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Ashmolean Museum

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology (Template:IPAc-en)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> on Beaumont Street in Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum.<ref>MacGregor, A. (2001). The Ashmolean Museum. A brief history of the museum and its collections. Ashmolean Museum & Jonathan Horne Publications, London.</ref> Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of Oxford in 1677. It is also the world's second university museum, after the establishment of the Kunstmuseum Basel in 1661 by the University of Basel.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The present building was built between 1841 and 1845. The museum reopened in 2009 after a major redevelopment, and in November 2011, new galleries focusing on Egypt and Nubia were unveiled. In May 2016, the museum redisplayed galleries of 19th-century art.

HistoryEdit

Broad StreetEdit

The museum opened on 24 May 1683,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> with naturalist Robert Plot as the first keeper. The building on Broad Street (later known as the Old Ashmolean) is sometimes attributed to Sir Christopher Wren or Thomas Wood.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Elias Ashmole had acquired the collection from the gardeners, travellers, and collectors John Tradescant the Elder and his son, John Tradescant the Younger. It included antique coins, books, engravings, geological specimens, and zoological specimens—one of which was the stuffed body of the last dodo ever seen in Europe; but by 1755 the stuffed dodo was so moth-eaten that it was destroyed, except for its head and one claw.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Beaumont StreetEdit

File:Ashmolean Museum and Taylorian Institute, Oxford; panoramic Wellcome V0014258.jpg
Wood-engraving of the Ashmolean Template:Circa

The present building dates from 1841 to 1845. It was designed as the University Galleries by Charles Cockerell<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> in a classical style and stands on Beaumont Street. One wing of the building is occupied by the Taylor Institution, the modern languages faculty of the university, standing on the corner of Beaumont Street and St Giles' Street. This wing of the building was also designed by Charles Cockerell, using the Ionic order of Greek architecture.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Sir Arthur Evans, who was appointed keeper in 1884 and retired in 1908, is largely responsible for the current museum.<ref>Evans, Joan. Time and Chance: The story of Arthur Evans and his forebears. London, Longmans, 1943.</ref> Evans found that the keeper and the vice-chancellor (Benjamin Jowett) had managed to lose half of the Ashmole collection and had converted the original building into the Examination Rooms. Charles Drury Edward Fortnum had offered to donate his personal collection of antiques on condition that the museum was put on a sound footing.<ref name="Brief History">Template:Cite book</ref> A donation of £10,000 from Fortnum (£Template:Formatprice as of 2025) enabled Evans to build an extension to the University Galleries and move the Ashmolean collection there in 1894. In 1908, the Ashmolean and the University Galleries were combined as the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology.<ref>"The Ashmolean Museum Oxford Conservation Plan" Template:Webarchive. admin.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved on 24 August 2018.</ref> The museum became a depository for some of the important archaeological finds from Evans' excavations in Crete.Template:Citation needed

After the various specimens had been moved into new museums, the "Old Ashmolean" building was used as office space for the Oxford English Dictionary. Since 1924, the building has been established as the Museum of the History of Science, with exhibitions including the scientific instruments given to Oxford University by Lewis Evans, amongst them the world's largest collection of astrolabes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Charles Buller Heberden left £1,000 (£Template:Formatprice as of 2025) to the university in 1921, which was used for the Coin Room at the museum.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 2012, the Ashmolean was awarded a grant of $1.1m by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to establish the University Engagement Programme or UEP. The programme employs three teaching curators and a programme director to develop the use of the museum's collections in the teaching and research of the university.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

RenovationsEdit

File:Ashmolean Museum Atrium Oxford 2009.jpg
The museum's renovated central atrium in 2009

