Autumn Favorites
Enjoy the fall season in a new way at SAMA!
From warm drinks to sweet treats, learn more about your autumn favorites represented in the Museum’s collection.
Coffee Pot
Coffee Pot, English, 18th- or 19th century, Basalt ware, h. 10 1/4 in. (26 cm); diam. 3 1/8 in. (8 cm), San Antonio Museum of Art, gift of the Estate of Ethel J. Drought, 31.4602.a
Do you start off your mornings with a hot cup of joe? This black basalt ware coffee pot is from eighteenth- or nineteenth-century Staffordshire, England.
Honey Jar with Lid
Wedgwood, founded 1759, Honey Jar with Lid, English, 20th century, Jasperware, h. 5 in. (12.7 cm); diam. 2 7/8 in. (7.3 cm), San Antonio Museum of Art, gift of Kittie Nelson Ferguson and Henry Rugeley Ferguson, 2001.52.21.a-b
This 20th century honey jar was manufactured by Wedgewood, an English fine china, porcelain, and luxury accessories manufacturer founded in 1759.
Chocolate Jar
Chocolate Jar, Mexico, late- 18th century, Glazed earthenware with iron lid, height: 12 in. (30.5 cm), San Antonio Museum of Art, Purchased with Witte Art Endowment Funds, 44.99.3
This chocolate jar is made in a style of pottery known as Talavera, a reference to the city of Talavera de Reinas, in Spain.
Grinding Stone
Grinding Stone with Animal Figure, Mexico, n.d., Stone with red pigment, metate: 1 15/16 × 8 7/16 × 5 11/16 in. (5 × 21.5 × 14.5 cm), San Antonio Museum of Art, museum purchase, 73.67.17.a-b
An essential household tool, this hand grinder and grinding stone would have primarily been used to grind corn, a typical fall harvest vegetable.
Apple and Nuts
Annie M. Snyder, American, 1852 - 1927, Apples and Nuts, n.d., Oil on board, Canvas: 9 1/4 × 24 1/4 in. (23.5 × 61.6 cm); Framed: 17 × 32 in. (43.2 × 81.3 cm), San Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by Dr. Mary E. Walker in honor of Myrtle Agnew Walker, 2024.7
Apples, almonds, and peanuts are popular fall harvest treats, depicted here in Annie Snyder’s Apple and Nuts still life.
Mate gourd with Bombilla
Mate gourd with bombilla, Argentina, 19th century , Gourd, silver, and gold, San Antonio Museum of Art, The Robert K. Winn Collection, 85.1.653.1-2
Gourds were often hollowed out and dried to create bowls, cups, or sculptures. This mate gourd with a silver bombilla would have been used to drink mate, a hot, caffeine-rich herbal drink.
Bowl with Floral Decoration
Bowl with Floral Decoration, Chiapas, Mexico, 1930s, Gourd, paint, and lacquer, h. 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm); diam. 15 5/8 in. (39.7 cm), San Antonio Museum of Art, The Nelson A. Rockefeller Mexican Folk Art Collection, 85.98.669
This 1930s hollowed-out gourd from Chiapas, Mexico, has been painted and decorated with flowers to be used as a bowl.
Still Life with Festive Breads
Still Life with Festive Breads, Puebla, Mexico, 19th century, Oil on canvas, 21 3/8 x 29 3/8 in. (54.3 x 74.6 cm), San Antonio Museum of Art, The Nelson A. Rockefeller Mexican Folk Art Collection, 85.98.93
In San Antonio, pan dulce is a year-round treat! This painting, Still Life with Festive Breads, depicts an array of pastries found in Mexico’s famous bakeries, plated on a Talavera platter and adorned with papel picado, a Mexican decorative paper.
Date-shaped bottle
Date-shaped bottle, Roman, 1st-2nd century A.D., Glass, height: 2 13/16 in. (7.2 cm); diameter of rim: 15/16 in. (2.4 cm); max. diameter: 1 9/16 in. (4 cm), Museum Purchase: Stark-Willson Collection, 86.138.379
This first–second century AD Roman flask is shaped like a date, blown in a two-part mold, and made of brown glass. Dates are typically harvested in the late summer and early fall.
Vase in the form of an almond
Vase in the form of an almond, Greek, late 5th century B.C., Terracotta, height: 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm); width: 1 7/16 in. (3.6 cm), San Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with the Grace Fortner Rider Fund, 88.104.2
This small Greek flask is called a plastic vase, often made in the form of a variety of human and animal figures as well as objects, like the almond that inspired this one.
