Designing Storage for a Katsina Butterfly Doll
Written by Professor Javier Urcid:
As part of the pedagogical goals of Anth 169 (Museum Practices), which I am teaching this semester of Fall 2025, I engaged Ian Roy for him to give us a workshop on 3D scanning. The workshop aimed at the specific goal of using the said technique to resolve an issue regarding the proper storage of an object in the Anthropology ethnographic collection currently housed in the Material Culture Research Center (Brown 230). The object in question is a Katsina Butterfly (Cat. No. 1971.128R). It is about a foot tall, does not stand steady, and leans forward.
The class considered the possibility of printing a blocky stand based on the negative of a 3D model of the lower section of the katsina that props it up in a slightly posterior-leaning position so that it can stand steady in its storage shelve. The blocky stand would follow the lower contour of the object on the posterior and lateral sides, elevate the feet by means of a 1-inch-tall platform, and with a clearance in front of the feet so that the object can be easily placed and retrieved from the base. Also, the latter is to be hollow on its three sides to save printing material and for it to be filled in with sand to make it heavy enough to help maintain the center of gravity of the katsina. The top posterior surface would have a small plug to prevent the sand from spilling each time that the object and its base needs to be moved.
Professor Urcid's project began during the Fall 2025 semester.