The Ashmolean Museum

Hey folks! Sorry for not posting in a while, but I've been busy being a student and whatnot. Last weekend, however, I did get a chance to get out and explore the Ashmolean Museum, so I thought I'd share my adventures with all of you.

The Ashmolean Museum

The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, as expertly summarized by Wikipedia contributors,

is the world's first university museum. Its first building was built in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities Elias Ashmole gave Oxford University in 1677.

Back in the days of antiquarianism, wealthy men like Elias Ashmole would drop loads of money on beautiful and intriguing 'curiosities.' These collections could include objects of geological, historical, zoological,or archaeological interest--basically, anything that might cause someone to say, "Why! Isn't that simply marvelous?" Archaeologists since have become much more sophisticated than that. Now, we are primarily concerned with trash and broken pots.

I think this museum's approach to archaeology is evident in the name of the museum itself: the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology. Compare this to Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. There, curators plan exhibits and choose which objects go on display with the goal of teaching the visitor more about a particular culture. In the Ashmolean, objects seem to be chosen more for their aesthetic value, with a greater emphasis being placed on teaching the visitor about historical events and chronologies. Both approaches have their merits; but, since I'm used to the anthropological approach of museums in the States, I found the Ashmolean to be a bit sterile. At times, it felt very much like walking through an art gallery.

However, this is not to say that I didn't enjoy my visit. The museum has a huge collection filled with a wide range of truly wonderful objects: Egyptian shawabtis, brilliantly-colored Greek vessels, medieval jewelry from the British Isles, paleolithic weapons, stringed instruments from the Renaissance, Japanese woodblock prints, etc. The collection represented the Eastern Hemisphere quite well through different time periods and regions. The New World, unfortunately, was largely absent. Nonetheless, I felt like I came away having learned some new things about the past, and isn't that the point?

I took quite a few pictures throughout my visit, but I'll leave you with just a few--enough to give you a good idea of what the museum is like.

A funeral pall of King Henry VII.

An etymology of 'Oxford.'

The caption reads:

About 650: A ford for the passage of oxen across the River Thames is used by people moving between Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex. It is from this local 'oxen-ford' that Oxford later derives its name. 

For comparative purposes, at this time Smoke-Imix-God K, the twelfth ruler of Copan and so-called "five katun" lord, reigned over the city.

New College made it into the Ashmolean's chronology of medieval England.

The caption reads:

1379: New College is founded by William of Wykeham, bishop of Winchester. New College and its members.

If you look closely, you can see that the image is a depiction of the front quad, facing the chapel (north). On the top, right-hand corner you can see the steps leading up to the Hall.

Skulls and Hand Axes

 Now we're talking!

English Guitars

Egyptian Canopic Jars

People's organs were in there.

Greek vessels representing mythic scenes.

None of the characters depicted on these vessels burst into gospel during my visit. Again, my Disney upbringing fills me with unrealistic expectations.

Oliver Cromwell's Death Mask

Oliver Cromwell, buried and dead. Buried and dead!

A Roman Statue of Augustus Caesar

This statue is painted as it would have appeared in antiquity. We have this very white, clean image in our minds of what Classical sculpture is supposed to look like, so at first this colorful rendition of Augustus seems pretty... comical. Really, I think its vibrancy is what makes it so powerful.

A wall-hanging of Powhatan, one of Ashmole's original 'curiosities.'

Naturally, I had to end with something American. Next stop on my museum tour will probably be the Pitt Rivers Museum of Anthropology and World Archaeology. I think that will probably suite my tastes a bit better. But for now, I'm off. Hasta pronto.
Alyce