Just Another Day in the Collection

"Life is what happens when we are busy making other plans."

~John Lennon

Without any special projects in the May Weber Collection, the past couple of weeks have been full of the usual: accessioning, building, and some researching. In other words, just another day in the collection. But as you should know by now, "just another day in the collection" is never any ordinary day. Even though I don't have any exciting stories to share, I thought all of you readers would like to see some of the objects I've come across recently. Enjoy!!

Chomp chomp chomp...

It's so colorful!!

Mooooo...

I think this is a statue of an adult monkey holding a baby monkey. How appropriate since I'm taking a class on primatology this semester.

What an outfit!!

This is a picture of the infamous bone blanket (or shirt??), which recently resurfaced in the collection. I ran into this object while sorting textiles over the summer and have tried to avoid it ever since. The skulls kind of freak me out, and to top off my dislike, I got a cut while handling it. The less I have to touch it in the future, the happier I will be.

A beautiful beaded disk from India and my colorful sketch of it.

This little hat was made for a child in China and it would have been worn with shoes like the ones I wrote about in my last post. Like the shoes, the faces on the hat are stylized tigers, and were meant to protect the little wearer. A tiger hat and pair of shoes would have been two of many articles of clothing and other objects with tigers on them, like collars and pillows, given to a child. 

I didn't make the box for this little guy, but I did get to make some bumpers inside the box so it would be stable when moved. 

Doesn't this kind of look like R2D2? We thought it did... It's actually a very fancy, high-tech vacuum (in the process of being assembled) that can be used on textiles in the collection. Take that, dust!

As always, stay tuned for more adventures from the Cardboard Jungle!! Thanks for reading!!!!!!

Tigers and Toads and Qilins, Oh My!!

"One generation plants the tree, the next enjoys its shade."

~Chinese proverb

Surprisingly, research on the Chinese children's boots is going quite well. It seems that the catalog was right (shocking, I know) and these shoes really are Chinese. Even more fabulous has been the animals on the boots. On the toe of each boot there is a tiger, the bottom has a toad, and on each side there is a qilin (pronounced "chee-lin"). Each of these creatures means something, so by looking into their meanings I've begun to piece together the greater cultural context of the shoes. Since it's probably safe to assume you don't want to read my 5-7 page paper on these fascinating boots, I'll give you a condensed version.

The most obvious animal on the boots is the tiger. You can't miss it right there on the front of the shoe. The tiger has long been an important animal in Chinese culture, and it's even one of the 12 Zodiac animals. Tigers generally represent strength, power, and courage, making it an ideal protector figure for humans. Many sources have pointed out that tigers are common motifs on children's clothing, especially hats and shoes, because of their association with protection. Little children in China still wear tiger hats and shoes today, so these boots are only one piece of a long tradition in children's clothing.

Roar!

On the bottom of the shoes there is a small frog. At least, I thought it was a frog until it turned out to be a toad. Toads are generally associated with wealth and money, especially toads with three legs that are used in Feng Shui to bring prosperity. Each toad on the boots has four legs, so these aren't the special toads of prosperity. It turns out there are five poisonous creatures in Chinese folklore: centipedes, lizards, scorpions, vipers, and TOADS. In order to ward off these creatures and their dangerous potential, their images are embroidered onto children's clothing and other possessions, such as shoes. To further protect the child from these creatures, the images are often accompanied by an image of a tiger because of their protective reputation. Thus, it makes sense for the image of a toad to be on a pair of tiger-head shoes.

Ribbit ribbit!

The animal that raised the most questions was the creature on each side of the shoe. It looks like it has the body of a goat, the head of a dragon, and the tail of a rooster. Fortunately Google knew what this animal was: a qilin. A qilin is a mythical animal with the body of a horse or deer (close enough to a goat, right??) covered in scales and the head of a dragon. The tail has been depicted in different ways, from the fluffy tail on these shoes to more of a lion tail. They are also often shown with antlers or horns, but the ones on the shoes lack those. They symbolize all-around goodness, but what is most relevant is their connection to children. Qilins are said to carry baby boys on their back and bring them to hopeful parents (kind of like the Western idea of a stork bringing babies). One source said that the babies brought by qilins are destined to be successful, specifically as traditional high-level civil servants. On another note, the circular design near the front feet of the qilin is an ancient coin, representing wealth and prosperity.

