Tangible Things Making History through Objects

281 Pages·2015·66.654 MB·English

by  Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Ivan Gaskell, Sara Schechner, Sarah Anne Carter

Tangible Things

Tangible
hings
MAKING HISTORY
THROUGH OBJECTS
Laurel hatcher Ulrich
Ivan Gaskell
Sara J. Schechner
Sarah Anne Carter
with photographs by
Samantha S. B. van Gerbig
1
3
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ulrich, Laurel hatcher.
Tangible things : making history through objects / Laurel hatcher Ulrich, Ivan Gaskell,
Sara J. Schechner, Sarah Anne Carter with photographs by Samantha S. B. van Gerbig.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978–0–19–938228–6 (pbk.; alk. paper)—ISBN 978–0–19–938227–9 (hardback; alk. paper)
1. Material culture. 2. Material culture—Philosophy. 3. Civilization—History.
4. Social evolution. I. Title.
GN406.U57 2015
303.4—dc23
2014028717
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For all the people who care for and preserve tangible things:
museum curators, conservators, conservation scientists,
collection managers, registrars, administrators, and volunteers.
Why do precisely these objects which we behold make a world?
—Henry David horeau, Walden, 1854
Contents
About the Companion Website ix
Preface and Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: hinking with hings 1
1 hings in Place 21
Natural History 38
• An Orchid: Say It with Flowers
Anthropology and Archaeology
• A Glass Jar:
A Surface Find in the Semitic Museum 46
Books and Manuscripts
• A Papyrus Fragment:
Plato from the Sharp-Nosed Trash 51
Art 55
• A Limestone Mold: Set in Stone
Science and Medicine
• A Collection of Powders:
Political Chemistry 59
History
• A Field-Hockey Dress:
Fit for a Knockabout Sport 64
2 hings Unplaced 71
A Gift from the Ladies of Llangollen:
Memorandums of a Cottage 80
A Galapagos Tortoiseshell: “Ship Abigail” 85
A Carved Spoon: Pointing a Finger 93
A Mexican Tortilla: From Exotic to Ordinary 97
A Beetle Ornament: Iridescent Opulence 103
A Board Game: Tracking Blondie 108
viii Contents
3 hings out of Place 115
An Artist’s Palette: he Psychology of Vision 135
A Tin Bluebird: Calling for the Vote 141
A Hand Plow: Plowshares and Swords 148
A Carved Bird Skull: Nature or Culture? 152
4 hings in Stories—Stories in hings 159
Objects as Portals 164
A Nostalgic Painting: he Message 172
Transits of Venus 179
Changing Stories about American Indians 186
Photo Essay: Unexpected Discoveries: he Joy of Object Photography 193
Appendix: Harvard Collections that Contributed to
Tangible hings 209
Notes 217
About the Authors 243
Picture Credits 245
Index 253
About the Companion Website
www.oup.com/us/tangiblethings
Tangible hings is both an introduction to the range and scope of Harvard’s
remarkable collections and an invitation to reassess collections of all sorts,
including those that reside in the bottom drawers or attics of people’s
houses. It questions the nineteenth-century categories that still divide art
museums from science museums and historical collections from anthro-
pological displays and assume that history is made only from written
documents. he 406 images presented on the companion website give
readers access to items that were part of this project but are not shown in
this book, as well as alternative views of the items that are included here.
Explore these varied things and ask: What can these objects reveal about
history, about the people who made or collected them, and about the
museums that have kept and preserved them? How might an examination
of these tangible things change the way we think about the things that
surround us every day?
Log in to the companion website using username: Tangible5 and
password: Objects1636.