It was not until 1965 that Warren’s donations finally went on proud, uncensored display. Most of these artifacts were locked away in storage for decades or, if put on display, neutered with paint. A wealthy Bostonian and early gay rights advocate, Warren purchased these spicy drinking cups, wine jugs, and perfume flasks on behalf of the museum or donated them to it between 1885-1910, endowing the museum with one of the world’s finest collections of ancient erotica.
In other words, I had precisely the experience that Edward Perry Warren wanted me to have. Discomfited but intrigued, I came a little closer to realizing what type of life it was that I wanted to lead. I saw acts and combinations I hadn’t thought were possible in the modern world, much less the ancient one. When I first visited Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, as a young and deeply closeted queer college student, I found myself wondering if the museum possessed ancient Greek vases decorated with anything other than sex scenes.
