Object of the Week: Liberty Bond Poster by John Norton, 1918

BM#96.41.16
John Norton, Keep These Off the USA, 1918
Paper poster
40.5 in. x 30.5 in

This 1918 poster designed by John Norton depicts a pair of blood stained German boots. Dramatic imagery and threatening typeface evokes the terrible consequences of Germans reaching American soil. This poster is one of many that paralleled one of the Treasury Department's four Liberty Bond campaigns. The posters were effective in obtaining $23 billion in support of war efforts.

In a time when television did not yet exist, the use of posters served as an effective means of reaching audiences. Posters could be produced thousands at a time and then quickly plastered to billboards and other surfaces. Poster production was overseen by the Division of Pictorial Publicity, an offshoot of the CPI, which was specifically concerned with the merging of art and crafted wording. In collaboration with some of the country’s best known illustrators the posters from this era appealed to the hearts of America, asking them to enlist for service and especially to buy bonds. Favoring emotion over logic, the posters targeted America’s collective fears and compassion and called into question one’s patriotism, bravery and even sexuality.

Currently 17 WWI posters, including the one pictured here, are on loan to Chapman University for the exhibition Posters from the Home Front: Illustrations from the First World War. This exhibition, courtesy of the Bowers Museum, features a small but representational portion of posters used to rouse American sentiment and action in a time of instability. The exhibition is located in the Henley Galleria through August 17,2007 and is free to public.

All images and text copyright of the Bowers Museum. Please contact Collection Department for permission to use.

Object of the Week: Akha Woman's Headdress, Belt and Bracelets; Thailand

BMCA#91.28.1.1,.4,.5,.6
Headdress, belt and bracelets, 20th century
Phami Akha People, Golden Triangle Area, N. Thailand
Silver, fabric and bead

This Akha woman’s headdress and jewelry are heirlooms that took many years to assemble since all of the silver had to be accumulated before the ensemble could be completed. The Indian coins are silver, and most of the silverwork was commissioned with Ahka silversmiths in Myanmar (Burma). The beads are from China. The Akha have been migrating from their homeland in southeast China for several centuries, moving into Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. These objects accompany an entire Akha woman's costume, all of which can be currently viewed in the exhibition Art of Adornment: Tribal Beauty.

All images and text copyright of the Bowers Museum. Please contact Collection Department for permission to use.

Object of the Week: Book, "Colosso Eloquente", 1748

BMCA#7252
Book, Colosso Eloquente, 1748
Paper, limp vellum, remnants of ties
8 in. x 6 in.

One of the oldest books in the Bowers Museum’s collection is the Colosso Eloquente, printed in 1748 by Maria de Ribera who ran the Mexico City (then Nueva España) press, Imprenta Real de Superior Gobierno. The book, intended to be educational in nature, describes the favors Spanish King Ferdinand VI and the Catholic Church have made on the Universidad Mexicana, for which the text was printed for. Throughout the text references are made to the greatness of ancient Greece, comparing the magnificence of the King with the Colossus of Rhodes and referring to the university as the Athens of the New World. Other topics covered are the beauty of Ferdinand’s Queen Maria Barbara and the goodness of university officials. (History notes that Ferdinand VI was an unconfident and depressed man and that Maria Barbara was shockingly homely).

The book is written in an old style Spanish. It is full of epigrams, poetical statements that in this case have an educational and moral purpose and anagrams that play with the arrangement of letters. Both of these methods of word play originate in ancient Greece.

The Ribera family continually ran a press in Nueva España from the late 16th century until the Maria de Ribera’s publishing of Colosso Eloquente in 1748. Maria de Ribera was the first in her family to receive the special privilege granted by the Vatican and the Spanish Monarchy to print ecclesiastical texts. The printing of such texts was highly controlled and subject to strict supervision by the Church. In this way both quality and content of the material was preserved. This oversight was part of a larger program initiated by the Vatican in the early 17th century that dealt with a massive clean up of all religious documents and the widespread distribution of such texts throughout Europe and especially its colonies.

All text and images copyright of the Bowers Museum. For permission to use please contact the Collection Department.

Object of the Week: Palm Wine Cup, Democratic Republic of Congo, 19th-20th century

BMCA#F80.49.1
Cup, 19th – 20th century
Democratic Republic of Congo; Lele peoples
Wood; 6 in. x 4 1/8 in.

Perhaps more than any of the arts in Africa, Kuba art* is concerned with the ornamentation of daily use objects. This tradition was fueled by 18th century officials of the Kuba kingdom court who equated their decorated possessions with their superiority in status, power and wealth. This competitive nature extended to all facets of daily life resulting in even the most common of household goods developing into works of art. Artistic innovation and originality burgeoned, with strong emphasis placed on patterns and decorative motifs.

A cup like this was used to drink palm wine, a traditional alcoholic beverage served to guests on special occasion. The cup would be presented and admired for its qualities before its contents were communally shared. This cup most likely represents a portrait of the patron who commissioned it. The face is well proportioned, has a narrow mouth with closed lips and opened but, relaxed eyes. The expression is serene and emphasizes the individual’s inner demeanor or state of being. Often patrons made sure their portraits included features that allowed them to be quickly identifiable by others; the facial hair on the chin and the double rows of square scarification marks extending from eyes to ears may be such distinguishing marks. The rim of the cup reflects the shape and size of the base that cleverly doubles for the neck. This overall design is symmetrical, symbolic of order and security central to Kuba values. This particular cup is carved deeply, a sign of a masterful artist, and signifying it belonged to an important person. A looped handle extends from the center back of the cup and the wood is beautifully patinated.

*Kuba art is a term used to describe any art produced in the Kuba kingdom or the work produced by neighboring ethnicities, such as the Lele, that possess strong artistic correlations.

All objects and text are copyright of the Bowers Museum. Please contact the Collection Department for permission to use.