Topping-out at the Pitt Rivers Museum

On 24 February 2006 Dr John Hood, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, donated a ceremonial trowel and tankard in presentation boxes to the Pitt Rivers Museum [PRM]. 

The topping out ceremony, John Hood receives his ceremonial trowel

These gifts had been given to him on 9 February 2006 during the topping-out ceremony for the new extension to the PRM. The photographs on this page show the extension being built, the ceremony itself and the subject of this biography, the ceremonial trowel. John Hood is wearing a brown coat in the photographs, and the bearded man is Michael O'Hanlon, director of the museum. Other men are representatives of the builders, Sir Robert McAlpine.

Topping-out ceremonies

Topping-out is a ceremony traditionally held when the last beam is placed at the top of a building, or these days, the last iron beam. The ceremony marks the overall completion of the building's structure (the building is not completed, or ready for transfer to the owners or clients, it is a stage during the building process). According to wikipedia, such ceremonies are common in England, Germany, Poland and the United States.

2006.78.1 Ceremonial trowel given to John Hood at the PRM topping-out ceremony

A tree or leafy branch is placed on the topmost beam, often with flags or streamers tied to it. A toast is usually drunk and sometimes the workmen are treated to a meal.' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topping_out]

According to Simpson and Roud [2000, see "building trade" in further reading list below for source]:

What passes for building trade lore nowadays are ‘official’ customs such as cutting the first turf, laying a foundation stone, and topping out. The latter has been particularly popular since the 1960s, and few major construction projects are completed without a gathering of company officials, local dignitaries, and newspaper photographers on top of the new building to perform some ceremony such as laying the last brick. This custom has some roots, as there are earlier references to the workers hoisting a bush, or a flag, to the roof of a completed building.

Continue reading

This article extract is from England: The Other Within - Analysing the English Collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum project website.

Alison Petch, 

Researcher

Capturing Fresh Perspectives

We've been busy putting together the third and last of our podcasts. Our previous DDF project on Body Arts was the first time we really focussed on multimedia resources as a way of communicating new voices and insights into the collections. We talked to a variety of people, many in the form of audio podcasts. This time, for Small Blessings, we decided to go one better and create video podcasts (or 'vodcasts').

We decided to keep costs down and boost in-house skills by doing it ourselves. A handful of staff, including myself, had begun to learn the basics of film-making and editing by attending courses and watching online tutorials, so through trial and error we built our confidence with the equipment and technology.

PRM technician Alan getting to grips with the camera

Who would feature in these podcasts? We wanted a variety of opinions and thought about the sorts of people who might have dealt with amulets. We approached Andrew Graham-Dixon, one of the world's leading art critics, in particular because he had recently done a TV series with the British Museum looking at medieval Christian art; Feclicity Powell, an Oxford-based artist who'd just curated an exhibition of Pitt Rivers' Lovett amulets at the Wellcome Collection; and finally, Fr Joseph Welch, a priest at the local Oxford Oratory Catholic Church of St Aloysius Gonzaga who we thought might be interested in the reliquaries in the de Mortillet collection in view of the substantial collection of relics cared for by the Oratory.

Relics displayed in the Oratory's Relic Chapel 

All three experts expressed an interest in the project. On each occasion we invited the person to the Museum to have a look at some of de Mortillet amulets; we were very grateful that Mr Graham-Dixon drove up from London to accommodate us amid other commitments and a heavy cold!  We then had an open session, sharing what we knew - substantial research in some instances, very little in others - and eliciting responses and ideas that might make for interesting content in an interview. For example, Mr Graham-Dixon ruminated on the eclectic nature of de Mortillet's collecting habits and how many of the amulets captured popular art styles and religious beliefs.

Andrew Graham-Dixon with Charlotte, Helen & Rosanna

Felicity Powell talked about the individual lives and stories each object represented and even brought in her own poignant amulet - a battle-damaged button that had belonged to her father.

