British Museum Top Ten Treasures

[molly bloom]

http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/topten/topten.html

If you go to the link you’ll find a site detailing what the conservators and experts at the British Museum felt were the top ten treasures in their keeping.

I saw the programme about this on Sunday and was a bit surprised, until I found out that they related only to objects or finds located within the United Kingdom, not properties sourced from abroad.

I was wondering what any non-U.K. apolytoners think of the selection, and what do they consider to be the top ten exhibits in their country’s keeping? I suspect Americans might think of the Wright Brothers pioneering aeroplane, an Apollo capsule, a copy of the Declaration of Independence, and so on. The criteria the Museum staff used seemed to be based more on what the objects could tell us about the people who used them, or the times in which they were used, which is why wooden postcards written by the garrison at Hadrian's Wall are at number one, and not some fabulous gold or silver treasure.

[lord of the mark]

Re: British Museum Top Ten Treasures

Originally posted by molly bloom

http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/topten/topten.html

I was wondering what any non-U.K. apolytoners think of the selection, and what do they consider to be the top ten exhibits in their country’s keeping? I suspect Americans might think of the Wright Brothers pioneering aeroplane, an Apollo capsule, a copy of the Declaration of Independence, and so on. The criteria the Museum staff used seemed to be based more on what the objects could tell us about the people who used them, or the times in which they were used, which is why wooden postcards written by the garrison at Hadrian's Wall are at number one, and not some fabulous gold or silver treasure.

Are we ruling out fine arts - i would tend to thing of the Museum of Modern Arts Picasso's, the Impressionists at the Bostons Museum of Fine Arts, the Greek Vases and old masters paintings at the Met, the post impressionists at the Baltimore Museum of Art, etc. We've got A LOT more in the US than Americana.

(edit - checking the link, it seems the site you list includes not the most important things the British Museum, but the most important British Treasures at the museum. Hmm. Im not sure theres real equivalent in the US - a literate society since the start of European settlement, most artifacts of less historical value and more sentimental value - a list of US historical treasures tends to be a list of symbols - the stuff that gives insight into life tends to be of interest more to professional archaeologists.)


Edit again - checking the link, and rereading your post.
I need more coffee this AM.

[duke o' york]

A quick tip to molly about posting in OT - when you're providing a link to a chart of any kind, posting what is at No 1 immediately after isn't going to make many people click on it and then comment!

I have a soft spot for the Viking chessmen I have to admit, and they'd go to the top of any chart I'd compile, but my criteria (duke reckons they're pretty cool) are very different from those used here. I also appreciate that the experts are trying to select a range of artefacts here. Just because you have two perfect examples of Viking ironwork in the collection does not mean that both should go in, to the possible loss of a lesser example of Celtic craftsmanship, for example. These artefacts should give an idea of the breadth of the collection as well as the quality.

[Urban Ranger]

Top ten? I don't even know where to begin. I suppose the terracotta soldiers will be one of them, make that entire dig to be one of them. There are lots of important discoveries too, like potteries of very early cultures, Tung Wang's wall paintings, etc.

[DinoDoc]

I'd go with the Elgin Marbles that are staying where they are.

[Bereta_Eder]

My grandfather's ring is the most valuable thing sentimentally that I posses. For Greece, I can't say, it's an immense task.

[JohnT]

I suspect Americans might think of the Wright Brothers pioneering aeroplane, an Apollo capsule, a copy of the Declaration of Independence, and so on.

Yeah, you pegged me here. I was thinking also of the first transistor, laser, and microprocessor that resides at the Smithsonian. My wife and I also went to see the Edison factory up in Menlo Park (first light bulb, first record player), and the historical value of that collection must be priceless as well.

[monolith94]

Paul Revere's work in silver is amazing art and a true american treasure.

[lord of the mark]

Tiffany glass collection at the Met?

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Originally posted by paiktis22
My grandfather's ring is the most valuable thing sentimentally that I posses.

That's so Greek. Pickled or freeze-dried?

[Bereta_Eder]

The ring not the finger. That comment was clearly a bumming deprivation syndrome effect.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
I'd go with the Elgin Marbles that are staying where they are.

No, the point is they have to originate in, or have been found in, the British Isles. Similarly if you were American, your list would have to be of things produced in America, or found in America- not things sourced from outside the country- which rules out the huge art collections at the Getty, Chicago, the Metropolitan, the Cloisters, and so on.

The experts at the British Museum chose things that told us about the users and the times they lived in, some of which were incidentally extremely valuable. So the Sutton Hoo find doesn't just tell us that the person buried was Anglo-Saxon, but also tells us of his power, tells us about trading links (the raw garnet used in the jewellery came from India), tells us about Saxon culture, and so on. I would have put Hoo first, but they chose the Vindolanda tablets.

My choices for American items would be some recent things, such as the Wright Brothers' aeroplane, the Apollo 11 module, either the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence, a Model T Ford, things that reflect the social history of the United States as well as being historic in and of themselves. It's when you get into more contentious areas of social history that the problems would start- anything from the slavery era, from the Civil War, anything to reflect large scale immigration, anything from pre-Columbian times, or the Indian wars.

[Ecthy]

I personally liked the Easter Island stone ehad the most. Forgot to take a pic with me on it though

[Bereta_Eder]

I think that if the Greek, Egyptian and what have you things are returned from the british museum, then the museum itself will have an amazingly few objects to demonstrate...

[Ecthy]

but why should they do that? Greeks failed to defend their cultural heritage so they don't deserve it.