This wooden staff titled, Poet’s Thyrsus, is on display in our new photography exhibition Kentucky Renaissance: The Lexington Camera Club and Its Community, 1954-1974. The staff is featured in a collection of photographs with an ear of corn displayed in the center. Due to the likelihood of a real ear of corn attracting pests, a synthetic substitute was found. Our objects conservator attached it to the staff with a thin metal wire to avoid bending and damaging the metal rod that would normally hold it. Come see this interesting object on view at Kentucky Renaissance: The Lexington Camera Club and Its Community, 1954-1974!

Image Credit: 

Poet’s Thyrsus, wood, From the Collection of Jonathan Williams, L2.2016:199