In the center of the cartonnage there is an image of an animal head. What kind of animal is it?
That’s a ram’s head on the body of a falcon. This image represents the god Khnum, a fertility and creation deity especially associated with water and the annual flood.
What does the number 35.1265 mean?
You've got a good eye! That is the accession number. Every single thing that enters the museum's collection gets a number so we can keep track of it.
The number even tells you a little bit about when we got the object. This one starts with "35" which means that we got it in 1935!
What is the meaning of the eye on the back?
The eye you are seeing is a hieroglyph. Written this way, it functions as a letter, specifically the sound "iri."
Who are the angels pictured in “The Fallen Angels?"
The “fallen” or “rebel” angels are those that waged war on God in Heaven. In the end they were cast out and their leader, Lucifer, went on to become the Devil.
Do you know anything else about 1990.158a-b beside what's online?
Meriden Britannia Company was founded by brothers Horace and Dennis Wilcox in Meriden, Connecticut in 1852. Britannia does not refer to England, but actually to a kind of shiny metal that is not silver, but looks more like pewter does. Eventually, thanks to advancements in technology, Meriden Britannia Co. was able to begin coating objects in a thin layer of silver using a process called electro-plating. This is how the inkwell here was produced.
Do you know anything else about 1992.209 beside what's online?
Jabez Gorham was fourteen years old when he became an apprentice. Seven years later, in 1813, he opened a jewelry business, and worked as a jeweler for the next several decades, eventually bringing his son into the business as well.
John Gorham took over his father's company, which in 1865 was incorporated as Gorham Manufacturing Company. For about ten years the company had great success, using new technology to increase production, but in 1877 John went broke and had to resign. Although these initial difficulties set the company back, it was not long before Gorham became the second most well-known American silver manufacturer, after New York's Tiffany & Co. Gorham went on to great national and international success and acclaim through the late nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries. In the 1960s, the company was sold and closed its doors.
Do you know why the museum has these objects? Were they a gift?
Both of these silver pieces were acquired with the funds from the H. Randolph Lever Fund in the early 1990 and 1992 as indicated in their accession numbers.
I'm not sure who owned them previously.
How is Qing Dynasty artwork unique?
The sapphire tone of the blue decorations here are characteristic of the Qing Dynasty and especially the period of the Kangxi Emperor. Figurative designs like this developed in the previous Ming Dynasty and continued into the Qing, but the subject matter you see here---especially the inclusion of horses---is something that would have specifically spoken to the Manchu elites of the Qing court.
Thank you!
What's this?
The glazed tile which has been placed into a gilt wood and velvet was produced by the American Encaustic Tile Company, Ltd. in 1885.
The relief portrays a man in Renaissance costume.
Can you tell me about this artist please?
Sure! Maso di Banco was one of the great figures of 14th century Italian painting. His work is heavily influenced by that of the well-known Giotto, though it's unlikely that Maso di Banco actually trained with him.
Scholars do believe that Maso di Banco trained with Bernardo Daddi who did train with Giotto. Generally, this artist's life and career is poorly documented, but many paintings have been attributed to him based on their distinctive stylistic characteristics.
Very nice, thank you so much.