Felicity Powell with her father's Second World War memento

Our most recent visit was from Fr Joseph Welch at the end of July which yielded interesting and reflective discussions about historical and current modes of devotion. We followed this up by filming the actual podcast in the wonderful surroundings of the Oratory church this week and capturing the weekly veneration of their relic of St Philip Neri.

Showing Fr Joseph some amulets, including a book of scapulars (foreground)

Fr Joseph examines a miniature crown of thorns and a reliquary

Fr Joseph brought along some useful texts and helped us with our
research into a special amulet purporting to contain a splinter
from the Crown of Thorns (PRM 1985.52.911)

It's been wonderful to meet all three of our guests and hear the fascinating and thought-provoking things they've had to say about this collection. We appreciate them giving up their time to be involved with this project. We're now working hard to get the films finished so they can be added to the Small Blessings website which will be launched soon. We hope you'll enjoy them too!

Helen

September 2012 update: These films, called 'Understanding 'Amulets' will be available to view at: http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/amulets/index.php/multimedia-podcasts

Caring for Fragile Fabrics

These are three ribbon amulets from Bolivia, which were sent to Conservation for treatment. 

Flaking decoration (PRM 1985.52.1726)

As you can see, the gold decoration over the text was flaking off, so I had to consolidate it. This means fixing it more securely to the surface using an adhesive. I did this under the microscope, so that I could watch very carefully if any colours on the ribbon started running.

Stuck together (PRM 1985.52.1729)

Two of the ribbons were folded over on themselves and had become stuck where they'd been painted. I had to decide whether to attempt to open them up or leave them as they were.

I tried releasing them very gently using a scalpel and managed to unfold the crimson one, but the white one was much too firmly stuck and the action would have caused quite a lot of damage to it, had I continued trying. As we already had two from the same area with the same decoration, it seemed unnecessary.

PRM 1985.52.1727

They all have a small amount of ‘shattering’ which is when the fabric becomes brittle and falls apart. This is mainly at the centre of each ribbon around the painted text and image. To stop the fabric breaking apart, I gave it a backing of silk crepeline, which was dyed to the same colour as each ribbon. This was then placed over each break like a plaster.

Once treatment was completed each ribbon will need to be stored properly. It’s best if it doesn’t get folded, as over time folds become breaks, so I wrapped each ribbon around some conservation grade foam and interleaved it with some acid free tissue to prevent any more sticking problems in the future. I then made a couple of small boxes out of conservation grade corrugated plastic to stop them getting crushed.

Jenny

In the Frame

You can now access our series of Small Blessings films, entitled 'Artisans of Memory', via the Multimedia section on the Pitt Rivers website. This is a great jumping off point to explore a range of videos, podcasts and lectures created by the Museum over the past few years. You can even find digitised archive film recorded by anthropologists in the field from the 1930s! 

In the Small Blessings section scroll to the bottom to check out the latest episode that follows Alice and Rosanna as they learn about conservation and conservator Jenny at work. There are now five films available with several more coming in the next few weeks so do check back regularly. We'd love to find out what you think so if you have any comments or questions, feel free to reply to this blog or email us. 

Film-makers Alan Mandel and Udi Mandel filming artist Emma
Reynard talking about the Small Blessings community art project

The final filming session in the Museum is next week when we will be sharing some of our learning curves and thoughts about the project as it draws to a close at the end of August. Look out for a guest blog entry by the film-makers soon...

Finally, don't forget about our amulets competition - we've had some really interesting and varied entries from all around the world so far. There's not long to go now so if you've got a lucky charm and a camera phone, why not send us a photo? You could end up on our website or even win a prize!

Helen

Not Long To Go

Last week we were very pleased to welcome two Arts Council England guests - Oxford ASPIRE's Relationship Manager, Michael Cooke and Designation Development Fund representative, Sarah Waldron.

We showed Michael and Sarah some elements of the project such as cataloguing and conservation work, the community arts display, researched stories about amulets, plus some of the digital outputs including as-yet unreleased film footage and a glimpse of the proto-website to be launched in August. Here's a taster as to what it will look like!

