To mark the Great Court’s 20th birthday, we’ve rounded up everything you ever wanted to know about this iconic space – from famous faces who have passed through to how many blue whales would make up the weight of the roof.
There are 55 posts tagged British Museum collection ().
31 May 2020
Dreaming of a day out? Join us as we take you on a virtual whistle-stop tour of some London sights through the prints and drawings collections.
7 May 2020
Journey back over 2,600 years with curator Gareth Brereton as we visit the Assyrian capital city of Nineveh. Discover the sights, shopping destinations, entertainment and local delicacies not to be missed (and the areas to steer clear of).
27 April 2020
Janina Ramirez reveals four special objects that we couldn’t fit into our upcoming BBC Museums in Quarantine episode, and ponders how the events of 2020 might be remembered by historians of the future.
14 April 2020
Need a change of scenery? Join us as we set off around the world to take in a baker’s dozen of delightful landscapes.
9 April 2020
We all need a little inspiration sometimes, especially while we’re stuck inside. We asked Museum staff to share their inspirational stories and powerful objects from the collection (and beyond) – we hope they inspire you too.
8 April 2020
Newly appointed Trustee Mary Beard introduces you to her top five objects in the collection, and reveals a moment in the Museum that started her journey to becoming Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge
19 September 2019
Curator Alexandra Green takes a look at the life and collections of Sir Stamford Raffles, highlighting his collecting practices in Southeast Asia and his contested legacy.
2 August 2019
The way the Museum collects today is incredibly varied – sometimes objects enter the collection directly, in other instances they have passed through different owners, sometimes over a long period of time, before finally coming to the Museum. This blog looks at six key objects from the Collecting histories trail and charts their journey to the Museum.
4 October 2018
King Ashurbanipal might have been a fearsome warrior but he was also a keen gardener! We take a look at how the Assyrian kings created a slice of paradise on earth with their exotic botanical gardens.
23 February 2018
Ben Alsop, Curator of the Citi Money Gallery at the British Museum, looks at objects in the collection relating to the female suffrage movement.
9 October 2017
Playwright, producer and director Patricia Cumper is also a British Museum Trustee. Here, she looks at what Black History Month has meant to her, and how the British Museum can help to tell these stories to the world.
28 September 2017
Know your ode from your elegy? Your spondee from your dactyl? Then take a look at some of the poetry found within the Museum.
27 September 2017
Iszi Lawrence talks to Julianne Phippard, the British Museum’s first preventative conservator. They discuss how the Museum keeps the collection safe from pests, light, and chemicals and even gives you some top tips for saving a mobile phone that you’ve dropped in the toilet.
27 September 2017
Historian and broadcaster Dan Snow takes us behind the scenes of the Museum’s latest exhibition.
25 September 2017
Curator Irving Finkel may have joined the wrong department to look after the Lewis Chessmen, but that hasn’t stopped him writing a book on them, and having a surprising connection to a film about a certain boy wizard.
18 September 2017
Curator Sarah Vowles takes a closer look at a spectacular Florentine Renaissance drawing recently acquired by the Museum.
14 September 2017
Curator St John Simpson gives us a glimpse behind the scenes of some of the many steps that go into producing a major exhibition on a large scale.
11 September 2017
Senior Curator Judith Swaddling uncovers the ancient Greek origins of the long-distance endurance race, revealing the original ‘marathon runner’.
5 September 2017
Sarah Jaffray, Project Officer for the Bridget Riley Art Foundation, talks about how drawing is enjoying a renaissance among art students, in part thanks to the Museum’s fascinating collection.
1 September 2017
British Museum Scientist Joanne Dyer talks about the new scientific techniques that are casting ancient objects in a new light.
30 August 2017
Millions of Muslims make the journey to Mecca each year. Here are a few of the key things you should know about this incredible pilgrimage.
29 August 2017
Iszi Lawrence talks to Historian James Delbourgo all about his new biography of Hans Sloane, Collecting the World. They discuss Sloane’s pursuit of ‘universal knowledge’, how he contributed to the founding of the British Museum and his association with the slave trade.
21 August 2017
As a solar eclipse crosses the United States on 21 August 2017, Curator Jonathan Taylor takes a look at what the Babylonians thought of this celestial phenomenon.
11 August 2017
The Great Shrine of Amaravati was one of the most important Buddhist monuments in the world. Curator Imma Ramos explains the long history of this sacred site, and how we’re using new technology to help people find out about the people who funded its construction.
3 August 2017
Curator Naomi Speakman explores the fantastical world of medieval bestiaries and the mythical creatures found within.
31 July 2017
Ever wanted to take your favourite British Museum object home? Daniel Pett explains how the Museum is using pioneering 3D printing technology to produce replicas of some of its most iconic objects.
21 July 2017
Curator St John Simpson explores how the Museum’s collection of postcards from the port city of Aden in Yemen capture snapshots of social history.
19 July 2017
The Museum’s objects from Egypt span from prehistory to the present. In 2016 the modern Egypt project was launched to bring the collection into the 21st century. Objects from housewares and everyday items to ephemera and photographs can tell stories about historical, economic and cultural developments in Egypt over the past century.
