Two nineteenth-century olla from the Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico. Gifts of Nathaniel Burt, Class of 1936. An olla is a large wide-mouthed earthenware vessel used (as by Pueblo Indians) for storage, cooking, or as a container for water.
Our donor, Nathaniel Burt (1913-2003), was a writer, novelist, poet, composer, and educator. He taught in the Department of Music at Princeton University from 1939 to 1941 and 1950 to 1952. Later, he composed pieces in a wide variety of genres, including ballet, musical score, orchestral overture, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and short stories. Burt is best known for his two books on the American aristocracy: The Perennial Philadelphians (Firestone 1214.228.2) and First Families (Ex 3658.74.334). Burt lived in Princeton for over fifty years with his wife Margaret “Winkie” Clinton Burt.
