University of Pennsylvania (Penn Museum)

The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology will conserve and house an important collection of watercolors and pen-and-ink drawings by M. Louise Baker, who was employed as museum artist at the Penn Museum from 1908 to 1936. This collection includes 154 illustrations of Maya pottery and 41 select artworks. It presents remarkable documentation of the history of scientific illustration and exhibits extraordinary artistic merit. Once conserved, these illustrations will serve as a unique resource for archaeologists, historians, and art historians, and offer the general public a glimpse into the world of archaeological research and exploration in the early years of the 20th century.