home>collection>glass>american glass>Morris1

William Morris (American, b. 1957)
Canopic Jar: Juvan Muntjac, 1995
Blown glass, 39 x 14 1/4 x 9 1/2 inches
Gift of the Mowbray Arch Society
© William Morris, 1995

William Morris' Canopic Jar sculptures were inspired by the ancient Egyptian mortuary practice of embalming in a set of jars the human organs that could not be preserved as part of a mummy. The ancient jars were small (usually less than ten inches high) and the heads on their lids represented the Egyptian deity who was guardian of the particular organ that the jar contained. Morris works in a far grander scale and portrays animals of his choice. Most of his first canopic jars depicted animals native to North America, such as the coyote, panther and elk, but more recently he has looked to the exotic fauna of Africa, Asia and the East Indies. Morris' hauntingly beautiful Javan Muntjac is a small deer native to the island of Java.

• glass >

• american glass >