The interior of the Ashmolean has been extensively modernised during the early 21st century and now includes a restaurant and large gift shop.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2000, the Chinese Picture Gallery, designed by van Heyningen and Haward Architects, opened at the entrance of the Ashmolean and is partly integrated into the structure. It was inserted into a lightwell in the Grade I listed building and was designed to support future construction from its roof. Apart from the original Cockerell spaces, this gallery was the only part of the museum retained in the rebuilding. The gallery houses the Ashmolean's own collection and is also used from time to time for the display of loan exhibitions and works by contemporary Chinese artists. It is the only museum gallery in Britain devoted to Chinese paintings.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The Bodleian Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library (formerly the Sackler Library), incorporating the older library collections of the Ashmolean, opened in 2001 and has allowed an expansion of the book collection, which concentrates on classical civilization, archaeology, and art history.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Between 2006 and 2009, the museum was expanded to the designs of architect Rick Mather and the exhibition design company Metaphor, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The $98.2 million<ref name="artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com">Template:Cite news</ref> rebuilding resulted in five floors instead of three, with a doubling of the display space, as well as new conservation studios and an education centre.<ref>The galleries are quirky and unpredictable, full of nooks and crannies and yet completely navigable even to the dyspraxically challenged, like me. That's as much to do with the layout by the exhibition designers Metaphor as with the architecture. Template:Cite news</ref> The renovated museum re-opened on 7 November 2009.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On 26 November 2011, the Ashmolean opened to the public the new galleries of Ancient Egypt and Nubia. This second phase of major redevelopment now allows the museum to exhibit objects that have been in storage for decades, more than doubling the number of coffins and mummies on display. The project received lead support from Lord Sainsbury's Linbury Trust, along with the Selz Foundation, Mr. Christian Levett, as well as other trusts, foundations, and individuals. Rick Mather Architects led the redesign and display of the four previous Egypt galleries and the extension to the restored Ruskin Gallery, previously occupied by the museum shop.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In May 2016, the museum opened new galleries dedicated to the display of its collection of Victorian art.<ref name="News & Events">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This development allowed for the return to the Ashmolean of the Great Bookcase, designed by William Burges, and described as "the most important example of Victorian painted furniture ever made."<ref name="News & Events"/>

CollectionsEdit

File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - Rive des Esclavons.jpg
Rive des Esclavons, by J. M. W. Turner, Template:Circa
File:Ägyptischer Maler um 1360 v. Chr. 002.jpg
Detail from a fragment of wall painting depicting Akhenaten and Nefertiti with their daughters
File:Taichi arch 8124242.JPG
Taichi Arch on the museum's forecourt, a sculpture by the artist Ju Ming

The main museum contains huge collections of archaeological specimens and fine art. It has one of the best collections of Pre-Raphaelite paintings, majolica pottery, and English silver. The archaeology department includes the bequest of Arthur Evans and so has a collection of Greek and Minoan pottery. The department also has an extensive collection of antiquities from Ancient Egypt and the Sudan, and the museum hosts the Griffith Institute for the advancement of Egyptology.

Highlights of the Ashmolean's collection include:

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  • Near Eastern (mainly cunaiform) tablets collection, second largest in the UK;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Recent major bequests and acquisitions include:

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Collections galleryEdit

Arundel MarblesEdit

  • So-called Cicero excavated by the Earl of Arundel in Rome between 1613 and 1614 MH.jpg

    So-called Cicero excavated by the Earl of Arundel in Rome between 1613 and 1614

  • Closeup of So-called Cicero excavated by the Earl of Arundel in Rome between 1613 and 1614 MH.jpg

    So-called Cicero excavated by the Earl of Arundel in Rome between 1613 and 1614

  • Man wearing a toga excavated in Rome 1613-1614 and later given the name "Caius Marius" MH.jpg

    Man wearing a toga excavated in Rome 1613–1614 and later given the name "Caius Marius"

  • First century CE togate torso bearing a 17th century CE head dubbed Caius Marius by the Earl of Arundel excavated in 1613-1614 CE MH.jpg

    First century CE togate torso bearing a 17th-century CE head dubbed Caius Marius by the Earl of Arundel excavated in 1613–1614 CE

  • Statue of a woman with hairstyle dating to the later Roman Republican or Augustan period but body dating to 200-100 BCE MH.jpg

    Statue of a woman with hairstyle dating to the later Roman Republican or Augustan period but body dating to 200–100 BCE

  • Closeup of Statue of a woman with hairstyle dating to the later Roman Republican or Augustan period but body dating to 200-100 BCE MH.jpg

    Closeup of Statue of a woman with hairstyle dating to the later Roman Republican or Augustan period but body dating to 200–100 BCE

  • The Oxford Bust or "Sappho" with head and torso coming from different statues and probably put together by a sculptor in the 1600s MH.jpg

    The Oxford Bust or "Sappho" with head and torso coming from different statues and probably put together by a sculptor in the 1600s

  • The Oxford Bust or "Sappho" with head and torso coming from different statues and probably put together by a sculptor in the 1600s View 2 MH.jpg

    The Oxford Bust or "Sappho" with head and torso coming from different statues and probably put together by a sculptor in the 1600s View 2

  • Portrait of a young man with hairstyle, facial features and long neck pointing to portraits made in the early 100s CE MH.jpg

    Portrait of a young man with hairstyle, facial features and long neck pointing to portraits made in the early 100s CE

  • Sphinx commissioned by the Earl of Arundel to partner a Roman Sphinx, 17th century CE MH.jpg

    Sphinx commissioned by the Earl of Arundel to partner a Roman Sphinx, 17th century CE

  • Sphinx, Roman, 50-200 CE Arundel Marble MH.jpg

    Sphinx, Roman, 50–200 CE.

