Art - Overview
The National Museum of American History is not an art museum. But works of art fill its collections and testify to the vital place of art in everyday American life. The ceramics collections hold hundreds of examples of American and European art glass and pottery. Fashion sketches, illustrations, and prints are part of the costume collections. Donations from ethnic and cultural communities include many homemade religious ornaments, paintings, and figures. The Harry T Peters "America on Stone" collection alone comprises some 1,700 color prints of scenes from the 1800s. The National Quilt Collection is art on fabric. And the tools of artists and artisans are part of the Museum's collections, too, in the form of printing plates, woodblock tools, photographic equipment, and potters' stamps, kilns, and wheels.
"Art - Overview" showing 16 items.
Page 1 of 2
Engraved woodblock of a "Woman pounding acorns"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of a “Woman pounding acorns” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1877 as Figure 42 (p.420) in an article by Stephen Powers (1840-1904) entitled “Tribes of California” in Contributions to North American Ethnology v.3. Contributions was published by the U.S. Geographical and Geological Survey, a precursor to the Bureau of American Ethnology under the direction of John Wesley Powell (1834-1902).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1877
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Powers, Stephen
- original artist
- Chase, A. W.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0288
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0288
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of "Captain John, a Ni'-shi-nam chief"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of “Captain John, a Ni’-shi-nam chief” was prepared by engraver Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1877 as Figure 27 (p.314) in an article by Stephen Powers (1840-1904) entitled “Tribes of California” in Contributions to North American Ethnology v.3. Contributions was published by the U.S. Geographical and Geological Survey, a precursor to the Bureau of American Ethnology under the direction of John Wesley Powell (1834-1902). D. H. Bartle created the original image.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1877
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- graphic artist
- Nichols, H. H.
- author
- Powers, Stephen
- original artist
- Bartle, D. H.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0350
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0350
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of a" Mai'-du girl, with ornaments"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of a “Mai’-du girl with ornaments” was engraved by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887); the print was published in 1877 by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C. as Figure 26 (p.304) in “Tribes of California” by Stephen Powers (1840-1904) for Contributions to North American Ethnology v.3. Contributions was published by the U.S. Geographical and Geological Survey, which was a precursor to the Bureau of American Ethnology under the direction of John Wesley Powell (1834-1902).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1877
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- graphic artist
- Nichols, H. H.
- author
- Powers, Stephen
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0382
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0382
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of "The Warrior and his Bride"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of “The Warrior and his Bride” was prepared by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 as Figure 15 (p.44) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1875
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Powell, John Wesley
- graphic artist
- Nichols, H. H.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0465
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0465
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of a "Bird's-eye view of the Grand Canyon"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of “Bird’s-eye view of the Grand Canyon" was prepared by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 as as Figure 72 (p.187) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1875
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Powell, John Wesley
- graphic artist
- Nichols, H. H.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0467
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0467
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of "Climbing the Grand Canyon"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of “Climbing the Grand Canyon” was prepared by F. S. King and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 on page 98 of John Wesley Powell's Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Thomas Moran (1837-1926) was the original artist.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1875
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Powell, John Wesley
- original artist
- Moran, Thomas
- graphic artist
- King, Francis Scott
- maker
- V. W. & Co.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0474
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0474
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of a "Tobacco Pipe"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of a “Tobacco Pipe” was engraved, printed, and published in 1877 by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C. as part of Figure 43 (p.426) in “Tribes of California” by Stephen Powers (1840-1904), an article in the Contributions to North American Ethnology v.3. Contributions was published by the U.S. Geographical and Geological Survey, a precursor to the Bureau of American Ethnology under the direction of John Wesley Powell (1834-1902).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1877
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- maker
- Chase, A. W.
- author
- Powers, Stephen
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0876
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0876
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of the "Thomomys clusius" or Wyoming Pocket Gopher
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of “Tholomomys Chusius” or (Thomomys Clusius) Wyoming Pocket Gopher was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published in 1875 as Figure 80 (p.265) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902). The image appears in Part Third, entitled “Zoology” by Elliott Coues (1842-1899). The illustration was engraved by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1875
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- graphic artist
- Nichols, H. H.
- original artist
- Keene, S. W.
- author
- Coues, Elliott
- block maker
- V. W. & Co.
- author
- Powell, John Wesley
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.1088
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.1088
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of "Pa'ri-ats"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of an American Indian identified as “Pa’ri-ats” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published in 1875 as Figure 7 (p.17) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902). The illustration was engraved by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1875
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- graphic artist
- Nichols, H. H.
- author
- Powell, John Wesley
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.1126
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.1126
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of the "View of Marble Canyon (from the Vermillion Cliffs)"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of a “View of Marble Canyon (from the Vermillion Cliffs)” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Figure 63 (p.180) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902). The image depicts the “Colorado River [and] the Eastern Kaibab Displacements, appearing as folds [and] faults.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1875
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Powell, John Wesley
- graphic artist
- Nichols, H. H.
- block maker
- V. W. & Co.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.1355
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.1355
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center