Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 January 1913 — WORLD’S OLDEST MUSEUM [ARTICLE]

WORLD’S OLDEST MUSEUM

Dr. Otto Kummel, head of the East Asiatic department of the Berlin museum of ethnology, tells of the oldest museum In the world In the bulletin of the Societe Franco-Japonaise. This museum may be found In the city of Nara, the former capital of Japan. Since Its foundation, in 756, it has gone through all the changes of the Japanese empire without one single Addition to its collection. Dr. Otto

Kummel is one of the few- Europeans who JiVere permitted to visit this museum. It opens its doors but once a year on a day in spring, when a special committee inspects the collection and a new list is made out The museum contains about 3,000 articles, which are said to be the most beautiful specimens of decorative work which have ever been produced by human hand, such as lacquer ware, dec-

orative furniture, enamel ware, cam-bric-like fabric, etc. The origin of the majority of the articles is uncertain; some came from China and others from Corea, but most of them appear to be of a more exotic origin. All, however, came of a time prior to the year 756.