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

Sorex Palustris Rich

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 two shrews scampering across boulders toward a pond. Boulders are surrounded by wildflowers on the right and barren trees on the left.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1847
artist
Audubon, John Woodhouse
printer
Bowen, John T.
publisher
Audubon, John James
ID Number
DL.60.2740
catalog number
60.2740
accession number
228146

The Oysterman

Black and white print of a man sampling an oyster at the back of a covered four-wheeled wagon. He is accompanied by his black serving girl. The oysterman is serving him and a horse is tied to the wagon.
Description (Brief)
Black and white print of a man sampling an oyster at the back of a covered four-wheeled wagon. He is accompanied by his black serving girl. The oysterman is serving him and a horse is tied to the wagon. The print was originally pasted on a sheet of manilla paper with several smaller prints cut out and pasted on the other side and on the front 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.60.2995
catalog number
60.2995
accession number
228146

Birds Eye View of Andersonville Prison Ga.

The largest Confederate prisoner of war camp constructed to house captured Union troops, Andersonville held 45,000 troops over the course of its 14 month existence.
Description
The largest Confederate prisoner of war camp constructed to house captured Union troops, Andersonville held 45,000 troops over the course of its 14 month existence. Conditions within the camp were horrific and 13,000 Union prisoners died from disease, exposure, and food shortages. This print shows the 26.5-acre Camp Sumter, with dozens of tents contained within a rectangular stockade. Fortifications armed with cannon guard the camp’s corners. Although many men can be seen in the camp, the print does not truly represent the overcrowded conditions that existed inside. The facility was built to house a maximum of 10,000 prisoners but at times held more than 32,000.
This birds-eye view of Andersonville was based on a sketch done by William D. Bloom, a soldier in Company G in the 181st Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, also known as the 20th Pennsylvania Cavalry. He enlisted January 19, 1864, at the age of 36, survived Andersonville when several of his unit did not, and mustered out May 15, 1865. He must have been taken prisoner sometime shortly after enlisting, as his drawing includes hospital wards in the foreground, inside of the prison walls. These wards were moved outside of the camp later in the year. Bloom accurately depicted details of the camp, including its makeshift tents and sheds used for housing, the polluted creek that ran through the compound, used by soldiers to bathe and wash their clothes, and the infamous “dead line” that ran along the perimeter of the camp, past which anyone nearing the camp walls would be shot. Other brutal realities of prison life pictured in the print include a chain gang, bodies being hauled away on a cart, and dogs viciously attacking a man attempting to escape.
Images of Andersonville remained popular in the North after the war, exhibited in homes as both remembrances of the war’s horrors and alleged examples of widespread Southern cruelty. These prints, by safeguarding the memories of the prison, helped to secure the camp’s designation as a National Historic Site, but also amplified sectional hostilities throughout the years of Reconstruction.
The lithographer of the work, William Boell, first began producing city views in New York City in 1854. In New York, he was involved in partnerships with George W. Lewis (1855) and Francis Michelin (1856-1858). He then moved to Philadelphia, where he worked as a lithographer for the next 22 years. Besides his print of Andersonville Prison, Boell also produced illustrations of the Volunteer Refreshment Saloon in Philadelphia during the war.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1866
maker
Boell, William
Broom, William D.
ID Number
DL.60.2577
catalog number
60.2577
accession number
228146

Temperance Society Membership Certificate by Thomas Sinclair

This black and white print is a membership certificate with a decorated vignette depicting a group of people near a stream. A man stands in front of the group holding a glass and lecturing. A tavern or inn is in the right background.
Description
This black and white print is a membership certificate with a decorated vignette depicting a group of people near a stream. A man stands in front of the group holding a glass and lecturing. A tavern or inn is in the right background. Two men are fighting in front of the building while a third man stands observing the larger group of people.
This print was produced by Thomas Sinclair (ca. 1805-1881). Sinclair was a lithographer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A native of Scotland, he was trained in art and lithography in Edinburgh, and immigrated to Philadelphia in 1833. In 1854, Sinclair and his brother William Sinclair created the firm Thomas Sinclair & Company and worked together until 1859. In 1870, his son John C. Sinclair joined the company and it was renamed T. Sinclair & Son Lithography Company. Thomas Sinclair remained active in the firm until his death in 1881 and his son continued to run it until 1889.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1841
lithographer
Sinclair, Thomas
ID Number
DL.60.2954
catalog number
60.2954
accession number
228146

