Object: Tomb figure

E/1960/3/1
Horse tomb figure
Chinese
Henan Province, China
T’ang Dynasty (618-906 CE)
Materials: ceramic, slip

The ancient Chinese believed the human soul had two parts. When a person died they believed that these two parts separated, with one entering into the spirit world (also known as the hun), and the other (called the po) staying here on earth inside his or her tomb. In the T’ang Dynasty the upper-classes were buried with hundreds of clay objects called mingqi. Mingqi were representations of all the things that were important to individual and could include figures of people and animals, pots and bowls, and other everyday objects. These figures would ensure that the part of the soul that remained inside the tomb would have an enjoyable afterlife. Many aspects of the tomb were regulated by the government. The size of the tomb and the number of mingqi allowed depended on the rank and status of the deceased. Higher ranking officials were able to stock their tombs with large collections of tomb figures. Popular figures included representations of servants, entertainers, horses and camels. In particular, the horse was a symbol of the aristocracy and horse tomb figures, like the one in the Sam Noble Museum collection, were placed in nearly all high-ranking tombs. [Kathryn S. (Barr) McCloud]

Object: Instrument

E/1956/3/1
Ravanahatha (or Ravanhatta or Rawanhatho)
Hindu
India
ca. 1950s
Materials: Wood, coconut shell, mother of pearl, leather

This fiddle-like instrument from India is called a Ravanahatha (or Ravanhatta or Rawanhatho). It is has a wooden body and a small coconut resonator covered in skin. There is one melody string made from horsehair, a single metal drone string and a number of sympathetic strings. The following is a video showing a Ravanahatha being played.

According to legend, this instrument was first created by the mythological figure Ravana, the primary villain in the Hindu legend Ramayana. In the legend Ravana attempted to move Mount Kailash, the home of the Hindu deity Shiva, from the Himalayas to Sri Lanka, in order to please his mother. In the process he angers Shiva and is briefly tortured by the deity. Ravana then prays for mercy and is released. In order to thank Shiva for sparing his life Ravana decided to sing for the god. To accompany his song of praise, Ravana magically creates a musical instrument, the Ravanahatha, out of one of his arms and some of his hair. Shiva is so impressed by the performance that he grants Ravana immortality. Ravanahatha are still played today and are popular with the Bhopa priest singers of Rajasthan.

Other examples of Ravanahatha can be found in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the Nadsadhna Institute for Indian Music and Meditation, and others. [Kathryn S. (Barr) McCloud]

Object: Decorative box

E/1954/18/6
Decorative box
Chinese (?)
Asia
ca. 1910
Materials: metal, enamel

This small decorative box is a lovely example of cloisonné decoration. Cloisonné is a technique for decorating metal objects that dates back to at least the 13th century BCE on the island of Cyprus. This technique uses fine metal wire, bent or hammered to form complex designs on the surface of a metal container or object. The spaces enclosed by the wire are filled with a colored glass paste, or enamel. Once all the design is filled with enamel the object is heated to “melt” the paste into a solid glass-like substance. As it is heated the glass paste often shrinks and the process must be repeated several times to fill in the designs. Once all the openings, or cloisons, are completely filled with enamel the surface of the vessel is polished to ensure the metal partitions are visible. Sometimes the exposed metal work is then gilded. The cloisonné technique has been used by many cultures, and historic examples have been found in Greece, Britain, the Byzantine Empire, as well as China and Japan.

The following video shows a modern artist making a piece of cloisonné jewelry. [Kathryn S. (Barr) McCloud]

Object: Mouth organ

E/1955/17/1
Mouth Organ (sheng or sho)
Japanese
Japan
Unknown date: prior to 1955
Materials: bamboo, lacquer, cloth, and brass

This object is a mouth organ, or sho from Japan. This type of musical instrument was developed in Japan based on a similar type of instrument, the Chinese sheng. Sho are used in Gagaku, the traditional orchestral music of the Japanese court. This type of instrument is played by blowing air into the mouthpiece or drawing air through the instrument, which circulates the air into the bamboo tubes where it vibrates tiny metal reeds. Because the instrument produces sound on both the inhale and exhale, long periods of uninterrupted sound are possible. The tubes are arranged to represent the folded wings of a phoenix, a symbol of the imperial house. It is also thought that the sho imitates the call of the phoenix.

The present day Japanese sho is thinner than the Chinese sheng, and plays at a higher octave. Traditionally sho were constructed from very old and blackened bamboo that was part of a thatched roof, directly above the kitchen in a traditional Japanese house. Today the pieces of bamboo use in the construction of a sho are still heated over a fire to eliminate moisture that could effect the sound.

The following video demonstrates how a Japanese sho is played.

[Kathryn S. (Barr) McCloud]

Object: Opium Pipe

E/1955/18/102
Opium pipe
Dynastic China
Asia: China
prior to 1950
Materials: Wood, ivory, brass, and ceramic

Pipes of this type were used in Dynastic China to smoke the drug opium. Opium has been ingested as a medicine and painkiller for thousands of years. Sometime in the middle of the 17th century people also began to smoke the drug for recreational purposes. It soon became a major trade good for a number of colonial powers operating out of Asia, like the East India Company. Opium is made from the seed pod of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), and contains varying amounts of alkaloids such as morphine, codeine, thebaine and papaverine that are still used in various pharmaceuticals and street drugs today. Opium is a highly addictive narcotic and its use as a painkiller must be strictly controlled. The addictive effects of opium were well known as early as the 1830s when it was said that nearly 9 of 10 Chinese men were thought to be opium addicts. This widespread addiction led Chinese officials of the Qing Dynasty to attempt to eliminate the substance from their country and further restrict trade with Britain, leading to the Opium Wars. Pipes of this type were designed with special pipe-bowls that were meant to vaporize the drug, rather than burn it like other types of pipe. Opium pipe-bowls were usually made of ceramic and depicted traditional Chinese symbols of longevity, wealth, and happiness.

The following video gives additional information on the opium poppy plant. [Kathryn S. (Barr) McCloud]

Object: Inrō

E/1956/18/2
Inrō box
Japanese
Japan
20th century
Materials: ceramic, glaze, cord

Traditional Japanese clothing like the kimono, hakama, yukata, jūnihitoe, and uwagi didn’t have pockets, which meant that most personal items had to be carried by hand. Often containers, called sagemono, were hung from belts, or obi, to help carry small objects like personal seals, tobacco, pipes, or writing brushes. One of the most common types of these containers was the inrō. Inrō, which literally means “seal basket” were small containers consisting of one or more compartments held together by a cord. The ends of the cord are passed through a sliding bead, called a ojime, and the ends are secured by a toggle, called a netsuke. While inrō and netsuke started off as basic utilitarian objects they evolved over time to become symbols of wealth and status.

The following video shows how to tie a traditional Japanese obi.

This example of an inrō is made of glazed ceramic but most traditional inrō are made of lacquer. Japanese lacquer is made from the sap of the Lacquer tree (Rhus verniciflua). Native to China, this tree is in the same family as poison oak and ivy. In its raw state the sap is also poisonous (not so when it hardens), and apprentices can take years to build up a tolerance. Japanese lacquer objects are made by applying many layers of the liquid sap over a wooden or leather form and allowing it to harden. The sap can also be mixed with ash or sawdust to create a putty (thayo) which can be sculpted. The natural sap is almost clear, but it was often mixed with charcoal or cinnabar to produce black or red. [Kathryn S. (Barr) McCloud]

Object: Ewer

E/1983/1/1
Ewer
Korea
918-1392: Koryo (or Korai or Goryeo) Period
Materials: Porcelain, celadon glaze

This object is an ewer or vase-like pitcher, which has been dated from the 12^th century. The ewer is gourd-shaped (characteristic of the Koryo period) and has a low foot, flared spout and a double rope handle. Human-like figures and bunches of grapes and vines adorn the vase. These figures are done in black and white slip, which contrast against the greenish gray color of the celadon glaze. Prior to the Koryo period, pottery and ceramics in Korea were unglazed. During the Koryo period Korean artists began adding glaze, which provide a smooth, glassy appearance.  Celadon, like that found on this ewer from the Sam Noble Museum, is a type of semi-transparent glaze that originated in China. Korean artists in the Koryo period perfected the craft of celadon production, popularizing inlaid celadon. To create inlaid celadon, artists would use black or white slip to create a design on the piece before glazing. This was a distinctly different practice from the traditional Chinese method.

Celadon glaze can produce a variety of colors such as white, yellow, gray or blue. The color of the glaze depends on the glaze’s composition, the thickness or how many layers are applied, as well as the type of clay the glaze is applied to. However, the most sought after color by artists and collectors is a pale green similar to jade. The green color is achieved during the firing process. The iron oxide in the glaze or the clay will change colors in an oxygen-restricted kiln. As glaze can often defect during the firing process, crazing or crackling can occur. Depending on the nature of the crackling in each specimen, the result is sometimes desirable.

For more information see:
Brandt, Kim
2000   Objects of Desire: Japanese Collectors and Colonial Korea. Positions 8(3): 711-747.
Lee, Soyoung
2003    Goryeo Celadon. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000
[Chelsea Pierce]

Object: Shoe

E/1959/10/5
Lotus shoe
Chinese
China
ca. 1924
Materials: Cloth and leather

So called “lotus” shoes, or slippers, were developed in China as footwear for girls and women who had had their feet artificially shortened through the process of foot-binding. These shoes are generally cone shaped, sometimes with a wedge style heel, and were meant to resemble a lotus bud. Foot-binding, the process of breaking and tightly wrapping the feet of young girls, ensured that a girl would have

The drawing above illustrates how the bone structure was rearranged when a girl’s foot was bound. The toes extend below the heel, the bones in the arch of the foot are bent, and the toes are broken.

extremely small feet as an adult and also prevented her from doing most manual labor jobs. Thus small feet were were a sign of wealth and a status symbol in China for thousands of years. At the height of its popularity, women without bound feet were considered nearly un-marriageable. So much so that even Western missionaries running orphanages in China during the 19th century were forced to permit the practice. The entire process took many years to complete, in the end, foot binders sought to produce an adult foot measuring roughly 7-10 centimeters (or 3-4 inches) in length. In contrast, the average shoe size for an American woman in 2009 was a size 9, meaning that her foot was 25 centimeters (or 9.8 inches) in length. This shoe, while similar in shape to true lotus shoes, is roughly 6 inches in length and may have been meant for a child with unbound feet or produced solely as a tourist item. The practice of foot-binding was officially banned in 1911, but continued to be found in remote areas of China up until the late 1940s.

Below you will find a video showing an elderly Chinese woman who had her feet bound as a child as well as additional images of lotus shoes.

Other examples of lotus shoes can be found at the University of Missouri’s Museum of Anthropology, the Bata Shoe Museum, the Temple Shoe Museum, the Children’s Museum Indianapolis, and others.  [Kathryn S. (Barr) McCloud]

Object: Apron

E/1965/30/2
Ceremonial Apron
Tibetan Buddhist
Tibet
Prior to 1961
Materials: Bone (likely from sheep), and cotton cloth (not original to object)

This object is an apron traditionally worn by Buddhist practitioners during Tantric ceremonies in Tibet. Tantric Buddhism, or Vajrayāna Buddhism, is a type of Buddhism that focuses on helping others to achieve enlightenment rather than on reaching personal Nirvana. In order to achieve this goal Tantric Buddhists repeat sacred chants or prayers called mantras, read sacred texts called tantras, practice yoga, and study with a guru. While some aspects of Tantric Buddhism are well known many of the teachings of this type of Buddhism are deliberately shrouded in mystery to prevent the uninitiated from learning religious secrets.

While this apron is made using sheep bones, aprons like this one were sometimes made using human bones. The bone decoration was meant to symbolize the death of the wearer and a release from his physical body in pursuit of enlightenment.  A set of six bone ornaments, including the apron, are meant to symbolize the six paramitas, or perfections, necessary for the attainment of enlightenment. These perfections include: generosity, ethics, patience, perseverance, concentration, and wisdom.

The following video shows traditional Tibetan Buddhist dancing. A bone apron can be seen briefly on some of the dancers around  minute 1.

Similar aprons can be found at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, University of Missouri Museum of Art and Archaeology, the Australian Museum, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art among others. [Kathryn S. (Barr) McCloud]

Object: Burmese turban

E/1970/5/1
Burmese turban or Maung Kyetthayay
Myanmar
20th Century
Materials: silk and wood

This Burmese turban, or Maung Kyetthayay (also sometimes known as a Gaung Baung or Khaung Paung), is from the Asian country of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is worn by men throughout Myanmar at formal events and ceremonial gatherings. This type of turban is especially common among the Rakhine and Shan cultures. The color of this turban suggests that it might have belonged to a Rakhine man, as pink is a common color for Rakhine turbans.

Here is a video of a traditional Myanmar orchestra performance in which the musicians are wearing this type of turban.

The Rakhine (formerly Arakanese) people are mostly Buddhist and live primarily in India, Myanmar, and Bangladesh. A strongly independent people, they ruled their own kingdom at Mrauk-U until 1748. Today in Myanmar most Rakhine people live in the Rakhine State, located along the northern-most section of the western coast of Myanmar. The Shan people are the second largest ethnic group in Myanmar, living mostly in the Shan State on the eastern side of Myanmar. Historically Shan people have lived in southern China, Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar.

Turbans have been in use in Myanmar since before the colonial period but this particular variation was developed in the 20th century. Based on earlier wrapped style turbans, this type has evolved into a piece of silk or cotton which is stretched over a woven rattan frame, allowing it to be worn like a hat.

The example at the Sam Noble Museum as an inscription on the interior written in Burmese, or Myanmar, script. At this time the museum has no translation for the text…can you help us read the inscription? [Kathryn S. (Barr) McCloud]