Tubular pontil

Object Details

• Provenance

  Between 1966 and probably 1970-1977

  Found by Caroline Snowden (Mrs. Walter Snowden) (née Rumbold) (1926-2020) in Sawankhalok, Thailand [1]

  From 1977

  National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Caroline Snowden (Mrs. Walter Snowden) [2]

  Notes:

  [1] See letter from Caroline Snowden (Mrs. Walter Snowden) to Martin Amt (1934-2013), dated July 10, 1977, copy in object file. Snowden’s letter states that she collected this object in Sawankhalok, Thailand, when she was residing in Bangkok, Thailand between 1966 and probably 1970.

  See also Study Collection object card, copy in object file. The source is described as, “Sawankhalok [/] collected at site.”

  Caroline Snowdon (1926-2020), born Joan Caroline Rumbold, was the daughter of Joan ‘Jeanne’ Leemans and Sidney George Rumbold. In 1951, she married Walter S. Snowdon (1918-1993) in Hackensack, NJ. Walter was Counterintelligence Officer for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

  and specialized in the Middle East and anti-terrorism. The US Government assigned him to American embassies in Beirut, Lebanon (1952-1957); Athens, Greece (1957-1962); Damascus, Syria (1962-1965); Bangkok, Thailand (1966-probably 1970); and Danang, Vietnam during the Vietnam War. He retired from counterintelligence in 1975. The couple and their two daughters resided in the Washington, DC area between 1950 and 1980. Caroline and Walter later resettled in Eastham, MA, where Caroline worked as a realtor and attended Simmons College (BA, 1986). Walter worked as a travel agent.

  [2] See note 1.

  The object is part of the museum’s Freer Study Collection.

  Research updated October 30, 2024

• Collection

  Freer Study Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Mrs. Caroline Snowden (1926-2020)

• Origin

  Thailand

• Credit Line

  Gift of Mrs. Walter Snowden

• Type

  Tool and Equipment

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Name

  Snowden, Caroline

• Place

  Thailand

• Topic

  Art, Southeast Asian Art, Ceramics

• Culture

  Southeast Asians

• Object Type

  Tools and equipment