Th-3 scent bottles are certainly of a cumbrous description, and would scarcely < fit a modern pocket, but the drug bot„_* ' and some others have the rim at the top ; seen in those of modern make. The flower i vases are also of modern shape, but in thir ■ case it is thought that the old design was ■ , lost sight of for some centuries, and returned to later. There are a number of bottles j called lachrymatories, and the story as to ' the use of thest- is interesting, even if dis- 1 ! puted. Every widow was supposed to be ' • possessed of one, and was not allowed to re- ' ■ marry until its production, full of tears, " gave practical evidence of her grief for the late departed. There are also-some ink-' i stands, some buttons, which fashion has since greatly improved upon, a Cyprus jar ; dated about 100 8.C., an alabaster ointment bottle, and a rough little carving of < someanim-l, of indefinable species. There are also to be seen a bronze bracelet from I Pompeii, and a little of the wheat from « a baker's shop in the same town. The importance of these acquisitions is 1 the greater in that they complete the former I exhibits, which consisted only of terra cotta articles, and make the collection of ancient glass in the Museum without question the best in the Southern Hemisphere. Such a collection, moreover, is exceedingly difficult to acquire, and the chance might "not occur again for years.