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THE WHITING COLLECTION OF PALESTINIAN POTTERY (Yale Art Gallery)

The Whiting Collection was purchased by Yale in 1914 from the American Colony Store in Jerusalem. The American Colony was a community established in 1881 by a group of Americans mainly from the Chicago area. John Whiting, who was instrumental in assembling the Collection, was a member of that community and the Collection bears his name. It consists of 450 pieces of pottery, 390 lamps, and 60 figurines and pottery objects from Palestine and Syria. Taken together, they span over 5000 years, the earliest pottery dating to the Late Chalcolithic Age, ca. 3500 B.C.E, the latest to the 15th. century C.E. A small sample of this vast collection, currently housed in the Yale Art Gallery, is on display in this exhibit. For further details see:The Whiting Collection of Palestinian Pottery at Yale. A Ph.D. dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Yale University, 1961 by Charles Alfred Kennedy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Buff ware, red wash. Relief decoration: palm branch flanked by unidentified objects on neck; bands of raised dots and vertical lines around reservoir. Nub handle. Smoke traces at nozzle. 4th. to early 5th. century C.E.
Brown ware, circular reservoir, square nozzle. Menorah (seven branched candelabra) in relief on neck; six circular designs around reservoir. Nub handle. Smoke traces at nozzle. The menorah would seem to indicate that the lamp came from an ancient Jewish home. 4th. to 6th. century C.E.
Orange ware, buff wash. Greek inscription around reservoir, reading counter-clockwise. Smoke traces at nozzle. 6th. century C.E.
Grey ware. Circular reservoir. Two concentric circles with Greek inscription around reservoir, reading clockwise: The blessing of the Mother of God for us. Nub handle. 5th. to 6th. century C.E.
Orange buff ware, red wash. Wide nozzle with four wick holes. Chalice with grape clusters in relief on neck. Back of lamp broken. Concentric circles of lines land beading on base. Smoke traces at nozzles. 2nd. century C.E.
Grey black ware. Hanging lamp with four nozzles. Wheel made. Hellenistic. 2nd. century C.E.
Woman and child. Orange buff ware, red wash. Two-part mold. Female figure seated on raised chair holds child who reaches for her left breast. Woman has wide, almond-shaped eyes that droop downwards at outer ends; coiffure is vertically ribbed. Back half of mold has drapery folds indicated. 2nd. To 3rd. century C.E.