The results are in! A full 30 percent of voters chose Harpocrates on a Goose as 2021’s Ugliest Object.
His mother is doubtless very proud, and so should she be. I’m sure the goose’s mother is also quite pleased.
Keep tuning in to the Kelsey Blog for more news you can use from the Kelsey Museum.
Fellow citizens of the world, I present to you the official ballot for the Kelsey Museum Ugliest Object of 2021.
You have one week to make your decision and cast your vote. Votes will be tallied on Tuesday the 18th and we will announce the lucky winner shortly thereafter.
Ready, Set, VOTE!!
It’s January, y’all! What is our favorite January activity, you ask?
Administering hair of the dog on New Year’s Day?
Prolonging the holiday indulgence by recognizing National Creampuff Day, National Cassoulet Day, and National Peanut Brittle Day?
Toasting to Carmenta during her feast days?
Dressing up as an animal or old woman and dancing through the streets singing sacrilegious songs?
Sacrificing a ram to ensure the well-being of the state?
Commemorating the occasion of young Nero’s first shave?
Heaving ourselves into icy waters during a polar bear plunge?
While all of these are — theoretically, at least — things we would enjoy doing (with the possible exception of the icy swim), what we really love to do in January, what gets us out of bed on those dark, cold winter mornings, is the glowing prospect of voting for our favorite Ugly of the year gone by.
At the dawn of each new January day of this year, we’ve popped out of bed and raced to our computer. Is it time yet? Has the survey been posted? Can we cast our vote for our favoritest ugly Ugly of 2021?
What’s that you say? You say it’s our responsibility to post the survey?
Oh dang.
We knew that. Heh.
Ok. Just give us a moment here to get organized …
Be back real soon …
Hello, Ugly lovers. Well, we’ve counted the votes and are happy to report that we have not one, but two winners! That’s right, two lucky objects will share the honor of Ugliest Object of 2020. It seems fitting, in a way. No one object should have to bear the burden of misery that 2020 encapsulates for so many people.
So, without further ado, I present to you the Ugliest Objects of 2020: head of a faun (May) and that janky bronze figurine that looks like it was an extra on the Graeco-Roman version of the Thriller video (October).
Thanks to all who voted! Stay tuned for more Ugliness in 2021!
Hello, all you Ugly-lovers. Well, 2020 was pretty rough and 2021 has gotten off to a bumpy start. But our beloved Ugly Objects are here to remind you that there is always reason for hope. After all, these dudes have been through it: used, abused, discarded, broken, trampled, buried, and forgotten for centuries. It’s heartbreaking. But here they are now — clean, conserved, secure, and valued. Coddled, even. I bet none of them saw that coming.
You never know where life will take you. So stand up, gird up, shake it off, and carry on. The first order of business should be to cast your vote for the Ugliest (read: most amazeballs) Object of 2020. Every one of these unlikely heroes is eager to don the tiara and serve as our collective spirit animal as we enter the fray of 2021.
You can vote here. Polls will close on January 31 and the winner will be announced in early February.
The votes are in!
Your voices have been heard loud and clear and the Ugliest Object of 2019 is …
CREEPY BABY HEAD BY A LANDSLIDE!
Whether you all truly find this object to be the ugliest of all those presented this year, or you just wanted to appease it so it won’t come after you next, the numbers don’t lie: Creepy Baby Head netted 44 of the 93 votes cast. (This is a huge number for us; the fame of the Ugliest Object competition is spreading. Tomorrow, THE WORLD!!)
The runners up were so far behind that we won’t even bother mentioning them. CBH is in a class of its own.
Come experience for yourself the chilling effect of being in the same room with this eerie disembodied head. It’s still in our Roman Architecture display case on the second floor. Because, frankly, none of us want to make it mad by taking it off display.
I’m not naming any names, but it seems like some people think it’s an ok idea to threaten cultural treasures.
We here at the Kelsey thumb our collective nose at this appalling notion.
All remnants of human history — from awe-inspiring edifices to the cringe-inducing array of weirdos that are our beloved “Ugly Objects” — are worthy of respect and protection.
By casting a vote for your favorite Ugly Object of 2019, you are proclaiming your love of our shared human past. A vote for the Ugliest Object is a vote for humanity!
Make your voice heard! Vote now!
Voting ends on January 15 and the winner will be announced shortly thereafter.
We have a surprise winner in the Ugly Object of 2018 contest! (If we’re being honest, any one of them would have been a surprise.) The bust of Serapis has won by a landslide, having received almost double the votes of any other object. Tied for second place are the sprang fragment and the box of dirt.
Congratulations, you beautiful, ugly, wonderful things. We love you all, winners and not-winners.
That’s right, friends. Arriving fashionably late, it’s the high-stakes competition for 2018’s Ugly Object of the Year. Vote once, vote twice, voting three times is thrice as nice. The polls close on March 15, so do your research and pick your fav!
