Rice or grain measure

Object Details

• Description

  A small round pot with a wide mouth and no lid, with abstract designs and registers. The body was formed by wrapping wax threads around a clay form. The core was then removed. The overall design is spiral bands around the body as well as vertically, with wire in festoon-like and spiral designs. There are traces of red residue especially on the top which probably indicates ritual use.

• Label

  A small round pot with a wide mouth and no lid, with abstract designs and registers. The body was formed by wrapping wax threads around a clay form. The core was then removed. The overall design is spiral bands around the body as well as vertically, with wire in festoon-like and spiral designs. There are traces of red residue especially on the top which probably indicates ritual use.

• Provenance

  ?-1992

  Dorothy Shepherd (1916-1993), method of acquisition is unknown [1]

  1992-1993

  Anonymous Collector/Donor [2]

  From 1993

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Anonymous gift [2]

  Notes:

  [1] “Dorothy Shepherd (1916-1992) was the Curator of Textiles and Near Eastern Art for the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA, 1954-81), was one of only a few female museum curators in the United States in the 1960s and was internationally known for her scholarship in medieval textiles and ancient Near Eastern and Islamic art. She was born in Welland, Ontario, Canada. A graduate of the University of Michigan, she worked towards a Ph.D. at the Institute of Fine Arts (NYC) and New York University. From 1942-44, Shepherd was assistant curator in decoration for the Cooper Union Museum of Arts (NYC), and during WWII, worked for the Office of War Information in London, Luxembourg, Frankfurt and Berlin. Shepherd came to Cleveland in 1947 as assistant curator of textiles at the CMA. In 1954, the museum designated her as official curator of textiles and Near Eastern Art. She became chief curator of textiles and Islamic Art in 1979, a position she held until retiring. Shepherd married architect Ernst Payer on 22 March 1951. After her husband's death in 1981, Shepherd moved first to Florida then to Asheville, NC, where she died.” See “Biographical / Historical” section, from FSA.A2015.12, Dorothy Shepherd Photographs, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, copy in object file.

  [2] See Deed of Gift to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, dated March 5, 1993, copy in object file.

  Research Completed October 28, 2022

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Dorothy Shepherd Payer (1916-1992)

  Anonymous

• Origin

  Chhattisgarh state, India

• Credit Line

  Anonymous gift

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1900s, 1990s

• Name

  Payer, Dorothy Shepherd, Slusser, Mary Shepherd

• Place

  Chhattisgarh state, India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Lost-wax process, Art, Sculpture, Metal-work, Rice

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)