African cultures have been forging metals such as copper, bronze, brass, and iron for over 2,500 years. Once they developed the technology for extremely hot furnaces that enabled the smelting and refinement of different metals, blacksmithing and other forms of metalworking became highly respected professions in many different cultures. African blacksmiths and metalworkers … [Read more...] about African Metal Weapons and Ceremonial Objects: Researched and Conserved by Madison Baker and Diana Kosinska
Masks are made and widely used in traditional African cultures for many different purposes. The masks are typically worn with full costumes and accessories, and they represent a variety of entities, including deities, supernatural beings such as nature spirits, mythological characters, and ancestors. They are used in both public and private rituals, from ceremonies to initiate … [Read more...] about African Masks and Headdresses: Researched and Conserved by Emalie Neise and Abby Wade
“Whimsies” are small beaded items that were created by Native American artisans to sell to tourists. At the turn of the 20th century, the Niagara Falls region experienced a great boom in tourism, and visitors proved eager to buy handmade goods as souvenirs. Native cultures of this region were well-known for making skilled floral beadwork that appealed greatly to the aesthetics … [Read more...] about Beaded Bags: Researched and Conserved by Cassidy Hale
Maple Park Cemetery in Springfield, Missouri, is a rural cemetery established in the 19th century as part of a movement to create burial grounds with a focus on nature. Rural cemeteries are designed not only to be tranquil resting places for the dead, but attractive landscapes where people could both honor their loved ones and spend their free time enjoying the park-like … [Read more...] about Infant Gravestones in Maple Park Cemetery: Researched, Conserved, and Reconstructed by Madison Baker
While the craftsmanship of these two chairs is of high quality, the small size of the chairs and the thin caning indicates that they were not meant to serve as actual chairs for children; instead, these were meant to be toy chairs for use as accessories for dolls. Each chair has a wooden frame that consists of machine-turned, solid wooden pieces that form the legs, … [Read more...] about Doll Chairs: Researched and Conserved by Malena Hemenway