Qilin are also called "Chinese unicorns," but they really don't look like any sort of unicorn. Well, maybe except for the rainbow of colors. 

Move over Mr. Stork, this qilin has a baby boy and is on a mission.

Together, all of these images give me insight into the message behind these boots. I suspect that these shoes were made for a baby boy, mostly because of the image of the qilin and its connection to boys. The tiger and toad images show that his family wanted to protect him from danger, like the goal of most parents around the world. His family obviously had great expectations for him too, as shown by the images of a qilin and a coin and their ties to success and prosperity. These boots are clearly more than just a pretty pair of shoes; they point to the hopes and dreams of parents for their new little one.

I'm currently on Spring Break, so I won't be in the May Weber Collection until next week. Stay tuned for more posts once I return!! Thanks for reading!!

___________________________________
Resources:

Eberhard, Wolfram. 1986. A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols: Hidden Symbols in Chinese Life and Thought. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Welch, Patricia Bjaaland. 2008. Chinese Art: A Visual Guide to Motifs and Visual Imagery. North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Publications.

Sew Cool

"Either I will find the path, or I will make it."
~Hannibal

Part of last semester's training was learning how to make appropriate storage for objects, so while researching the pair of Chinese children's shoes I also began thinking about how to better store them. Technically, the children's shoes I have been researching are boots (or baby booties??), and boots need a little more care than other shoes since tall boots flop over when they're not being worn. That's why boot stuffers/fillers/shapers were invented. Whether the stuffer is made of hard plastic or just fabric and stuffing, its goal is to keep a boot's shape when it is not on your foot. After wearing my own pair of wonderful boots this week, I decided that the little boots in the May Weber Collection could use something similar to preserve their shape for the future.

So, where's the best place to go if you have a question about DIY projects? Pinterest. In addition to researching the cultural context of these shoes this week, I scoured Pinterest, looking for an easy boot shaper pattern. Unfortunately Pinterest crafts can be a little too creative at times. Since I didn't feel that pompoms were necessary and lavender scented filling probably wouldn't be good for my artifact, I improvised. There was also the slight problem of my sewing repertoire. My skills are about as extensive as sewing a button back on a cardigan or a pair of pants. As you can imagine, I was a little apprehensive about beginning an important sewing project such as this. Nevertheless, necessity is a powerful motivator for learning new things.

Sew Easy Boot Stuffers for the Unskilled Seamstress

Materials:
Unbleached muslin
Polyester batting (fluffy stuffing material)
String
Thread
Needle
Scissors


1. Measure and cut a piece of unbleached muslin as long as the boot and about twice as wide as the boot. Admittedly, I just eyeballed the measurements on my first piece. Once I figured out what size worked, I took measurements and the second boot stuffer was much more precise. However, they both turned out just fine in the end.

A roll of unbleached muslin   

2. Fold the piece of unbleached muslin in half lengthwise. It should now be about as wide as the boot.

Don't worry if the edges aren't straight! That can be fixed later.

3. Sew two of the three open sides (one side is folded) together. I used a running stitch because it was relatively quick and easy, but someone with more sewing experience than me could probably think of a stitch better suited for the task.

A close-up shot of the stitches

The left and bottom sides are sewn together, the right side is folded, and the top is still open.

4. At this point the boot stuffer should look kind of like a tube sock, but with the stitching visible. To fix that, turn the fabric inside out. (Now it really looks like a tube sock.) I'm not really sure if there is a practical reason for doing this, but it looks much cleaner this way.

See? It really does resemble a tube sock.

5. Fill your boot stuffer with batting (fluff) until it's mostly full. Once it has been stuffed with fluff, either tie the top with string or sew it shut (if you're feeling fancy). I chose to tie the top closed simply because it's faster.

 6. Repeat the steps to make a boot stuffer for the other shoe! Wasn't that sew cool??

Ta-da!! Now these boots will be properly supported for years to come!!

