THE ARTS
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The Collections consist of the Ho Tung Collection, the Chater Collection, the Law and Sayer Collection and a Miscellaneous Collection, with a total of more than 700 items. They include paintings, prints, engravings and photographs illustrating the growth and development of Hong Kong, and the life in Hong Kong, Macau and the China Coast area, during the 18th and 19th Centuries.
A collection of antique Chinese ceramics, purchased by Govern- ment from Mr Henry Yeung in 1949 and now at the Fung Ping Shan Library of the University of Hong Kong, will also be dis- played in the Museum of the new City Hall. The collection consists of 166 pieces of some very fine grave pottery of the Han Dynasty, a series of early bronze mirrors, some of which are in almost perfect condition, and outstanding pieces of Ming porcelain.
The responsibility for the acquisition of additional pictures in February 1961, was transferred to the Urban Council, who are advised by an Advisory Panel consisting of local residents with specialized knowledge. A recent acquisition is a series of 125 old photographs of Hong Kong, mostly about 1890-5.
The Maglioni Collection of books, donated to the Government by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Hong Kong in 1954, consists of some 600 western books and journals and 500 Chinese volumes, mainly on the archaeology and anthropology of the Far East.
The Kotewall Collection, also a gift to the Government, consists of some 14,000 volumes of Chinese works and 4,200 other books. A preliminary catalogue of the Chinese section has been completed.
Both the Maglioni and the Kotewall Collections will be available to the public in the City Hall Library after the work of cataloguing has been completed.
The Colonial Secretariat Library houses 12,500 volumes. These include many Government publications; books written especially about Hong Kong, including publications by local authors; reference books on such subjects as Public Administration, Sociology, Economics and Political Science; and standard works on the history of the Commonwealth and of the countries of south-east Asia. Accessions occur almost weekly. Apart from being a departmental reference library, it is a useful source for research.