Religion

One hallmark of the American experience captured in the Museum's collections is the nation's broad diversity of religious faiths. Artifacts range from Thomas Jefferson's Bible to a huge "Sunstone" sculpture carved for a Mormon temple in Illinois in 1844 to a household shrine from the home of a Pueblo Indian in the 1990s. Furniture, musical instruments, clothing, cooking ware, and thousands of prints and figures in the collections have all played roles in the religious lives of Americans. The most comprehensive collections include artifacts from Jewish and Christian European Americans, Catholic Latinos, Protestant Arab Americans, Buddhist and Christian Asian Pacific Americans, and Protestant African Americans. One notable group is the Vidal Collection of carved figures known as santos and other folk religious material from the practice of Santeria in Puerto Rico.

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1996.0111.02
accession number
1996.0111
catalog number
1996.0111.02
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1996.0111.01
accession number
1996.0111
catalog number
1996.0111.01
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1996.0111.45
accession number
1996.0111
catalog number
1996.0111.45
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CL.306787.70A
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.70A
This blown glass urn-shaped drug jar has a long neck and applied foot. The neck in this object has broken. The label has been applied using a cold Paint technique rather than being baked or fused with high heat.
Description
This blown glass urn-shaped drug jar has a long neck and applied foot. The neck in this object has broken. The label has been applied using a cold Paint technique rather than being baked or fused with high heat. The label is a gold oval outlined in red with the text Oleum ae Valerian in black. The jar would have contained oil of valerian, prepared from valerian root. Oil of valerian was sometimes used as a mild sedative and as an anticonvulsant for epilepsy.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0401
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05550
collector/donor number
SAP 292
catalog number
1991.0664.0401
Blown and molded rectangular shaped bottle with rounded shoulders. The label, applied with a cold color technique is an oval shield framed by green and red leaves with a shell.
Description
Blown and molded rectangular shaped bottle with rounded shoulders. The label, applied with a cold color technique is an oval shield framed by green and red leaves with a shell. The label is marked with the alchemical symbol for salt and is marked SYR ALTHEAE .
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1991.0664.0428
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05577
collector/donor number
SAP 289
This bottle with its rounded belly, long neck, and round foot was used to store Oil of Lavender. The baked enamel decoration is similar to containers 1991.0664.0223 and 224. The label within the rounded cartouche reads OL LAVEND, and is painted in black.
Description (Brief)
This bottle with its rounded belly, long neck, and round foot was used to store Oil of Lavender. The baked enamel decoration is similar to containers 1991.0664.0223 and 224. The label within the rounded cartouche reads OL LAVEND, and is painted in black. The perimeter of the cartouche is embellished with a red crown at the top above a wheel and sword. Directly below is a blue medallion with the initials “CR” for the shop Casper Ritter. The small black figure to the left of the blue medallion is a Moor, the symbol of the Moor Apothecary. Stylized acanthus leaves are painted yellow and white with red and blue flowers. The Deutches Apotheken Museum in Heidelberg, Germany, also has containers from the Moor Apothecary in Mainz.
The flowers and leaves of the Lavender plant were used as an aromatic to keep clothes and linens smelling sweet and to keep insects away. It was also used for headache when combined with other herbs. (Freeman, p. 39–40)
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0224
collector/donor number
SAP 81
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05372
1991.0664.0224
A free blown glass drug jar with a round body and a long neck, flared lip and an applied foot. The oval label painted gold, black and red in the cold technique is marked Bals Copaivae. This jar is one of a group of five containers of the same size and shape.Currently not on view
Description
A free blown glass drug jar with a round body and a long neck, flared lip and an applied foot. The oval label painted gold, black and red in the cold technique is marked Bals Copaivae. This jar is one of a group of five containers of the same size and shape.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0399
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05548
collector/donor number
SAP 260
catalog number
1991.0664.0399
This blown-glass, urn-shaped drug jar has a long neck and applied foot. The label has been applied using a cold paint technique rather than being baked or fused with high heat. The label consists of a gold oval outlined in red with the text, Oleum ae Serpylli in black.
Description
This blown-glass, urn-shaped drug jar has a long neck and applied foot. The label has been applied using a cold paint technique rather than being baked or fused with high heat. The label consists of a gold oval outlined in red with the text, Oleum ae Serpylli in black. The jar would have contained oil of thyme, which could have been prescribed as an antiseptic or expectorant. Urdang refers to this type of bottle as "noennchen", or "little nuns" in English. This is one of a group of five containers of the same size and shape.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0398
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05547
collector/donor number
SAP 259?
catalog number
1991.0664.0398
A blown glass drug jar with a round body and a long neck, flared lip and an applied foot. The oval label is painted gold, black and red in the cold paint technique and is marked in Latin, Oleum Anis Vulga.Containers of this shape and size were called "noenchen" or little nuns.
Description
A blown glass drug jar with a round body and a long neck, flared lip and an applied foot. The oval label is painted gold, black and red in the cold paint technique and is marked in Latin, Oleum Anis Vulga.
Containers of this shape and size were called "noenchen" or little nuns. This jar is one of a group of five containers of the same size and shape.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0402
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05551
collector/donor number
SAP 263
This blown and molded bottle is marked BALS MECH. The bottle would have contained the Balsam of Mecca (or Balm of Gilead); a viscous liquid derived from the tree Balsamodendron opobalsamum.
Description
This blown and molded bottle is marked BALS MECH. The bottle would have contained the Balsam of Mecca (or Balm of Gilead); a viscous liquid derived from the tree Balsamodendron opobalsamum. Real balsam of Mecca came from the former Ottoman Empire and was scarce, and boiled balsam leaves were often substituted. The balsam of Mecca was used as an antiseptic, stimulant, and vulnerary.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0303
catalog number
M-05452
accession number
1991.0664
collector/donor number
SAP 161
catalog number
1991.0664.0303

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