Copper slave badge imprinted "Charleston No. 261 Fruiterer 1812." The badge is a contemporary counterfeit--"Fruiterer" is not a known occupation to be printed upon slave badges.
Intricate brass support with a cupperhood in the shape of a cobra that holds a brass bowl. The bowl has a perforated hole that is used to drip liquid. Original description from Colin Turnbull reads "brass Vvandi bowl support Lingham in clothed Lotus."
Carved statue of a woman wearing a raffia skirt and cowrie shell earrings. Tattoos mark her shoulders and her face is painted. Made of dark wood with a natural clay stand.
Purple, yellow, and green raffia handbag with red stitches; material sewn inside, outside decorated with flowers; two braided raffia handles; origin South India.
Smoothly finished art pottery piece with predominantly orange and green coloration. Heart-shaped jar, orange with green and black spots. Smooth finish. Jar stopper designed as a woman without facial features wearing a gele (headtie) and two green earrings.
Brass butter lamp with the number 24 stamped into base; used by Buddhists to burn clarified yak butter, believed to aid in meditation; origin Varanasi (Benares).
Small silver identification anklet, possibly used to mark slaves with a history of escaping. Anklet contains a lock, key, and identification tag, which is blank. Manufactured by Hiatt.
Carving of a human and an animal; the shapes are intertwined and a human face is part of the animal figure; origin South Kenya; engraved lettering on front reads "MR KASUMILI IOMASIL FROM_MbEGAM LD bAGAMOYO MAKOMDE."
Front, interior, and profile views of a multi-colored basket made of sweetgrass, bulrush, and pine needle, sewn with palmetto leaf. Sweetgrass is natural and dyed blue, orange, and red. A wrapped hinge is sewn into the bottom for hanging purposes.
A multipurpose ax that was used for digging, clearing and breaking ground. According to Mrs. Gold, it was used in Mount Pleasant before saws and machines were available to clear land to plant crops. The long side was used for hewing trees or bushes and the short side for cutting tree roots.
Wooden mask with carved mouth and nose and holes for eyes; holes carved on cheeks, nose, forehead, and perimeter of face and inserted into holes are orange and red beads; beard of beads also attached; handles carved into back to hold the mask; origin is Africa, specific region unknown.
Full and profile views of a coiled basket, possibly used for fruit, with a cross handle; made with sweetgrass, bulrush and pine needle, sewn with palmetto leaf. Basket is asymmetric and sits extremely crooked in its natural state; this feature has been manually edited somewhat in the images to ease viewing the object.
Natural-colored raffia bag with green material sewn inside; decorated with groups of three shells in floral-type arrangement, coral and green connect shells; origin South India.
Pottery pot with a narrow neck, shallow grooves decorate front and back, sides decorated with scalloped-type pieces that were added on, reddish-brown in color; unknown origin.
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.
Bundle of wooden arrows wrapped with a piece of raffia, seven with metal tips, fourteen in all; end of one is notched with traces of poison; origin Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), Mbuti people.
