CLASSICAL, BYZANTINE AND ROMANESQUE PERIODS IN Cases A-E have been placed Mr. Morgan's collection of CLASSICAL ANTIQUITIES. Of these by far the most numerous are the ancient BRONZES, which number in all ninety-four pieces. They consist not only of statuettes, but of all manner of household articles and utensils, such as lamps, mirrors, vases, horsetrappings, strigils, ladles, weights, and ornaments from couches, thus illustrating the manifold uses to which bronze was put in antiquity. Such utensils are not only interesting on account of the light they throw on the daily life and customs of the ancients, but because each is an artistic product in itself. For it is one of the distinguishing traits of antiquity that the decorative instinct pervaded all classes of the community, and was shared alike by the simple artisans and the sculptors and painters. The majority of these bronzes belong to the Roman These have been catalogued by Cecil H. Smith in a large folio volume, fully illustrated. Case A Case B period; but the earlier periods are also represented, occasionally by examples of the first order. In Case A have been assembled a few EGYPTIAN BRONZES, all dating from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. The most important is a large statuette of a Seated Cat, in splendid preservation and of good execution. The bronzes of GREEK WORKMANSHIP will be found chiefly in Case B. The earliest is a remarkable little group of a Centaur and man (perhaps to be identified with Pholos greeting Herakles), dating from about the eighth century B. C. It is of very primitive style, but of great importance on account of the rarity both of grouped statuettes and of mythological scenes at so early a period. The base has on its under side a number of engraved lines and a zigzag pattern in openwork, so that the group probably served as a seal. A beautiful example of Greek archaic art (sixth century B. C.) is the statuette of a galloping Centaur about to throw a peculiar object which he holds in both hands. The modelling shows great vigor, and the rapid forward motion is admirably represented. Other important pieces are a fifth-century mirror supported on a stand in the shape of a female figure, of good workmanship and rare completeness; the cover of a mirror decorated with a charming toilet scene; a remarkable figure of a draped warrior, of the sixth century B. C.; the handle |