Lava Stone Box depicting Mount Vesuvius Erupting

Label

Fragments like this bring tangible form to an intangible past. One of the earliest collections at Dartmouth was an expansive cabinet of rocks and minerals, initially housed in the medical building in 1827 but rapidly expanding to 2,300 specimens and a room in Dartmouth Hall two years later. Dartmouth alum and Middlebury professor Frederick Hall continued to add to the collection, contributing not only examples of stone types but also what he catalogued as “curiosities.” These curiosities were still primarily stone, but stone that had been altered through either natural events—such as the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE—or human shaping into monuments built by Roman emperors and other historical figures.

From the 2025 exhibition, From Mastodon to Mosaic: Building an Academic Art Collection in America, curated by Ashley B. Offill, Curator of Collections

Course History

History 10.02, Archival Research, Julia Rabig, Summer 2025

Exhibition History

From Mastadon to Mosaic: Building an Academic Art Collection in America, Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 14, 2025 - Fall 2026

Provenance

German collection; collected by Frederick Hall (1780-1843), Class of 1803, date unknown; given to present collection, 1838; catalogued, 1913.

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Subjects