  • Roman statue of Eros, 100-200 CE Arundel Marble MH.jpg

    Roman statue of Eros, 100–200 CE depicting Eros sleeping, his torch turned down, a symbol of death used in many Roman memorials.

  • Closeup of Roman statue of Eros, 100-200 CE Arundel Marble MH.jpg

    Closeup of Roman statue of Eros, 100–200 CE depicting Eros sleeping, his torch turned down, a symbol of death used in many Roman memorials.

  • Fragment of a marble sarcophagus depicting two drunken boys from a Bacchic revel, made in Athens 140-150 CE MH.jpg

    Fragment of a marble sarcophagus depicting two drunken boys from a Bacchic revel, made in Athens 140–150 CE

Broadway Museum and Art GalleryEdit

In 2013 a museum was opened in the 17th-century "Tudor House" at Broadway, Worcestershire, in the Cotswolds, in partnership with the Ashmolean Museum. In 2017 the museum became known as the Broadway Museum and Art Gallery. The collection includes paintings and furniture from the founding collections of the Ashmolean Museum, given by Elias Ashmole to the University of Oxford in 1683, and local exhibits expand upon elements of the timeline of the village.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Major exhibitionsEdit

Upcoming planned exhibitions include:

  • Labyrinth: Knossos, Myth and Reality: This exhibition opened at the Ashmolean in February 2023 and will be open until late July 2023.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Major exhibitions in recent years include:

  • Pre-Raphaelites: Drawings & Watercolours: This exhibition, initially shown for 5 weeks in 2021, was re-mounted in 2022 for a longer run, opening in July. It is drawn from the Ashmolean's own collection of Pre-Raphaelite drawings and watercolours.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Pissarro: Father of Impressionism: Open from February until June 2022, this exhibition included artworks drawn from the Ashmolean's collections as well as international loans, spanning Camille Pissarro's entire career.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Tokyo: Art and Photography: Open from July 2021 until January 2022, this exhibition included artworks from the Ashmolean's collection as well as loans from Japan and new commissions by contemporary artists. It included woodblock prints by Hokusai and Hiroshige, photography of Moriyama Daido and Ninagawa Mika.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Pre-Raphaelites: Drawings & Watercolours: Open in May and June 2021, this exhibition was drawn from the Ashmolean's own collection of Pre-Raphaelite drawings and watercolours. The exhibition was curated by British art historian Christiana Payne.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Last Supper in Pompeii: Open from July 2019 until January 2020, this exhibition explored what the people of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii loved to eat and drink. Many of the objects, on loan from Naples Museum and Pompeii, had never before left Italy.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Jeff Koons at the Ashmolean: Open from February until June 2019, this exhibition featured 17 major works by the American artist Jeff Koons, 14 of which had never been on display in the UK before. They included some of his most well-known series such as Equilibrium, Banality, Antiquity and his recent Gazing Ball paintings and sculptures. In the galleries of the museum, where the collections range from prehistory to the present, Jeff Koons's work was 'in conversation' with the history of art and ideas which has been his focus over the past four decades. The exhibition was curated by Koons and Norman Rosenthal.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Spellbound: Magic, Ritual & Witchcraft: Open from August 2018 until January 2019, this exhibition explored the history of magic over eight centuries. On display were 180 objects from 12th-century Europe to newly commissioned contemporary artworks.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • America's Cool Modernism: O'Keeffe to Hopper: Open from March until July 2018 this major exhibition of works by American artists in the early 20th-century included over 80 paintings, photographs and prints, and the first American avant-garde film, Manhatta. Many of the paintings had never before travelled outside the US.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Imagining the Divine: Art and the Rise of World Religions: Open from October 2017 until February 2018 this exhibition explored Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism, and was the first to look at the art of these five world religions as they spread across continents in the first millennium AD.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Raphael: The Drawings: Open from June 2017 until September 2017 this exhibition brought together over a hundred works by Raphael from international collections and aimed to transform public understanding of Raphael through a focus on the immediacy and expressiveness of his drawing.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Degas to Picasso: Creating Modernism in France: Open from February 2017 until May 2017, and featuring works by Matisse, Manet, Chagall, Braque, Delacroix, Renoir, Metzinger, Degas, Léger and Picasso, this exhibition told the story of the rise of Modernism through works from a private collection that had never been seen in Britain before.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Power and Protection: Islamic Art and the Supernatural: Open from October 2016 until January 2017, this was the first major exhibition to explore the supernatural in the art of the Islamic world. The exhibition included objects and works of art from the 12th to the 20th century, from Morocco to China, which have been used as sources of guidance and protection in the dramatic events of human history. These include dream-books, talismanic charts and amulets.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Storms, War and Shipwrecks: Treasures from the Sicilian Seas: Open from June until September 2016, this exhibition explored the roots of Sicily's multi-cultural heritage through the discoveries made by underwater archaeologists – from chance finds to excavated shipwrecks.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The exhibition also featured what has been described as a "flat pack" Byzantine church interior, intended for assembly at its destination, with marble items raised from a wreck off the southeast coast of Sicily in the 1960s by archaeologist Gerhard Kapitan.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Andy Warhol: Works from the Hall Collection: Open from February until May 2016, this exhibition featured over a hundred works, by Andy Warhol, from the Hall Collection (US), plus loans of films from The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh. Curated by Sir Norman Rosenthal, the exhibition spanned Warhol's entire output, from iconic pieces of the 1960s Pop pioneer to the experimental works of his last decade.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Drawing in Venice: Titian to Canaletto: Open from October 2015 until January 2016, this exhibition featured a hundred drawings from The Uffizi Gallery in Florence, the Ashmolean, and Christ Church, Oxford. It was based on new research tracing continuities in Venetian drawing over three centuries, from around 1500 down to the foundation of the first academy of art in Venice in 1750.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The exhibition also featured 20 works on paper and canvas by contemporary artist Jenny Saville, produced in response to the Venetian drawings in the exhibition.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Great British Drawings: An exhibition open from March until August 2015 showing more than one hundred British drawings and watercolours from the Ashmolean's collection, spanning three hundred years.<ref name="ashmolean.org">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • An Elegant Society: Adam Buck, artist in the age of Jane Austen: Open from July until October 2015 this exhibition explored the work of Adam Buck, Irish Regency era portrait and miniature painter.<ref name="ashmolean.org"/>
  • Love Bites: Caricatures by James Gillray: An exhibition in 2015 to mark the 200th anniversary of the death of British caricaturist James Gillray (1757–1815). The caricatures on display were from the collection of New College, Oxford.<ref name="ashmolean.org"/>
  • William Blake: Apprentice and Master: Open from December 2014 until March 2015, this exhibition celebrated the work of William Blake.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Discovering Tutankhamun: a special exhibition, open from July until November 2014, explored Howard Carter's excavation of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922. Original records, drawings and photographs from the Griffith Institute were on display.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • The Eye of the Needle: English Embroideries from the Feller Collection: a special exhibition, open from August until October 2014, of 17th-century embroideries from the Feller Collection, together with examples from the Ashmolean's own holdings.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Francis Bacon / Henry Moore: Flesh and Bone: a special exhibition, open from September 2013 until July 2014, displaying paintings by Francis Bacon and sculptures and drawings by Henry Moore.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Stradivarius: a special exhibition, open from June until August 2013, exploring the life and work of Antonio Stradivari. It was the first time twenty-one of his instruments, from guitar to cello to violin, were on display together in the UK.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Master Drawings: a special exhibition, open from May until August 2013, displaying a selection of the Ashmolean's on western art collection. The exhibition surveyed drawings of all types by some of the biggest names in art history, including Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael, as well as Gwen John, David Hockney and Antony Gormley.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Xu Bing: Landscape Landscript: a special exhibition of the work of Xu Bing, open from February until May 2013. It was the Ashmolean's first major exhibition of contemporary art.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Keepers and DirectorsEdit

