What Remains
Creation after life. Body after soul.
Creation after life. Body after soul.
In this exhibit, the concept of creating something from the remains of creation is explored. Before we're formed, there is no hint of us existing in the universe. We're seemingly produced from nothing. However, after the life has left our bodies, there is still proof that we ever remained left behind. We go from nothing before our life on Earth to still remaining in some capacity long after it ends. This can be exemplified in the artworks featured in this exhibit made from human and animal remains, some surviving centuries.
In China, there is a tradition of scholarship dating back over two thousand years. There were originally the Four Treasures of the Study (or Four Jewels of the Study) that could be found accompanying a scholar’s table. These included the brush, ink stick, ink stone, and paper used to create the texts that spread the philosophical movement across the land. However, more additions were made to this set over time so that by the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) when this piece was made, it also could include scroll weights, paper weights, water pots, brush washers, and brush pots (bitong) as seen here.
Bitong were used to hold brushes after they were rinsed. They would be placed with the handle at the bottom with the bristles of the brush pointed upwards out of the bitong so that they would not bend out of shape and keep their pointed tip.
While many bitong were made from bamboo or jade, this particular one is made from ivory that was then carved by one of the ivory studios in late eighteenth-century China. The ivory studios then were known for their extravagant style and intricate workmanship and this would have been a very valuable work. In this particular bitong, there are luohans, or immortals, carved against a landscape of mountains with leaf and meander patterns featured at the edges as well as depictions of animals.
The inrō and netsuke were accessories that were a part of men’s dress that emerged during the Edo period (1603-1867) of Japan when kimonos – with no pockets -- were worn daily. The inrō (seen here to be a golden color) was a small box or pouch with the word inrō itself meaning “vessel to hold seals.” However, it was also used to store other small objects such as tobacco, confectionaries, or traditional medicines such as ginseng and cinnamon. They also served as a way to show off the status and wealth of the wearer. The inrō shown here features a samurai in the traditional full battle gear of armor and helmet as well as two swords with a raised spear lifted over his head.
The netsuke was a decorative toggle that was attached to the inrō with a cord with an ojime fastening bead and would assist in keeping the inrō attached to the kimono’s obi by hooking over it and allowing the inrō to dangle from the bottom. The designs featured on netsuke often reflected the themes and motifs that can be found in traditional Japanese art. It was seen as a way for those who did not have a lot of money during this period to express themselves as social order during the Edo period went from warriors at the top of the hierarchy to farmers, then artists, and finally merchants. In this particular netsuke, there is a man blowing a conch shell trumpet carved into the wood and decorated with a mother-of-pearl inlay.
When the Japanese government encouraged their men to adopt a more Western fashion of dress during the 1870s, the use of inrō and netsuke decreased and were instead collected by museums.
Further reading can be found here , in this BBC article , in this Brittanica entry , and in this article about netsuke from NPR .
An example of how the inrō and netsuke would be worn.
Photo by Maia Stern for NPR
An ossuary serves as a final resting place for the skeletal remains of the dead. The Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech Republic is a small chapel in the suburbs outside Prague with the nickname of “The Church of Bones” where it is decorated with the bleached bones of thousands of humans.
Originally the church served as a burial site for over 40,000 sets of human remains. The reason why this small church was such a popular burial site was because a local abbot was sent to Jerusalem in the late 13th century by the King of Bohemia. The abbot brought back a jar of the “Holy Soil” from Golgotha and spread the soil across the church’s cemetery. This brought a lot of fame to the site with many people wanting to be buried there. In the 14th century when the plague swept across Europe, around 30,000 people were buried there with another 10,000 added during the Crusades.
The chandelier of the ossuary, seen here, is said to contain at least one of each type of bone found in the human body with candles seen perched atop the skulls. In order to clean this piece, each bone is carefully handled by a specialist who will clean them individually with a toothbrush. It, along with other works in the ossuary such as the family crest of the family sponsoring the artistic undertaking, was made by woodcarver Francisek (Francis) Rint who bleached, carved, and arranged the bones in the late 19th century.
Further reading can be found in a National Geographic writeup with more information on the Sedlec Ossuary website
Kapala at the British Museum
Kapala (meaning “skull” in Sanskrit) were skull cups or bowls used to make offering to deities and were often used by the Hindus in India and the Buddhists in Tibet. In Tibet, the Buddhists would typically place the kapala on the altar and fill it with dough cakes formed in the shape of eyes, tongues, or ears. If the deity they were offering to was a more wrathful one such as the dharmapāla (“defenders of the faith”), then they would offer wine to represent blood.
