THINKING WITH THINGS

A video series taking a closer look at the Ashmolean's hidden treasures from new viewpoints

Academics from across the University of Oxford have chosen an object that relates to their research, revealing a whole world of ideas behind a single artefact.

Professor Rana Mitter, Makuzu Vase

On the globalisation of Japan by exporting traditional Japanese objects to Europe

Professor Susan Jebb, Teracotta figurine of a Comic Male Actor

On the treatment of obese people in the past.

Have people always been overweight? Does this figurine indicate that obesity was a lifestyle choice?

Professor Colin Mayer, Piggy Bank

On saving money and the surprising longevity of the Piggy Bank.

Professor Alison Woollard, Statue of Satyr and Hermaphrodite

What does the Ashmolean’s statue of Hermaphrodite have in common with a tiny nematode worm?

Professor Julia Bray, Tombstone of a Muslim girl

On what were people’s feelings about death and the dead in North Africa a thousand years ago? What does this tombstone tell us?

Professor Craig Clunas, Portrait of Mademoiselle Claus by Édouard Manet

Are Eastern Art and Western Art basically the same, and what is painting for? On Édouard Manet, Cézanne and their similarity to Chinese paintings.

Professor Marcus Du Sautoy, Carved Stone Ball

We still do not know why these stone balls were created. They date to the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age, between 3200 and 1500 BC. They are made of various types of rock, such as sandstone or granite. Could they have been made by ancient mathematicians?

Professor Sarah Harper, Mummified Child

On growing up and dying in ancient and modern populations.

What can we learn about the lives of ancient populations and how does this compare to modern societies? The boy lived during the Roman period of ancient Egypt (AD80–120), a time we know a lot about due to the Romans taking censuses and records of illness.

Professor Dame Hermione Lee, Ennui by Walter Richard Sickert

On Viginia Woolf's interpretation of Walter Sickert's painting of Ennui. Virginia Woolf, the famous author, wrote an essay 'Walter Sickert: a conversation' on the painting of Ennui by Walter Richard Sickert in 1933. Woolf describes how she imagines the characters in the painting as an old publican, 'with his glass on the table before him and a cigar at his lips.'

Professor Chris Lintott, Silver-gilt carriage clock

This travelling calendar carriage clock dates to 1747–1823. Why would such a clock need to have both lunar and sun time represented on it?

Rev. Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, Henry VIII Renaissance Medal

On Henry VIII and the Founding of the Church of England Minted at London in 1545, this medal shows a bust of Henry VIII, with inscriptions in Hebrew and Greek on the reverse. As a consequence of Henry’s break with Rome in 1533, he claimed to be 'Supreme head of Church of England.'

Professor Eugene Rogan, Arab robe worn by T. E. Lawrence

On Lawrence of Arabia and wearing Arab robes. T. E. Lawrence, or Lawrence of Arabia was infamous for his scruffy appearance when in the British Khaki uniform, and wore it as little as possible. However, Lawrence took on quite a different guise when his friend King Faisal of Iraq suggested he dress in his set of Arab wedding clothes.

Professor Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly, Meissen porcelain chocolate cup and tea bowl

On arranged marriages among royalty.

How does porcelain represent a royal marriage? When Maria Amalia of Saxony married Carlo, King of the Two Sicilies, in 1738, she brought Meissen porcelain with her to Naples. Her grandfather had founded the first European porcelain factory in 1710 and the Saxon court often presented porcelain to ambassadors and others who helped them to broker strategic political marriages.

Professor David Whyte Macdonald, Lion Statue

On whether there were ever lions in Egypt

Today, there are no lions roaming wild in north Africa, but evidence from ancient Egypt suggests that lions once did. Could this Egyptian pottery lion, dated to 2,325 – 2,175 BC provide clues to what the north African lion might have looked like?