Franklin's Reception at the Court of France 1778 by John Smith

This copy of an earlier lithograph depicts Benjamin Franklin, the American Minister at the Court of France, receiving a laurel wreath from Countess Diana Polignac.
Description
This copy of an earlier lithograph depicts Benjamin Franklin, the American Minister at the Court of France, receiving a laurel wreath from Countess Diana Polignac. Amid the elegant finery of the French aristocracy, Franklin is easily identifiable, clothed simply in a brown suit.
The image of a frugal, industrious, unpretentious republican American was something Franklin cultivated. He owned more than one of these “Quaker” or “ditto” suits, made of plum-colored silk. The Museum owns one of these suits (2012.0187.001), which Franklin wore in Paris during the year of the signing of the Treaty of Alliance.
The event depicted is a celebration after the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance, which was signed February 6, 1778, in Paris. These agreements established a commercial alliance that provided financial aid and authorized military support for the American colonies during the Revolutionary War. The celebration of the treaties took place ten days later at Versailles Palace.
The flatly drawn members of the French court (from left to right) include: Duchesse Jules de Polignac, Princesse Marie Therese Louise de Savoie-Carignan Lamballe (holding flowers), Comtesse Diana Polignac (holding wreath), Comte de Vergennes, Mme. Campan, Comtesse de Neuilly, Marie-Antoinette, Queen Consort of Louis XVI (seated), King Louis XVI, and Princesse Elizabeth. As a popular celebrity diplomat, Franklin was a favorite with the ladies and spent much of his time with the socially and intellectually elite. This large print was probably produced for municipal buildings, upper -class homes, or businesses, and perhaps the more affluent academies or schools.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1869
depicted
Franklin, Benjamin
publisher
Smith, John
ID Number
DL.60.2596
catalog number
60.2596
accession number
228146

Masonic Memorial

Black and white print of a large group of famous Masons, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, and others, wearing their Masonic aprons, and dressed in different period clothing. They are standing inside a lodge room. Washington's apron has masonic symbols on it.
Description (Brief)
Black and white print of a large group of famous Masons, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, and others, wearing their Masonic aprons, and dressed in different period clothing. They are standing inside a lodge room. Washington's apron has masonic symbols on it. While Jefferson had several connections to freemasondry there is no evidnece that he was a freemason.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1860
copyright holder
Phenix, Thomas
depicted
Washington, George
Jefferson, Thomas
Jackson, Andrew
maker
Inger, Christian
Duval, Williams & Duval
ID Number
DL.60.2578
catalog number
60.2578
accession number
228146

Coming Home

Black and white print of a man, woman and three children disembarking from a sailing ship docked behind them. A black porter carries their trunk on his shoulder and back.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white print of a man, woman and three children disembarking from a sailing ship docked behind them. A black porter carries their trunk on his shoulder and back.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
publisher
American Sunday School Union
maker
Kollner, August
ID Number
DL.60.2988
catalog number
60.2988
accession number
228146

Portrait of Mrs. Llewellyn

Stephen Ferris noted that Mrs. Llewellyn lived in Merion Square, Pennsylvania, and was 100 years old in October, 1879, when, presumably, he made the signed pencil drawing.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Stephen Ferris noted that Mrs. Llewellyn lived in Merion Square, Pennsylvania, and was 100 years old in October, 1879, when, presumably, he made the signed pencil drawing.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1879-10
original artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.16680
catalog number
16680
accession number
119780

