Memory Vessel with Encased Photograph

Copied Unidentified (American), Memory Vessel with Encased Photograph, after 1933, mixed media on ceramic, 10 147 14 in. (26.018.4 cm) diam., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.308
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Artwork Details

Title
Memory Vessel with Encased Photograph
Artist
Unidentified (American)
Date
after 1933
Dimensions
10 147 14 in. (26.018.4 cm) diam.
Credit Line
Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson
Mediums Description
mixed media on ceramic
Classifications
Keywords
  • Figure group
  • Allegory — other — memory
Object Number
1986.65.308

Artwork Description

Some memory jars may have come from African American traditions of decorating graves with objects owned by the deceased. The objects embedded in the surface of these bottles and jars provide clues about when they were made or who made them. For example, Jug with Finial includes a campaign button for William Jennings Bryan, a Democratic presidential candidate between 1896 and 1908, while High-Buttoned Shoe shows a macabre row of teeth that may have belonged to the maker.