Despite all  my concerns about sewing, it all went incredibly well. The boot stuffers work perfectly, and I'm pretty darn proud of myself! It seems that I'm not as bad at sewing as I thought!

On another note, the May Weber Collection has been officially announced to the public!! It's awesome to see the collection getting some good publicity. I'm also pictured with a fellow intern from last semester and one of the Indonesian shadow puppets, so that's pretty awesome too. The article has been posted on both the College of Arts and Sciences homepage and the Anthropology Department homepage and you can check it out here:
http://luc.edu/anthropology/homenews/maywebercollection-1.shtml

In the upcoming week I plan on accessioning the boots and continuing my research. So far, research has been coming along quite nicely, and I'm excited to share the information with you in a future post. Until then, stay tuned!!

As always, thanks for reading!!!!!!!!!

Wondering

"Wisdom begins in wonder."
~Socrates

This past week I've been wondering about an object in the May Weber Collection because over the next few weeks I'll be researching again. This time it's for an assignment in a class that I am taking this semester called Anthropology of Art and Expressive Culture. The collection reflects Dr. May Weber's interest in aesthetics and so those artifacts are perfect for an anthropology of art class to study. Just like last semester's object research, we still don't know very much about the objects we're going to study, and the catalog is often wrong. Now that I am more familiar with the collection, I've noticed that Dr. May Weber seemed to buy the most unique, one-of-a-kind artifacts in the world. It gives the collection excellent variety, but also puts us students at risk for dead-end research. Nevertheless, I'm ready to begin this frustrating and rewarding mission.

     

Gloves on and ready to research!! 

Unlike last semester's object research, my classmates and I didn't get to pick from the entire collection. Dr. Nichols (with help from another alumni intern and myself) kindly unearthed a bunch of artifacts for us to choose from, based on what geographical regions and styles my class is interested in. Being anthropology students, we're interested in pretty much every group of people in every part of the world. For a collection as diverse as ours, most people quickly found something that caught their attention. I had less trouble finding something and more trouble picking only one object. Even with probably 40 objects around me, I still didn't recognize any of them. Everything looked interesting, and I wanted to research all of it.

Pick an artifact, any artifact. There were much more throughout the room, too.

 A carved storyboard from Papua New Guinea

 A drum with demon heads, eyeballs, and entrails painted around it. Fun stuff.

 Anyone know how to play this instrument??

 Beware the sawfish headdress. It's still sharp.

The shield on the right was last semester's class example of a mystery object!

 A helmet mask from somewhere far, far away.

 My, what intense eyes you have.

Over the next few weeks I will be researching this pair of children's shoes from China, so expect to see a lot more of them in the future. They're so adorable, and I can't wait to learn more about them!!

One of the goals for the May Weber Collection is to make it a research and teaching collection, a place where students and scholars can learn about other cultures through objects. We all knew from the beginning that the collection would not reach that goal while we were still students, but my class assignment has altered that perception a bit. The collection is still very much a work in progress (the accessioning never ends), but thanks to all our work last semester other classes are able to use some of the collection for research. Even better, about half of my original intern class from last semester is also in the Anthropology of Art and Expressive Culture class, so we're unexpectedly benefiting from our own work. At the same time, my classmates and I will also be contributing to the collection itself. Like my research on the Indian jacket, any information I find (that means the paper I will turn in for a grade in my class) will be placed in the permanent records for that object, so even those who did not formally intern in the May Weber Collection will be part of its foundation. It's become clear that it takes a team of people to build a collection, but it also takes the cooperation of so many more than that to finish the job.

Hopefully by my next post I'll have some information on these shoes to share with you all. Until then, stay tuned for more adventures!! Thanks for reading!!!!

Back to the Boxes

“But the cloud never comes in that quarter of the horizon from which we watch for it.”

~Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South

Surprise, readers!! I'm back and blogging again!! I would like to formally announce that I will be returning to the May Weber Collection to continue all the work that I started last semester. That means you'll continue to hear about my fantastic adventures and see even more pictures of the artifacts. (Yaaaaay!!!!)

