his type of figure was placed in the tomb to accompany the deceased into the afterlife and provide intellectual companionship through eternity.
Priest’s vestry, Bishop’s ring and silver cross from 1700s
A full-length priest’s vestry, a long, vest-like cloak, magnificently embroidered front and back on red velvet. French, ca. 1700. The Archbishop’s or Bishop’s ring is of gold with a Byzantine cross carved on the underside of the amethyst. 17th century. The large and elaborate silver cross dates from the early 1700s and is French, though…
One of four Earth Spirits from the Tang Dynasty (ca. 850 CE).
An earth spirit’s role is to protect the tomb from evil spirits, with one figure placed at each of the four cardinal directions.
A Collection of brightly colored wood-carved Sculptures
Approximately four feet in height from Peru. These saintly altar pieces have maintained their luster, even at over 150 years of age.
Medicine
Throughout the American Civil War in the South, the “pestilential atmosphere” produced high volumes of sickness associated with warmer climates, including malaria, typhoid, yellow fever, and other maladies. The “miracle drug” for Civil War physicians was quinine, used to fight malarial diseases. Among the thousands of Civil War objects within the Pamplin Collection is this…
Child Picking Flowers
by Frank Hector Tompkins (1847-1922, American). Tompkins was a well-known and highly regarded painter of landscapes and figures. He studied and worked in Germany before settling in Boston and was considered one of the early American masters of impressionism. The painting shown here is an excellent example of Tompkins’ use of light on a landscape.
You Can Learn to Water Ski
(from the girls magazine Calling All Girls,July 1961), by Freeman Elliott (American, 1922-). Born in 1922 in a suburb of Chicago, Freeman Elliot’s early work appeared in Brown & Bigelow’s successful Ballyhoo Calendar, along with Esquire Magazine. His pinups appeard on the covers of Hearst’s The American Weekly during the 1950s.
The Beach
by Tom Lovell (American, 1909-1997). This illustration, which appeared in Woman’s Home Companion, is the story of conflict between man and wife, showing the close relationship between mother and children to the exclusion of the father. Lovell painted for National Geographic among many other magazines. He was commissioned by many publications to produce scenes of…
Civil Unrest
Wei Dynasty Armored Horse and Rider. 386–534 CE. Civil unrest is nothing new or unique. By 386 CE, China was deeply divided by multiple warring territories. All had broken away from the previous governmental leadership and had declared their independence. This exodus shattered a nearly four hundred years-long peace in which philosophy and artistic expansion had been fostered. This new era continued…
Parisian Park Scene
ca. 1910, by Jane Peterson (1876-1965, American). After graduation in 1901 from the Pratt Institute in New York, Jane Peterson went on to study oil and watercolor painting at the Art Students League in New York City. Moving to Paris in 1907, she became friends with Gertrude Stein and met Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse….