By Mark Frauenfelder



Bob Cramblitt wrote an article about using 3-D scanning and printing technology to re-create 19th-century face jugs. The process is quite interesting!


The face vessels made by African-Americans 150 years ago in Edgefield, South Carolina, might have been small, but they told big stories — stories of cultural movement, human survival, spiritualism and technological prowess, according to Jon Prown, director for the Chipstone Foundation.

Under curator Claudia Mooney, Chipstone has created Face Jugs: Art and Ritual in 19th-Century South Carolina, an exhibition that opens at the Birmingham (Alabama) Museum of Art on January 13, 2013.

The exhibit, which originated at the Milwaukee Art Museum and was also on display at the Columbia Museum of Art in South Carolina, has a modern story to tell as well — one that demonstrates the power of 3D technology to eliminate geographical barriers and preserve culture for future generations.