Charles S. Todd

Black and white print, half length portrait of a man in military uniform (Charles Todd). A facsimilie of the sitter's signature is in the margin above the title and below the image.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white print, half length portrait of a man in military uniform (Charles Todd). A facsimilie of the sitter's signature is in the margin above the title and below the image.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1841
depicted
Todd, Charles S.
maker
Fenderich, Charles
Duval, Peter S.
ID Number
DL.60.3221
catalog number
60.3221

President Lincoln and His Family

In the years following Lincoln’s assassination, lithographic prints depicting the Lincoln family became popular among the Northern American public, often produced as commemoratives during anniversary celebrations.
Description
In the years following Lincoln’s assassination, lithographic prints depicting the Lincoln family became popular among the Northern American public, often produced as commemoratives during anniversary celebrations. Since the family never sat for a formal portrait, artists relied on earlier photographs of its members to create their compositions, portraying the family members as they would have appeared at the start of Lincoln’s presidency. This black and white print from the late 1860s depicts the family members as they would have appeared at the start of Lincoln’s presidency. At center, President Lincoln sits cross-legged at a table, holding a book on his lap, as he looks up to Mary Todd at his right. Willie, leans against a table, gazing in the direction of his father. At the lower left, Tad marches into the scene, holding a toy drum. At the right, Robert Lincoln, dressed in his military uniform, looks out towards the viewer. Abraham Lincoln was not the only deceased family member at the time of this print’s creation. Willie had died from typhoid fever in 1862, sometime before the publication of this print. The print is “Respectfully Dedicated to the People of the United States.”
Joseph Hoover was the most prominent Philadelphia publisher of chromolithographed parlor prints during the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1856, he established a woodturning and frame-making shop and began selling prints by 1865. Around 1868, he began supervising the lithography production at the firms of Duval & Hunter and James Queen, eventually founding his own printing plants in the mid-1870s. His chromolithographs won a medal of excellence at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. In 1893, he partnered with his son, Henry, and their firm produced between 600,000 and 700,000 chromolithographs per year.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
before 1869
depicted
Lincoln, Abraham
Lincoln, Robert Todd
Lincoln, Thomas
Lincoln, William Wallace
Lincoln, Mary Todd
maker
Hoover, Joseph
ID Number
DL.60.2575
catalog number
60.2575
accession number
228146

Dog's Head

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
last quarter 1800
graphic artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.14471.03
accession number
94830
catalog number
14471.03

Thomas Moran

Stephen James Ferris (1835-1915) was taught the art of engraving by the well-known engraver John Sartain (1808-1897) along with colleague and brother-in-law Thomas Moran. Ferris was active in Philadelphia's Society of Etchers organized in 1880.Currently not on view
Description
Stephen James Ferris (1835-1915) was taught the art of engraving by the well-known engraver John Sartain (1808-1897) along with colleague and brother-in-law Thomas Moran. Ferris was active in Philadelphia's Society of Etchers organized in 1880.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1879
graphic artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.14555
catalog number
14555
accession number
94830

John Q. Adams. 6th President of the United States

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

A View of Fairmount and the Water-Works

Color print of men and women on a veranda in the foreground viewing a covered bridge over a river (Schuylkill) and the buildings of a waterworks. The grounds of a park are in the background.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Color print of men and women on a veranda in the foreground viewing a covered bridge over a river (Schuylkill) and the buildings of a waterworks. The grounds of a park are in the background.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
maker
Bowen, John T.
ID Number
DL.60.3775
catalog number
60.3775

Portrait of Jean-Léon Gérôme

Stephen Ferris etched a dapper J. L. Gérôme (1824–1904) in 1899, near the end of Gérôme’s very successful career as painter and sculptor. Ferris had admired the French artist’s work for many years, at least since 1863 when he named his son after him.
Description
Stephen Ferris etched a dapper J. L. Gérôme (1824–1904) in 1899, near the end of Gérôme’s very successful career as painter and sculptor. Ferris had admired the French artist’s work for many years, at least since 1863 when he named his son after him. Although Ferris never actually met Gérôme, the two artists had corresponded. For this print Ferris used a photograph he had received from Gérôme. He then sent Gérôme trial proofs for comments and requested a signature to include in the final impressions, which appears here at lower left.
Gérôme congratulated Ferris on the portrait as “work done with great care and great talent—the effect is very good and very firm. If I had any criticism to make, I would reserve it for the background, which is a little too even, and for the clothing, which has a little softness in the execution.” Gérôme also suggested that the highlight on the order which appears on his left breast and is not particularly noticeable in the photograph, be less bright. The order remains brightly lit, possibly Ferris’s tribute to Gérôme.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1879
date made
1899
graphic artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.14396.01
accession number
94830
catalog number
14396.01

