Object Name:
Cup
Object ID:
13.237.009
Case:
Chinese Americans have always been caretakers at Stanford, first as railroad workers whose labor helped finance the founding of the institution, then as the university's earliest gardeners, cooks, custodians, and launderers whose efforts maintained the institution. A lack of surviving documents and racist legislation against Chinese immigrants impedes a historical understanding of Chinese American experiences. Artifacts excavated from campus lands and photographs support a fuller exploration of the publically perceived and privately enacted lives of Chinese Americans at early Stanford. These materials also highlight the dynamic exchanges between Chinese and non–Chinese lives. Chinese Americans were not the insular community stereotypically depicted in texts but a persistent, vibrant presence in the Stanford University community. All artifacts are from the Stanford University Archaeology Collections.
Group:
Public Life: Chinese export porcelains were crafted in China for consumption by non–Chinese audiences in America and Europe. This refined, intricately decorated cup was likely not used by Chinese workers.
Object:
Chinese export porcelain demitasse coffee cup, finely hand painted with Chinese figures in conversation. Stanford Mansion site (Object ID 13.237.009).
Material(s):
Porcelain/Enamel
Place of origin:
North America; California; Santa Clara County; Stanford Mansion
Provenance:
Mixed artifacts excavated from the site of the Stanford's Palo Alto mansion.
Collection:
Archaeology – Stanford Mansion
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