Embedded Files
New technologies have great potential to help museums make their collections more accessible to the public via online collections or physical replicas, but they also have limitations. For this exhibition, Mardigian Library’s IDEA Studio printed a three-dimensionally scanned model of a seventh-century BCE Greek terracotta neck-amphora that was uploaded to the Thingiverse website by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The original artifact is what you see to the left. Plain, undecorated areas where the fragmentary vase was restored by museum conservators are visible in the photograph.
Terracotta neck-amphora (storage jar) Attributed to the New York Nettos Painter Greek, Proto-Attic period (second quarter of the 7th century BCE)Terracotta42 3/4 in. (108.6 cm) height; diameter 22 in. (55.9 cm) diameterMetropolitan Museum of Art 11.210.1Rogers Fund, 1911http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/248578
Although the original artifact was painted with many human and animal figures, these designs (called “textures” in three-dimensional scanning and modeling) cannot be printed. Build lines from the additive printing process using green PLA filaments are clearly visible. The physical size limits of the LulzBot TAZ 6 printer used by the IDEA Studio also meant that the replica of the original artifact, which is about 43 inches tall, was dramatically reduced in scale in order to be printed in one piece with minimal support structures. A person would have to file down the build lines and apply a facsimile of the painted decoration in order for this model to resemble the original artifact more closely. This introduces another modern layer of intervention and interpretation.
Scholars pose questions about the decoration, fabrication, and size of an ancient artifact as they try to understand its significance. In what ways do you think a replica can support or complicate the search for answers? How can other technologies make museum collections accessible and useful to scholars, students, and the public?
Test-print model of terracotta neck-amphora, printed by Mardigian Library's IDEA Studio from the model created by the Metropolitan Museum of Art for open access download at Thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:268347
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