Barchetta Or Spirit Boat
date: label: Accession Date
content: 28 Aug 1992
label: Collection Date
content: 1966
name: label: Collector
content: Joseph Hirshhorn
label: Donor Name
content: Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden
notes: label: Notes
content: PROVENIENCE UNDOCUMENTED. IDENTIFICATION PROVIDED BY HMSG. FORMERLY ON EXHIBIT IN NMNH HALL 26, OLD WORLD HALL, WHERE IT WAS INVENTORIED AS AT13325-0 (LOCATION X5 005 058 00.)
label: Notes
content: Object was on display in National Museum of Natural History exhibit "Objects of Wonder", 2017 - 2024. Exhibit label: Bronze spirit boat, Nuraghic, Sardinia, 900–700 BC; Bronze. Maritime trade played a central role in ancient Mediterranean cultures. The Nuraghic people of Sardinia crafted spirit boats as offerings to a deity who protected seafarers. They modeled the offerings after the wooden trade ships that sailed throughout the Mediterranean, from Lebanon to Spain. The Greeks called these ships "hippoi" because of their prows shaped like stylized horses.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 26 Mar 2025
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Sardinia (not certain), Italy (not certain), Europe (not certain)
topic: label: Topic
content: Archaeology
culture: label: Culture
content: Not Given
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 370312
label: USNM Number
content: A553121-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Sculpture
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 14.6 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 25.7 cm
label: Depth - Object
content: 10.7 cm
label: Weight - Object
content: 9 kg