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Gifts Given by the Creator: Contemporary American Indian Art

This online exhibit of contemporary American Indian art examines several issues of concern to Indian artists today. It also provides a platform for artists to voice their opinions in the context of their work.

A Short Biography of Carl Austin Rietz
Collector of the Rietz Collection of Food Technology

Learn about Carl Austin Rietz, a man whose travels allowed him to amass unique collections in food technology and ancient textiles, both of which are now in the permanent collection of the Department of Anthropology at the California Academy of Sciences.

The Rietz Collection of Food Technology

The Rietz Collection of Food Technology is a rare, perhaps the only, cross-cultural collection of culinary objects assembled to document historic technologies of cooking and eating. Learn more about this collection, and about how food technologies vary over time and geography.

Native Alaskan Graphic Arts: Founding Artists

Artistic traditions among Alaska's native people span many centuries, but flat two-dimensional drawings intended to be hung on a wall are a product of the 20th Century. Beginning in the 1930s, several Inupiat artists began recording scenes of traditional arctic life on tanned seal and caribou skins. This exhibit features works by several of these artists, including George Ahgupuk, Robert Mayokok, Kivetoruk Moses, and Florence Nupok Malewotkuk.

The History of Eating Utensils

When people sit down to eat a meal, they seldom give much thought to the "tools" or tableware before them. The history of tableware, however, is an interesting one. Changes in eating habits, social trends, and the blending of cultures have all resulted in changes in both form and function of cutlery and in its social implications. Examples of tableware from the Academy's Rietz Collection of Food Technology illustrate some of these changes.

Ceramics of the Persian Empire

This exhibit traces the development of ceramic wares or pottery in the ancient Persian Empire of the present day Middle East. The region has a long history of political unrest, and the influx of new cultures and pottery traditions is reflected over time in the pottery. Examples of Persian ceramics dating between the 12th and 18th centuries, selected from the Academy's Rietz Collection of Food Technology, illustrate some of these changes and different ceramic techniques.

Mingei: Japanese Folk Toys

Festivals, religious shrines, folk tales, and mythical heroes are all an integral part of Japanese culture. Throughout Japan, local craftsmen produce hundreds of small figurines, carvings, paper constructions and other souvenirs to commemorate, celebrate, or simply remind people of these traditions. Collectively, these objects are called folk toys, but few of them are intended as children's play things. This exhibit discusses the cultural importance of these seemingly simple "toys," drawn from the Academy's collection of more than 500 examples.

In the Victorian Kitchen

This exhibit will take you back to the Victorian Period to learn about tableware and kitchen tools. Discover how the 19th Century Industrial Revolution changed the ways people prepared, served, and ate food. These changes were only possible with the invention of many new labor-saving kitchen utensils.

Tetsubin: Iron Treasures of Japan

In traditional Japanese society, the tea ceremony is a solemn event, marked by ritual and symbolism. The tetsubin is a small, teapot-shaped, cast iron water kettle used to heat water for the tea. This exhibit traces the history of the tetsubin in Japan and discusses the aesthetics of various styles of tetsubin, as seen in examples from the Academy's collection.