Study of Textiles

 This past Tuesday, our class visited the McClung Museum in the University of Tennessee to see, among other things, the textiles created by the early people living in Tennessee. People in this area began weaving textiles during the Mississippian Period (beginning about 900 AD). These textiles had many different uses, such as clothing, bedding, and bags. This Mississippian bag (above) is an incredibly old example of these early Tennessean's weavings. It is so old in fact, that it cannot be displayed with continuous light on it for fear it will deteriorate. There are very few physical pieces of cloth that have survived like this one, because most were made with plant fibers, which tend to break down very quickly. However, archaeologists have a good deal of knowledge of textiles from the imprints they have have found on clay pots from the era. 

While mankind's use of stone spear points may have dwindled, textiles have remained (quite obviously) widely used. Now, however, we have invented many tools and techniques as well as created many synthetic fibers that are more durable, cheaper, and easier to use than some organic fibers. Below is a photograph of a bag (designed by Paulina Reyes for Kate Spade) made from palm leaf fibers.

 [McClung Museum]

What's in an Artifact?

When my Interior Design professor invited my class to explore the McClung Museum, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. However, when I entered the lobby, I was amazed by all of the various artifacts. Once everyone was ready, our museum tour guided led us to the Native American exhibit. Looking at and studying them was like staring at the past. We had an opportunity to study a certain type of artifact and I chose ceremaics. Below is a picture of ceramic figurines. These figurines were found in a burned house. They were most likely designed by women because the men were out hunting.   

Figurines are still used as decoration today. However, they are much more detailed and often painted. These ladies wear fancy dresses while the figurines from the museum wear more traditional Native American attire.

Minimal

2,060-yr-old gourd bowl from McClung MuseumI chose the gourd bowl.  I like how minimalist it is, but also fully functional and extremely useful.  In order to make this particular bowl, you would literally just find a gourd and chop it in half.  It would probably have to be dried, but then you would have a bowl.  

However, these bowls were not perfect.  They were probably more fragile than many of the bowls that we have today, hence the crack in the gourd bowl.  This bowl had an attempted repair on it.  Someone drilled small holes and tried to weave on the broken-off piece.  We have similar bowls today that arebetter made because of technology.

Modern wooden bowl

McClung Museum: Metal

Steele candlestick from McClung MuseumContemporary Candlesticks

           My Interior Design class from the University of Tennessee took a lovely field trip over to the Frank H. McClung Museum to learn a little bit about artifacts from the Native peoples of Tennessee. The artifacts that I chose to specifically look at were those made of metal. I came across this steel candlestick holder made somewhere around 1777-1835. This artifact was more than likely not use by the Indians, but rather brought in by the English to the area where the Natives lived.

          When prompted to choose a photo of modern times that was similar to the artifact I chose, I began to think about the similarities and differences of the two photos (seen above). The candlestick holder from 1700's to 1800's was primarily used for light. The English might have eaten dinner by it, read by it, or used it to walk down a dark hall. The candlestick holders in the contemporary photo I chose are mainly used for decoration. Unless the power goes out, these candles are really only going to be used for ambiance. We do not need them today to live by. Also, the way the steel candlestick holder is made is easy to carry and durable. This is an obvious sign that it will be used, while the contemporary candlesticks are more breakable.

Field Trip to McClung Museum: Archaeology and Native Peoples of Tennessee Exhibit

C. 1760 mural depicting the Cherokee Indians of TennesseeThe first journal entry is to share a few observations from your visit to the Native Peoples of Tennessee exhibit at the Frank H. McClung Museum on UTK's campus. At the same time, we will experiment with using Pinterest and gain some fluency in posting and discussing overall expectations.