Art

Panorama of the Army of the Cumberland

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.

Topic: Art

GRAS D, BECHO

This albarello has a white glazed background and blue decorative motifs. Inside the oval medallion is a spotted white dog with a gold crown above. Decorative bands of blue flowers and birds just above and below the shoulder.
Description
This albarello has a white glazed background and blue decorative motifs. Inside the oval medallion is a spotted white dog with a gold crown above. Decorative bands of blue flowers and birds just above and below the shoulder. The jar, marked “GRAS D’BECHO,” would have contained the herb Coltsfoot, which was used as a cough suppressant.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0622
catalog number
M-05834
accession number
1991.0664
collector/donor number
SAP 546
catalog number
1991.0664.0622

Hourglass

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1991.0664.0966
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-06362
collector/donor number
SAP 1054

Prescription Label, Apotheke von O van Baerle

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Collection has over two hundred early prescription labels from dozens of apothecaries across Germany and Austria.Early labels were plain and without adornment.
Description (Brief)
The Bristol-Myers Squibb Collection has over two hundred early prescription labels from dozens of apothecaries across Germany and Austria.
Early labels were plain and without adornment. Later embellishments included decorative borders, images of animals such as stags, lions, or elephants associated with the name of the apothecary.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-10-21
ID Number
1991.0664.1330
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
1991.0664.1330

Drug Jar

This cylindrical drug jar tapers at the neck and base, and has a grayish tin glaze background decorated with deep blue striped patterns. Geometric decoration consists of compartmentalized vertical designs between four horizontal lines of blue at both shoulders.
Description
This cylindrical drug jar tapers at the neck and base, and has a grayish tin glaze background decorated with deep blue striped patterns. Geometric decoration consists of compartmentalized vertical designs between four horizontal lines of blue at both shoulders. In the Squibb Ancient Pharmacy Catalogue George Urdang attributes this jar to Creussen, a town in Bavaria in the first half of the 17th century. However, after seeing the collection in 1983, pharmaceutical historian Wolfgang Hagen Hein wrote about new research that placed the origin of similar jars to Arnstadt, a small town in the principality of Thuringia.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
17th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0714
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05926
collector/donor number
SAP 638
catalog number
1991.0664.0714

ESS LIGNOR

This blown and molded square–shaped bottle has a baked enamel white oval cartouche that is outlined with blue vines, red and yellow flowers, and a three-pointed crown.
Description
This blown and molded square–shaped bottle has a baked enamel white oval cartouche that is outlined with blue vines, red and yellow flowers, and a three-pointed crown. The cartouche is marked ESS LIGNOR", and the Roman numeral "V" is etched into the bottle above the center of the crown. The jar would have contained Essentia Lignorum, or essence of wood. Essentia Lignorum was used to cure “foulness of the blood.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
17th-18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0382
catalog number
M-05531
accession number
1991.0664
collector/donor number
SAP 243
catalog number
1991.0664.0382

Prescription Label, G. Arvidsons Apothek i Abo

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Collection has over two hundred early prescription labels from dozens of apothecaries across Germany and Austria. Early labels were plain and without adornment.
Description (Brief)
The Bristol-Myers Squibb Collection has over two hundred early prescription labels from dozens of apothecaries across Germany and Austria. Early labels were plain and without adornment. Later embellishments included decorative borders, images of animals such as stags, lions, or elephants associated with the name of the apothecary.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1991.0664.1199
catalog number
1991.0664.1199
accession number
1991.0664

ANIS

This blown and molded square-shaped bottle has a narrow neck and a flared lip. The baked white enamel shield is framed by stylized blue leaves with red and yellow flowers. A yellow crown sits on the top of the shield.
Description
This blown and molded square-shaped bottle has a narrow neck and a flared lip. The baked white enamel shield is framed by stylized blue leaves with red and yellow flowers. A yellow crown sits on the top of the shield. The alchemical symbols for spirits, salt and herbs are marked in black just above ANIS. which would have referred to the plant anise hyssop steeped in an alcohol solution with the ash of plant mixed into the solution. The solution would have been used as an expectorant or antiseptic.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
17th-18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0389
catalog number
M-05538
accession number
1991.0664
collector/donor number
SAP 250
catalog number
1991.0664.0389

