THE AKCIIAKOLOGICAL IXSTITL'TK. ;ill) enamel ; length. 2 inches.— A plate of nutal, fonncily <,nlt, exliibitin<T a figure of the Blessed Virgin, in bas-relief. It was ol.taiiii-il from Torcelhs in the Lagoons of Venice. The inscription, in niodi-rn (Jn-t-k, isas follows: Qf( Kv^if fjxiiBijTu (TO fiovXo <t>iXnro fnicTKoni) — Lord I streniilhen thy servant Philip the Bishop. Philippo Balardo, liishop of TorccUo, lived about A.D. 1377 ; but this bas-relief bears the aspect of greater anli(iuitv, and the inscription may refer to some other prelate of the same name,uuler the Greek empire. — A reliquary of silver gilt, of the form and size of a tinger, and placed erect upon an embattled base, around which is inscribed — os *■}* DKJITVS : s : TIIEUDEUI. The finger-bone is seen through openings pierced like little windows, the e.xtremity of the bone being gdt. The base rests on three feet, formed of little branchas. Entire height, 4 in. — Another reliquary, a cylinder of crystal containing a finger-hone ; the foot, mountings and conical cover, are of silver gilt ; upon the summit is a crucifi.Y : hei<,'ht, 5 in. — A beautiful mirror-case, of sculptured ivory, representing a gentle- man and lady playing at chess. (See woodcut.) Date, about L'i2U. By the Rev. R. F. Meredith. — A rubbing from a singular sepulchral slab, existing in the chancel at Ashington church, about four miles from Yeovil, Somerset. The upper portion of the figure alone remains : it is rudely designed, hut the costume is very curious, as shown by the accom- panying representation. Around the margin of the slab may be traced a few letters of the inscription, so imperfect, that they are not here shown : they suffice merely to indicate that it was in old French, and that the characters used were the large uncial letters commonly found on tombs of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The curious c/t«/>e/ t/e /cr worn over the cervelUere of plate, does not occur in any other sepulchral portraiture hitherto noticed : the spear held in the right hand is very unusual : the couditre and the curved shield, by which the left shoulder is surround, deserve notice. The hand grasping the sword is much damaged. The arms, a bend fusily, have been supposed to be those of Ralegh, but they vere borne by other Somersetshire families. There was, however, a connexion bet^Yeen that family and the possessors of Ashington, about the time to which this effigy may be assigned. Sir Matthew Furneaux, lord of the manor, and sheriff of Somerset, 34 Edward I., married Maud, daughter of Sir Warine de Ralegh, of Nettleeombe. The basin-shaped helm appears not unfrequently in illuminations of that period, for example, in Roy. MS., 2 B. vii. It may be seen also in the curious subjects from the Painted Chamber (Vet. Monum., vol. v. pi. 30, 32). The singular obtuse projection at the top is unusual. This part of the design on the slab is not damaged, and the blunt peak of this singular " Mambrino " head-piece seems to have been originally represented precisely as here given. By Mr. G. Percy Elliott. — The head, with its pomel, a circular band, and ferrule, of a pastoral staff, of brass, richly gilt, described as found about seventy-five or eighty years since in a tomb amongst the ruins of Hyde Abbey, near Winchester. The workmanship is very good ; the style pure " Early-English," and the date may be assigned to the reign of Henry III., circa 1250. A portion of the wooden staff remains fixed in the ferrule. These relics are probably the same which are noticed by Dr. .Milner as found in 1785, when the site of Hyde Abbry was appro|iiiate»l for the erection of a Bridewell, and the ruins recklessly destroyed. Besides
