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.

Place: Pennsylvania

Date Seller

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1879
graphic artist
Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome
ID Number
GA.14444.02
accession number
94830
catalog number
14444.02

Joseph Leidy

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Gutekunst, Frederic
ID Number
GA.02205
catalog number
02205
accession number
21482

Lepus Aquaticus, Bach.

This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals.
Description (Brief)
This hand-colored lithograph was produced for “Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America,” the Imperial folio edition, published between 1845 and 1848. The work was a field study of North American mammals. It included 150 stone lithographs produced in three volumes of 50 prints per volume. The lithographs were based on watercolor drawings by John James Audubon and after 1846, son John Woodhouse Audubon, who completed the series due to the elder Audubon’s failing eyesight and declining health. Another son, Victor Gifford Audubon, assisted with the drawings backgrounds. The lithographs were printed on non-watermarked heavy white paper and coloring was applied by hand before the prints were bound. Reverend John Bachman was a naturalist of note, as well as John James Audubon’s friend and father of both daughter-in-laws, so he provided the accompanying letterpress narrative. It made the production truly a family affair. The slightly later Octavo edition contained 155 prints of smaller size.
This unbound lithographic plate depicts a hand-colored image of a brown hare with white underside and black markings, crouching beside a body of water.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1844
artist; publisher
Audubon, John James
printer
Bowen, John T.
ID Number
DL.60.2758
catalog number
60.2758
accession number
228146

The Bottle: VI. Crime...by lithographer George Gebbie

This black and white print depicts the sixth of eight scenes based on George Cruikshank's The Bottle. The series shows the progressive degeneration of a family due to the evils of drinking. This print depicts an interior scene of a man attacking his wife.
Description
This black and white print depicts the sixth of eight scenes based on George Cruikshank's The Bottle. The series shows the progressive degeneration of a family due to the evils of drinking. This print depicts an interior scene of a man attacking his wife. Their son and daughter are trying to intervene. Another woman is entering the room in the background. This series of prints is based on the George Cruikshank Bottle series.
This series of prints is by the English artist George Cruikshank (1792-1878). Cruikshank’s father, Isaac Cruikshank, was an artist who specialized in song sheets and caricatures and trained George and his brother Robert Cruikshank in these arts. George started as a caricaturist for magazines and children’s books. His most famous works included The Bottle and The Drunkard’s Children, designed and etched by Cruikshank to show the wickedness of alcohol. Cruikshank's father and brother were both alcoholics and he himself drank heavily until he took a vow of abstinence in 1847. These prints were originally published by David Bogue, who published most of Cruikshank’s other works in the 1850s. David Bogue, (1807–1856) was born in Scotland and moved to London in 1836. Bogue began working in Charles Tilt's bookshop as a publisher and bookseller in 1836 and became Tilt's partner in 1840. Bogue bought the shop in 1843. He was the principle publisher of Cruikshank’s short-lived periodicals, brief illustrated stories, and the Comic Almanack 1835-53. David Bogue published The Bottle series in 1847. Bogue suffered from heart disease and died in 1856 at the age of 48.
This print was produced by the lithographer George Gebbie. Gebbie immigrated to the United States from Scotland in 1862. He settled in Philadelphia and became a fine art printer and publisher. He died in 1892.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1871
maker
Gebbie, George
original artist
Cruikshank, George
ID Number
DL.60.2907
catalog number
60.2907
accession number
228146

The Serpent Charmer

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1877
graphic artist
Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome
original artist
Fortuny y Carbo, Mariano
ID Number
GA.14428.02
accession number
94830
catalog number
14428.02

At a Fire

Color print of a fireman standing beside a fire hydrant holding a fire hose which is squirting water in the face of a boy standing on the sidewalk.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Color print of a fireman standing beside a fire hydrant holding a fire hose which is squirting water in the face of a boy standing on the sidewalk.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1858
publisher
Weightman, William N.
Harrison, Henry G.
ID Number
DL.60.3298
catalog number
60.3298

The Farmer at Market

Black and white print of a man selling products from a covered wagon to a woman on a city street.
Description (Brief)
Black and white print of a man selling products from a covered wagon to a woman on a city street. The print was originally pasted on a sheet of manilla paper with several smaller prints cut out and pasted on the other side and is thought to have come from a child's scrapbook.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
maker
Kollner, August
ID Number
DL.60.2992
catalog number
60.2992
accession number
228146

C.M. Clay

Black & white print; half length portrait of a man (Cassius Marcellus Clay).Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black & white print; half length portrait of a man (Cassius Marcellus Clay).
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Clay, Cassius Marcellus
maker
Hoffy, Alfred M.
Wagner & McGuigan
original artist
Plumbe, Jr., John
ID Number
DL.60.3105
catalog number
60.3105
accession number
228146

