Pitt Rivers Museum

We slept well and managed a light breakfast before heading off in the rain to Oxford. Our plan to park in the Pear Tree park & ride was ideal and we were soon on the bus into the centre of Oxford. First stop was at the TIC and they pointed out our destination on a map we were buying - in fact, Pitt Rivers Museum was just beyond the edge of this map, but near enough! So off we set along the route and soon arrived at the Natural History Museum which has the Pitt Rivers Museum at its rear. We were glad to get inside as it was very cold and damp outside. Lots of families were visiting the Natural History Museum, and the children were really enjoying the dinosaur skeletons on display in the light and airy glass roofed atrium.

We gradually made our way to the back and walked though the arched doorway into Pitt Rivers. It is breathtaking as you walk in as there is a panoramic view across the main floor, down ten on so steps. Display cases are crowded in below you and it is clear that they are crammed full of exhibits, all arranged by type and begging to be explored. It is just a matter of looking and noting what you are seeing, and trying not to wander in circles, but one case leads to another and everything is fascinating. 

We were having a wonderful time, when the 

urge for coffee became too great for A. But there is no cafe in PR, so we had directions from the lady in the shop, and went off to find a cafe. Across the road by the church we discovered a Maison Blanc and inside we were lucky to find a table and soon ordered coffee and sandwiches. The place was buzzing and people obviously enjoyed the experience, complete with the weekend newspapers.

 At last we were back at the museum and elected to view the exhibition - which included a coffin made by an African craftsman who makes coffins depicting anything the deceased or their family decide would be appropriate. The coffin on display was for a shopkeeper and featured panels with advertisements for the things sold in the shop. Other coffins included planes, boats, cars etc. After this we went to the upper floors, which consist of two deep galleries with views down to the ground floor and across the atrium; all filled with display cases; all stuffed with exhibits. It is an amazing place and has to be seen to appreciate the experience.




So, we had to leave and get back, reversing our bus ride to the P&R, then wending our way down the A roads and home. We watched highlights of the Royal Pageant and realised that the cold, wet weather seemed to have been everywhere - what a shame for the celebrations.

Pitt Rivers Museum

Going to the Ashmolean

Oxford is more or less on the way home from Birmingham, so we decided to park and ride into the city  to visit the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology. Situated on Beaumont Street it is a very short walk from the bus stop and we were soon at the gates, and then walking up the steps in to the historic building. Through the ever rotating doors, we were greeted with a very different interior. The historic facade gives way to the modern new building designed by architect Rick Mather - all but the Cockerell Building, Grade I-listed has been swept away. A volunteer handed us a plan and a list of key exhibits that would take us to every floor and corner, so we began our adventure.

Starting with the Lower Ground, we worked our way up the magnificent new staircase to the third floor, leaving a visit to the roof terrace and restaurant for another day.
Our highlights included Lawrence of Arabia's Ceremonial Dress, Guy Fawkes Lantern, The Shoemaker design pot, Cycladic figures, Iznic tiles, a cylindrical Japanese 'Waterfall' vase, Stradivari 'Messiah' violin, the Alfred Jewel, works by Titian, Uccello, Pissarro, Turner; but in visiting these items we saw so much more of the Museum. Impossible to see everything in a single visit, we will definitely be returning to seek out more treasures.

Powhatan's Mantle may have been aquired by John Tradescant the Younger during his travels to Virginia in 1637. It was certainly in the Tradescant collection by 1638, when Georg Cristoph Stirn  incuded a reference to 'the robe of the King of Virginia' in his account of the Ark at South Lambeth.
Despite its name, Powhatan's Mantle in not a cloak, as once believed, but probably a wall-hanging, perhaps from a place of worship. It is likely that, while hanging on a wall in the Ashmolean, shells from the lower section were removed by visitors, who kept them as souvenirs.
Early 1600s, North American (Virginia). deer skin and shell.

Jar decorated with a six-tentacled octopus and murex shells (partly restored by W.H.Young),Palace at Knossos, Crete, 1450-1400 BC, clay. Murex shells are the source for the purple-red dye, a popular colourant for textiles across the east Mediterranean.
Presented to the Museum by the Cretan Government, AN1911.608

The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology