Object: Jar

E/1956/6/31
Jar
Acoma
United States: New Mexico
ca. 1900
Materials: Ceramic & slip

This jar has been attributed to the Acoma pueblo of New Mexico. Acoma means “People of the White Rock,” a name that likely originated from their ancestral home, Sky City, located on top of a mesa. Pottery from the Acoma pueblo is known for its very thin walls, fluted rims, and beautifully painted geometric designs. Some of the better known designs used on Acoma pottery are based on ancestral pottery from Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon. The designs are painted onto the vessels by hand prior to firing using a slip of natural minerals and vegetal paints.  The following video shows an Acoma artist decorating one of her unfired pots.

This jar was donated to the museum by artist and illustrator Margaret LeFranc Schoonover (aka. Marguerite Frankel). Ms. LeFranc Schoonover was a friend and contemporary of many artists and scholars, largely based out of New Mexico, including Georgia O’Keefe, Alice Marriott, and Maria Marinez. It was through her connection with Alice Marriott, the first female graduate of the University of Oklahoma anthropology department and later associate professor of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma, that Ms. LeFranc Schoonover came to donate this jar and a number of other pieces to the Sam Noble Museum. [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: Krater fragment

C/1953/55/1
Krater fragment
Darius Painter
Apulian
Italy
mid 4th century BCE
Materials: ceramic, & slip

This pottery fragment from an Apulian red-figure krater shows a scene from Greek mythology. The names of the two figures are written on the krater near the heads of each character, and are identified as Peleus and Phoenix. Peleus was one of the Argonauts, as well as one of the Calydonian boar hunters, and is best known for being the father of Achilles.  Phoenix, a prince of the Dolopes, was blinded and exiled by his father, Amyntor, as punishment for seducing one of his father’s mistresses (or concubines). After fleeing his father’s kingdom Phoenix meets Peleus, who arranged for the centaur Chiron (or Cheiron) to heal Phoenix’s sight. With his sight restored Phoenix remained close friends with Peleus and his family, eventually fighting with Achilles’ Myrmidons in the Trojan War. The scene depicted on the krater fragment at the Sam Noble Museum shows Phoenix first meeting Peleus, prior to having his sight restored.

The fragment shown above, in the Sam Noble Museum collection, has been attributed to the Darius Painter. When identifying the maker or artist behind a piece of ancient pottery archaeologists typically group pieces together based on the style of the decoration or repeating themes in the designs. The painter (or workshop) referred to as the Darius Painter by archaeologists is named for a vase currently in the Museo Archaeologico Nazionale in Naples, Italy that depicts Darius, a Persian king. The Darius Painter is known for decorating very large Apulian red-figure vases. This painter (or workshop) worked in the so-called “Ornate” or “Rich” style of Apulian vase painting and would fill the surface of the vase with many figures and mythological scenes. Additionally, this painter (or workshop) was fond of labeling most of the figures on the vases with their name, which was helpful since he/they tended to depict mythological scenes that were not commonly used for vase painting. Instead, it is thought that the Darius Painter’s choices in subject matter and composition were influenced by theatrical productions. [Kathryn S. (Barr) McCloud]

Object: Basket

E/2011/3/1
Basket
Xerente
South America: Brazil: Tocantins: Mateiros
ca. 1990-2000
Materials: Grass

This basket, made of golden grass (Syngonanthus nitens) and fiber from the buriti palm (Mauritia flexuosa) was made in the village of Mateiros in the state of Tocantins, Brazil. Golden grass is not actually a grass, but instead is a grass-like species from the Eriocaulaceae family, native to the Brazilian cerrado. These plants produce small white flowers each year but are prized for their shiny metallic stems. Golden grass weaving is thought to have been developed by the indigenous Xerente (or Sherente) people. Today golden grass is used to make a large number of products, primarily for the tourist trade. It is currently one of the most important economic sources in the Jalapão area of Tocantins, Brazil. For that reason local government and community groups have been working to ensure the sustainability of this precious natural resource. Amongst these efforts is a limit on when the plants can be harvested, and a ban on the sale of the raw materials to outside areas.