Meissen soup plate: one of a pair

TITLE: Meissen: Pair of soup platesMAKER: Meissen ManufactoryPHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: ceramic, porcelain (overall material)MEASUREMENTS: D.
Description
TITLE: Meissen: Pair of soup plates
MAKER: Meissen Manufactory
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: ceramic, porcelain (overall material)
MEASUREMENTS: D. 9¾" 24.8cm
OBJECT NAME: Soup plates
PLACE MADE: Meissen, Saxony, Germany
DATE MADE: 1750
SUBJECT: The Hans Syz Collection
Art
Domestic Furnishing
Industry and Manufacturing
CREDIT LINE: Hans C. Syz Collection
ID NUMBER: 1993.447.05 A,B
COLLECTOR/ DONOR: 754 A,B
ACCESSION NUMBER:
(DATA SOURCE: National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center)
MARKS: Crossed swords in underglaze blue; “H” in overglaze iron-red (painter’s mark); “22” impressed.
PURCHASED FROM: S. Berges, New York, 1948.
These plates are from the Smithsonian’s Hans Syz Collection of Meissen Porcelain. Dr. Syz (1894-1991) began his collection in the early years of World War II, when he purchased eighteenth-century Meissen table wares from the Art Exchange run by the New York dealer Adolf Beckhardt (1889-1962). Dr. Syz, a Swiss immigrant to the United States, collected Meissen porcelain while engaged in a professional career in psychiatry and the research of human behavior. He believed that cultural artifacts have an important role to play in enhancing our awareness and understanding of human creativity and its communication among peoples. His collection grew to represent this conviction.
The invention of Meissen porcelain, declared over three hundred years ago early in 1709, was a collective achievement that represents an early modern precursor to industrial chemistry and materials science. The porcelains we see in our museum collections, made in the small town of Meissen in the German States, were the result of an intense period of empirical research. Generally associated with artistic achievement of a high order, Meissen porcelain was also a technological achievement in the development of inorganic, non-metallic materials.
The two soup plates come from a dinner service designed with a raised pattern. In the reserves the paintings in overglaze enamel of birds perched on branches were likely based on hand-colored plates from Eleazar Albin’s (1713-1759) two volume work A Natural History of Birds, first published in London in 1731, and a second edition in 1738. The Meissen manufactory had a copy of the work that Albin completed with his daughter Elizabeth.
The specialist bird painters (Vogelmaler) at Meissen were low in number compared to the flower painters, but the term “color painter” (Buntmaler) was a fluid term indicating that painters moved from one category to another as demand required, especially for flower, fruit and bird subjects. The gold rim lines were painted by a specialist in gold decoration.
Production of a dinner service was a large undertaking as the conventions of eighteenth-century dining followed the French style in which guests were offered a wide choice of dishes served at the table in three or more courses. Depending on social status the table might have included silver or gold plate on which to present the dishes, supplemented by a porcelain service for individual place settings. The visual climax of the dinner was the dessert, the course in which specially designed vessels in porcelain and glass supported artfully placed fruits, sweetmeats, jellies and creams, and for which the confectioners created elaborate table decorations in sugar that were later replaced by porcelain figures and centerpieces. These soup plates belong to a service intended for less grand occasions produced for the table in aristocratic households or for wealthy middle-class buyers.
On the Meissen dinner services and table decorations see Ulrich Pietsch “Famous Eighteenth-Century Meissen Dinner Services” and Maureen Cassidy-Geiger “”The Hof-Conditorey in Dresden” in Pietsch, U., Banz, C., 2010, Triumph of the Blue Swords: Meissen Porcelain for Aristocracy and Bourgoisie 1710-1815, pp. 94-105; 120-131.
Hans Syz, J. Jefferson Miller II, Rainer Rückert, 1979, Catalogue of the Hans Syz Collection: Meissen Porcelain and Hausmalerei, pp. 412-413.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1750
1750
maker
Meissen Manufactory
ID Number
1993.0447.05A
accession number
1993.0447
catalog number
1993.0447.05A
collector/donor number
754A

Prescription Label, Adler Apotheke Friedr. von Berg in Hilden

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Collection has over two hundred early prescription labels from dozens of apothecaries across Germany and Austria.Early labels were plane and without adornment.
Description (Brief)
The Bristol-Myers Squibb Collection has over two hundred early prescription labels from dozens of apothecaries across Germany and Austria.
Early labels were plane and without adornment. Later embellishments included decorative borders, images of animals such as stags, lions, or elephants associated with the name of the apothecary.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1991.0664.1201
catalog number
1991.0664.1201
accession number
1991.0664

