Woman's wrapper: Adire Eleko, Southern Nigeria, mid-20th century. Cotton plain weave, paste resist dyed. Gift of Olaperi Onipede in memory of her parents, Dr. F. Oladipo Onipede and Mrs. Frances A. Onipede, 2007.1151.
The presence of women artists and makers in museums and the art world has been unsung compared to that of males. These works, selected from the array of extraordinary works attributed to women in the MFA’s collections, span the globe and millennia. Mostly by unidentified artists, they include examples of a lack of recognition despite difficult technique or working conditions, and examples of how women shared art with other women. Across cultures, the use of techniques such as pottery, weaving, and dyeing were passed down through generations, emphasizing how art draws women together.
Jar, Southwestern North America, 900–1100 CE. Corrugated earthenware. Gift of Laura F. Andreson, 1984.611.
Scholars believe that women were the pottery makers of the Ancestral Puebloan culture. The graceful form and careful corrugated style of this jar, perhaps intended to look like a woven basket, attest to the artistry of its maker. This pot was given to the MFA by another female ceramist, Laura Andreson, who was a major figure in the mid-20th century studio pottery movement on the West Coast.
Not on view
SaraFina Gutierrez Tafoya (Ka-saweh or Autumn Leaf), Olla (water jar), about 1890. Earthenware with polished slip. Gift of Laura F. Andreson, 1984.632.
In Puebloan society pottery making was a woman’s craft up to the late 20th century, and techniques passed down to the next generation through the maternal line. Although this elegant water jar is unsigned, it has been attributed to SaraFina Gutierrez Tafoya based on her family’s knowledge. SaraFina, who was born in the 1860s, was preceded by several generations of potters and succeeded by at least two after her, including distinguished Native American potter Margaret Tafoya.
Level LG, Gallery LG34
Native North American Art
Lidded container (pyxis) with women and their wool, Athens, Greece, Classical period, about 450 BCE. Ceramic; white-ground technique. Gift of Horace L. Mayer, 65.1166.
This cosmetics container features women working their wool, a major responsibility of ancient Greek women, and bears the inscription “Lysandra gave [it] to Lysimachis,” which suggests that it was a grave offering from one woman to another, perhaps a relative. The only surviving evidence of women in the Athenian pottery industry is on an Athenian vase with a workshop scene of a woman painting a large vessel. The involvement of women in Athenian pottery has long been suspected, however, by some scholars. One wonders whether this container was made by a woman.
Not on view
A Tale of Brief Slumbers (Utatane sōshi) (detail), Japan, Muromachi period, 16th century. Two handscrolls; ink on paper.
William Sturgis Bigelow Collection, 11.9457
This scroll and the one on the next slide tell the story of a young noblewoman’s love for a man that she first encountered in a dream. The monochrome ink technique of the illustrations is known as “white drawing” (hakubyō), thought to have developed in the 13th century. By the 16th century, this style became associated with amateur women painters, ladies of the Kyoto nobility who used it to illustrate classical Japanese poetry and fiction, often in small-scale works such as this one. Each less than six inches high, these tiny scrolls were likely a private treasure for the artist and her friends.
Not on view
Woman's wrapper: Adire Eleko, Southern Nigeria, mid-20th century. Cotton plain weave, paste resist dyed. Gift of Olaperi Onipede in memory of her parents, Dr. F. Oladipo Onipede and Mrs. Frances A. Onipede, 2007.1151.
First popular in the 1930s in southern Nigeria, this style of indigo-dyed cloth, Adire Eleko, is made by and for women. The complex technique of indigo dyeing was passed on from mother to daughter for many generations of Yoruba women, until it became a specialist craft. A woman painted the pattern with cassava flour paste to protect the cloth from dye before turning it over to an older woman who was experienced in the complex chemistry of maintaining indigo dye baths. Once dyed and rinsed, the painted areas create the lighter patterns on the cloth, which was worn as a long wrapped skirt.