The following video show what the raw material looks like and includes a weaving demonstration.

[Kathryn S. (Barr) McCloud]

Object: Lime box

E/1955/6/83
Lime box (or flask)
Solomon Islanders
Oceania: Melanesia: Solomon Islands: Nggela Sule (Florida Island): Vatapura
Unknown date: before 1945
Materials: Bamboo, wood, charcoal, tree sap, and lime

This object is a lime box or flask from the village of Vatapura in the Solomon Islands. Lime is a white powder of inorganic material containing calcium, and can be made from limestone, shell, or coral that has been treated with high heat. People of southern Asia and Oceania commonly ingest lime while chewing betel nuts. Betel nuts, also known as Areca catechu, are actually the seeds of a palm tree native to east Africa, southern Asia, and the Pacific islands. These seeds are commonly chewed, similar to chewing tobacco, along with betel leaves (or daka “mustard” seed pods) and lime. In this combination the betel nuts have a mild stimulant effect. Users of betel nuts can be easily identified by the red saliva and blackened teeth produced by the seed. The lime is primarily used as a mild abrasive which irritates the gums and allows the stimulant to be more easily absorbed by the mucus membranes of the mouth. These properties also contribute to the grinding away of tooth enamel, and the darkening of the teeth in habitual users.

The following video describes the traditional method of chewing betel nuts in Papua New Guinea.

Similar lime flasks can be found in the British Museum, Queensland Museum, and the Birmingham Museum, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and others.  [Kathryn S. (Barr) McCloud]

Object: Lamp

C/1953/29/1
Lamp
Greek
Cyprus
950-201 BCE
Materials: Ceramic

Lamps have been an important part of life for thousands of years. Ancient houses in the Mediterranean were often dark and somewhat gloomy places, with few windows for natural light. A hearth or brazier could easily handle the heating needs of most households but required a large amount of fuel, produced a large amount of smoke, and could be serious fire hazards. For this reason lamps were used for most of the interior lighting.

Some of the earliest lamps were little more than shallow bowls for holding oil or animal fat, in the Mediterranean olive oil was often used in lamps.  Over time these bowls evolved into a small closed vessel with one or more spouts for the wick, a hole for filling, and later a small handle.  By enclosing the oil reservoir the lamp makers reduced the risk of spilling and fire when using lamps for interior lighting.

This example from the Classics collection at the Sam Noble Museum is thought to have been made in Cyprus and is an example of a “cocked hat” or shell lamp. This type of lamp provides a pinched opening for a wick to rest and has a shape reminiscent of a sea shell. Cocked hat or shell lamps were made throughout the Mediterranean region for many years. Archaeologists believe that this type of lamp may have been first developed by the Phoenicians in the second millennium BCE and  continued to be used until at least the 3rd century BCE by many other groups. Other examples of this type can be found in the Wright Museum of Art, the Spurlock Museum, the British Museum, the Yeshiva University Museum, and others. [Kathryn S. (Barr) McCloud]

Object: Jar

E/1968/6/11
Jar
Raramuri (Tarahumara)
Mexico: Sierra Madre Occidental or Copper Canyon
Date unknown
Materials: Ceramic & slip

This water storage jar was made by the Raramuri (Tarahumara) people of northwestern Mexico. The name Raramuri means “foot-runner” or “he who walks well” and this tribal group is renowned for their long distance running and hiking abilities. The Raramuri came to live in the remote canyons and mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental after encountering Spanish settlers in their previous homelands in the Chihuahua region of Mexico during the 16th-18th centuries. Their first contact with the Spaniards was with the Jesuit missionaries around 1607. In addition to religion, the missionaries also brought new agricultural techniques such as irrigation, the plow and the axe to the Raramuri. During the 17th century silver was discovered on Raramuri lands and much of their territory was confiscated and many of the Raramuri were captured to serve as forced laborers in the mines. This caused the tribe to move deeper into the mountainous areas of the Sierra Madre Occidental, where they made an effort to avoid further outside contact. The Raramuri are primarily farmers specialized in raising corn, goats, cattle, beans, potatoes, and apples but are also expert hunters. In modern times they have also begun selling their pottery, drums and baskets in the tourist trade.

