Though not an official part of the Joukowsky Institute’s collection, this antique mailbox front represents a fascinating part of the history of Brown Mail Services. The object, identified as a Corbin Model 87-A Post Office Mailbox Door, is a special find in and of itself. Once contextualized within its place in the lives of Brown…
Cylinder seals are small cylindrical objects carved with images and text and meant to be rolled in soft clay to leave an impression of the design. Like this cylinder seal , many were made of stone, but they could also be made from ivory, bone, shell, metal, glass, or ceramic. Many had a hole through…
Askoi are vessels for pouring small amounts of liquid – probably most commonly oil for refilling oil lamps. They can have one or two spouts and a handle (which often arches over the entire top of the vessel) and come in a variety of shapes. Some askoi are squat, like ours, while others are globular…
This Roman lamp is a terracotta Vogelkopflampe type lamp (or Dressel type 4) made between 90 and 140 CE. The lamp has a typically shallow, rounded body with a triangular spout which allowed for lamps to be efficiently packed into boxes for transportation. The decoration we see on this lamp is also typical – an…
Object 27 is a kothon (also called an exaleiptron or plemochoe ) from the late 5th or early 4th century BCE. This type of vessel was used to hold cosmetics, oils, or perfumes, either for personal use or in rituals, and was typically made of clay, though a few examples carved out of marble…
Faience first appeared about 6000 years ago in the Near East and its production techniques were refined and widely used in Egypt. While beads were some of the earliest faience objects produced in Egypt, the material was also used extensively on amulets, figurines, and scarabs and inlayed into furniture and walls. Faience is made of…
Spindle whorls are one of the most common finds in any excavation site or any historical site. They are associated with spinning yarn, a process that takes place after collecting the material and before setting up the loom. Spinning needs a lot of skill and a lot of time. Therefore, in many traditional societies,…
Beekeeping is attested by traces of beeswax on ceramic pots, as early as the Middle Neolithic (ca. 5800-4500BC) period in Greece. Whether this was the product of wild or domesticated bees remains uncertain. Also uncertain is the shape of the beehives, as no complete specimen has been found. Archaeologists argue that pots bearing scoring…
The kylix is a drinking vessel, favored by the Mycenaeans. Its main typological characteristics are its round base and the tall cylindrical stem ending to a bowled cup with two handles. It was not only favored by Mycenaeans but also from archaeologists, as its typological evolution helps define the chronological subperiods of Late Helladic…
Figurines are one of the most celebrated artifacts in museums and digital collections. The human eye is attracted to figurines, whether because we think we are viewing a small version of ourselves or because we are drawn to the tactility of a small object. Mycenaean figurines are also common in museum displays and collections,…