The skulls used to make these Tibetan kapala were sourced from ancestors who were buried in the tradition of a sky burial seen as important to the cycle of the soul. This process feeds the flesh of the deceased to scavengers and leaves the cleaned bones behind which can then be used for other ritualistic purposes.
This particular kapala is made in a traditional style with its triangular pedestal representing a sacrificial fire with the cup mounted in embossed bronze, and with the lid resting atop it (in the shape of half a skull) with a “vajra-“ (“thunderbolt-“) shaped handle. The carving embossed around the skull itself could have given the kapala a general purpose or a more specific meaning if mantras were engraved on it.
More information on the kapala can be found in this Brittanica article , in this Forbes article , and in this writeup by Ripley's .
A mask created from the skull of a human sacrifice in Tenochtitlàn in the Aztec civilization.
For the Aztecs, human sacrifice was an important part of their religion with the tradition dating from about 6000BC to about 4800BC. Human sacrifice was a part of the culture in Tenochtitlàn since 1325 when it was founded and continued until the Spanish colonization of Mesoamerica in the 16th century. The methods of sacrifice included beheading, removal of the heart, burning in a fire, or for some enemy warriors that were captured, a disadvantaged fight to the death against the Aztec jaguar or eagle knights. It is thought that these sacrifices would appease deities with many of them taking place in a similar fashion to those from their myths. Other uses were to fulfill a vow to an individual or group or to serve as a political message. However, they were abundantly practiced with estimates of 20,000 a year all the way up to 80,400 over the course of 3 days.
In a study published in 2016 , they determined that the skulls found at the Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlàn used to make masks were from a different sociopolitical status of victims from the ones that were unadorned. The ones that were made into masks were thought to be warriors of high social status the Aztecs had defeated in battle or executed nobility with the unmodified ones belonging to individuals of low social standing such as slaves (with the theory they were sold specifically for sacrifice).
The mask here would have been transformed into part of a headdress or worn over the face with the “nose” of this one featuring an obsidian blade (sharper than today’s surgical steel), much like the ones used in the sacrifices themselves. These masks would have been made after the skull had been displayed on the tzompantli with the others.
Further reading can be found in the Science Mag article or in the (paywalled) 2016 study with a free summary of it found in this Forbes article .
Learn more about these stone vases here at the Crow Museum of Asian Art website
During the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties of China, it was common to see stone carvings such as these in front of the tombs of the Chinese imperial family or other elites in society. They were part of the tradition of making The Five Offerings to ancestors in order to show reverence and good will to those have passed from their living family. For the less affluent, this would be shown by placing offerings of incense, light, fruit, water, and flowers in front of the ancestor’s picture on an altar during special holidays (such as Chinese New Year).
In the case of the stone carvings of the prosperous, they included a censer, a pair of candlesticks, and a pair of flower vases. This reflected the tradition of offering incense, light, and flowers. In addition, there would be an additional stone in front of the tomb that would represent permanent offerings and would be used to offer up fruit and water there.
The vases here contain several symbols prevalent in Chinese culture. There are lotus motifs as well as auspicious animals featured symbolizing the pond favored for rebirth in the Western Paradise of Buddhism. The overlapping lotus petals found on the lower pedestal symbolizes the purity of the afterlife. In addition, there are dragons chasing a flaming pearl which represented the success and social status of the deceased while they were living.
A closer look at the detailing on the vases. Here people can be seen revering the dead from outside the tomb.
Ivory has been used in India for decorative purposes for centuries, but was especially popular during the Mughal period (1526-1857) when this work was created. The reverence for ivory stemmed from its rarity (found here from Asian elephants), properties (such as being easy to carve), and its aesthetic appeal. During the Mughal period, ivory was used to make ornamentations for chests, dagger hilts, flasks, and powder horns. The powder horns typically displayed carvings of birds and other animals (sometimes imagined) involved in a hunt scene. Sometimes the animals featured in these scenes would even contain precious stones for eyes.
This tusk is made in a similar fashion in that it depicts carvings of pairs of birds within a leafy environment. Peacocks are featured near the wider end of the tusk with other species of birds featured throughout. On the bottom of the tusk, carvings of feathers are depicted. In the spaces between the roundels, there are flowers carved into the ivory. Additionally, a tusk such as this one would have been most likely used to further decorate furniture that contained inlays of ivory or other architectural aspects to it.