15 July 2017
Ilona Regulski is Curator of Egyptian Written Culture at the British Museum. This includes looking after one of the most iconic objects in the world! Here, she shares what she has learnt since becoming the latest custodian of the Rosetta Stone.
14 July 2017
You’ve probably heard of the Rosetta Stone. It’s one of the most famous objects in the British Museum, but what actually is it? Take a closer look…
7 July 2017
Our Director Hartwig Fischer reflects on his first year here, and presents a new vision for the Museum’s collection in the 2016–2017 Annual Review.
3 July 2017
Assistant Collections Manager George Benson talks about hoisting the Rainbow Flag over the British Museum for Pride, and why its importance isn’t just restricted to LGBTQ people.
30 June 2017
Dora Thornton, Curator of Renaissance Collections, details how Queen Elizabeth I used her portrait to manipulate her public and private image.
23 June 2017
Museum Archivist Francesca Hillier takes us through the fascinating history of the first building to house the British Museum’s collection, Montagu House.
13 June 2017
Curator of horology Oli Cooke takes a closer look at a beautiful 17th-century clock that presents a novel way to tell the time in the middle of the night.
10 June 2017
Traditional Japanese woodblock prints are renowned for their exquisite detail and colour. Curator Alfred Haft reveals how the skilled block cutter and printer helped to create these beautiful works of popular art.
31 May 2017
Julia Farley, Curator of British and European Iron Age Collections, joins Iszi Lawrence to examine the early years of the Roman conquest, when allegiances were shifting rapidly. Highlighting extraordinary objects and fascinating characters, Julia and Iszi’s discussion brings the period to life.
31 May 2017
London’s history has always been closely connected to the River Thames, one of the UK’s longest and deepest rivers. On London History Day, Jennifer Wexler, Digital Research Project Producer, dredges up some of the fascinating objects found in this famous river.
21 May 2017
As the Frome Hoard is voted the nation’s top Treasure find of the last 20 years by Telegraph readers, Sam Moorhead, Finds Adviser for the Portable Antiquities Scheme, takes a look back at this remarkable discovery and how its legacy continues today.
17 May 2017
Desire, love, identity is a small exhibition that draws selectively from across the breadth of the Museum’s vast collection to highlight LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) histories that have until recently been overlooked or underrepresented in museums and galleries.
3 May 2017
2017 marks the 70th anniversary of Indian independence, and the emergence of India and Pakistan as independent nation states and is also the India-UK Year of Culture. To celebrate this, the British Museum is presenting a season bringing together different activity in London and across the UK, celebrating the many cultures of South Asia.
29 April 2017
For International Tabletop Day 2017, British Museum curator Irving Finkel challenged YouTuber Tom Scott to a round of the oldest playable board game in the world – The Royal Game of Ur – a game Irving discovered and deciphered the rules to himself.
18 April 2017
Museum Archivist Francesca Hillier explains how the collection got too big for one institution, and why you won’t find dinosaurs in Bloomsbury.
10 April 2017
The statue of King Idrimi arrived at the British Museum in 1939. The inscription that stretches across the front of the statue is now recognised as one of the 20 most important cuneiform documents ever found. James Fraser, Project Curator, Middle East Department, discusses the importance of Idrimi’s story, and how new scanning techniques are allowing us unravel the inscription in more detail.
1 April 2017
Take a closer look at five fakes, forgeries and things designed to fool in the Museum’s collection. Only a fool would fail to read this…
30 March 2017
Thomas Hockenhull tells the story of an ordinary British penny of Edward VII, that was made extraordinary by a simple act of vandalism.
27 March 2017
To celebrate Global Money Week, Curator of the Citi Money Gallery Benjamin Alsop unpacks the sometimes weird, sometimes wonderful, but always fascinating world of money.
24 March 2017
Inspiration for Indiana Jones? No, not our curator Jago Cooper, but Colonel Percy Fawcett, whose incredible true story is now told through a new film, The Lost City of Z. Curators Jago Cooper and Kate Jarvis take a look at some of the objects associated with his expeditions to the Amazon.
22 March 2017
Coming to a cinema near you this summer, the British Museum brings the works of Hokusai to the big screen.
14 March 2017
March is Women’s History Month, so we’ve asked Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge and Classics editor of the TLS, to give us a quick countdown of five female figures from the ancient world.
8 March 2017
Did you know that the word ‘museum’ literally means a temple to the muses, all of whom were female (albeit allegorical)? This International Women’s Day, take a look at some of the very real women represented in the Museum’s collection today. Your guides are some of the many women curators who are continuing to tell these important stories to the world.
7 March 2017
This week, six of the iconic Lewis Chessmen went on display at Lews Castle in Stornoway as part of a long-term loan from the British Museum. To celebrate, we’re taking a look at five things you should know about these medieval masterpieces.
27 February 2017
With the exhibition Desire, love, identity: exploring LGBTQ histories soon to open at the British Museum, Keeper Philip Attwood takes a look at the Museum’s collection of lesbian and gay badges.
31 January 2017
Kyoko Kusunoki joined the Hirayama Studio last year as Conservator of Japanese Paintings. In this blog Kyoko discusses some of the projects she has been working on, including preparing for the exhibition Hokusai: beyond the Great Wave.