The Sculpted Word: Inscriptions from the British Museum

Carving, marking, embossing, engraving – The Sculpted Word examines the art of inscribing as a form of sculpture.

The nineteen items selected for the exhibition have diverse sources and vary in function from the ceremonial or commemorative to the mundane.

The text on the objects, which either confirm or transform their status, includes riddles, magical talismans, legal transactions, historical records, prayers, rituals and loving gestures. They include a diverse range of language forms, from cuneiform, runes and hieroglyphs to Ancient Greek and Latin.

The objects include a 4000 year old legal document in a clay ‘envelope’, a Mayan Lintel, an Egyptian Heart Scarab beetle, an 18th-century love token, a Cartwheel penny and a bronze medal by Ian Hamilton Finlay.

Though these works are drawn from very different ages and areas of the world, there are still many thematic and visual links to be made between them – and above all, they are united in demonstrating the power that words can have.

In choosing such a wide range of objects, The Sculpted Word reflects in microcosm the richness of the collections held at The British Museum. It also provides an opportunity to compare and contrast objects from diverse periods and cultures, and to explore wider definitions of sculpture and the sculptural.

Main image: S-shaped copper alloy stamp with relief inscription, c. 300-600 AD. © The Trustees of the British Museum (Museum number: 1888,0511.4).