Noah's Ark Figures: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Teaching children with religious stories has a long tradition in American culture, dating back to the earliest colonialists, when children were taught to read the Bible at a very young age. In the early days of public schooling, faith-based education and reading the Bible in schools continued as a common practice until the 1960's. As a result, toys representing Noah's ark were popular for play with variations of material, size, style, and number of animals accompanying Noah and family. Often they consist of a house on a flatboat and contain several animals. This one has a roof set on a cloth hinge. Opened, 13 small wooden animals are revealed, including a moose. It is likely that some of the animals are missing, as each animal is a single rather than part of a pair, unlike the Old Testament story. The windows and decoration are hand-painted and the piece is signed "Bentley [J or T] Park, Searsport, Maine, March 4, 1888." Playsets were popular with children of the late 19th Century. Rooted in Puritan belief that children should be seen and not heard, especially on Sabbath, the only permissable toys after attending church were those with biblical themes.

This toy was inventoried by the donor in 1965 as part of the contents of the Bass Harbor Country Store sent to the Smithsonian Institution. Why this toy was left on the store shelf more than 75 years after its creation is subject to conjecture. Considering that the store was located on Mount Desert Island, which was a popular destination for wealthy tourists at the time it was made, perhaps it was made by a local shipbuilding worker to augment support for his family at home, or perhaps it was an antique purchased by the store owner at a later date to provide ambiance reminiscent of a world undergoing rapid change or as a distraction for children of customers.

The maker is possibly Bentley Treat Park, born May 5, 1878 and died January 2, 1905.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date made: 1888-03-04
• maker: Park, Bentley J.
• Object Name: figures, set of
• Physical Description: paint (overall material)
• Physical Description: fabric (overall material)
• Physical Description: wood (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 5 3/4 in x 13 in x 4 1/2 in; 14.605 cm x 33.02 cm x 11.43 cm
• Place Made: United States: Maine, Searsport
• depicted: Noah's Ark
• Subject: Children
• Subject: Bible
• Subject: Floods
• Subject: Disasters
• Subject: Toys
• Subject: Christianity
• Subject: Education
• ID Number: CL.299567.0154
• accession number: 299567
• catalog number: 299567.0154
• Credit Line: The George C. Seybolt Collection of American Marketing Artifacts
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.