Meissen pitcher: one of a pair

TITLE: Meissen: Pair of pitchersMAKER: Meissen ManufactoryPHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: ceramic, porcelain (overall material)MEASUREMENTS: H.
Description
TITLE: Meissen: Pair of pitchers
MAKER: Meissen Manufactory
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: ceramic, porcelain (overall material)
MEASUREMENTS: H. 2⅜" 6cm
OBJECT NAME: Pair of pitchers
PLACE MADE: Meissen, Saxony, Germany
DATE MADE: 1745
SUBJECT: The Hans Syz Collection
Art
Domestic Furnishing
Industry and Manufacturing
CREDIT LINE: Hans C. Syz Collection
ID NUMBER: 1989.0715.14 A,B
COLLECTOR/ DONOR: 320 A,B
ACCESSION NUMBER:
(DATA SOURCE: National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center)
MARKS: Crossed swords in underglaze blue; “3” impressed.
PURCHASED FROM: Adolf Beckhardt, The Art Exchange, New York, 1943.
These pitchers are from the Smithsonian’s Hans Syz Collection of Meissen Porcelain. Dr. Syz (1894-1991) began his collection in the early years of World War II, when he purchased eighteenth-century Meissen table wares from the Art Exchange run by the New York dealer Adolf Beckhardt (1889-1962). Dr. Syz, a Swiss immigrant to the United States, collected Meissen porcelain while engaged in a professional career in psychiatry and the research of human behavior. He believed that cultural artifacts have an important role to play in enhancing our awareness and understanding of human creativity and its communication among peoples. His collection grew to represent this conviction.
The invention of Meissen porcelain, declared over three hundred years ago early in 1709, was a collective achievement that represents an early modern precursor to industrial chemistry and materials science. The porcelains we see in our museum collections, made in the small town of Meissen in the German States, were the result of an intense period of empirical research. Generally associated with artistic achievement of a high order, Meissen porcelain was also a technological achievement in the development of inorganic, non-metallic materials.
These small pitchers are painted with "German" flowers (deutsche Blumen) in overglaze enamel within white reserves surrounded by a yellow onglaze ground color. European flowers began to appear on Meissen porcelain in about 1740 as the demand for Far Eastern patterns became less dominant and more high quality printed sources became available in conjunction with growing interest in the scientific study of flora and fauna. For German flowers as seen on these examples Meissen painters referred to Johann Wilhelm Weinmann’s Phytantoza Iconographia (Nuremberg 1737-1745), among other publications, in which many of the plates of fruits and flowers were engraved after drawings by the outstanding botanical illustrator Georg Dionys Ehret (1708-1770). The more formally correct German flowers were superseded by mannered flowers (manier Blumen), depicted in a looser and somewhat overblown style based on the work of still-life flower painters and interior designers like Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer (1636-1699) and Louis Tessier (1719?-1781), later referred to as “naturalistic” flowers.
The Meissen manufactory operated under a system of division of labor. Flower and fruit painters were paid less than workers who specialized in figures and landscapes, and most painters received pay by the piece instead of a regular wage. In the late eighteenth century flower painters were even busier and consumer taste for floral decoration on domestic china has continues into our own time, but with the exception of a manufactory like Meissen most floral patterns are now applied by transfers and are not hand-painted directly onto the porcelain.
Objects of this shape began as tea bowls with deep matching saucers into which the tea was poured in order to cool it down. They are described variously as tea bowls, bouillon cups, and cream pitchers.
On graphic sources for Meissen porcelain see Möller, K. A., “Meissen Pieces Based on Graphic Originals” in Pietsch, U., Banz, C., 2010, Triumph of the Blue Swords: Meissen Porcelain for Aristocracy and Bourgoisie 1710-1815, pp.85-93; Cassidy-Geiger, M., 1996, ‘Graphic Sources for Meissen Porcelain’ in Metropolitan Museum Journal, 31, pp.99-126.
On the painting division at Meissen see Rückert, R., 1990, Biographische Daten der Meißener Manufakturisten des 18. Jahrhunderts, pp. 134-136
Hans Syz, J. Jefferson Miller II, Rainer Rückert, 1979, Catalogue of the Hans Syz Collection: Meissen Porcelain and Hausmalerei, pp. 372-373.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1745
1745
maker
Meissen Manufactory
ID Number
1989.0715.14B
catalog number
1989.0715.14B
accession number
1989.0715
collector/donor number
320B

