We want to say thank you to our outgoing Guest Curator, Sharon Hudgins! If you missed a chance to see her fantastic artifacts, please stop by the Guest Curator Archive Page. You can also examine all of our past Guest Curator’s as well.
Welcome to our Guest Curator, Sabina Magliocco, Ph.D.!
Sabina Magliocco, Ph.D. is Professor of Anthropology and Chair of the interdisciplinary Program in the Study of Religion at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. A recipient of Guggenheim, National Endowment for the Humanities, SSHRC, Fulbright and Hewlett fellowships, and an honorary Fellow of the American Folklore Society, she has published on religion, folklore, foodways, festival and witchcraft in Europe and North America, and is a leading authority on the modern Pagan movement. She is the author of numerous books and articles, including The Two Madonnas: the Politics of Festival in a Sardinian Community (1993, 2005), Witching Culture: Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America (2004), Neopagan Sacred Art & Altars: Making Things Whole (2001), and with filmmaker John M. Bishop produced the documentary film series “Oss Tales,” on a May Day custom in Cornwall and its reclamation by American Pagans. Her current research is on nature and animals in the spiritual imagination.
![Cigarette case from Aviator’s Club; 3.5” x 5.75” x 5/16”. Silver with engraving. Italy, ca. 1930. [Photos 1-3] This silver cigarette case engraved with the signatures of world-famous aviators belonged to my grandfather, Vincenzo Magliocco (1891-1936), himself an aviation pioneer and one of the founders of modern aerial reconnaissance. He was a member of a folk group consisting of an exclusive international fraternity of aviators; each received a cigarette case engraved with the signatures of other members. The signatures of Italo Balbo, Gabriele d’Annunzio, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindberg, and Admiral Robert Byrd are clearly visible on this piece. This was probably a ceremonial object rather than something he kept his cigarettes (unfiltered Camels) in on an everyday basis; that’s why it has survived. He was killed on a reconnaissance mission in Italian East Africa (Ethiopia) in 1936; his remains were never identified or returned.](https://i1.wp.com/flpcgallery.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Magliocco-1.jpg?w=396&h=223&ssl=1 "Cigarette case from Aviator’s Club")
Cigarette case from Aviator’s Club; 3.5” x 5.75” x 5/16”. Silver with engraving. Italy, ca. 1930. [Photos 1-3] This silver cigarette case engraved with the signatures of world-famous aviators belonged to my grandfather, Vincenzo Magliocco (1891-1936), himself an aviation pioneer and one of the founders of modern aerial reconnaissance. He was a member of a folk group consisting of an exclusive international fraternity of aviators; each received a cigarette case engraved with the signatures of other members. The signatures of Italo Balbo, Gabriele d’Annunzio, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindberg, and Admiral Robert Byrd are clearly visible on this piece. This was probably a ceremonial object rather than something he kept his cigarettes (unfiltered Camels) in on an everyday basis; that’s why it has survived. He was killed on a reconnaissance mission in Italian East Africa (Ethiopia) in 1936; his remains were never identified or returned.
![Cigarette case from Aviator’s Club; 3.5” x 5.75” x 5/16”. Silver with engraving. Italy, ca. 1930. [Photos 1-3] This silver cigarette case engraved with the signatures of world-famous aviators belonged to my grandfather, Vincenzo Magliocco (1891-1936), himself an aviation pioneer and one of the founders of modern aerial reconnaissance. He was a member of a folk group consisting of an exclusive international fraternity of aviators; each received a cigarette case engraved with the signatures of other members. The signatures of Italo Balbo, Gabriele d’Annunzio, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindberg, and Admiral Robert Byrd are clearly visible on this piece. This was probably a ceremonial object rather than something he kept his cigarettes (unfiltered Camels) in on an everyday basis; that’s why it has survived. He was killed on a reconnaissance mission in Italian East Africa (Ethiopia) in 1936; his remains were never identified or returned.](https://i1.wp.com/flpcgallery.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Magliocco-2.jpg?w=396&h=223&ssl=1 "Cigarette case from Aviator’s Club")
Cigarette case from Aviator’s Club; 3.5” x 5.75” x 5/16”. Silver with engraving. Italy, ca. 1930. [Photos 1-3] This silver cigarette case engraved with the signatures of world-famous aviators belonged to my grandfather, Vincenzo Magliocco (1891-1936), himself an aviation pioneer and one of the founders of modern aerial reconnaissance. He was a member of a folk group consisting of an exclusive international fraternity of aviators; each received a cigarette case engraved with the signatures of other members. The signatures of Italo Balbo, Gabriele d’Annunzio, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindberg, and Admiral Robert Byrd are clearly visible on this piece. This was probably a ceremonial object rather than something he kept his cigarettes (unfiltered Camels) in on an everyday basis; that’s why it has survived. He was killed on a reconnaissance mission in Italian East Africa (Ethiopia) in 1936; his remains were never identified or returned.