J.R. Poinsett Secretary of War

Black & white print; half length portrait of a man (Joel Roberts Pointsett). The facsimile of the sitter's signature serves as the title.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black & white print; half length portrait of a man (Joel Roberts Pointsett). The facsimile of the sitter's signature serves as the title.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1838
depicted
Poinsett, Joel Roberts
maker
Fenderich, Charles
Duval, Peter S.
ID Number
DL.60.3103
catalog number
60.3103
accession number
228146

Stern Winter

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1894
original artist
Sloan, John
ID Number
GA.22281
catalog number
22281
accession number
272554

Samson Taken

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
nineteenth century
graphic artist
Neagle, John B.
ID Number
GA.14233.06
accession number
94830
catalog number
14233.06

Portrait of Robert Louis Stevenson

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1893
graphic artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.14484.01
accession number
94830
catalog number
14484.01

Vendor of Nuts, Madrid

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 1880
graphic artist
Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome
original artist
Dore, Gustave
graphic artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.14426
accession number
94830
catalog number
14426

View of a Farm Below the Blue Ridge Mountains near Gettysburg, Pa.

Color print of a log house with a yard enclosed by split-rail fence. A woman stands by the fence while a man on horseback speaks with a man standing near a covered wagon and four horses.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Color print of a log house with a yard enclosed by split-rail fence. A woman stands by the fence while a man on horseback speaks with a man standing near a covered wagon and four horses.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
Maker
Kodak Corp.
artist
Kollner, August
ID Number
DL.60.3653
catalog number
60.3653

Portraits and Autograph Signatures of the Framers and Signers of the Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia, July 4th, 1776.

Black and white print; bust portraits of the framers and signers of the Declaration of Independence. Each is identified by a facsimille of his signature below the portrait.
Description (Brief)
Black and white print; bust portraits of the framers and signers of the Declaration of Independence. Each is identified by a facsimille of his signature below the portrait. Inserted drawings of the Liberty Bell, a militia hat, arms and parchment, wreaths, Carpenter's Hall, and "the State House in 1876".
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1874
publisher
Centennial Portrait and Autograph Co.
depicted
Adams, John
Jefferson, Thomas
maker
Hunter, Thomas
ID Number
DL.60.2592
catalog number
60.2592
accession number
228146

Boats on the Schuykill River

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1894
ID Number
GA.22188
catalog number
22188
accession number
272554

The Second Great Match Game for the Championship

This colored print depicts a championship baseball game in progress between the Athletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia and the Atlantics of Brooklyn.
Description (Brief)
This colored print depicts a championship baseball game in progress between the Athletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia and the Atlantics of Brooklyn. The game is being played on the grounds of the Philadelphia Athletics at Fifteenth & Columbia Avenue, Philadelphia on October 22nd 1866. The Philadelphia Athletics are at bat and the Brooklyn Atlantics are in the field. The players are identified by numbers corresponding to team lists below the image. There is a low stand on the left with spectators. The park is fenced and two men are seated at a table on the sidelines, beside them are three men in chairs and players relaxing in the grass. More spectators are depicted along the bottom edge of the print. one man engages in a fight while thwarting a pickpocket, while other men converse, keep score or gamble.
This was the final game of that year's 3 game World Series. The first game in Philadelphia on October 2, 1866 had to be called due to mob violence on the field at the bottom of the first inning, and Philly forfeited the game. Because the teams split the win of the following 2 games with Philly beating Brooklyn 31-12 and Brooklyn beating Philly 27-17, the end result was that Brookly was able to reclaim the championship.
John L. Magee was born in New York around 1820 and was employed by the lithographic firms of James Baillie and Nathaniel Currier. He started his own business in New York City in 1850, but moved to Philadelphia sometime shortly after 1852. He was known mainly for his political cartoons, which he produced until the 1860s.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1867
date of event depicted
1866-10-22
maker
Magee, John L.
ID Number
DL.60.2809
catalog number
60.2809
accession number
228146