The homepage of the Small Blessings site in its development phase

This project only has about six weeks to go. We hope our visitors enjoyed their visit and left knowing that these 'Small Blessings' are nonetheless having a relatively 'Large Impact' in terms of what we hope to achieve. 

Helen

Conclusion of Community Art Project

Local artist Emma Reynard recounts the final weeks of the amulet art project she undertook with participants from Mind, a mental health charity. The pieces they created have now been installed in the Museum (on the top floor, the Upper Gallery) for visitors to see.


"Session 4
At this point ideas started to be realized: Gerry turned out the first part of his two-part mould and managed to free the original object without too much damage. He then built up the clay and did the second pour for the top part of the mould. Hopefully, next week it will be ready to cast. He also made a start on trying to retrieve the cast of a hand. Unfortunately the plaster hadn’t managed to get all the way down to the fingers, but we thought it would be good to try and invent a story around the cast - maybe it could be from an animal foot? Gerry looked to add other materials to his casts such as an arrow-head made from metal sheeting and a piece of textile with beads and leather thong.

The hand cast that became an animal paw to 'bring safety from wildlife'

John turned out his medal/coin casts. The Siligum (silicone moulding paste) created a detailed impression and worked really well. John used an oil-based gold rub to highlight the detail and also to make the medals look more authentic. He then experimented with some sheet aluminum, tracing an image of a bird and cutting it out with scissors. He then used various tools to make textures into the metal, and finally placed it on a mini anvil and used a copper hammer was used to bash out the obvious scissored edges. To take the newness out of the metal, either oil paint or the gold rub could be added.

Susan turned out the cast of the two babies. Again, these worked well with the Siligum and all the detail was evident. Susan used gold leaf to cover the plaster. Which gave a great effect. Using the gold leaf also inspired me to try this on the arm and leg casts that I have been working on too. I went back into the museum and took more photos of the metal amulets, to see if I could expand on what I have been doing.


Session 5
This week I encouraged the group to start writing a short explanation about their piece(s). Then we started to think about presentation - will it be in a box, a specimen bag, will it have a label, a number or a story about it? I had some books on superstitions and the like for people to consult and find inspiration.

Literature provided some of the inspiration for the imagined stories
and purpose behind amulets we made.

Session 6
Today was the last of the workshops related to the Small Blessings amulet project and we focused on the presentation of the finished pieces. Right at the start of the project we visited the conservation rooms at the museum and saw how the collections are catalogued, labelled and presented at the Museum. We tried to keep our work along the same lines as to fit in with the rest of the displays and decided to create hand-written labels and number them all. The labels were edged with aluminum and copper and crimped, to give a similar feel to the labels in the Museum. All the specimens from the project have gone through conservation to check for any infestation and put through the deep freeze. This will protect other objects in the Museum from potential contamination.

Making ''Pitt Rivers style' handwritten labels with metal edges

This has been a wonderful, unique project to work on, not only because it was based at the Pitt Rivers Museum but I got to meet people from MIND, a local mental health charity. Together we’ve explored different materials and techniques, including mould-making, clay and metal. It has been interesting discovering and learning all about the amulets collections and creating our own amulets, charms and votives.

Finally, working on this unique project has inspired my work a great deal. It has led me to try out new techniques, such as mould making and casting and also to consider ways of presenting my work (see some of my finished amulets). I hope to continue to develop some of these ideas in my future work and I’m looking forward to eventually seeing the work displayed in one of the cases at the Museum."

Emma Reynard
http://www.emmareynard.com/
http://www.haveyoufeltit.blogspot.co.uk/


Update: Installation
Last week PRM technician Ady prepared a selection of the crafted amulets for display in the Upper Gallery, next to the display of the amulets from the historic de Mortillet collection. We do nearly all our display work 'in-house' and the technicians always prepare a 'mock up' of the display to determine spacing, arrangement, mounting requirements and colour schemes....

