Welcome to the Penn Museum blog. First launched in January 2009, the Museum blog now has over 800 posts covering a range of topics in the categories of Museum, Collection, Exhibitions, Research, and By Location. Here you’ll hear directly from our staff and Penn students about their work, research, experiences, and discoveries. To explore the Museum's other digital content, visit The Digital Penn Museum.
Malagasy Textile [Object of the Day- #53]
By: Ashley Harper
This textile of dyed and sewn silk is sometimes called a Lamba, a garment worn by men and women in Madagascar. The dyes used are believed to be aniline, an organic compound, which can produce the maroon, purple, green, cerise and gold stripes. This design features two stripes of unbleached natural color silk sewn alongside three […]
Blouse, Huipil [Object of the Day- #52]
By: Ashley Harper
This huipil or blouse is made of cotton and silk fibers. It consists of two pieces of material woven together. Most notable are the randa- elaborate shoulder bands. These designs portray animals and double headed eagles in colors like lavender, yellow, white, deep rose, green, purple silk and red cotton. This blouse is an example of […]
Zhuang Embroidered Jacket [Object of the Day #20]
By: Stephen Lang
One of the newest acquisitions in the Asian Section is a collection of ethnographic textiles from the Philadelphia Civic Center Museum formerly known as the Commercial Museum. Originally exhibited at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris, the approximately 400 pieces entered the museum and expanded the range of the textile collection to include South China, Indochina, […]