Roman Chariot Race

Stephen Ferris collaborated with his brother-in-law Peter Moran in 1875 to make this large reproductive etching of Alexander von Wagner’s stirring painting Chariot Race in the Circus Maximus, Rome in the Presence of the Emperor Domitian.
Description
Stephen Ferris collaborated with his brother-in-law Peter Moran in 1875 to make this large reproductive etching of Alexander von Wagner’s stirring painting Chariot Race in the Circus Maximus, Rome in the Presence of the Emperor Domitian. The scale of the work required an oversized copper plate, which was difficult to find. The young artists, who were new to the etching medium, fabricated their plate from the bottom of a copper boiler, according to H. R.Wray's 1893 Review of Etching in the United States. Moran, who would specialize in animal subjects, etched the horses, the archway in the background, and the roadway. Ferris, known for his portraits, etched the figures and the rest of the architecture. This etching was one of the largest made in the US at the time. The print was well received; the New York Times noted: “Of the style of execution we can speak only in the highest terms.”
Alexander von Wagner (1838–1919), a Hungarian artist active in Germany, also enjoyed considerable success when he exhibited the painting Chariot Race in Europe in 1872. Wagner painted other versions; one was shown to critical acclaim at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. The Manchester Art Gallery in England owns a version, which may be seen on its website. It was not unusual at that time for an artist to paint several versions of a popular subject in different sizes.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1882
1875
graphic artist
Ferris, Stephen James
original artist
Wagner
graphic artist
Moran, Peter
publisher
J. C. McCurdy & Co.
ID Number
GA.14534
catalog number
14534
accession number
94830

The Bottle: I. A Happy Home in Danger From the Bottle...by lithographer George Gebbie

I. A Happy Home in Danger From the Bottle. This black and white tinted print depicts the first of eight scenes based on George Cruikshank's The Bottle. The series shows the progressive degeneration of a family due to the evils of drinking.
Description
I. A Happy Home in Danger From the Bottle. This black and white tinted print depicts the first of eight scenes based on George Cruikshank's The Bottle. The series shows the progressive degeneration of a family due to the evils of drinking. This print depicts an interior scene of a man, a woman, and three children. The man and woman are seated at a table, where he is pouring a drink for her. They are surrounded by comfortable, middle-class furnishings that include a fireplace with a stove insert, pictures on the wall, and a tall case clock. A cat and a kitten play by the fire near the two younger children.
This series of prints is by the English artist George Cruikshank (1792-1878). Cruikshank’s father, Isaac Cruikshank, was an artist who specialized in song sheets and caricatures and trained George and his brother Robert Cruikshank in these arts. George started as a caricaturist for magazines and children’s books. His most famous works included The Bottle and The Drunkard’s Children, designed and etched by Cruikshank to show the wickedness of alcohol. Cruikshank's father and brother were both alcoholics and he himself drank heavily until he took a vow of abstinence in 1847. These prints were originally published by David Bogue, who published most of Cruikshank’s other works in the 1850s. David Bogue, (1807–1856) was born in Scotland and moved to London in 1836. Bogue began working in Charles Tilt's bookshop as a publisher and bookseller in 1836 and became Tilt's partner in 1840. Bogue bought the shop in 1843. He was the principle publisher of Cruikshank’s short-lived periodicals, brief illustrated stories, and the Comic Almanack 1835-53. David Bogue published The Bottle series in 1847. Bogue suffered from heart disease and died in 1856 at the age of 48.
This print was produced by the lithographer George Gebbie. Gebbie immigrated to the United States from Scotland in 1862. He settled in Philadelphia and became a fine art printer and publisher. He died in 1892.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1871
maker
Gebbie, George
original artist
Cruikshank, George
ID Number
DL.60.2902
catalog number
60.2902
accession number
228146

Seed Wreath

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1850
ID Number
DL.67.0442
catalog number
67.0442
accession number
270017

John Tyler. 10th President of the United States

Black and white print. Oval bust portrait with an ornate rectangular frame of a man (President John Tyler).Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white print. Oval bust portrait with an ornate rectangular frame of a man (President John Tyler).
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1846
depicted
Tyler, John
publisher
Williams, C. S.
maker
Newsam, Albert
Duval, Peter S.
ID Number
DL.60.3228J
catalog number
60.3228J

The Trollope Family

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1832
depicted
Trollope, Frances Milton
maker
Childs & Inman
ID Number
DL.60.2441
catalog number
60.2441
accession number
228146

A Truly Noble Mare

Black and white print of a farm yard with cattle, horses, chicken and a pig. A farm house is in the background. One horse kicks and frolics in the center.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white print of a farm yard with cattle, horses, chicken and a pig. A farm house is in the background. One horse kicks and frolics in the center.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
publisher
American Sunday School Union
maker
Kollner, August
ID Number
DL.60.2987
catalog number
60.2987
accession number
228146

Red Fox

Colored print of a fox eating two chickens. Background shows a wooded grassy riverbank, an outbuilding and a fence.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a fox eating two chickens. Background shows a wooded grassy riverbank, an outbuilding and a fence.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1830
maker
Childs & Inman
artist
Doughty, Thomas
Lehman, George
ID Number
DL.60.2700
catalog number
60.2700
accession number
228146

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