Acc. no. V-7185
Ornament
Northern China or Inner Mongolia
5th-3rd century BCE
Courtesy of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, New York

Ancient Bronzes of the Asian Grasslands from the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation
May 21 - September 6, 2010
Ancient Bronzes of the Asian Grasslands reveals how the ancient, horse-riding nomadic cultures of Mongolia and Central Asia during the late second and first millennia BCE used the animal world as a source of symbols to indicate tribe, social rank and connection to the spirit world. Ancient Bronzes illuminates their influence both on and by the culture of dynastic China, as well as how the steppe peoples facilitated trade and travel along the Silk Road across Asia. Organized and on loan from the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation (NYC), this traveling exhibition features more than 80 masterpieces of Eurasian steppe art, including bronze belt buckles, plaques, pendants, ornaments and weapons. Animal motifs such as antlered stags, wild boars and birds of prey are a primary theme and visitors will be enchanted by the artistic expression found in a functional form. These objects were made to be practical and conform to a nomadic lifestyle yet they were created with an artistic sensibility that transcends centuries of time.

Little Girl in Red Dress
Oil on canvas, ca. 1851
Everhart Museum Collection, 46.64; Museum Purchase

For Every Season: Folk Art in Daily Life and Celebration
September 25 - December 31, 2009
 For Every Season highlights a new interpretation of the Everhart Museum Folk Art collection in which the stages of life are illustrated through a rich assortment of objects. For example, the Pennsylvania German immigrants commemorated births with frakturs (illustrated documents) and created bride boxes as marriage gifts for young women. Craftspeople and business proprietors used tavern signs to advertise their goods and skills in their work life, and often young women showcased their artistic skills to honor their deceased loved ones in painted, embroidered, and woven hair mourning pictures. This exhibit also provides a unique opportunity to interface with all of the diverse immigrant communities in Scranton and NEPA, and interpret contemporary folk art (international) and lifeways from ethnicities around the world, represented locally.