Start your visit to the Spurlock Museum in its Central Core, connecting the Museum galleries both physically and thematically and exploring the complexity of the human experience. Then, explore the Museum’s collection comprised of objects covering six continents and one million years of human cultural history showcased in the Museum’s five feature galleries: Gallery of Ancient Mediterranean Cultures, Gallery of American Indian Cultures, Gallery of African and Middle Eastern Cultures, Gallery of Asian Cultures and Gallery of European Cultures.
Spurlock Museum Feature Galleries
Gallery of Ancient Mediterranean Cultures
Artifacts on display in the Gallery of Ancient Mediterranean Cultures represents the dawn of the individual, the individual and the state, the individual and the gods, the individual and the home, and the individual at work. On display you will see a Panathenaic amphora, a cast of the Parthenon Frieze, a Roman glass, a marble head of Empress Fausta, a Roman mosaic and an inscribed bronze bull used as a sacrifice to the gods at festivals.
Gallery of American Indian Cultures
Explore the dynamic social, cultural, economic, linguistic and spiritual systems of the Native Americans from North, Middle and South America. The Gallery of American Indian Cultures features examples of cultural endurance, creativity and aesthetic integrity of diverse peoples throughout the Americas. Featured artifacts include Zuni ceremonial moccasins, a Lakota hide war record, a Lakota beaded Pow-Wow mirror, a Sioux catlinite pipe bowl and a beaded basket made by Lucy Telles of the Yosemite Tribe in California.
Gallery of African and Middle Eastern Cultures
The Gallery of African and Middle Eastern Cultures explores the beginnings of the human race. Highlights of the Museum’s African and Middle Eastern Cultures collection includes a Yoruba ibeji figure, a cartonnage burial mask, a clay cuneiform mask, an ibis votive figure from Egypt, a Kuba funerary helmet mask used by the Kuba culture in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a Senufo wooden djegele, a Sumerian cylinder seal, a Yoruba diviner’s bag, an Egyptian cosmetic jar and a Chi Wara headdress used in the 5th initiation cycle of the Bamana, people of Mali.
Gallery of Asian Cultures
Within the Gallery of Asian Cultures are artifacts from East Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania. Featured artifacts include a statue representing a bodhisattva, a person who has achieved enlightenment, but who is determined to postpone entry into Nirvana until all other human beings are enlightened as well; a Southeast Asian chicken basket made of plant materials; a Japanese wedding kimono once worn by a bride of a high ranking family; a barong ket from the island of Bali in Indonesia; a Chinese fan; an Indonesian shadow puppet made of parchment and bamboo; a ceramic tea bowl from Japan; and a kris, a prized asymmetrical dagger used in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Gallery of European Cultures
Representing European Cultures in the Gallery of European Cultures is an ivory chessman from the 16th century; a lusterware tea pot from the end of the 19th century with a floral design; a cast of Ilaria del Carretto Sarcophagus, second wife of Paolo Guinigi of Luca, Italy; Dutch ceramic tiles from the 17th century; a German altarpiece; a transistor music box from 1952; a Viking ship model; and a Capo di Monte Quartet Figurine from Naples, Italy.
- In addition to its feature galleries, the Spurlock Museum hosts special exhibits in the Campbell Gallery, located on the ground floor of the Museum.