Ady's 'mock up' display

Ady installing the display

The temporary display is now complete and if you're in Oxford over the next couple of months please do come in and have a look!

Helen

Amulet or Accessory?

Amulets can occasionally be found in surprisingly modern settings. These might take the form of straightforward reproductions, such as the miniature Eiffel Towers to be found in any souvenir shop in Paris and, apparently, in jewellers too... 

Silver-tone Eiffel Tower drop earrings from River Island
and Eiffel Tower mascot (PRM 1985.52.150)

The fashion industry is constantly shifting and looking for something new and different. It looks to past trends, cultures and even the natural world for inspiration, to the extent that many of the clothes that we see in our high street stores echo trends from past decades…although I’m fairly sure there are a few items of clothing we thought, or rather hoped, would never make a comeback! Jewellery is no exception to this and I was amazed to see how much of the jewellery currently being sold in shops mirrors the objects being catalogued as part of the Small Blessing project. In turn, this got me thinking, how much of the original meaning behind the creation of these amulets still remains? 

The image of the human skull, for example, has been used for centuries in works of art, religious representations and, in more recent times, the fashion world. Known in Latin as memento mori ("remember your mortality" or “remember you must die"), such imagery represented death and served to remind people about the transience of life. It could be argued that the use of skulls in the fashion world has lost this historic symbolism and has become representative of danger and rebellion instead. 

Wooden skull drop earrings from River Island and
Death's head amulet from Naples (PRM 1985.52.43)

Other objects, such as the ancient Italian corno (horn) amulet and the hamsa (hand of Fatima), are just two of many items that were worn to protect against the Evil Eye, which in many cultures was thought to cause injury or bad luck. Once again there seems to be an abundance of these on the high street – but do people still believe in protecting themselves against the Evil Eye or are they simply interesting shapes well-used in adornment? 

'Henna Hand' necklace from Topshop and
Hand of Fatima amulet (PRM 1985.52.1385)

It is fascinating that certain amuletic symbols have not lost their curiousness or appeal over centuries of use, no matter how far their modern versions may have evolved from their original meaning. So the question is, when does an object stop being an amulet and start being a fashion accessory?

Alice

Amulets, Art and Outreach

Back in April, local artist Emma Reynard was invited to take the Small Blessings project out into the community. She decided to work with a group of adults from Mind (a mental health charity) to discover more about the amulets, charms and votives in the de Mortillet collection and create their own pieces, which are now being prepared for display in the Museum. 

Here Emma recounts some of the first days of the collaboration:

"The de Mortillet collection belonged to Adrien de Mortillet (1853-1931) and contains examples from all over the world. I am trying to find out more about de Mortillet, but so far have not been too successful. I do know that he had many careers including a perfumer and a balloonist!

From observing the amulets, charms and votives at the Museum they are mainly made out of the following materials:

• clay
• plaster
• wax
• natural materials such as seeds, bark, fruit, grasses
• parts of animals and human including hearts, bone, teeth and skin
• metal
• textiles
• food






Plaster moulds with wax casts on display

Magic bundle for laying a curse on a village (PRM 1928.69.1584)

I decided to try and keep to these materials...although I won't be using any human hearts! Initially, I will be experimenting with plaster moulds, clay, metals and textiles and see where that takes me. It's an exciting project to be involved in and I am looking forward to seeing what we come up with.

Day One 

The members from The Mill arrived at the Museum, ready to begin the new project. The session started off with a quick slideshow of some of the charms and amulets in the de Mortillet collection, from coral hand charms to wolf's tooth teething amulets and even skin from a hanged man! The objects in the collection are small in scale, no doubt mainly because these things would be worn or carried about the person. We need to keep this in mind when we come to create our own pieces.

Emma's 'ephemera'

After digesting some of the stories behind the other amulets on display, we had a short discussion with the group to see if they had any charms of their own. One person said he always has a penny in his pocket and Susan (the museums' Community Education Officer) described how, when she got married, she wore her grandmother’s wedding ring (who has been married for almost 50 years).

