3-003-732 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The New India Museum, Whitehall-Yard, [London], 1861. 'The collection of native products, and the specimens illustrative of the arts and industrial pursuits of the people of India...have been removed to Fife House...The building is not well adapted for the purposes of a museum, but it may serve as a temporary depot for the extensive collection of silks, jewels, metal wares, and other produce and manufactures which illustrate the wealth of our Indian empire...[in] the drawing-room...are displayed the silk and jewelled dresses of the East, which present a most gorgeous appearance...The six bedrooms on the upper floor are stored with birds, which have been most carefully classified by Mr. Moore, and are arranged very ingeniously, so as to take advantage, in the best manner, of the unfavourable light which the small and inconvenient rooms afford. The kitchen of the establishment is filled with antelopes, stags, leopards, and other large stuffed animals...Some very considerable inroads were made into the collection by the trustees of the British Museum, who were authorised to take any specimens they thought proper, and they availed themselves of the liberal offer to the extent of clearing off nearly all the specimens of natural history'. From "Illustrated London News", 1861.