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 74 items.
Page 1 of 8
Engraved woodblock of a "Zuni eating bowl"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of a “Zuni eating bowl” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1883 as Figure 425 (p. 357) in an article by James Stevenson (1840-1888) entitled “Illustrated Catalogue of the Collections Obtained from the Indians of New Mexico and Arizona in 1879” in the Second Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1880-81.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1883
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Stevenson, James
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0032
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0032
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of a "Zuni eating bowl"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of a “Zuni eating bowl” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1883 as Figure 427 (p.357) in an article by James Stevenson (1840-1888) entitled “Illustrated Catalogue of the Collections Obtained from the Indians of New Mexico and Arizona in 1879” in the Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1880-81.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1883
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Stevenson, James
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0038
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0038
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock titled "Shell Gorget - The Cross"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of “Shell Gorgets – the Cross” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1883 as Plate LI.1 (p.268) in an article by William H. Holmes (1846-1933) entitled “Art in Shell of the Ancient Americans” in the Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1880-81.
- A gorget is a piece of shell that has been engraved and perforated so that it can be worn as a pendant; in this case, it has been engraved with a cross insignia. The caption beneath the image reveals that the gorget was found in Union County, Illinois.
- In a footnote to his article, Holmes identifies “Kate C. Osgood” as an accompanying artist on his collecting expedition.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1883
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- author
- Holmes, William Henry
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0080
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0080
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of a "House-burial"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of a “House-burial” was prepared by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887); the print was published by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C. in 1881 as Figure 27 (p. 175) in an article by Dr. H. C. Yarrow (1840-1929) entitled “Mortuary Customs of the North American Indians” in the First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1879-80.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1881
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- graphic artist
- Nichols, H. H.
- author
- Yarrow, Harry Crecy
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0084
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0084
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of a man walking beneath a bare tree
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of a man walking beneath a bare tree was prepared in about 1880 by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C. for the Bureau of American Ethnology.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1880
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0143
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0143
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of a "Handled cup, province of Tusayan"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of a “Handled cup, Province of Tusayan” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1886 as 298 (p.327) in an article by William H. Holmes (1846-1933) entitled “Pottery of the Ancient Pueblos” in the Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1882-83.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1886
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Holmes, William Henry
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0152
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0152
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of a "Navajo Indian with silver ornaments"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of “Navajo Indian with silver ornaments" was prepared, after a photograph, by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published as Plate XX (p. 178) in an article by Dr. Washington Matthews (1843-1905) entitled “Navajo Silversmiths” in the Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1880-81.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1883
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Matthews, Washington
- block maker
- J. J. & Co.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0442
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0442
- 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