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James David Smillie
American, New York 1833–1909 New York
9 1/2 x 12 7/8 in. (24.1 x 32.7 cm)
medium: Watercolor and gouache on green-gray wove paper
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 67.274 1967
Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. J. William Middendorf II Gift, 1967
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The modest appearance of this small bird-effigy pipe, its head now lost, is misleading—the carving is fine and imagery, complex. The upper part takes the form of a bird’s body, the wings folded over the back. The section beneath the bird’s breast, intact but difficult to read, may depict a human torso with a pronounced navel and upraised forearms and hands, the palms facing outward. If so, one creature could be carrying or transforming into the other. The pipe was created by an artist of the ancient Adena people of southern Ohio. Smoke traveled through an interior channel to the mouthpiece, a small hole on the underside.
Native North America, Adena people, Vance Mound, Newton Township, Licking County, Ohio
sandstone
Overall: 6.6 x 2.5 x 2.5 cm (2 5/8 x 1 x 1 in.)
Gift of Arthur George Smith
Many Teotihuacán masks were once tied to something via holes on the back--perhaps a body-shaped form dressed in garments, ornaments, and a headdress that identified the figure. The stone masks’ eyes and mouths once held inlays representing irises, pupils, and teeth.
Central Mexico, Teotihuacán, Classic period
ceramic, slip
Overall: 11 x 18.1 x 5.7 cm (4 5/16 x 7 1/8 x 2 1/4 in.)
Gift of Edward B. Greene
A cast silver amulet representing the goddess Nephthys, the sister of Isis, standing. She wears a small crown surmounted by the hieroglyph for her name. There is a loop behind the crown and the legs are broken off.
Egyptian
H: 1 9/16 x W: 1/8 x D: 1/16 in. (4.04 x 0.36 x 0.08 cm)
medium: silver
culture: Egyptian
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
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The entire pictorial surface of this dish on a low foot consists of a bust of Mary Magdalene, identified by her long flowing hair and the ointment jar she carried to the tomb to anoint Christ’s dead body. She has brown eyes, and wears a blue dress. Her head is turned three-quarters to the right, with curling locks over both shoulders. Representations of Mary Magdalene were extremely popular in Italy during the Renaissance period, not only on maiolica wares, but also in paintings and sculptures (for example see 37.509). According to the Western Church tradition, Mary Magdalene was a prostitute who repented from her sinful ways upon meeting Christ. Artists thus often chose to represent her as a beautiful, sexually attractive woman, while still maintaining the work’s religious subject matter. The image is actually quite similar to dishes such as 48.1358 that celebrate idealized, presumably virtuous beauty of a beloved. The maker of this dish has not been identified. This dish is painted in blue, yellow,ochre, brown, black and opaque white.The back is bluish-white with one yellow circle near the rim. For more information on ‘maiolica,’ see 48.1336.
2 5/8 x 9 1/8 in. (6.7 x 23.1 cm)
medium: earthenware with tin glaze (maiolica)
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
This image of a tulip was made as part of a tulip book used as a grower’s marketing tool during the so-called tulip mania, a speculative bubble in 17th-century Holland, when ten tulip bulbs could cost more than a stately Amsterdam canal house. The striations on the tulip, which were caused by a virus in the bulb, made it especially valuable. Pieter Holsteyn II was one of many artists in the Netherlands at the time who specialized in botanical illustration.This tulip's Dutch name, inscribed on the sheet, means "white and red messenger."
Netherlands
Point of brush and transparent and opaque watercolors with traces of graphite and gum glazing on antique laid paper
Sheet: 31.2 x 20.6 cm (12 5/16 x 8 1/8 in.)
Did you know...
In 17th-century Holland, some tulip bulbs were as expensive as a stately Amsterdam canal house.
Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift
John La Farge
American, New York 1835–1910 Providence, Rhode Island
23 1/16 x 17 5/16 in. (58.6 x 44 cm)
medium: Watercolor and gouache and graphite on off-white Japan-type paper
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 67.155.5 1967
Bequest of Susan Vanderpoel Clark, 1967
The European practice of mounting porcelains with silver and gold embellishments began as early as the Middle Ages. This custom reached its apogee in eighteenth-century France, where the taste for Asian exoticism as well as the extravagance of the Rococo style created a consumer desire for luxury objects typified by mounted porcelains.
Japanese and Chinese porcelains emerged in the luxury markets of Europe following their import by the Dutch East India Company in the seventeenth century. The French taste for these porcelains was further stimulated after the Siamese ambassadors visited the court of France in 1684 and 1686. The ambassadors brought more than 1500 porcelains for Louis XIV, as well as numerous other ceramic wares for members of the court. The royal family began collecting these objects, with the aristocracy of France quickly following suit. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, Europe was inundated with an influx of Asian porcelains.
The simple elegance of porcelain appealed to wealthy Europeans not just for its aesthetic qualities, but also for the mysterious nature of its creation. The recipe for porcelain eluded European artisans for centuries. It was not until 1708 in Dresden that kaolin was found to be the missing ingredient. Even after this discovery, Europeans preferred their porcelains to be imported, enhancing their value through rarity and exoticism. The most prized porcelain wares in early eighteenth century were large vessels with single-color glazes, as these were the most difficult to transport and therefore the rarest. However, these forms did not complement the extravagant Rococo fashion of the French elite's interiors. The Rococo manner of the mid-eighteenth century is distinguished by playful superflousness, natural forms intertwined in ornate, asymmetrical designs, and colors such as pastels and gold. The juxtaposition of Asian porcelains with Rococo gilded mounts adapted the eastern objects to the French interiors.
Chinese
9 7/16 in. (24 cm)
medium: porcelain molded in paste with glaze celadon and French ormolu mounts
culture: Chinese
dynasty: Qing [Ch'ing] Dynasty
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.