Object: Shawl

E/1947/1/2
Black wool shawl with silk fringe
North America
Late 19th century /early 20th century
Materials: Wool, thread, silk

Shawls are worn by Native Americans throughout North America as a part of traditional regalia. Shawls of this type are associated with plains culture dance clothes. This style of shawl was originally introduced to Native Americans via Spanish traders. Shawls are either folded and hung over the arm of a dancer wearing a complete ensemble of traditional native dress, or can be wrapped around a dancer wearing contemporary clothing.

Shawls are made using a variety of materials suited for its purpose. They are usually constructed from a square or rectangle long enough to be folded in half and wrapped around the dancer. They are then hemmed and two strands of fringe are strung through the hem and tied (with an over hand knot) at varying distances (usually 1” apart or less) on all four sides of the fabric. Sometimes these shawls are decorated with additional materials. These decorations can be custom patterns for particular individuals or groups. In other cases the shawl design is less personal in nature and may simply be a commercial design.

The fringe work on this shawl displays a network of diamond patterns, a technique known as double tying. In contemporary outfits the use of this technique is slowly declining because it is very time consuming, especially when more fringe is used. Double tying involves taking a single piece of fringe from one section of fringe and tying that to a strand of fringe from a neighboring section of fringe. This is repeated all the way around the shawl, and continued further down towards the ends of the fringe until the desired length of pattern is achieved. [Ashley Hunter]

For more information on Native American dances and traditional garments see:

Native American Dance: A Synergy of Dance, Drama and Religion by Denee Bannister or
The National Museum of the American Indian Celebrates Native American Dance
or
Regalia: American Indian Dress and Dance by Russell Peters and Richard Haynes
or
How to make a Native American dance shawl by Full Circle Videos

Object: Bear Claw Necklace

NAM-09-18-051
Bear claw necklace
United States, Plains
Osage
19th Century
Materials: Plains Grizzly claws, glass beads, otter fur, leather

This bear claw necklace, from the Osage tribe, is currently on display at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. The necklace is made of 30 Plains Grizzly Bear claws and three beaded medallions in blue, yellow, green and pink. There are amber colored cut glass beads strung between the bear claws. The base of the necklace is made from otter pelt.

Plains Grizzly claws are long and yellowish, unlike the short and dark colored claws of Black Bears. All of the claws from the front paws were typically used, although the claws from the rear paws were used on rare occasions. Sadly, the once fierce and powerful Plains Grizzly, otherwise called Ursus horribilis Ord, is now extinct due to human population expansion and other causes. In traditional Native cultures and mythology, the bear was a sacred animal and a seeker of the unknown and mystical. Additionally, bears possessed admirable attributes such as strength, power, and courage, which the wearers wished to display in their own lives. Otter fur is always used for this type of necklace. Like the bear, the otter was also believed to be a seeker of the unknown and to possess great power.

Traditionally, only chiefs and elders wore bear claw necklaces. These necklaces were a mark of distinction among most Plains tribes. This particular necklace has been rumored to have been worn by Chief Bacon Rind (Chief Wah-shi-ha), and two other warriors before him. Bear claw necklaces also held ceremonial importance in times of war. It was believed that the necklace would aid in overcoming difficulties and help to obtain victory. [Erin Duncan]

Examples of how bear claw necklaces were worn can be found at the following links:

Chief Shon-Ton-Ca-Be (Black Dog) in 1876

Nah-Kea-Pu-At-See (One Who Reaches the Sky) in 1877

Object: Mosaic

C/50-1/1/1
Mosaic
Seleucia Pieria, Turkey
2nd century AD
Materials: Stone and concrete

This mosaic is from the House of Cilicia at Selucia Pieria, the harbor of ancient Antioch. Much of the city was excavated by a team of archaeologists from Princeton University in the late 1930’s. Their findings (including further information on this mosaic) were published by Doro Levi in Antioch Mosaic Pavements (Princeton, 1947).

This mosaic floor depicts a personification of the Roman territory of Kilikia or Cilicia. Prior to its excavation and removal, the floor contained other personifications as well. The largely obscured figure to the left of Kilikia was likely a representation of Mesopotamia. Additionally there would have been representations of four river gods just beyond the corners of our portion of the mosaic. These representations included personifications of the Tigris, and Pyramos rivers, the other two river gods have been lost to time but were most likely the Euphrates, Kydnos rivers . The two surviving corner pieces can now be found at the Detroit Institute of Art, and the Smith College Museum of Art.

