Oxford And The Ashmolean Museum

Coventry and our dinner date was not very far from Winchester, so we decided to spend a little time in Oxford, on the way, and specifically at the Ashmolean Museum, the museum of Oxford University. We had visited a few years back, and, alas, remembered little.

The Ashmolean

"Not another museum"!

Tea, anyone?; a giant historical collection of tea cups, saucers, services, etc.

A whole room of stringed instruments, including two Stradivarii

How to make a violin in 13 easy steps

By the time we'd seen all the paintings rooms, we remembered why we didn't
remember much from the Ashmolean...it's really more of an archaeology sort of
place than an art history sort of place; Ucello's The Hunt in the Forest is definitely
memorable, indeed the only painting in its collection that the museum promotes
among its biggies

Proof that the Mother of God was a Remainer

Thus

Anyhow, we moved on to the archaeological collections of interest, Egypt, the
classical world, prehistoric Europe...

Wine container from el-Amarna, Egypt, 12th century BCE or
thereabouts...

I checked in the Hugh Johnson Guide we keep in the camper, and the year 7 was
indeed a good vintage

Unusual classical pose

Big collection of Cyclades

And ceremonial jadeite axes

 

Alas, it would have been nicer to simply wander the
interesting streets of Oxford...but it was time to move on
to Coventry