The objects below, which are currently on display in the museum’s Kim Gallery, are a small sampling of the museum's collection of antiquities, most of which were acquired prior to 1970.
These fourteen objects are listed here because they were acquired by the museum after 1970, the date of the UNESCO convention in Paris. The convention participants issued a treaty document specifying that "States [countries] recognize that the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property is one of the main causes of the impoverishment of the cultural heritage of the countries of origin of such property . . . to this end, the States Parties undertake to oppose such practices with the means at their disposal, and particularly by removing their causes, putting a stop to current practices, and by helping to make the necessary reparations."
Although this treaty was not ratified by the United States until 1983, the Hood Museum of Art has adhered to the 1970 date for purchased works and gift acquisitions during the last fifteen years. Some of the museum’s antiquities, however, entered the collection in the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s. In publishing these works on the Web, the museum is providing information about their collection history for all to review.
This site now only covers works currently on view; however, the museum will add other works from its holdings in the coming year.
Greek (Corinth?)
Figurine of horse with rider
Early 6th century BCE
Buff earthenware with striped red slip design on body of horse and rider.
Gift of Ann B. Carter; 2007.50.1
This work was collected by Esther Fisher Hallowell [Morse] (1881-1946) and
Susan Morris Hallowell [Brooks] (1883-1981) on a family trip to Greece in 1906;
to Ann Brooks Carter [Susan's daughter], Hanover, New Hampshire; given to
present collection, 2007. Note from donor (copy of her mother's note):
"The H.T.C.'s (Hallowell Traveling Club) trip to Greece in 1906. Grandfather
and Grandmother Hallowell, Esther and Sue [family members on trip]. During our
tour of the Aegean Islands on the S.S. [illegible] in the company, by
[illegible] chance, of six top notch English Archaeologists and before any
tourist restrictions had been imposed on the islands, Esther and Sue upon
finding a real bit of antique pottery would run to any one of our companions to
get it dated, - 3rd century B.C. or whatever. Other items in the box were
bought, - all original antiques except the cups. [note: Esther and Sue were
sisters, children of Norwood and Sarah Hallowell]
Greek (Athens)
Pyxis with lid
Early 8th century BCE
Terracotta, buff clay with brown and black slip
Purchased with funds made available through a gift from the estates of Lulu
C. and Robert L. Coller, Class of 1923; C.985.15 A, B
This pyxis was purchased from Madame Nina Borowski, Galerie Archeologie, Paris,
in 1985.
Greek (Rhodes?)
Female protome
About 500-475 BCE
Terracotta with black and white slip
Hood Museum of Art; S.978.4
This protome was purchased at Sotheby Parke Bernet at the auction Fine
Antiquities on Feb. 17, 1978, lot 75.
Greek (Boeotia)
Statuette of a woman
About 300-250 BCE
Terracotta
Bequest of Bernard Grebanier; S.977.216
Greek (Myrina)
Statuette of a woman
About 300-250 BCE
Terracotta
Bequest of Bernard Grebanier; S.977.217
One of these two small terracotta statuettes (17) was in the donor's apartment
in mid-April 1969 (see letter and attached notes in file from April 21, 1969),
and he refers to his collection of Tanagra figurines along with other holdings
in a letter to the museum in 1968.
Rosoni Painter, Etruscan
Black-figure olpe
About 600-575 BCE
Buff clay with brown, purple, and white slip
Hood Museum of Art; C.978.5
This olpe was purchased at Sotheby Parke Bernet at the auction Fine
Antiquities on Feb. 17, 1978, lot 2.
Greco-Roman
Bust of a bearded man
2nd century CE
Marble
Gift of Anthony and Lois Blumka; S.993.43.2
This sculpture was in the collection of New York art dealer Ruth Blumka at the
time of her death and was given to the museum by her son and daughter-in-law in
1993.
Roman
Relief of an African village scene
1st century BCE
Terracotta
Gift of Leo A. Marantz, Class of 1935; S.977.201
There is no information in the file on the origins of this particular relief,
other than it was in the collection of the donor and was given to the
collection in 1977.
Roman
Sarcophagus fragment with Eros, Nereids, Tritons, and a Sea
Horse
About 140-160 CE
S.977.21
Thomas Herbert, 8th earl of Pembroke (1656-1733), Wilton House (probably
acquired between 1678 and 1726); Christies, Manson & Woods, Ltd., April 28,
1964, cat. no. 86; Dr. Joseph R. Little, North Carolina; Sotheby Park Bernet
Inc., New York, Sale 3934, p. 36, lot 134, December 11, 1976; sold to present
collection, 1976.
Roman
Head of a man
Mid-3rd century CE
Marble
Hood Museum of Art; S.976.271
This object was purchased at Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, in 1976.
Egyptian, Roman era
Sepulchral stele
2nd-3rd century CE
Limestone
Purchased through the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College;
S.978.41
This stele was purchased through Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, in 1978
(invoice date August 4, 1978). According to a letter in the file (May 22,
1979), it was acquired by the gallery from a private collector who was
dispersing her collection of antiquities.
Donation of Asian objects from Mrs. Patrick C. Hill
These four objects were given to the museum by Mrs. Patrick C. Hill (1902-1984; born Genevieve Carpenter) of Charlotte, Vermont, in 1981. In a letter in the file written at the time of her gift, she states that she had been collecting Asian art from the age of nineteen, which would be about 1921. She was the daughter of Rue Winterbotham Carpenter (1879-193?; married John Alden Carpenter [1876-1951] in 1900) and the granddaughter of Joseph Winterbotham, who established a fund for the purchase of modern art at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1921-24. Her mother, also an advocate of modernism, was an early member of the Art Institute's Art Club and in 1918 became its first president.
It is not known when she acquired the objects donated by her in the collection; more research is presently being done. According to the gallery, they reportedly came from Kom Abou, Billou, Egypt, which was the site of a University of Michigan excavation in 1935.
China, Han Dynasty
Dog with traces of pigment
202 BCE-220 CE
Terracotta with pigment
Gift of Mrs. Patrick C. Hill; S.981.136
China, Northern Wei Dynasty
Standing tomb attendant
386-535 CE
Terracotta with red pigment
Gift of Mrs. Patrick C. Hill; S.981.125.2
China, Sui Dynasty
Camel
581-618 CE
Earthenware with straw-colored glaze
Gift of Mrs. Patrick C. Hill; S.981.132
China, Tang Dynasty
Horse
Late 7th century CE
Earthenware, pigment
Gift of Mrs. Patrick C. Hill; S.981.142