The following video shows how the Raramuri live today.

© Arizona State Museum

Pottery has been used by the Raramuri for many years as everyday storage and cooking containers and is often used in their religious rituals as well. Pottery vessels are also particularly important to the Raramuri for the brewing of tesguino, a corn-based beer that is brewed in ceramic jars. Raramuri pottery historically was unpainted and decorated primarily with attached leather and rawhide. Today painted pottery is becoming more common as a part of the tourist trade. The “paint”, a type of thin mineral slip, is obtained from red ochre, iron oxide or hematite and applied by hand or using a feather or cloth-wrapped stick as a brush. The pottery is hand made by coiling a thin rope of clay on top of itself into the desired shape. The surface is then smoothed and the coils are fused together using a piece of gourd, stone or wood. [Kathryn S. (Barr) McCloud]

Object: Stirrup jar

C/1953/7/1
Stirrup jar
Mycenaean
Cyprus
ca. 1300-1230 BCE
Materials: Ceramic, slip

Stirrup jars are specialized containers, named after the stirrup shape that the handles form, for oil or wine that are closely associated with the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures of the Aegean Bronze Age. It is thought that this type of container was originally intended to be used in the same way an amphora was used, to store and serve liquids. However, their relatively small size and arrangements for stoppering and attaching labels seems to indicate that stirrup jars were most commonly used to store and serve only particularly valuable liquids. While there are many variations of this basic shape, this example in the Sam Noble Museum most closely resembles the type of stirrup jar described by Swedish archaeologist Arn Furumark as FS179. Other examples of this shape can be found in the British Museum, and the Museum of Art and Archeology at the University of Missouri at Columbia.

One of the most interesting features of this jar is that it was labeled in antiquity with a Cypro-Minoan (sometimes also called Linear C) character. Cypro-Minoan script originated on the island of Cyprus in the Late Bronze age and is thought to have been derived from the Minoan script, Linear A. Labels of this type on pottery are called dipinti, meaning “painted.” While the meaning behind this type of marking is still unknown it is believed that they were applied separate from the rest of the decoration and could indicate a makers mark, or the owner of the contents, or some sort of routing information.

The following is a video discussing Cypro-Minoan script and what scholars have learned about it over the years. [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: Lekythos

C/2001/1/20
White ground lekythos
Tymbos Painter
Attic
Athens, Greece
ca. 450 BCE
Materials: ceramic, slip

A lekythos is a container for oil and perfume, with a single vertical handle. They commonly have an angular shoulder, a tall cylindrical body which rounds slightly at the bottom, and a foot. This lekythos is decorated in the white ground style, in which the figural decoration is painted in an outline style on a field of white slip. While red and black figure lekythoi were used for many common domestic purposes, white ground lekythoi are usually associated with funerary rituals and offerings. They have been found in many archaeological excavations of cemeteries and are often depicted in vase painting siting on or near graves.

This video shows some of the many funerary scenes depicted on white ground lekythoi.

This lekythos, at the Sam Noble Museum, has been attributed to the so-called Tymbos Painter. When identifying the maker or artist behind a piece of ancient pottery archaeologists occasionally encounter signed pieces. More often, pieces of pottery are grouped together based on the style of the decoration or repeating themes in the designs. Like many other Greek vase “painters,” the Tymbos Painter was named by archaeologist based on what designs he seemed to paint the most often, tombs (tymbos in Greek). These “painters” could be actual individuals or a workshop of artisans trained and working together to produce very similar pieces. This painter was originally identified by German archaeologist Ernst Buschor, and was also described by famed British archaeologist Sir John Beazley. While the Tymbos Painter was not known for elaborate designs or careful craftsmanship he was definitely prolific. There are many examples of Tymbos Painter lekythoi found in museums around the world today. For instance, a number of other examples can be found in the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Ashmolean Museum, the Louvre and many others. [Kathryn S. (Barr) McCloud]