This mosaic was part of a triclinium or dining room. This can be determined examining the way in which the entire mosaic was originally laid out. Traditionally in a triclinium there are three couches arranged in a U-shape along three walls of the room. This produced an open area in the center of the room where the food could be served to all of the guests. In houses with mosaic floors the area underneath the couches would be decorated with relatively simple designs. The central area of the triclinium would contain the most elaborate portion of the mosaic as it would be the part of the floor visible to all the guests during a banquet. The section of mosaic held at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History was the central area of the triclinium as can be seen in the excavation photograph. [Kate Barr]

Object: Balsamarium

C/49-50/4/1
Double balsamarium with applicator
Hama, Syria
Date unknown
Materials: glass and bronze

Glass balsamaria, also called unguentaria, were used in the ancient world to hold perfume or other ointments. Unlike modern alcohol-based perfumes, perfumes in ancient times were thick oil-based substances. In ancient Egypt women would wear a cone of this type of waxy perfume on top of their wigs. The cone would slowly melt throughout the day as it warmed up. As the cone melted it would release fragrance, somewhat like modern deodorant.

According to the museum’s catalog, this particular balsamarium is “from near Hama,” a city in central Syria. The people of Syria were known for their glass making skills as early as 1400 BCE. Glass was the most desirable type of material for balsamaria as it wouldn’t absorb the precious oils like pottery would.

A similar balsamarium was recently displayed at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in an exhibit entitled The Art of Ancient Glass: The Richard and Lois Gunther Collection.

The SNOMNH ethnology department is eager to learn more information about this balsamarium and hopefully get a better estimate of the time period during which they could have been produced. We welcome any comments concerns or suggested references. [Kate Barr]

Object: Replica of Roman bowl

C/58-9/1/1
Replica of Roman bowl
20th century
Materials: Silver

In 1958 this silver bowl was brought to the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History, then called the Stovall Museum. The bowl was purchased, along with other objects, from the Chicago Natural History Museum, now called the Field Museum. The bowl is a replica of a part of the Hildesheim Treasure found in Hildesheim, Germany.

The Hildesheim Treasure was an extremely large collection of some 50 pieces of Roman silver found in 1868. The Hildesheim Treasure is believed to date back to the early 1st century C.E. but no accurate date can be given. The Hildesheim Treasure was discovered when Prussian soldiers in Germany were digging a hole and came across the treasure packed carefully in a chest. It is believed that the Hildesheim Treasure originally belonged to a traveling Roman general in Germany who buried the treasure so it would not be found by the German tribes. It is possible that not all the pieces of the Hildesheim Treasure are Roman since many scholars consider some artifacts to be Greek. The original Hildesheim Treasure is held in Berlin but reproductions of the Hildesheim Treasure have been manufactured and placed in museums all over the world.

This bowl, currently housed in the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History is a replica of one of the most famous piece from the Hildesheim treasure collection. The image on the bowl is of Minerva, shown in high relief, draped in gold with an owl (usually associated with her) on the left; she is gazing to the right. Minerva was the Roman equivalent to the Greek goddess of war and wisdom, Athena.

Reproductions are an important part of collections because they allow experts from around the world to study the objects without the originals being damaged. Replicas also allow researchers to study concurrently without having to transport the originals all over the world. [Susan Lemmond]

Object: Bronze Statuette

AS-04-16-009
Bronze Statuette
China
T’ang Dynasty, 618-907 B.C.E.
Materials: Bronze, Gold leaf

This object is a bronze figure of a woman who is standing on a platform. The bronze statuette has been gilded at one time, though there is not much left on the figure today. The statuette is dressed in a robe that covers her hands, which are placed in front of her. Both humans and animals are popular forms of Chinese bronze figurines. It is believed that this figure probably represents an attendant of Kuan Yin, the goddess of Mercy in Chinese culture. It is hollow which indicates how the figure was originally constructed. There is a hole located in the front of the object which probably resulted from the casting process.

The most common way in which bronze figurines were made was through the lost wax casting technique. This process is also called the cire-perdue method. During the lost wax casting process, clay is molded around a wax model of the object to be created. Next the clay and wax object is baked, changing the clay into ceramic and melting the wax. Molten metal, in this case bronze, was then poured into the empty space left by the wax, creating a mold for the figure. The lost wax process is perfect for irregularly shaped objects such as statuettes because the flexibility of the wax allows for casting bronze objects other than bowls. One common problem that occurs with the cire-perdue process is the formation of small holes in the surface of the metal figure, resulting from bubbles in the wax.

For more information about the lost wax casting process, see Joseph Veach Noble (1975: 368-369). Also see, Langdon Warner (1937: 17-20) to learn more about bronze statuettes and Dawn Ho Delbanco (1983) to find more information on the history of Chinese bronzes and an example of a Chinese bronze catalog.

SNOMNH invites you to comment on this bronze statuette or on the use, history, or construction of Chinese bronze figures. [Heléna Cohen]