Fashions. Fall & Winter. 1852-3 S. A. & A. F. Ward...Philadelphia

Color print, two horizontal panels depicting twenty one figures: twelve men, two women, and six children in fashions from 1852-53.
Description (Brief)
Color print, two horizontal panels depicting twenty one figures: twelve men, two women, and six children in fashions from 1852-53. The upper panel depicts an outdoor scene with a park overlooking a town in the background; the bottom panel depicts an outdoor scene with a lake in the background. Numbers below the figures are keyed to a separately printed descriptive text.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1852
maker
Sinclair, Thomas
ID Number
DL.60.3072
catalog number
60.3072
accession number
228146

Martin Van Buren. 8th President of the United States

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

Miss F.A. Kemble

Black and white print; half portrait of Miss Frances Anne Kemble, otherwise known as Fanny. She wears a dress with large puffy sleeves and her hair is upswept.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white print; half portrait of Miss Frances Anne Kemble, otherwise known as Fanny. She wears a dress with large puffy sleeves and her hair is upswept.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1832
publisher
Stewart, S. M.
depicted
Kemble, Frances Anne
lithographer
Childs & Inman
artist
Newsam, Albert
Lawrence, Sir Thomas
ID Number
DL.60.2530
catalog number
60.2530
accession number
228146

Musician

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.14446.02
accession number
94830
catalog number
14446.02

Jacob Haehnlen's Lithographic and Steam Power Letter Press Printing Rooms

Color advertising print and calendar depicting "Goldsmith's Hall", the building where Jacob Haehnlen had his lithographic establishment. Calendars for 1867 and 1868 appear along the sides and bottom of the image of the building.
Description (Brief)
Color advertising print and calendar depicting "Goldsmith's Hall", the building where Jacob Haehnlen had his lithographic establishment. Calendars for 1867 and 1868 appear along the sides and bottom of the image of the building. There is an ornate border of oak leaves.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1866
printer
Haehnlen, Jacob
ID Number
DL.60.3090
catalog number
60.3090
accession number
228146

Wm H. Harrison. 9th President of the United States

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

Portrait of a Moor

The 1876 Centennial Exposition brought people and exhibits from around the world to Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park. Stephen Ferris, a resident of the city, visited the site on August 7 and recorded in pencil the face of this man, whom he called Maure [Moor].
Description
The 1876 Centennial Exposition brought people and exhibits from around the world to Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park. Stephen Ferris, a resident of the city, visited the site on August 7 and recorded in pencil the face of this man, whom he called Maure [Moor]. The man may have been one of the workers associated with an exhibit from Tunisia or Morocco. Ferris was very interested in North African subject matter at this time, due to his fondness for the works of Mariano Fortuny.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1876
original artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.16664
catalog number
GA*16664
accession number
119,780

John Donne

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1892
graphic artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.14477.03
accession number
94830
catalog number
14477.03

The Bottle: V. In Their Now Miserable Home...by lithographer George Gebbie

This black and white tinted print depicts the fifth 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
This black and white tinted print depicts the fifth 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 family, now reduced to two children due to the starvation death of the toddler. Mother, father and son huddle near a meager fire, the mother holding a wine glass, the father holding a bottle. The daughter stands with her hand on the toddler's coffin. The mother and daughter are weeping. A fork is stuck in the wall and holds up a piece of fabric that is covering the window, and a candle is stuck in the wine bottle on the mantle.
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 Bottleand 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.60.2906
catalog number
60.2906
accession number
228146

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