Level 1, Gallery 171
African Art
Rug, Iran, 1850–1900. Wool tapestry. Arthur Tracy Cabot Fund and funds donated by Jeremy and Hannalore Grantham, Textile Curator's Fund, and Judith Alper Smith, 2016.165.
A masterpiece of nomadic weaving and an extraordinary work of abstract design, this rug was made in the Fars province of southwest Iran in the late 19th century. The diamond motif is a favorite among Luri nomadic weavers; this unidentified woman pared down her composition to two large diamonds in an arrangement of colors that is both elegant and simple, putting her personal stamp and soul on this ancient design.
Not on view
Headdress, Paris, 1850s. Wire, silk, gum Arabic, starch, beeswax, pigments, glass, gelatin. Gift in memory of Mrs. Horatio Appleton Lamb, 51.360.
Fanciful headdresses made of feathers, artificial flowers, ribbons, and tinsel were a standard part of a woman’s evening dress in 1850s Paris, made to trail over smooth, swept-back hairstyles and down the nape of the neck. This lusciously naturalistic example, decorated with artificial cherries, strawberries, grapes, plums, flower blossoms, and coral, was most likely commissioned by Bostonian Annie Lawrence Roche, the donor’s maternal grandmother, when she lived in France from 1850 to 1853. The young women who created these confections labored without recognition in less-than-ideal urban workshop conditions.
Not on view
Hoosier Suffrage Quilt, probably Indiana, before 1920. Cotton plain weave, pieced, embroidered, and quilted. Frank B. Bemis Fund and with funds donated anonymously, 2012.170.
The names of the woman or women who made this fundraising quilt, created to promote the women’s right to vote, are probably embroidered into the bars of its flag design alongside the names of their neighbors, people mostly from farming and working-class families in northwestern Indiana. Each person donated a small sum, then the finished quilt was auctioned at a fair or large gathering to raise money for the cause. With its rows of nearly 300 names, including that of Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906), the quilt calls to mind the thousands of signatures on petitions sent by women’s suffrage groups to members of state legislatures a century ago.
Not on view
Woman's wrapper: Adire Eleko, Southern Nigeria, mid-20th century. Cotton plain weave, paste resist dyed. Gift of Olaperi Onipede in memory of her parents, Dr. F. Oladipo Onipede and Mrs. Frances A. Onipede, 2007.1151.
The presence of women artists and makers in museums and the art world has been unsung compared to that of males. These works, selected from the array of extraordinary works attributed to women in the MFA’s collections, span the globe and millennia. Mostly by unidentified artists, they include examples of a lack of recognition despite difficult technique or working conditions, and examples of how women shared art with other women. Across cultures, the use of techniques such as pottery, weaving, and dyeing were passed down through generations, emphasizing how art draws women together.
Jar, Southwestern North America, 900–1100 CE. Corrugated earthenware. Gift of Laura F. Andreson, 1984.611.
Scholars believe that women were the pottery makers of the Ancestral Puebloan culture. The graceful form and careful corrugated style of this jar, perhaps intended to look like a woven basket, attest to the artistry of its maker. This pot was given to the MFA by another female ceramist, Laura Andreson, who was a major figure in the mid-20th century studio pottery movement on the West Coast.
Not on view
SaraFina Gutierrez Tafoya (Ka-saweh or Autumn Leaf), Olla (water jar), about 1890. Earthenware with polished slip. Gift of Laura F. Andreson, 1984.632.
In Puebloan society pottery making was a woman’s craft up to the late 20th century, and techniques passed down to the next generation through the maternal line. Although this elegant water jar is unsigned, it has been attributed to SaraFina Gutierrez Tafoya based on her family’s knowledge. SaraFina, who was born in the 1860s, was preceded by several generations of potters and succeeded by at least two after her, including distinguished Native American potter Margaret Tafoya.
Level LG, Gallery LG34
Native North American Art
Lidded container (pyxis) with women and their wool, Athens, Greece, Classical period, about 450 BCE. Ceramic; white-ground technique. Gift of Horace L. Mayer, 65.1166.
