The British Museum

I had a half day of annual leave yesterday (plus I'm off for the rest of the week) so I treated myself to a jolly around London doing a few of my favourite things. I got a hair cut, ate a ridiculous amount of Korean food (at Bibimbap, 37 Museum Street) and visited The British Museum.

The Egyptian mummies tend to grab all the glory, in fairness the displays are fantastic, but they are also very overcrowded. I wandered in for a quick look and was soon irritated by the hordes of inconsiderate school groups. Thankfully the museum has plenty of interesting exhibitions that were practically deserted.



This doll was in a display case in a corridor, I can't remember which country it originates from, but it was somewhere in Africa. it looks like the kind of toy my great grandma used to make me and my sisters.

The next couple of pictures are from the Japanese  room. Below is a Buddhist travelling shrine, the owner would be well equipped for any spiritual crisis has it contains 30 individual figures.  

Male spirit mask from Papua New Guinea. There are hundreds of cultures in Papua New Guinea, and unfortunately I can't remember where these ones are from. All I can recall is that they are made in secret. close by there was also a garment made from human hair, it sort of looked like a Hagrid beard, and was made to be worn on the shoulders or chest.  Relatives of the wearer would donate their hair to be woven into the garment. i can imagine it would be a bit tickley or itchy to wear.

This friendly Buddha is chilling out in the Korean room, the majority of the Korean artefacts are ceramic vases and I found it all a bit dull to be honest, so only gave the room a cursory look.

The Asian rooms have some of the most interesting artefacts in the museum (excluding the mummies). I love how this couple are having a passionate kiss while casually standing on a some other people.

The work that must have gone into this headdress is incredible, I think it possibly from Pakistan?

I tried to have a look on The British Museum website to see if I could find out some more information about the displays I took pictures of, but no luck. The exhibitions are well labelled, and I though I'd taken in what I was seeing, but my memory is so poor! Still I had a lovely afternoon, and I'd highly recommend you explore The British Museum further that just heading straight to the Ancient Egyptians.