Stories behind the objects

Snails in linen bags collected from the walls of St Leonard's chapel in Brittany. Worn around the neck as a cure for fever, they were buried at the foot of the walls of the chapel as soon as the fever had passed. It was believed that if the wearer failed to perform this ceremony, their fever would return.

Policeman's amulet, France. Acquired in Paris in 1889, this amulet is made from a coin, a piece of hangman's rope and skin from a sadistic murderer named Campi. Campi reportedly murdered one Monsieur Ducros de Sixt in the Rue du Regard on 10th August 1883 and was sentenced to death. In the 189th century many people believed that the rope from which a criminal had been hanged had curative powers and could bring good luck. On execution days people would congregate around the gallows in order to be cured by a 'death stroke' from the dead man's hand.

 

Horned hands, Italy. Horned hands we worn as protection against the harmful glance of the Evil Eye. Sparkling and brightly coloured, their striking appearance was thought to divert attention away from the wearer so that she or he could escape unharmed. Belief in the Evil Eye - the power of certain animal and people to inflict malady on anything they look at - continues to be held in many parts of the world.

 

Skulls, Italy. These 'death's head' amulets from Naples were used to decorate rosaries and to remind people of the transience of life. The white ones are made of shell, while the brown coloured ones are made of lava from Mount Vesuvius.

Carved and decorated sheep bone, to protect against scorpions

Crocodile eggs used to carry poison

Tiger's tooth on which an oath has been taken

Sealed bottle, said to contain a witch

Cast brass hand amulet against the Evil Eye. Fixed to the saddle of a cab-horses's harness

Objects of my affection

Categorising and ordering the objects

Drawings

Small Blessings - The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford

I was asked to take part in a new project based at The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford. I will be working with a group of adults from Mind (a mental health charity), observing a new collection of amulets,charms and votives which have been donated to the museum. The collection belonged to Adrien de Mortillet (1853-1931) and contains examples from all over the world. I am trying to find out more about de Mortillet, but so far have not been too successful. I do know that he had many careers including a perfumer and a balloonist!

Over 5,000 objects have been donated to the museum, and it is the job of the conservationists to catalogue these and create a database so that they can be easily found in the future. A separate blog has been set up to document this process which can be found here.

http://pittrivers-amulets.blogspot.co.uk

My job is to work with the members of Mind to discover more about these objects and to create our own pieces, which will be exhibited in the museum at the end of the project.
From observing the amulets, charms and votives at the museum they are mainly made out of the following materials:

clay
plaster
wax
natural materials such as seeds, bark, fruit, grasses
parts of animals and human including hearts, bone, teeth and skin
metal
textiles
food

plaster moulds with wax casts

metal charms and amulets

votive offering - clay

magic bundle placed in the village to lay a curse

I decided to try and keep to these materials...although I won't be using any human hearts! Initially, I will be experimenting with plaster moulds, clay, metals and textiles and see where that takes me.
It's an exciting project to be involved in and I am looking forward to seeing what we come up with.