We then had a very interesting tour of the Conservation areas upstairs. It was wonderful to see what goes into the cataloguing and documenting of all the objects. Approximately 5000 objects form this collection and each one had to be unwrapped and identified (and researched if necessary), then the object was given a unique number, photographed and then wrapped up and stored. If any of the objects show signs of pests or corrosion, they are put into deep freeze and cleaned or restored to enable the object to survive a longer life in the Museum. It really makes you think about all the effort that goes into one tiny object!

After this tour, I explained to the group about the things that we would be doing during the project. I asked for people to bring in anything which they may have at home which they feel would be relevant.

Day Two 

We had a new member today. He arrived already knowing quite a bit about the project and showed me an amulet he made when he was at school and which he'd had with him ever since. It was an etching on tin of a pentagon (he told me he was pagan). The project seems to be evoking a lot of personal stories, which is really nice to listening and share.

Another member brought along two coins/medals that belonged to his grandad. One was dated 1902 with King George V on the front. I suggested that next week we could take a mould from it and have a go at casting. He said he'd also bring along some old fob watch keys.

We started by having a look at some books that I had brought in, including Superstitions of England and Ireland, Saints, Signs and Symbols, Inspirational Objects, and The Language of Flowers plus two books from The Foundling Museum in London. We also had a look at two scrapbooks from the 1950s, which contained old wedding cards, birthday cards, and tokens such as a silver '21' key. Looking at these objects encouraged the members to talk about their own personal and family possessions. 

Emma's drawings

Next we did some drawing, I had made some folded sketchbooks for everyone to use. I kept them small scale to fit in with the project but also I thought it would be less intimidating than using large pieces of paper. We used fine-liner pens and pencils, and some people also photographed objects that they didn’t have time to draw. I encouraged people to write down the information about each object they drew/photographed. We finished off the session by printing out some of the photos and the group seemed really pleased with what they had done. 

We’re all looking forward to the next session, which will be a messy one - I have purchased my own 'ingredients' and we'll have a go with the plaster and the clay!"

Emma Reynard, artist

http://www.emmareynard.com/

http://www.haveyoufeltit.blogspot.co.uk/

'Field Collectors' and 'Other Owners'

Adrien de Mortillet compiled the collection of amulets that we are currently cataloguing, but some of the objects were originally collected or owned by other people. We have two categories on our collections database to account for such people: ‘field collectors’ and ‘other owners’. Finding out more about these individuals helps us to build up a better picture of how de Mortillet acquired these amulets, and how he might have been connected to other collectors / owners.

One example is this Zuni Native American amulet carved from stone. It resembles an animal and could possibly be a hunting or war amulet.

Zuni stone amulet, 1985.52.875 © Pitt Rivers Museum

It was acquired by Colonel James Stevenson (1840–1888), who starting collecting objects from the South West Pueblo Zuni people after he led an expedition to New Mexico in 1879, sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute. He was accompanied by his wife Matilda Coxe Stevenson, who became a respected anthropologist in her own right. De Mortillet acquired this object in 1888, the year that Stevenson died. It is possible that de Mortillet benefited from the disposal of some of Stevenson’s collections preceding or – through his wife’s actions – following his death. It is one of five Zuni amulets that de Mortillet collected but the only one to make it as far as the PRM (a large chunk of his collection is in Paris).

Necklace, 1985.52.330 .1- .2 © Pitt Rivers Museum 

Another example is this necklace with a silver relic box and hands of Fatima (hamsas) attached to it, which was once owned by the French actress Marie Leonide Charvin (1832-1891). Charvin was a successful theatre actress under the stage name of 'Madame Agar'. However, she was blacklisted in Paris after performing in a benefit concert organized by the revolutionary and anarchic Paris Commune in 1871. Hamsa amulets like this were common across North Africa and indeed, Mme Agar died in Algeria where her second husband Georges Marye was the curator of the Museum of Antiquities in Algiers.

