SJC display cases

The Rensselaer Public Library has a large display case near the entrance that often has interesting exhibits, and the historical society puts up displays in its window on Clark Street. Today we are going to look another set of displays, some display cases at Saint Joseph's College.

On the second floor of the Science Building, a display case outside of the biology department has had a display of African objects, mostly ceremonial masks, along with a video that shows peoples from the area in which the objects were made using ceremonial masks.
The objects are changed occasionally. The artifacts are from the private collection of one of the faculty members. He has never been to Africa, but has collected from several dealers. At one time the Field Museum sold items of this sort, but they found other things that made more money and dropped them.
Just this week another display case appeared/
The College Library has several display cases, and as the school year comes to an end, the one near the entrance also features African objects.
The picture of the lady in the lower right of the photograph below is made of butterfly wings. It is from Senegal.
The adjacent case has an interesting picture on fabric. Most of these items are the things that tourists can buy when they visit Africa.
Entering the library and walking over to the east wall we find a smaller display case with things medieval in them. Few would know what these funny things are.
But the sign explains they are lead ampullea, used by English pilgrims (those going on pilgrimage, not a subgroups of the much later Puritans) in the 14th century. They held holy water or holy oils obtained on the pilgrimages. It is the sort of thing that the people Chaucer wrote about might have done.