COCHLEAR

Tin-glazed drug jar decorated with a cobalt blue festoon. Atop the festoon is a hand holding Caduceus, the staff of Esculapius, and below it is a group of musical instruments. A rectangular green and ivory paper label is glued to the back of the jar.
Description
Tin-glazed drug jar decorated with a cobalt blue festoon. Atop the festoon is a hand holding Caduceus, the staff of Esculapius, and below it is a group of musical instruments. A rectangular green and ivory paper label is glued to the back of the jar. The writing on the label is illegible.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
19th Century
1700 - 1750
maker
H.A. Piccardt
ID Number
1991.0664.0849
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-06061
collector/donor number
SAP 773

ESS AMARA HALL

This blown and molded bottle has a label which reads ESS AMARA HALL in black text, with the first initial of each word in red. The bottle would have contained Essence of amara Hallensis.
Description
This blown and molded bottle has a label which reads ESS AMARA HALL in black text, with the first initial of each word in red. The bottle would have contained Essence of amara Hallensis. Essence of amara Hallensis was also known as a tincture of absinthii kalina, which was composed of a tincture of absinthe, amarae, aromaticae, and liquid potassium carbonate. It was most commonly prescribed as a stomachic.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0275
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05424
collector/donor number
SAP 133
catalog number
1991.0664.0275

MELLAG GRAMIN

This glass drug container has a baked enamel label and is marked MELLAG GRAMIN.Currently not on view
Description
This glass drug container has a baked enamel label and is marked MELLAG GRAMIN.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
18th Century
ID Number
1991.0664.0433
catalog number
M-05582
accession number
1991.0664

CAMPHOR

This blown and molded square-shaped bottle has a narrow neck and a flared lip. The baked white enamel shield is framed by stylized blue leaves with red flowers. A yellow crown sits on the top of the shield. The alchemical symbol for spirits is above the word CAMPHOR.
Description
This blown and molded square-shaped bottle has a narrow neck and a flared lip. The baked white enamel shield is framed by stylized blue leaves with red flowers. A yellow crown sits on the top of the shield. The alchemical symbol for spirits is above the word CAMPHOR. Camphor was often used as an analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and diuretic. It is a gummy, aromatic substance obtained from the Camphor Laurel or cinnamomum camphora found in China, Japan, and Taiwan. Externally Camphor was applied to the skin as a liniment.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0356
accession number
1991.0664
collector/donor number
SAP 217
catalog number
1991.0664.0356
M-05505

Ung d althea

This waisted drug jar has a flared foot and a deep blue glaze over a white background. The jar is decorated with stylized flowers and leaves on the upper and lower shoulders. The label at the center of the waist is marked, Ung d althea.
Description
This waisted drug jar has a flared foot and a deep blue glaze over a white background. The jar is decorated with stylized flowers and leaves on the upper and lower shoulders. The label at the center of the waist is marked, Ung d althea. The jar would have contained an ointment made from the Althaea, or marshmallow plant. The ointment was often taken from the roots of the plant and used as an emollient and demulcent (an oily substance to relieve a sore mucous membrane). This jar belongs to a set of drug containers seen in objects 1991.0664.0589 through 1991.0664.0596.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0596
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05808
collector/donor number
SAP 520
catalog number
1991.0664.0596

OL RUTAE

This blown and molded glass bottle with stopper has a baked enamel label marked, OL RUTAE. Oil of Rutae is made from the herb Ruta graveolens more commonly known as Rue.
Description
This blown and molded glass bottle with stopper has a baked enamel label marked, OL RUTAE. Oil of Rutae is made from the herb Ruta graveolens more commonly known as Rue. The leaves of the herb are distilled in alcohol and used as a stimulant, an antispasmodic, for convulsions and hysteria, and as an abortifacient, to induce a miscarriage.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
17th-18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0466
catalog number
M-05615
accession number
1991.0664
collector/donor number
SAP 327
catalog number
1991.0664.0466

