British Museum and Sky Garden - Jellen's Adventures

We planned an afternoon museum visit but the morning email notice advised the museum was closing early because of the heat.

ALL museums in the UK are FREE but you need a time ticket because of crowds. FREE to these amazing structures of history, knowledge, artifacts and learning. FREE!!! We are truly impressed!!!!

The British Museum is world class. It has been around for 250 years. Inside there are 95 exhibit rooms with history and artifacts from all over the world. You are invited to immerse yourself in two million years of human history, art and culture.

A short efficient queue and upon entering we were greeted by a lovely volunteer that asked for a small donation of 5 BP’s and we gladly obliged. She advised on the map of the three floors included a quick must see guide for a day visit. With that we were off to see the highlights. It was already getting warm inside with no AIRCON and a flow of visitors entering. We’re not sure how to best capture post highlights but we will try.

The Tudor Heart Pendant found near Birmingham by metal-detectorist Charlie Clarke in December 2019, the Tudor Heart Pendant was reported to The Portable Antiquities Scheme, managed by the British Museum. Dates back to 1518.

Prayer nuts were a new art form around 1500: beads of boxwood, made of turned wood, which fit neatly in the hand.

They were hollowed out, hinged and set with tiny carved devotional scenes, which would be revealed on opening the nut.

The carver used a slot at the top or side to undercut details, or work almost three-dimensional elements from the back.

Unfolding the nut was in itself an act of prayer. Nuts could be hung on a string of prayer beads. Perfume placed in the openwork casing enhanced their appeal and value as luxury accessories.

This library collected by King George III was given to the British Nation by his Majesty George IV.

AD MDCCCXXIII (1823)

A incredible highlight of the collection is the Rosetta Stone. The Rosetta Stone is a made of granodiorite and is inscribed with three versions of a decree issued 196BC during the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt. The top and middle texts are in Ancient Egyptian using hieroglyphic and demotic scripts, respectively, while the bottom is in Ancient Greek. The decree has only minor differences across the three versions, making the Rosetta Stone key to deciphering the Egyptian scripts

A close up

Getting past this incredible place brought us to more statues and history

Fluted bowl supported on two griffin’s legs and a central column springing from a floral ball. Oval platform below supported by six blocks carved with grotesque heads. Made up from a variety of unconnected ancient fragments and modern additions in the workshop of Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-78). According to Piranesi, from the villa of the Roman Emperor Hadrian at Tivoli.

A room of Egyptian history of Pharaohs and Wars dating back thousands of years

As you can see the inside temps are rising as seas of people arrive

Time to find the exhibit of clocks We have a “thing” for clocks

Monumental carillon clock, 1589. This spectacular clock is based on the cathedral clock in Strasbourg, also made by Habrecht and still there today. Every hour it plays music: Vater Unser (‘Our Father’), written by Martin Luther. At the top are figures on four levels.

On the highest level are Christ and Death, the latter striking the hours. Below, the Four Ages of Man strike the quarter-hours. Next, angels process before a seated Madonna and Child when the music plays. Below, a carousel shows the days of the week, each represented by its ruling planet.

There are three dials on the front. At the top is a 24-hour dial and in the middle is a dial showing quarter-hours and minutes. The lower dial is an annual calendar naming saints’ days and feast days.

Clock making became widespread and sophisticated in France, Flanders and Holland in this period. The clocks were small in scale, made for wealthy patrons eager to have the latest technology in their residences.

Clockmakers established guilds in cities where the trade flourished. Upheavals in Europe had a direct bearing on the development of English clockmaking. Religious persecution caused many Protestant clock and watchmakers to emigrate from France and the Low Countries. Many settled in London and Geneva, where they played an important part in establishing the crafts.

Vertical table clock, about 1580

This is one of only three surviving clocks made by Queen Elizabeth I’s clockmaker, Bartholomew Newsam. Although he was English, the clock shows a strong French influence. It has a ‘going’ mechanism and a ‘striking’ mechanism mounted one above the other, in the French style. The engraved decoration is after designs by the French engraver Etienne Delaune. It was almost certainly carried out in London and the execution is unsophisticated. In the side of the case a small door allows the owner to see the state of wind of the clock. The hand is not original and curiously, the decoration in the centre of the dial is upside down.

So many clocks so little time

Scientific instruments

Our system of time is based on the Our system of time is based on the day, one rotation of the Earth.

We observe this as the apparent motion of the sun or stars, which we can measure with scientific instruments to give the time.

We might call them “timefinders”

Clocks and watches have ingenious mechanisms to keep time, but they still need to be set. Timekeepers therefore once relied on timefinders like those seen here.

The medieval European chess set reflected the order of feudal society. It shows kings with swords across their laps, queens resting their chins in their hands, bishops dressed for Mass, knights on horseback and infantrymen (rooks) on foot. The queens adopt a dignified pose probably based on contemporary representations of the Virgin Mary. The rooks biting their shields depict fictional heroes of great ferocity known from Norse saga as Berserkers.

Chess originated in India around AD 500 and came to Europe through the Islamic presence in southern Spain and Italy. This set is from 1150-1200

A walk through Roman and Celtic exhibition and a few fabulous favorites

You can imagine the temps in the museum were stifling, way too peoply and our museum absorption rate near full.

Plus we were a wee bit peckish. The British Museum is truly an amazing gift to the people and visitors of London snd and a must see.

We looked across the street to find an umbrella shop. We haven’t seen a drop of rain. We’re experiencing the hottest summer in the UK in 52 years. Jeff thinks sunbrellas would be a good marketing switch for the time being. The only smirked at his comment.

The day could not have ended more perfect with a black taxi ride back to the Wilde for a lil rest up before we had our reservation for wine and appetizers at the Sky garden.