Coiled, oblong fruit basket with cross handle made of sweetgrass, bulrush, and pine needle, sewn with palmetto leaf. This basket was created by a left-handed artist, visually evident by the slant of the palmetto leaf wraps. The wraps in a right-handed basket typically slant to the left, while the wraps in this basket slant to the right.
Glass chicken egg used for inducing hens to lay eggs. According to Mrs. Gold, to encourage a hen to lay eggs in a specific place, farmers would often begin making their nests and place the artificial nesting eggs in them with the hope that the hen would complete her nest in that location. This also helped the farmer keep track of which hens were laying eggs and where the eggs were located. The glass eggs remained in the nest until the hen laid and incubated the eggs and the offspring hatched. It was important to maintain this process and promptly remove the artificial egg so that it could be reused.
A glass turkey egg used to encourage turkey hens to lay eggs in a particular location. According to Mrs. Gold, to encourage a hen to lay eggs in a specific place, farmers would often begin making their nests and place the artificial nesting eggs in them with the hope that the hen would complete her nest in that location. This also helped the farmer keep track of which hens were laying eggs and where the eggs were located. The glass eggs remained in the nest until the hen laid and incubated the eggs and the offspring hatched. It was important to maintain this process and promptly remove the artificial egg so that it could be reused.
Front and top views of a contemporary sweetgrass basket for decorative use in the shape of a hat; center constructed of pine needle; sewn with palmetto leaf.
Front and top views of a contemporary sweetgrass basket for decorative use in the shape of a hat; center constructed of pine needle; sewn with palmetto leaf.
Front and interior views of a multiple views of a contemporary sweetgrass basket in the form of a hat, made of sweetgrass and bulrush and sewn with palmetto leaf. There is a felt band sewn inside.
Framed oil portrait of Thomas Miller, African American lawyer, politician, and educator who was a South Carolina legislator, member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and first President of South Carolina State College (formerly the Colored Normal Industrial Agricultural and Mechanical College of South Carolina).
Framed oil painting, "Shrimp Vendor," depicting an African American man with a tray of shrimp walking by a house with iron fence and balcony, typical of Charleston homes. On long term loan to the Avery Research Center from St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.