Template:See also

Keepers<ref>"History 17th century". britisharchaeology.ashmus.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved on 1 September 2018.</ref><ref>"History 18th century". britisharchaeology.ashmus.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved on 1 September 2018.</ref><ref>"History 19th century". britisharchaeology.ashmus.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved on 1 September 2018.</ref><ref>"History 20th century". britisharchaeology.ashmus.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved on 1 September 2018.</ref>
Name From To
Robert Plot 1683 1690
Edward Lhuyd 1690 1709
David Parry 1709 1714
John Whiteside 1714 1729
George Shepheard 1730 1731
Joseph Andrews 1731 1732
George Huddesford<ref name="hudd">M. St John Parker, 'Huddesford, William (bap. 1732, d. 1772)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 16 Feb 2010</ref> 1732 1755
William Huddesford<ref name="hudd" /><ref name="eup" /> 1755 1772
William Sheffield 1772 1795
William Lloyd<ref name="eup" /> 1796 1815
Thomas Dunbar<ref name="eup" /> 1815 1822
William Philipps<ref name="eup" /> 1822 1823
John Shute Duncan<ref name="eup">Template:Cite journal</ref> 1823 1826
Philip Bury Duncan<ref name="eup" /> 1826 1854
John Phillips 1854 1870
John Henry Parker 1870 1884
Sir Arthur Evans 1884 1908
David George Hogarth 1909 1927
Edward Thurlow Leeds 1928 1945
Sir Karl Parker 1945 1962
Robert W. Hamilton 1962 1972

Beginning in 1973, the position of Keeper was superseded by that of Director:

Directors
Name From To
Sir David Piper 1973 1985
Professor Sir Christopher White 1985 1997
Roger Moorey (acting) 1997 1998
Christopher Brown 1998<ref>Ashmolean Annual Report 1997-1998 Oxford University Gazette (9 December 1998)</ref> 2014<ref name="artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com"/>
Alexander Sturgis 2014

Notable peopleEdit

Template:See also

Current keepersEdit

  • Christopher Howgego, Keeper of the Heberden Coin Room
  • Mallica Kumbera Landrus, Keeper of Eastern Art
  • Liam McNamara, Keeper of Antiquities
  • Jennifer Sliwka, Keeper of Western Art

Former staffEdit

  • Michael Metcalf, former Keeper of the Heberden Coin Room
  • Joan Crowfoot Payne, archaeologist and Cataloguer of the Egyptian and Nubian collectors (1957–1979)
  • Jon Whiteley, former Assistant Keeper of Western Art
  • Susan Sherratt, former Assistant Curator and Honorary Research Assistant to the Arthur Evans Archive
  • Andrew Sherratt, former Assistant Keeper of Antiquities in the Ashmolean Museum
  • Catherine Whistler, former Keeper of Western Art

In popular cultureEdit

BooksEdit

ComicsEdit

TelevisionEdit

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  • The Ashmolean also figures prominently in several episodes of the successor series Lewis, particularly the episode "Point of Vanishing" where the painting The Hunt in the Forest (Template:Circa) is a key plot element; the characters visit the painting at the museum and are instructed on its features by an art expert before solving the case.

TheftEdit

File:View of Auvers-sur-Oise Paul Cezanne.png
View of Auvers-sur-Oise by Paul Cézanne

On 31 December 1999, during the fireworks that accompanied the celebration of the millennium, thieves used scaffolding on an adjoining building to climb onto the roof of the museum and stole Cézanne's landscape painting View of Auvers-sur-Oise. Valued at £3 million, the painting has been described as an important work illustrating the transition from early to mature Cézanne painting.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As the thieves ignored other works in the same room, and the stolen Cézanne has not been offered for sale, it is speculated that this was a case of an artwork stolen to order.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Cézanne has not been recovered and is one of the FBI's Top Ten Art Crimes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2010 several of the Egypt Exploration Society's Oxyrhynchus Papyri held by the museum were allegedly stolen from the collection and sold to the American Museum of the Bible.<ref>Charlotte Higgins: A scandal in Oxford: the curious case of the stolen gospel - What links an eccentric Oxford classics don, billionaire US evangelicals, and a tiny, missing fragment of an ancient manuscript? Charlotte Higgins unravels a multimillion-dollar riddle, series The long read, The Guardian. In: theguardian.com</ref>

Repatriation of artifactsEdit

In 2024, the museum agreed to return a 500-year-old bronze sculpture of the Hindu poet and saint Thirumangai Alvar that it had purchased at an auction at Sotheby's in 1967, after the Indian High Commission in the United Kingdom filed a claim stating that the item was stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu in 1957.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

Template:Sister project

Template:Museums and galleries in Oxfordshire

Template:Ashmolean Museum keepers and directors

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