This cosmetics container features women working their wool, a major responsibility of ancient Greek women, and bears the inscription “Lysandra gave [it] to Lysimachis,” which suggests that it was a grave offering from one woman to another, perhaps a relative. The only surviving evidence of women in the Athenian pottery industry is on an Athenian vase with a workshop scene of a woman painting a large vessel. The involvement of women in Athenian pottery has long been suspected, however, by some scholars. One wonders whether this container was made by a woman.
Not on view
A Tale of Brief Slumbers (Utatane sōshi) (detail), Japan, Muromachi period, 16th century. Two handscrolls; ink on paper.
William Sturgis Bigelow Collection, 11.9457
This scroll and the one on the next slide tell the story of a young noblewoman’s love for a man that she first encountered in a dream. The monochrome ink technique of the illustrations is known as “white drawing” (hakubyō), thought to have developed in the 13th century. By the 16th century, this style became associated with amateur women painters, ladies of the Kyoto nobility who used it to illustrate classical Japanese poetry and fiction, often in small-scale works such as this one. Each less than six inches high, these tiny scrolls were likely a private treasure for the artist and her friends.
Not on view
Woman's wrapper: Adire Eleko, Southern Nigeria, mid-20th century. Cotton plain weave, paste resist dyed. Gift of Olaperi Onipede in memory of her parents, Dr. F. Oladipo Onipede and Mrs. Frances A. Onipede, 2007.1151.
First popular in the 1930s in southern Nigeria, this style of indigo-dyed cloth, Adire Eleko, is made by and for women. The complex technique of indigo dyeing was passed on from mother to daughter for many generations of Yoruba women, until it became a specialist craft. A woman painted the pattern with cassava flour paste to protect the cloth from dye before turning it over to an older woman who was experienced in the complex chemistry of maintaining indigo dye baths. Once dyed and rinsed, the painted areas create the lighter patterns on the cloth, which was worn as a long wrapped skirt.
Level 1, Gallery 171
African Art
Rug, Iran, 1850–1900. Wool tapestry. Arthur Tracy Cabot Fund and funds donated by Jeremy and Hannalore Grantham, Textile Curator's Fund, and Judith Alper Smith, 2016.165.
A masterpiece of nomadic weaving and an extraordinary work of abstract design, this rug was made in the Fars province of southwest Iran in the late 19th century. The diamond motif is a favorite among Luri nomadic weavers; this unidentified woman pared down her composition to two large diamonds in an arrangement of colors that is both elegant and simple, putting her personal stamp and soul on this ancient design.
Not on view
Headdress, Paris, 1850s. Wire, silk, gum Arabic, starch, beeswax, pigments, glass, gelatin. Gift in memory of Mrs. Horatio Appleton Lamb, 51.360.
Fanciful headdresses made of feathers, artificial flowers, ribbons, and tinsel were a standard part of a woman’s evening dress in 1850s Paris, made to trail over smooth, swept-back hairstyles and down the nape of the neck. This lusciously naturalistic example, decorated with artificial cherries, strawberries, grapes, plums, flower blossoms, and coral, was most likely commissioned by Bostonian Annie Lawrence Roche, the donor’s maternal grandmother, when she lived in France from 1850 to 1853. The young women who created these confections labored without recognition in less-than-ideal urban workshop conditions.
Not on view
Hoosier Suffrage Quilt, probably Indiana, before 1920. Cotton plain weave, pieced, embroidered, and quilted. Frank B. Bemis Fund and with funds donated anonymously, 2012.170.
The names of the woman or women who made this fundraising quilt, created to promote the women’s right to vote, are probably embroidered into the bars of its flag design alongside the names of their neighbors, people mostly from farming and working-class families in northwestern Indiana. Each person donated a small sum, then the finished quilt was auctioned at a fair or large gathering to raise money for the cause. With its rows of nearly 300 names, including that of Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906), the quilt calls to mind the thousands of signatures on petitions sent by women’s suffrage groups to members of state legislatures a century ago.
Not on view