GUMMI LACC IN TABU

This drug jar is marked GUMMI LACC IN TABUL.
Description
This drug jar is marked GUMMI LACC IN TABUL. Pharmaceutical historian George Urdang attributes containers 1991.0664.0760 through 1991.0664.0825 to Hanau in the late 18th century based on the floral design surrounding the medallion and the initials HN on the bottom of many of the jars in the series. However, in a letter to museum curators dated August 1983, the pharmaceutical historian Wolfgang-Hagen Hein wrote that the containers without initials and those marked FH were made in Florsheim in the German state of Hesse.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1790-1810
Date made
1775 - 1799
ID Number
1991.0664.0818
accession number
1991.0664
collector/donor number
SAP 742
catalog number
1991.0664.0818

ELIX IUNIPER

A painted floral garland with a red bow on top and a blue bow at the bottom decorates this white apothecary bottle. The inside of the garland is marked, “ELIX/IUNIPER.” This jar would have contained an Elixir of Juniper, made from juniper berries.
Description
A painted floral garland with a red bow on top and a blue bow at the bottom decorates this white apothecary bottle. The inside of the garland is marked, “ELIX/IUNIPER.” This jar would have contained an Elixir of Juniper, made from juniper berries. The elixir was used as a carminative, tonic, and diuretic.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th-19th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0865
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05635
collector/donor number
SAP 347
catalog number
1991.0664.0865

SAL MIRABIL GLAUB

This blown and molded drug jar is marked "SAL MIRABIL GLAUB", and known as "Mirabile Glauber's Salt" or Sodium Sulfate. Described by the German chemist Johan Rudolf Glauber (1604-1670), sodium sulfate was used in processing glass.
Description
This blown and molded drug jar is marked "SAL MIRABIL GLAUB", and known as "Mirabile Glauber's Salt" or Sodium Sulfate. Described by the German chemist Johan Rudolf Glauber (1604-1670), sodium sulfate was used in processing glass. As a medicinal it served as a laxative and stypic.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
17th-18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0325
accession number
1991.0664
collector/donor number
SAP 183
catalog number
1991.0664.0325

Apothecary Jar

This vase-shaped drug jar has a flared lip and applied round foot. The Baroque-style blue and yellow label with a white oval shield is not marked. Containers with blank labels could be filled with different ingredients depending on the apothecary's needs.
Description
This vase-shaped drug jar has a flared lip and applied round foot. The Baroque-style blue and yellow label with a white oval shield is not marked. Containers with blank labels could be filled with different ingredients depending on the apothecary's needs. When the contents of the jars were replaced the apothecary would write the appropriate name on the medallion.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0470
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05619
collector/donor number
SAP 331
catalog number
1991.0664.0470

jar

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
18th Century
ID Number
1991.0664.0700
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
1991.0664.0700.01
1991.0664.0700.02
collector/donor number
SAP 624

Apothecary Jar, Albarello

This albarello has vivid green, yellow and blue-green glazes. The center of the oval shield depicts the back of a nude woman and the other side of the container is a man's profile within a larger circle.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This albarello has vivid green, yellow and blue-green glazes. The center of the oval shield depicts the back of a nude woman and the other side of the container is a man's profile within a larger circle.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
16th-17th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0546
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05758
collector/donor number
SAP 470
catalog number
1991.0664.0546

Cof. hyerae co

This albarello drug jar is decorated with an elaborate blue floral motif. On the upper shoulder is a depiction of John the Baptist's head lying on a plate. An escroll diagonally placed on the waist is marked in gothic script, Cof. hyerae co.
Description
This albarello drug jar is decorated with an elaborate blue floral motif. On the upper shoulder is a depiction of John the Baptist's head lying on a plate. An escroll diagonally placed on the waist is marked in gothic script, Cof. hyerae co. The remains of a paper label is glued to the interior rim of the jar. It is marked in pen, "J O.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
18th Century
ID Number
1991.0664.0598
catalog number
M-05810
accession number
1991.0664
collector/donor number
SAP 522

ELIX UTERIN CR

This blown and molded bottle is marked ELIX UTERIN CR. The bottle would have contained an elixir of uterinum, which was a compound of sabin, castor, and myrrh that was used to stimulate menses.Currently not on view
Description
This blown and molded bottle is marked ELIX UTERIN CR. The bottle would have contained an elixir of uterinum, which was a compound of sabin, castor, and myrrh that was used to stimulate menses.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0307
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05456
collector/donor number
SAP 165
catalog number
1991.0664.0307

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