![Cigarette case from Aviator’s Club; 3.5” x 5.75” x 5/16”. Silver with engraving. Italy, ca. 1930. [Photos 1-3] This silver cigarette case engraved with the signatures of world-famous aviators belonged to my grandfather, Vincenzo Magliocco (1891-1936), himself an aviation pioneer and one of the founders of modern aerial reconnaissance. He was a member of a folk group consisting of an exclusive international fraternity of aviators; each received a cigarette case engraved with the signatures of other members. The signatures of Italo Balbo, Gabriele d’Annunzio, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindberg, and Admiral Robert Byrd are clearly visible on this piece. This was probably a ceremonial object rather than something he kept his cigarettes (unfiltered Camels) in on an everyday basis; that’s why it has survived. He was killed on a reconnaissance mission in Italian East Africa (Ethiopia) in 1936; his remains were never identified or returned.](https://i2.wp.com/flpcgallery.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Magliocco-3.jpg?w=396&h=223&ssl=1 "Cigarette case from Aviator’s Club")
Cigarette case from Aviator’s Club; 3.5” x 5.75” x 5/16”. Silver with engraving. Italy, ca. 1930. [Photos 1-3] This silver cigarette case engraved with the signatures of world-famous aviators belonged to my grandfather, Vincenzo Magliocco (1891-1936), himself an aviation pioneer and one of the founders of modern aerial reconnaissance. He was a member of a folk group consisting of an exclusive international fraternity of aviators; each received a cigarette case engraved with the signatures of other members. The signatures of Italo Balbo, Gabriele d’Annunzio, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindberg, and Admiral Robert Byrd are clearly visible on this piece. This was probably a ceremonial object rather than something he kept his cigarettes (unfiltered Camels) in on an everyday basis; that’s why it has survived. He was killed on a reconnaissance mission in Italian East Africa (Ethiopia) in 1936; his remains were never identified or returned.
Amber figurine of an otter-woman or selkie, by Reva Myers. 3” x 1.5” x 1.5”. Amber. Bisbee, AZ, ca. 2000. This hand-carved amber figurine shows what at first appears to be a sea otter, but when the figurine is turned over, it is evident that a woman is emerging from the otter skin. It represents an otter-woman, analogous to the selkies of Scottish folklore – seals that can transform into humans and sometimes intermarry with them. It also recalls Indigenous ontologies of other-than-humans in which animals look human to one another, though to us they may appear as animals, because they are in fact persons. Reva Myers (1955-2019) was a painter and sculptor who lived most of her life in Bisbee, AZ. She is best known for her wearable art carvings in amber, antler, fossil ivory, and jet reflecting themes in nature and the modern Pagan movement. Reva featured prominently in my book Neopagan Sacred Art and Altars: Making Things Whole (University Press of Mississippi, 2001). Over the years I worked with her, I purchased a number of her pieces. Reva once explained that when making a carving, she communed with the spirit of the material to intuit the form to give the piece, allowing the shape to emerge organically from the material itself.
Amber figurine of an otter-woman or selkie, by Reva Myers. 3” x 1.5” x 1.5”. Amber. Bisbee, AZ, ca. 2000. This hand-carved amber figurine shows what at first appears to be a sea otter, but when the figurine is turned over, it is evident that a woman is emerging from the otter skin. It represents an otter-woman, analogous to the selkies of Scottish folklore – seals that can transform into humans and sometimes intermarry with them. It also recalls Indigenous ontologies of other-than-humans in which animals look human to one another, though to us they may appear as animals, because they are in fact persons. Reva Myers (1955-2019) was a painter and sculptor who lived most of her life in Bisbee, AZ. She is best known for her wearable art carvings in amber, antler, fossil ivory, and jet reflecting themes in nature and the modern Pagan movement. Reva featured prominently in my book Neopagan Sacred Art and Altars: Making Things Whole (University Press of Mississippi, 2001). Over the years I worked with her, I purchased a number of her pieces. Reva once explained that when making a carving, she communed with the spirit of the material to intuit the form to give the piece, allowing the shape to emerge organically from the material itself.
