Langsam’s Replicas

Amidst the DVD collection on the 5th floor of Langsam Library is the six-sided Ben and Shirley Bernstein Pre-Columbian Pottery Collection. Ben Bernstein had served abroad for the U.S. government in the 1960s, collecting what he thought to be authentic Ecuadorian artifacts. The Bernsteins became Cincinnati restaurant and riverboat entrepreneurs, originally displaying this collection at their restaurant, El Greco. The Bernsteins donated their collection to their alma mater, UC, in 1981. It features three glass case displays of clay pottery replicas of pre-Columbian Ecuadorian objects, including vessels, jewelry, and figurines.