Harvard Museum of Natural History

Tangible Things: Objects from Other Harvard Collections at the Harvard Museum of Natural History

Through May 29, 2011

The multi-venue exhibition, Tangible Things: Harvard Collections in World History, prompts viewers to question the ways in which objects are typically classified. Find six objects from other Harvard collections within the Harvard Museum of Natural History’s galleries. These “guest objects” include a dog’s paw-print in mud brick from Mesopotamia dated 1500-1350 BC, on loan from the Semitic Museum; a Tiffany vase (pictured left) from the Harvard Art Museums; and a kidney stone from the Warren Anatomical Museum at the Harvard Medical School. A Guide-by-Cell tour offers visitors an opportunity to learn more about each of these objects.
The core Tangible Things exhibit is located at the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments and includes objects from many Harvard libraries and museums. Guest objects are located in several different venues. The exhibition was developed by Ivan Gaskell, Senior Lecturer in History, and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, 300th Anniversary University Professor in the History department, as part of the Harvard general education course Tangible Things: Harvard Collections in World History.

Download the exhibition flyer and clue sheet.
Listen to an NPR interview with Ivan Gaskell and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich.

Louis Comfort Tiffany, Floriform Vase, c. 1900. Glass. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Murray Anthony and Bessie Lincoln Potter, 1957.43. Photo: Katya Kallsen © President and Fellows of Harvard College.