Collection Highlights
The Bulls and Bears in the Market
1879
1971.104
Oil on linen
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Museum Collections
Luce Center
Cockroach trap
Object name
Cockroach trap
Date
ca. 1840
Medium
Earthenware
Dimensions
Overall: 3 3/8 x 5 in. ( 8.6 x 12.7 cm )
Description
Beehive-shaped redware cockroach trap with small hole in side near foot and top shaped like an inverted cone with a hole at center; sides unglazed with reeding from top to bottom; top (inverted cone) smooth and covered with clear glaze.
Credit Line
Purchased from Elie Nadelman
Object Number
1937.1729
Gallery Label
Cockroaches were as much of a nuisance in the nineteenth century as they are today. This ceramic "roach motel" was an inventive solution to the pest problem. The hole near the bottom edge of the hollow trap was corked, then a bait of sweet, sticky molasses was poured into the hole on top. Insects lured by the scent would climb the unglazed, ribbed outside wall to the funnel-shaped well, which was glazed and therefore slippery; then they would slide down into the hole and end up trapped inside.
Provenance
The Folk Art Collection of Elie Nadelman
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