Portraits of 'Mademoiselle Agar' a theatrical roles
© Paul Dube and Jacques Marchioro 2001-2012

  

Eugene Boban (Wikimedia Commons)

Some of the other owners or field collectors mentioned include Eugène Boban (1834–1908), a French antiquarian and dealer who collected Mexican objects, and Paul Maurice Pallary (1869–1942), a French-Algerian zoologist who collected objects from Algeria.

Finding out the stories surrounding the people linked to these objects adds more to the seemingly never-ending layers of interest in this collection!


Rosanna


A Bit of Support

Sometimes the best thing we can do to help an amulet is simply to give it some better packaging or more support.

All the materials we use for packaging are inert and stable. This means that the packaging materials themselves aren’t going to deteriorate or give off harmful gases and they don't have any chemical residues. Any gases etc., which a packing material might give off, could increase the deterioration of the artefacts they are trying to protect.

The plastic boxes we use for storage are made of Polypropylene or Polystyrene, which are very stable plastics. Both are easily available on the high street. We tend to use materials such as Plastazote, Jiffy foam (both Polyethylene foams) and acid free tissue to cushion around objects. Correx board (corrugated Polypropylene sheeting) or acid free mount board is used to support them.

In the image below, amulet 1985.52.10 (a bronze ram’s head pendant from Russia) has been cushioned using black and Plastazote and then placed in a crystal (Polystyrene) box.

Ram's head pendant (PRM: 1985.52.10)

Amulet numbers 1985.52.504 and 1985.52.505 (both textile scapulars from Italy) needed more support, so they were placed on a Jiffy foam lined piece of Correx board with a window cut in it and then another Correx board on top.

Jenny

The Blackman Amulet Collection

A guest blog from the Pitt Rivers Museum's Researcher in World Archaeology, Dr Alice Stevenson:

When the pioneering female anthropologist Winifred Blackman first approached Henry Wellcome in 1926 for funds to support her ethnographic research in Egypt she promised to collect for him a ‘number’ of interesting amulets in return. That ‘number’ turns out to very large indeed and I’ve taken on the rather daunting task of tackling it. Like the de Mortillet collection that is the focus of the Small Blessings project, the Blackman collection is one of several large tranches of amulets that were transferred to the Pitt Rivers Museum in the 1980s.

At least it is well documented. As Blackman wrote in a letter to Wellcome’s assistant in 1929:

“I have taken no end of trouble about accuracy – I did not work under Mr Balfour for over eight years in the Pitt Rivers Museum for nothing, and you know what a master of accuracy he is!”

Given Blackman’s close association with the Pitt Rivers Museum through years of volunteer work and study for her anthropology diploma (awarded in 1915), it is very fitting that her amulets are now stored here. As Blackman’s letter indicates though, it’s not just the physical objects that were collected: there is also a mountain of notes to go with them.

These record what each amulet was for, who she acquired it from and where they got it in turn.

Blackman wasn’t the only one to bring such accuracy to the recording of these objects. Wellcome’s own cataloguers also devoted many years to numbering these artefacts. The legacy of such labours are hundreds of tiny items that are now almost obscured by the sheer number of labels that surround them.

My project is primarily a scoping exercise in the first instance that aims to get a better sense of this material. I’m also getting it into a more manageable order for future cataloguing (yes more museum numbers!). And order is beginning to emerge from the chaos of hundreds of bags of pebbles, shells, animal teeth, beads and other rather odd smelling things that Blackman took such care to acquire. So too are the many stories entangled with these little fragments, from the amulet to render a thief invisible, to the charm for a woman who wishes to be loved by all the people and the camel that needed protection from the Evil Eye. There’s an amulet here for everyone and everything.


The Blackman project is kindly funded by the John Fell OUP Fund, University of Oxford.


Alice Stevenson

Fragile Bodies: ex-voto artefacts and art

We've come across plenty of votive offerings and charms relating to body parts. Here, we concentrate on a female body part in particular, starting with this account from Andrew, a PRM conservator, whose recent work on a broken object highlights the decisions made about preservation when it comes to object care... 

