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Met Gala 2024: Ashmolean Museum's exhibits have uncanny similarities

Getty Images/Ashmolean Museum⁠ ⁠ Zendaya / Bunch of glass grapes on a hooked stem of bronze and wood, Egypt, c. 1353–1336 BCEGetty Images/Ashmolean Museum⁠ ⁠
Zendaya wore Dior - inspired by glass grapes on a hooked stem of bronze and wood from Egypt (c. 1353-1336 BCE) perhaps?

A museum has playfully compared a selection of its exhibits to the eye-catching fashions at the Met Gala.

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford singled out stunning outfits from Zendaya and Kim Kardashian among others.

It is the third year the museum has highlighted an array of surprising similarities between its collections and the celebrities' haute couture.

A spokeswoman said it showed how its "rich collections" were "enormously relevant to design and art today".

Getty Images/Ashmolean Museum⁠ ⁠ Odell Beckham Jr / Porcelain teapot with peonies, pomegranates and clouds, c. 1701–1730, JapanGetty Images/Ashmolean Museum⁠ ⁠
American footballer Odell Beckham Jr's suit bore a resemblance to this porcelain teapot with peonies, pomegranates and clouds from Japan (c. 1701-1730)
Getty Images/Ashmolean Museum⁠ ⁠ Kim Kardashian / Gold and leather cased verge watch with alarm, 1680, Francois Rabby (c. 1680–1718)Getty Images/Ashmolean Museum⁠ ⁠
Is it Kim Kardashian's John Galliano corset or a verge watch with alarm by Francois Rabby (1680)?

The Met Gala is held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and draws A-list celebrities and the who's who of the fashion world.

It raises money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and tickets are rumoured to cost upwards of $70,000 (£56,000).

Getty Images/Ashmolean Museum⁠ ⁠ Janelle Monáe / Box with a hydrangea flower, 1890, Japan. Wood inlaid with pearl shell and lacquer decorationGetty Images/Ashmolean Museum⁠ ⁠
Look familiar? Janelle Monáe and box with a hydrangea flower from Japan (1890)
Getty Images/Ashmolean Museum⁠ ⁠ Giovanna Engelbert / Long-necked vase with green glaze, China, mid-10th century CE, earthenware and glaze.Getty Images/Ashmolean Museum⁠ ⁠
Swarovski boss Giovanna Engelbert harmonises with this long-necked vase with green glaze from China (mid-10th Century CE)

The 2024 theme was The Garden of Time - a short story about a Count and Countess who pluck time-reversing flowers.

A spokeswoman for the Ashmolean said: "We love hunting through the collections each year to see what fascinating objects and artworks we can find."

Getty Images/Ashmolean Museum⁠ ⁠ Hannah Bagshawe and Eddie Redmayne / Cizhou type dish with floral decoration, China, 11th century, stonewareGetty Images/Ashmolean Museum⁠ ⁠
Married couple Eddie Redmayne and Hannah Bagshawe wore matching outfits but also matched with this Cizhou type dish with floral decoration from China (11th Century)

She added: "Fashion is so often inspired by art, culture and history and the Ashmolean's rich collections are enormously relevant to design and art today.

"By sharing this sort of playful social media post we hope to introduce the museum's incredible collections to new audiences."

Getty Images/Ashmolean Museum⁠ ⁠ Barry Keoghan / Portrait of a Man in Evening Dress, oil on panel, James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834–1903)Getty Images/Ashmolean Museum⁠ ⁠
Are Barry Keoghan and Portrait of a Man in Evening Dress, oil on panel, by James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) one and the same?
Getty Images/Ashmolean Museum⁠ ⁠ Pedro Pascal and The Hunt in the Forest by Paolo Uccello (1397 - 1475), c. 1465 - 1470Getty Images/Ashmolean Museum⁠ ⁠
Last year Pedro Pascal got the Ashmolean treatment - maybe he borrowed from Paolo Uccello's The Hunt in the Forest (c. 1465 - 1470)?

The museum first opened in the 17th Century, and was Britain's first public museum.

Its "Ashmolean meets the Met Gala" Instagram galleries, now seemingly an annual tradition, were previously posted in 2022 and 2023.

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