I know, it really is a wonderful surprise, isn't it??

This past week I returned to the May Weber Collection and found that not much had changed. There were still lots of boxes, lots of artifacts, and lots of materials to work with. Only the people were different. Last semester I was working in the collection as part of a class on Collections Management, but this semester I return as an alumni. A few of my former classmates are returning to the collection as alumni too, but the majority of students working in the collection are the new interns. It's strange to see so many unfamiliar faces in a room that had become so familiar to me!!

Despite the new faces, business went on as usual. Because of winter break I hadn't done museum stuff in about a month (Does seeing Night at the Museum 3 count?? Probably not.), but, as if nothing had changed, I went right back to accessioning artifacts. I already know what I'm doing and how to handle the artifacts, so the learning process has settled down and I can simply enjoy being there. It's great to be back.

One of the things I love about the May Weber Collection is the incredible diversity of artifacts. I have been working in the collection since last summer, and I still encounter something new each time. This week has been no exception, so make sure to check out the pictures below!!

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!

 Errr, maybe not...

We'll need to do more research, but a quick Google search tells me that this Balinese mask is of the demon queen Rangda. Not exactly a pretty, pretty princess. 

This fellow is quite attached to its base. Literally.

 I think it's a cat sculpture.

And you thought all the dinosaurs died out. Another surprise!!

    Possibly a coconut grater from India

So, what happens now? Well, us alumni are pretty much free to choose what we want to do. This week I chose to accession, but next week I might be doing something else. It depends on my preferences and what kind of jobs/projects/problems pop up in the collection that need to be addressed. I guess this semester's work should be full of even more surprises!!

Stay tuned for the continuing adventures in the Cardboard Jungle, and thanks for reading!!

The End of the Semester

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”

~Ernest Hemingway

Wasn't it just yesterday that it was warm and sunny and we were first introduced to the May Weber Collection? The bare trees and biting cold wind tell me that those days are long gone. And in that seemingly short span of time, more than the weather has changed. Although it's hard to believe, it's already the end of the semester and nearing the end of my last week in the May Weber Collection. This week we're tying up any loose ends and finishing up researching our artifacts. And then we're done.

Over the past few months a lot has changed in the collection, especially if you count the summer months. When I first arrived in the collection, it was a "cardboard jungle" of boxes, and by the start of the semester it was organized and ready for class. Now, at the end of the semester, it's nice to see how all of our work has paid off. There are still plenty of cardboard boxes, but we're making progress with accessioning the artifacts inside them. Last time I looked at the records, it showed that we had accessioned over 250 artifacts. (round of applause for us) Eventually, all of those artifacts will also need proper mounts, but that can be saved for when we have more storage space. There is still a lot of work to do, but we've given future interns a good start. It's their job now to continue that work.

As I mentioned in my very first post, it is a very unique opportunity to be part of the formation of a new collection. Now, at the end of the semester, I have a better understanding of the importance of our situation. My fellow interns and I have put our fingerprints on the very foundation of the May Weber Collection (hopefully more metaphorically than literally...). We've set the standards for others who work here in the future, and I think we've set the bar pretty high. Without our commitment to the collection, many more improvements would be necessary. In short, we made a pretty darn good team of interns. (So good, in fact, that we're getting t-shirts.) It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be able to give a collection such a promising beginning with a group of intelligent, dedicated (and hilarious) individuals.

Two things that I learned while working in the May Weber Collection (besides the obvious) that I will certainly take with me are creativity and flexibility. If you've been keeping up with my posts this semester, then you will have noticed that each week brought its own new challenge. There was manual labor, mold, artifacts that were difficult to be photographed, building storage mounts with box cutters and hot glue, and uncertain research. Each of these experiences forced me to think differently than I was used to in order to find solutions with limited resources. Think of it as learning some sort of museum survival skills, although it may not be as exciting as learning jungle survival skills. But then again, haven't I been working in the Cardboard Jungle?      

Now that I have just about reached the end of my internship, I would like to say thank you:

To Loyola's Anthropology Department and History Department, thank you so much for making this incredible semester with the May Weber Collection possible. It has been an experience worth more than any grade or paperwork can show.