Round coil basket. 9” in diameter; reed and raffia. Castelsardo, Sardinia (Italy), ca. 1986. Historically, every Sardinian household would have had several dozen of these baskets made of reed and asphodel in many different sizes. They were essential to many types of agro-pastoral labor, and could be used to carry harvested materials, in threshing, in bread production, and for storage. This small version was made for the tourist trade in Castelsardo, a town on the island’s northern coast, where many craftspeople specialize in basket-weaving. Coil basketry is one of the oldest forms of basket-making on the planet, and is common throughout Africa and the southern Mediterranean. This one is decorated with a bird design, called puzzones, said to bring happiness and prosperity to brides. Traditionally, a bride had to make many of the objects she would need to run her household, from linens and rugs to baskets. On the day of her wedding, they would be carried in an ox- or donkey cart from her parents’ house to her new home, displaying her skills for everyone in the town to admire. This custom ended in the 1950s, but many Sardinian households still prize the beautiful and useful coil baskets made by women ancestors now long gone.
Kiliru (tool for making pasta). 12” in diameter; reed and raffia. Castelsardo, Sardinia (Italy), ca. 1986. No Sardinian kitchen was complete without one of these tools, used to shape small bits of dough into a characteristic Sardinian form variously called cicciones, culungiones, malloreddus, and by many other names. They look like tiny ridged dumplings, and are made by curling the dough against the reeds in the bottom of this basket-like object. Cicciones are a key part of festive meals in many parts of the island. The women of Bessude make cicciones for the town’s patronal feast of the Assumption of the Virgin (15 August), and today for a new cicciones festival that takes place the weekend before the festival, drawing more tourists into the town. Like many baskets, kiliros are made in Castelsardo, a town on the island’s northern coast, where many craftspeople specialize in this art.
Sa trizza (corn dolly), by Gavino Fancellu. Ca. 17” x 14”; wheat, steel wire. Bessude, Sardinia (Italy), 1986. Corn dollies are woven decorative and apotropaic objects typically made from the last sheaves of wheat or other grain harvested in the fields in late summer. The reapers left a few sheaves especially to make these, which were kept in the house to bring good luck until the next harvest. Tiu (“uncle,” an honorific) Gavino (1902-1996) made this one for me when I was living in Bessude in 1986, studying the effects of globalization on traditional Sardinian religious festivals. He was 84 at the time. He worked his entire life as a shepherd, agricultural laborer, and craftsman; he also made rope from hemp he grew, built dry stone walls, and crafted numerous objects for use in his home and in farming. Even at the age of 84, when I knew him, I would often see him walking from the fields carrying a heavy load of firewood on his back.
Mammuttone mask, by Vincenza Carboni. 7.25” x 3.5” x 1”. European live oak with dark stain. Bessude, Sardinia (Italy), 1986. Mammuttones are Sardinian Carnival characters who wear heavy wooden masks, sheep skins, and large bells on their backs. They represent untamed animal nature and the wilderness. They dance and parade in many towns during Carnival. This small representation of a Carnival mask was carved for me by a key interlocutor in my study of Sardinian festivals and globalization. Wood carving is usually a man’s hobby in Sardinia; Vincenza Carboni (1947 – ) or “E.T.,” as she is known in my work, is an exception. She began playing around with carving knives as a small child after watching her brothers and uncles at the craft. A retired math and science teacher who served on the city council and as vice-mayor for many years, she became a skilled carver who has also made furniture and the characteristic carved wooden dowry chests typical of Sardinia. She gave me this mask as a gift before I left the field after a period of nearly a year, saying that by giving it to me, she was also unmasking herself.
Contact: sabina.magliocco@ubc.ca
Web: https://anth.ubc.ca/faculty/sabina-magliocco/
If you are a folklorist or a collector of folklore/popular culture artifacts, please consider becoming a Guest Curator. Your objects will be highlighted here on a rotating basis.
All we ask is that the objects be yours, you have a photograph of the objects, and all or most of the information about the object (see the guidelines below, for more details).
Guest Curator Guidelines:
1. Artifacts must fall within the subject of our website (folklore, folk art, popular culture, etc).
2. Artifacts must be a part of your own personal collection.
3. Submissions must be limited to no more than five artifacts.
4. Submissions must contain a photograph of the artifact, as well as the title, purpose, country of origin, culture , materials, and dimensions of the artifact.
5. We also would like your photograph and a brief biography to accompany the collection.
Please contact, flpcgallery@gmail.com and write Guest Curator in the subject line for further information or with any questions. We cannot wait to highlight your collection!