"A wax breast ex-voto, recently catalogued in the Small Blessings project, came to the conservation lab. It was in nine separate pieces and the cataloguers had assigned each piece a unique number (1985.52.1198.1-.9). My goal as a conservator is to find the best way to protect an object. In this case, the object is made from wax which, after 100 years, becomes quite a fragile and difficult material. The wax is probably beeswax, so if it gets too warm it will become easily distorted; too cold and it will easily break if dropped. 

Wax ex-voto breast in fragments (PRM: 1985.52.1198.1-9)

The damage to the object probably occurred when it was dropped or packaged badly some time in the past, and not as a result of its use. All the separate pieces had been kept and when pieced together, there were only extremely small fragments missing. I had a choice to make. If I did not reassemble it and kept it as a separate fragments, there is the danger that with handling and transport, the edges of the wax would get damaged, squashed, and abraded.  Also, as separate fragments, it is difficult to ascertain what the object actually is without having to reassemble and hold some of the pieces together which would cause more damage - especially if repeated over time. So I decided it would be better for the object if it was reassembled and packaged more suitably.

The reassembled wax breast (PRM: 1985.52.1198)

I adhered the pieces together with a conservation grade adhesive, which has good aging properties meaning it won't discolour, crack, or become brittle for a long time, and can be removed easily if necessary. Now the object can be easily identified and handling is much easier and safer. We have now dropped the (1-9) sub-parts of the accession number so it is referenced as just one object. If, at some point in the future, there is a need to disassemble it back into its parts, then the special adhesive I've used means this can happen without causing any harm to the object."

We have found a lot of ex-votos in the de Mortillet collection and some of these will be added to the online gallery when it is published this summer. Ex-votos (from the Latin phrase ex-voto suscepto, meaning ‘from the vow made’) were – and still are – used to solicit divine intervention or give thanks for granted wishes, prayers and intentions. They are placed as visible symbols of devotion and gratitude in churches and chapels following recovery from illness or injury and often take on the form of the diseased / affected body part, e.g. arm, leg, eyes, etc. The object shown above was one of a series of wax ex-votos from the Notre-Dame de Hal church in Belgium. It was probably made in relation to an affliction such as breast cancer although we do not know the particulars about the sufferer or what happened to her. 

The Peres-Maldonado ex-voto painting (unknown artist), oil on canvas, 1777

© Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College

A similar scenario is depicted in this late 18th-century Mexican votive painting, now cared for by Wellesley College near Boston but once owned by the French Surrealist painter André Breton. It shows an aristocratic woman, Doña Josefa Peres-Maldonado, undergoing rudimentary breast cancer surgery. She's attended by a monk, a surgeon, his assistant and her household retinue. Her calm expression may indicate how her faith and piety are helping her overcome the pain. The painting follows the usual format for these devotional artworks: usually done on on canvas or tin, the scene is horizontal with central images illustrating the petitioner and the nature of his or her illness or ailment (as here, often in graphic detail); an image of a saint or holy figure near the top (here, atop a private altar); and a written description and testimony below. Written in Spanish, it tells of the woman's gratitude for the successful removal of six cancerous tumours from her breast. However, below this in smaller text was added the following sometime later: "Although the wound closed perfectly on 26th July 1777, other accidents befell her from which she died on Friday, 5th September at 3pm." 

The tradition of Mexican ex-voto paintings, introduced by Spanish settlers in the 16th century, continues today and many are to be found in Mexican churches. The subject matter remains largely connected to issues of health and well-being, but the context is often more modern and personalised - for example, requesting miraculous intervention in cases of alcoholism, bankruptcy, natural disasters or car accidents.

Helen

More amulets on Flickr

Take a look at the new additions to the PRM 'Amulet' set on Flickr. These taster images will form the basis of the Small Blessings online gallery, which will be launched later this year and feature much more in-depth descriptions and research. 

Helen

Variolite pebble used as an amulet, France (PRM: 1985.52.705)