To my fellow interns (if any of you are reading this), thank you for a great semester!! All those hours each week in the collection would not have been nearly as exciting without you and your punny and fantastic sense of humor.

To Dr. Nichols, who had to teach us and put up with us (and all of our wonderful puns), THANK YOU for all of your guidance and general awesomeness!! It wouldn't have been the same without you.

To all of you readers, especially those of you who have been reading my posts regularly, thank you. It's gratifying to know that what you're writing (even if it's required) is being read and enjoyed by others.

So for the last time (Or is it??), thanks for reading!!!!

Many Questions, Few Answers

“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”

~Thomas Edison

I've had plenty of experience with research papers over my past three and a half years at Loyola. Both of my majors, history and anthropology, involve a lot of reading, writing, and at least one research paper per semester (but usually more). I am no stranger to the library and its bountiful resources.

This time around, as I continue my research on the jacket in the May Weber Collection, is another whole level of research. As I mentioned in my last post, I have almost nothing beyond the artifact itself and my own instincts to begin my research. It sounds like some sort of grand academic adventure, but it's also a lot like trying to find your way out of a maze without a map. You're never quite sure that you're going in the right direction, and there is always the lurking threat that you're about to hit a dead end, even if the clues seem to be pointing you in the right direction.

The trusty tools of a researcher: a book and a laptop  

My jacket and some of the objects my fellow interns are researching.

This past week I've been following a maze-like trail of evidence to determine the origins of my jacket. Originally I agreed with what the old catalog recorded; the jacket looked like it could be European. After seeing images of European floral patterns, I realized that it actually looked less European and more non-Western, possibly Indian. The European floral textiles are usually more curvy and less geometric than the pattern on my jacket. This jacket still could have been exported to Europe, but it was almost definitely made in India. Despite being wrong about its origins, I learned that I was not crazy or making an ill-founded assumption when I thought that it came from Europe. Indian textiles were very popular imported goods in Europe and eventually the Europeans decided to make their own copies and variations, so naturally these styles have appeared in Western clothing throughout the past few centuries. After some more searching, I noticed that it resembled woodblock prints from the state of Rajasthan, India. It seemed to resemble most closely the floral woodblock patterns from Sanganer, a town near Jaipur renown for its woodblock prints. In fact, Sanganeri textiles are so special that they received their own geographical indication tag, which protects and ties a product and its characteristics to one geographical location. It is #119 on India's Geographical Indications Registry.

The red marker is on Jaipur and Sanganer is just past the end of the marker.

Despite many hours of googling, I couldn't find the exact pattern on my jacket anywhere on the internet. (Yes, I used an image search. I even searched Pinterest.) Unless I find an exact match, I can't solidly confirm that this jacket is a Sanganeri textile. You can imagine my frustration. I'm so close, and yet so far to a concrete answer.

BUT, I've found a very close match. An example of a woodblock print in Masterpieces of Indian Textiles, by Rustam J. Mehta shows the same overall design of three flowers surrounded by a diamond of flowers and leaves. My jacket has more leaves in the center design and more flowers in the diamond design, but this is the closest match I have found.

Ta-daaaa!!

The jacket and the woodblock print from the book-so similar!! 

Even better is that some books from the May Weber Collection (All those books we organized in the beginning of the semester are coming in handy!!) support this connection with other patterns that are similar. Although, the above pattern is the most similar one I have found so far.

Boxes of books (and some empty boxes): still a "cardboard jungle" after all this time 

A box of books about India

Over the next week I plan to continue researching and eventually organize everything I discovered about this jacket into a document that can be placed in the official records for this object. The exciting part is knowing that my research will be connected to this jacket for the rest of its time in the collection (in theory, for eternity). The scary part is that now my research will hold a decent amount of authority, yet I am not 100% sure that the jacket is what I think it is. It will be bittersweet if I come back in ten years and find out that I was horribly wrong about the jacket. However, this is one of the mixed blessings of having the opportunity to be among the first to work with the May Weber Collection. It's all uncharted territory.

Stay tuned for next week's post, and thanks for reading!!