Maryland Archeology Month

-April 2009-

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St. Mary's City:
375 years old, thousands of years young

Explore!

Archeology Gallery

Ceramic cherub's head

Most of the artifacts found on 17th century archaeological sites in Maryland represent the day to day objects used in living in the early Chesapeake colony. Pipes for smoking, pottery for eating and glass for drinking are among our most common artifact types. Seldom do we find items whose purpose can be ascribed to art, decoration, or other more lofty purposes. A rare exception to this rule is represented by this white pipe clay statue fragment. These figures in clay are a sideline of the clay pipe makers who were busy in both England and Holland and seem to represent a range of human activities, spiritual, political, and aesthetic.

This statue represents a cherub or angel's head. Cherubs were widely used in both Catholic symbolism and in the newly emerging classical decorations which became popular after Renaissance ideas reached England. The back of the head was discovered in 1974 while the face was found in 2004.