During the Mughal period, flowers became of interest with most of the works created during this time containing them ranging from textiles, book art, and architectures. This interest was spurred by a journey made to Kashmir by Emperor Janhangir who was fascinated by the large variety of flowers he saw and described it as a “garden where spring reigns eternally.”
More information on the ivory and other artworks from Mughal India here .
This particular work of art was made by Asher Jay for a 2013 campaign organized by Elephant Voices. She says that the sole purpose of her artwork is to “incite global action on behalf of wildlife conservation” and warns against the loss of biodiversity caused by humans. Her hope is that her art can help bring attention to the work done by scientists and wildlife groups to get everyone involved in conservation efforts.
Much of her work has focused on visualizing the illegal ivory and rhino horn trade for people, including those in China where the demand is highest and where many people believe that harvesting ivory or rhino tusks don’t harm the animal but they instead fall out like a tooth. However, in the case of ivory, the elephant’s tusks act as teeth, and by removing them, the elephant often dies. In some of her posters, she brought to mind the pride the Chinese people have for their panda conservation programs by pleading them to through text on her art to “Protect the Pandas of Africa – Elephants” in order for them to think of elephants and rhinos in the same light.
This particular work adds an elephant’s ears, tusks, and tail to the two characters that represent the People’s Republic of China, which incited a movement of people featuring the work on banners, on posters at rallys, bumper stickers, and even a few tattoos.
Learn more about Asher Jay at her website and through an article featuring her in National Geographic .
Hornbill engraved with an operatic scene - The Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art
Hornbill engraved with an operatic scene (alternate view) - The Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art
This particular work of art is an engraving of a Chinese operatic scene in the casque of a helmeted hornbill (Rhinoplax vigilis), found in tropical Asia, which is also sometimes referred to as ivory. In fact, the ivory sourced from the helmeted hornbill is actually more valuable in China than elephant ivory as the price for a kilogram of it (as of 2015) was $6,150 (three times the cost of elephant ivory).
The first recorded arrival of hornbill ivory in China was in 1371 as a gift from the sultan of Brunei. By the 1800s, demand had spread to Europe with China importing the skull of helmeted hornbills in order to transform them into artworks and then export them there.
However, in the past decade, there has been a resurgence of popularity in the carved skulls or beads made from their casques. This has caused them to be poached nearly to extinction where they are considered critically endangered (one step below extinct). In addition, their numbers are also threatened by the deforestation of the trees they raise their young in.
In this particular work, the deep-relief carving techniques of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) are featured. The reason an operatic scene was chosen to be carved into this casque was because the opera held widespread appeal at the time, with appreciation from both the aristocracy and commoners. While many artworks depicting operatic scenes will feature specific actors or scenes, this one does not.
Learn more about the helmeted hornbill and its precarious place in the environment in this National Geographic exposé and in this BBC article .
Inside the Mission to Save the Rare Helmeted Hornbill From Poachers
Kiribati Warrior by Bruce Mahalski. Photo by Michael Hall.
We're not the pinnacle of evolution. We're just another pest pretending to be God. - Bruce Mahalski
The name of this work is based on the Kiribati warriors that are found in The Republic of Kiribati in Micronesia. Their traditional armor (produced until the arrival of missionaries in the late 19th century) was made from coconut fiber and dried ray skin and would be decorated with human hair, feathers, or shells. The helmets were made of dried and hardened porcupine fish skin and worn over a plant-fiber cap. They would use shark’s teeth on their spears and tip them with a stingray barb. Additionally, shark’s teeth were sometimes worn on the knuckles. The process of making the armor itself was seen as a powerful ritual, giving power and strength to the armor from the raw materials used to create it. Furthermore, the warriors would also undergo another ritual before going into battle with their armor.
The artist, Mahalski, has expressed that his art also serves as a statement on treating species equally. In many of his works, human and animal bone alike are used together which he believes places humans back in their rightful place in nature as we have nearly destroyed the environment, pushing ourselves to extinction. Moreover, through the use of bones as his medium, he hopes to give a voice back to the animals.
By mixing the bones of different species together, Mahalski hopes to draw our attention to the interconnectedness of life on this planet and how it’s our responsibility to protect the whole environment, even if the species we’re protecting aren’t considered aesthetically pleasing. His goal is to push viewers on their definition of beauty and to impart an appreciation for and desire to protect all life forms.
An example of traditional Kiribati armor worn by a student at Rongorongo training college, Beru. Photo: George Hubert Eastman, © Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge