Look closely before reading the label. Describe what you can see. Then ask what the object’s source can—and cannot—tell you.
Observation, inference & evidence · 3.T5
Clay, shape, glaze, and a handle are clues about making and using this vessel. An object can survive even when its maker’s name does not.
Describe the opening, handle, color, and decoration. “It held water” is an inference until another source supports it.
This later object lets us compare a craft across time. Compare its shape and surface with the jug. Would both have the same job? These museum vessels are comparison objects, not artifacts from the Big Dig.
A photograph alone does not identify every person who made, carried, bought, or washed this object. Pair the image with a record about labor.
Find the star, shield, figure, and sword. Who designed this image? Who is being represented? A government symbol is a choice made by people, and people can debate that choice.
The seal is shown as a historical object. This educational site is not an official state website.
State seal history & review ↗
Thomas Hyde Page’s map calls the Patriot fortifications “rebels works.” That phrase tells us something about the map’s viewpoint. Color and careful lines do not make a map neutral.
Explore Copley, Sargent, Rockwell, quilts, Japanese prints, and more.
Famous artworks & Massachusetts connections →