LibGuides: Material Culture: Sample Object Studies (Books)

MISCELLANEOUS OBJECT STUDIES (HARD COPY)

The list below identifies object studies found in books in Besse Library. The abbreviation at the end of each entry identifies the source (see the abbreviation key below the bulleted list).

Athabascan Chief's Coat (1920s-30s), pp. 145-47 -- in LAA
A Bed Rug and a Silk Embroidery (1775), pp. 208-47 -- in AOH
Bloom-Smelting Slag (1800s), pp. 85-88 -- in HFT
Canadian Inuit Soapstone Carvings (1950s-60s), pp. 138-44 -- in LAA
A Chimneypiece (1753), pp. 142-73 -- in AOH
Coiled Grass Basketry (1900s), pp. 53-61 -- in LAA
The Collins Axe (1866), pp. 82-84 -- in HFT
A Counterpane and a Rose Blanket (1810), pp. 306-39 -- in AOH
Cross-Reel, or Niddy-Noddy (1769), pp. 174-207 -- in AOH
Dolls, Applique, Parkas (1900s), pp. 61-76 -- in LAA
Eskimo Scrimshaw (1800s-1900s), pp. 99-137 -- in LAA
Hannah Barnard's Cupboard (1715), pp. 108-41 -- in AOH
An Indian Basket (1676), pp. 41-74 -- in AOH
A Linen Tablecloth (early America), pp. 277-305 -- in AOH
Molly Ocket's Pocketbook (1785), pp. 248-76 -- in AOH
Steam Locomotive (1926), pp. 88-91 -- in HFT
Two Spinning Wheels in an Old Log House (early America), pp. 75-107 -- in AOH
An Unfinished Stocking (1837), pp. 374-411 -- in AOH
The Upright Child (1600s-1700s), pp. 619-26 -- in CIA
Wood Carvings (1800s-1900s), pp. 77-98 -- in LAA
A Woodsplint Basket (1821), pp. 340-73 -- in AOH

KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS

AOH = The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth -- F8 .U47 2001
CIA = Childhood in America -- HQ792 .U5 C4199 2000
HFT = History from Things: Essays on Material Culture -- CC77 .H5 H59 1993
LAA = A Legacy of Arctic Art -- E99 .E7 R34 1996

MISCELLANEOUS OBJECT STUDIES (E-BOOKS)

The list below identifies object studies found in Besse Library e-books.

Among Herders of Inner Mongolia: The Haslund-Christensen Collection at the National Museum of Denmark (2017)
The section in Chapter 11 titled "Shatara--Mongolian Chess" (pp. 483-92) provides a study of multiple chess sets.
The Archaeology of Class War: The Colorado Coalfield Strike of 1913-1914 (2009)
See Chapter 9: "Working Parents and the Material Culture of Victorianism: Children's Toys at the Ludlow Tent Colony."
Artefacts of Encounter: Cook's Voyages, Colonial Collecting and Museum Histories (2016)
Object studies are found in parts 2, 3, and 4 of this book. Items studied include a wood carving, shell trumpet, robe, mask, book, rattle, breastplate, cloaks, weapons, paddles.
Egyptian Delta Archaeology: Short Studies in Honour of Willem Van Haarlem (2021)
Has a very brief object study by René van Beek, "A Glass Ba Bird in the Allard Pierson" (pp. 103-06). Other object studies are included.
Findings: The Material Culture of Needlework and Sewing (2006)
Chapters 2 through 5 give extended considerations of pins, needles, thimbles, and shears/scissors.
The Materiality of Individuality: Archaeological Studies of Individual Lives (2009)
See the Nigel Jeffries essay, "A Biography of a Stoneware Ginger Beer Bottle: The Biucchi Brothers and the Ticinese Community in Nineteenth-Century London."
The Materiality of Magic: An Artifactual Investigation Into Ritual Practices and Popular Beliefs (2015)
See Chapter 9: "'The Little Mannie with His Daddy’s Horns.'"
Object Lives and Global Histories in Northern North America: Material Culture in Motion, c.1780-1980 (2021)
Sidebars 2 and 3 in this book briefly explore Canadian coats.
Pieces of a Nation: South Sudanese Heritage and Museum Collections (2021)
Includes short object studies of a helmet, headdress, fly whisk, spear, and drums.
The Routledge Handbook of Material Culture in Early Modern Europe (2017)
Section 3 includes 13 brief object studies, including studies of a leather-bound book, drug jar, shoehorn, helmet, mirror, cupboard, manuscript, carved stone relief, and leather shoes.
Salish Blankets: Robes of Protection and Transformation, Symbols of Wealth (2017)
See Chapter 5: "Great Weavings," which provides a close examination of multiple weaved items.

OBJECT STUDY COLLECTIONS (HARD COPY)

The Lives of Colonial Objects edited by Annabel Cooper, Lachy Paterson, and Angela Wanhalla (2015) -- GN406 .L579 2015
The Middle Ages in 50 Objects by Elina Gertsman and Barbara H. Rosenwein (2018) -- CB351 .G475 2018
Pacific Voices: Keeping Our Cultures Alive by Miriam Kahn and Erin Younger (2005) -- GN560 .U6 P33 2005
Southeast Asia: A History in Objects by Alexandra Green (2023) -- DS525 .G74 2023

OBJECT STUDY COLLECTIONS (E-BOOKS)

Artifacts from American Fashion (2020)
Includes 45 object studies related to fashion and accessories in 20th-century America. Content is grouped according to cultural relevance, such as politics, technology, work life, entertainment, sports, etc.
Artifacts from Modern America (2018)
Contains nearly 50 object studies of everyday American things of the 20th century. Items studied include a bicycle, electric chair, voting machine, typewriter, camera, electric razor, ashtray, moonshine still, shampoo, and lipstick.
Artifacts from Nineteenth-Century America (2002)
Provides over 50 object studies exploring items from the 19th century. Objects studied include a butter churn, oyster plate, baseball card, piano, portable bathtub, corset, phrenology head, Confederate battle flag, Shaker chair, covered wagon, and scrimshaw sperm whale tooth.
Artifacts From the Ancient Silk Road
Contains 50 object studies relating to the famous Eurasian trade route. Items studied include a caftan, vase, throne leg, yurt, ewer, glass bowl, brooch, ceramic camel, headdress, and infant mummy.
Fifty Early Medieval Things: Materials of Culture in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (2019)
Includes 50 brief object studies grouped by century. Objects studied include a bowl, medallion, mosaic map, psalter, stirrups, flask, amphora, tunic, fresco, seal, pitcher, sword, and oil lamp.
Tangible Things: Making History Through Objects (2015)
Contains several object studies based on the holdings of the museum collections of Harvard University. Items studied include a papyrus fragment, glass jar, field hockey dress, tortoise shell, artist's palette, tin bluebird, carved spoon, board game, and limestone mold.
Things Korean (2012)
Includes over 60 brief explorations of objects representing traditional life in Korea. Objects studies include an egg crib, scissors, hairpin, daggers, bamboo pipe, laundry bat, wicker basket, pants, folding screen, and thimbles.

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