New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-07-27

A visir ~ tur BASEMENT UF rms METROPOLITAN
MUSEUM

| BURIED TREASURES IN fkNTRfL Phhhs
A vtstt 10 rus pAsfNrNt uF ms METROPOLITAN
| MUSEUM
IN tho basement of the Metropolitan Museum 81
AIT ~ Dential rhfh there IA ATTIRE of articles ha
| Iho public haa neNpf soon and which contains mhoh
that II interesting iIsi so the lRt 10 o thtieu7
collection made hY W, IT, Huntingdon of fafs, 81
The objects relating 60 General Washington, hnhih7
mia Franklin aud Lafayette, THIS collection M
ondes ongayngs mel4otihis, aluatlnts, mihia-
lures bronzes, snutt-boxos, clocks, statuettes III
porcelain, biscuit and enameed edfthehNare
dinner plates in printed earthenware, sugar-bowis
in the same plaques IN stannllerous enamel made
at Florence in the style of tue Caiiajloo ware OF
! the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, bronze med
| ais bronze and silver tokens, engravlngs on
ivory and weavmgs in silk and thread.
! At the present time, when Washlngiohs
| birthday is public holiday, and he is universally
| looked on as the n0blOst and grandest man of his
century il Is difficult to realize that in his own day
| Benjamin Franklin the more popular man III
! Europe. The fusOme epigrams are for him. and the
Mandatory inscriptions are for HIM. lie was the rep
rcsentatlvc man of the United States at the close
of the war. In this collection there is curious
piece in biscuit Louis the XyIth, in armor aud
with the coronation robe upon his shoulders, stands
upon one sideof dIapcd table like an altar. On
the other side IS Franklin bowling aud looking OBJ
seauiouslv happy as he chances at the scroll held
| in the hand of the monarch, which is inscribed,
! The Independence of America On another
scroll held in the Kings other hand is the nscrip
ton Liberty of the Ocean, The piece is exquis-
tely modelled. and is not eXccllcd by the best
work of Worcester and SCyres in unglazcd porcelain
! bodies.
There is a cheap porcelain statuctte of Franklin
of British fabrication which Is inscribed George
| Washington. And there is a half-cngth CT the
| great General himself in euameed pottery, proha-
bly, made by the Dwights at Fulham. coarse but
strong. and an excellent likeness In a cheap
French statuette of George Washington the hero is
represented as stamping with one booted foot upon
the Union Jack and the heel Of the other boot Is
upon the neck of leopard, which is evidently in
| mortal agony as the bullying out of its eyes shows
In another statuette made by the same potter rep
! resenting George Washington and tle American
eagle there is a tablet on which are the royal arms
of England with the lion and the unicorn, and the
! eagle has broken them up with his terrible bcak
| There Is an old jug on which is printed a cup of
! Liberty with the American banner on each side.
! Under it are four lines patriotic than poetic
AS he tls your rich globe the old peasant shall tell,
While his bosom with liberty glows,
How your Warren expired, how Montgomery fell,
! And now Washington tumbled your foes"
! Two busts of Washington, made IN tho black body
| invented by Wcdgwood. and used by him for the
! first reproduction of the Portland vase, stand out
from the rest of the collection as gems OF lorclble
vet delicate modelling. There are oval medallons
| By WedgwoOd of Franklin IN differently colorcd
| bodice White upon blue, blue upon white black
upon green etc. There il also miniature by
Grcuze of the great printer, but the French artist
whilst preserving an undenable likeness has made
! Franklin "a wild and dshevelled a. a crazy poet.
! On the contrary, Franklin had tendency to SNUG
ness. On the lid of snulf-box are the heads of
VolAire aud Franklin seldom does the decGrl-
| tor err in spelling frankllnS name, but In a M
remburg cheap print published nj the time of the
! Revolution, WashlngtOus name, placed between
IycurglIs aud Cato of Utica, IS spelled Nagluton.
There IL much IN tins collection that will prove
! useful tO the historian, aud II VIII no doubt, he
welcomed by he public. The cngravlngs VIII be
mounted in cylindrical cases, FURNISHED with
! leaves bike a book.
! The ELLINGTON reproductions of the gold and
| silver plato from the imperial collection NJ the
Czar's palace of the Hermitage have now arrived
| with the exception ot few pieces of MINOR M
! portancc. These reproductions are chiefly OF "a"
sixteenth aud seventeenth centuries, nlo extremely
! mns4Vc and furnish fine specimens OF rcpouSSc
! work. Objects decorated With delicate mello and
damnsccuug could not bo we'll produced 10y tine
clcctrc ptoccss but cseu m these. enough is shown
| To give a satisfactory ldca OF the designs. The
! Grrco-Scythan god ornaments have been repro
ducrd with great pains, and the re ult shows the
extreme dinicultira ~ making lIc-SimilCA Oi hand
! made jewels IN this age of unclinery. These OBJ
/ icrts wcIo found Principally IN the tomb OF
| SrythIan KING at kic-aba IN the CrImca and will
| excite much interest among afchTologsts They
belong obviously % the archaic period. mo qnlV9f
! OF solid gold contains border on Wild ANIMALS
| which H. almost precisely similar Ia one on an
! Etrusran vino cooler. Another border Is
| a simple arrangement of the 80 called honey
| SUcklc decorations, though 1t Is probably q hghly
cOuVcntIOualIZcd palm tree, ana was originally
hcraldic symbol OF Phgnicia. The resemblance OF
TINS urcck WORK 10 ceriam Things IN the ID CeSnolL
| collection suggests that possibly archaic Ieck ant
! was PhmnicIan. The famous Scythlrn helmet OF
the collection appears To be realy ditdoIi OF
crown 1t is conicdl in shape, but opcn-worked
18th dccoTat ions of bowers and Nolutcd ornaments
more Oriental than l0nian III character. he
original is of massive gold, weighing four pounds.
| IL
! cold II does not seem like Il sword scabbard, but
rather a receptacle for heavy battIe-aXc, to be
| fastened to a saddle bow or chariot top, IL mas
! in rcponsSc hippOcampns and Wild beasts, grIfins
and lions dcyouring stag. The eternal repetition
They occur cvcrywhe here in archaic Greek art, at
time too when the rtruSCan cities had no comlnu-
nCItiOn with Greece.
| There are also numerous little gold ornaments in
the collection similar to those Jewels worn IN mems
hats in the sxtecath and preceding centuries: They
! are profoundly archaic III character, aud 10 not
! reveal in what way they were worn, though OBJ
| yOusy they served no other purpose than personal
decoration. Perhaps the most interesting OBJECT Ill
the collection il the Elcctrum cup with It's rcpOusSe
| OrnamcntaiiOn. This rs not III the least Archaic
and the Scythian figures are like the present
Bashkcir of Asia Minor. There IS also an Egyptian
| collection, including an cVIl-Smeng mummy. IL
have belonged some small Official, tor there
false beard on 1t, according to the official cti-
Gucttc but there liz little about lt that Is ATTRACTIVE
or valuable. The web or net Of beads covering the
wrapping Is badly broken. Above and below are
two Scarahal with OutstTctChcd Wings III chaultltu
straute There are numerous small objects IN tins
collection and Il series Of plaster reproductions, Ne
sldcs uumtnieS of cats and dogs, discs monkeys,
etc 1t contains also huhper ol h'duS pSlonSlhB
To other mummies The wrappingH have been re
moved and they are now objects of horror rather
than OF interest.