Religion - Overview
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.
"Religion - Overview" showing 4 items.
OL LAVEND
- 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,” standing 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Oleum ae Serpylli
- Description
- This blown-glass, urn-shaped drug jar has a long neck and applied foot. The label has been applied using a cold 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Apothecary Bottle, Bals Copaivae
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Oleum ae Valerian
- 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 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center