SELF-GUIDED ACCESS TO THIS EXHIBITION IS AVAILABLE. CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS.

Tuesday, February 2, 2021 ­– Sunday, October 31, 2021

Sacred Adornment: Jewelry as Belief in Ancient Egypt, a stunning new exhibition at Glencairn Museum, explores how jewelry in the Museum collection was used by the ancient Egyptians to adorn, to protect, and to express devotion to the divine. By examining the materials and symbols present in these ornaments, we can come away with a deeper understanding of the complex ideas that guided the artists, as well as the hopes and beliefs of those who wore this jewelry in ancient times. 

When Raymond Pitcairn purchased the ancient jewelry now in the Glencairn’s collection during the 1920s and 1930s, he intended for it to be worn by Mildred, his wife. It was later also worn by their daughters and granddaughters. Raymond designed dresses and gowns for Mildred to wear on special occasions, and it was not uncommon for elements of ancient jewelry to be incorporated into the dresses’ embellishments. One of these dresses will be on exhibit at Glencairn during the Sacred Adornment exhibition.

Dr. Jennifer Houser Wegner, guest curator of Sacred Adornment, is an associate curator in the Egyptian Section at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Wegner has carried out fieldwork in Egypt since 1990, working at the sites of Giza, Bersheh and Abydos. She recently coauthored a book on the 13-ton red granite sphinx of Ramses II at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia, and was involved in the move of this sphinx to its new location in the entrance hall at the Penn Museum.

Read more about the exhibition in an essay by Wegner written for Glencairn Museum News.

Explore what the scarab beetle meant to ancient Egyptians with a digital interactive. Learn about different scarab uses and symbols, and design your own protective scarab! Get started here: Sacred Adornment Exhibition Interactive.