Art and designContainers

How do people use containers?

to keep things together

to protect us from the contents

to separate things out

to protect the contents

to store stuff

to keep things organised

to keep things safe

to transport things

to look important

to put things in to give to other people

to tell you about what’s inside

to show things off

to serve things in or on

Spouted jugMade in Iznik, Turkey 1510

Stelton coffee potDesigned by Arne Jacobsen Denmark1967

Outer coffin of HenutmehytThebes, EgyptAround 1250 BC

Coffin in the shape of an eagleTeshie, Ghana2000

Wooden baby carrier with porcupine quill decoration and brass rattlesNorth America19th century  

Carved wooden cradleFrom Albania1920-30  

Pottery oil jar for offerings at the graveAthens, Greece460-450 BC

Bronze gui (food bowl for offerings to ancestors)from Henan province, ChinaWestern Zhou dynasty  11th century BC 

Krater (bowl for mixing wine)from Rhodesmade in Greece1400-1300BC  

White porcelain Moon jarmade by Park Young-sook Korea2005  

Relic-holderFrom Gandhara, in modern Pakistan 2nd-3rd century ADLength 7.4cm  Reliquary containing fragments

of the skull of St EustaceMade in Germany About 1210Height 35cm  

Net bag made of synthetic yarn and marsupial furFrom Wara Kar, Papua New Guinea 20th centuryWidth 70cm

Parfleche (folded pouch) made of bison skinBlackfoot people, Canada AD 1850-58 Length 70cm  

Visit the main Museum websitewww.britishmuseum.org

Explore contains over 4000 highlight objects from the Museum’s collection.You can use Explore to search for more containers.www.britishmuseum.org/explore/explore_introduction.aspx