May you always have alcohol and meat
Alcoholic beverages made from fermented rice and sorghum grains were considered ritually important in ancient China. This post looks at some vessels involved in the use of alcohol in the Han Dynasty.
18 January 2023
Brick Tea as a Form of Currency
In a previous blog post on this object, I pursued one of the clues found on its label to show that it was a product of the Russian brick tea trade in China. In this one, we look at how it functioned as currency.
20 December 2022
‘Square Face’: Gin, Currency, and Colonialism in Africa
Discover stories of trade in West Africa, colonial exploitation, Christianity, traditional African religious practices, alcohol consumption and prohibition through a bottle of European gin.
13 December 2022
Fancy a drink? Chicha: An Ancient Maize-Based Fermented Brew
In the pre-Columbian world, chicha (a maize brew) was a prominent alcoholic beverage. I search the collections at MAA for maize-related objects and speculate their relationship to this ancient brew.
6 December 2022
The Buddha, the War God, and the Pirate King
The tale of an artefact, allegedly the figure of Buddha, that brought together historical inaccuracies and stories of warfare and plunder hinted at in museum documentation around objects.
6 December 2022
A Tea Brick Destined for Tibet
Ever tried to guess the flavour of tea just from looking at leaves or bricks, and without brewing them? Or even just from photographs of them? Come explore one example from the collections at MAA with me.
6 December 2022
