Metal Figurine Excavated in Anacostia
Object Details
- Date
- After 1867
- Medium
- brass (alloy)
- Dimensions
- 2 × 3 1/2 × 2 in. (5.1 × 8.9 × 5.1 cm)
- Cite As
- Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution
- Caption
- In the early 1980s, archaeologists excavated land along Howard Road, SE before construction began on the Anacostia Metro Station in southeast Washington, D.C. Objects unearthed in the excavation revealed nearly 10,000 years of human settlement in the area. Their discoveries included a metal figure, possibly used for outdoor décor. Pegs under the elfin man’s shoes could be secured to a gate, for instance. His outstretched hands appear to wrap around an object, now absent. A potential indoor role for the bearded gnome could be to heft a holder for matches, cigars, pipes, or toothpicks, feet affixed to a base. The figurine likely dates to the neighborhood’s most prosperous period, 1880-1920.
- Accession Number
- 1991.0064.0010
- Type
- figurine
- See more items in
- Anacostia Community Museum Collection
- Data Source
- Anacostia Community Museum
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Metadata Usage
- CC0
- Record ID
- acm_1991.0064.0010
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