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.

Date: 1890s

Pig Weathervane

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1899
ID Number
CL.65.0942
catalog number
65.0942
accession number
256396

Carousel Rooster

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1895
maker
Dentzel, Gustav A.
ID Number
CL.65.1036
accession number
256396
catalog number
65.1036

Carousel Elephant

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1878-1892
maker
Dare, Charles
ID Number
CL.65.1041
accession number
256396
catalog number
65.1041

Eagle Figure

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
19th century
Date made
1850-1899
maker
Schimmel, Wilhelm
Schimmel, Wilhelm
ID Number
CL.65.1092
accession number
256396
catalog number
65.1092

Carousel Horse

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1895
maker
Looff, Charles I. D.
ID Number
CL.66.264
accession number
261195
catalog number
66.264

Deer Weathervane

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1899
ID Number
CL.65.0967
accession number
256396
catalog number
65.0967

Marino Sheep Weathervane

date made
1850-1899
ID Number
CL.65.0940
catalog number
65.940
accession number
256396
256396

Rooster Weathervane

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1800-1899
ID Number
CL.65.0948
catalog number
65.0948
accession number
256396

Indian with Tomahawk Weathervane

Depicting an Indian with a raised tomahawk. The image is the same on both sides. Painted figure with a five plume headpiece in blue, black yellow and red; blue jacket with five yellow buttons and a yellow belt; blue garters, brown shoes.
Description (Brief)
Depicting an Indian with a raised tomahawk. The image is the same on both sides. Painted figure with a five plume headpiece in blue, black yellow and red; blue jacket with five yellow buttons and a yellow belt; blue garters, brown shoes. The figure holds a bow in front hand and a raised tomahawk in the back hand. There is a brace to hold the tomahawk and arm on one side and the other side has a brace across shoulders which connects to support rod.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1850-1899
ID Number
CL.65.0918
accession number
256396
catalog number
65.0918

Indian with Tomahawk Weathervane

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1850-1899
ID Number
CL.65.0919
catalog number
65.0919
accession number
256396

Indian Weathervane

Depicting an Indian with a bow and arrow. Silhoutted figure made of two layers of sheet metal held togther by rivets. The figure has a quiver and a stylized plume head-dress with three points. There are three loops for a support rod.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Depicting an Indian with a bow and arrow. Silhoutted figure made of two layers of sheet metal held togther by rivets. The figure has a quiver and a stylized plume head-dress with three points. There are three loops for a support rod.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1850-1899
ID Number
CL.65.0914
accession number
261195
catalog number
65.0914
collector/donor number
T-1

Goat Weathervane

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1800-1899
ID Number
CL.65.0941
catalog number
65.941
accession number
256396
256396

Parrot Figure

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
19th century
Date made
1850-1899
maker
Schimmel, Wilhelm
Schimmel, Wilhelm
ID Number
CL.65.1097
catalog number
65.1097
accession number
256396

Indian Weathervane

Depicting an Indian with a drawn bow. Silhouetted figure in a running stance with a five feather head-dress, a bow and arrow made from sheet metal. The arrowhead is attached by two rivets. The figure is supported through a metal covered wood sphere.
Description (Brief)
Depicting an Indian with a drawn bow. Silhouetted figure in a running stance with a five feather head-dress, a bow and arrow made from sheet metal. The arrowhead is attached by two rivets. The figure is supported through a metal covered wood sphere. There are traces of green paint.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1850-1899
ID Number
CL.65.0913
accession number
261195
catalog number
65.0913
collector/donor number
T-14

Soldier's Memorial Spanish American War of 1898

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1919
ca 1898
associated date
1898
ID Number
ZZ.RSN82660W24

1880 - 1890 Sophia Tilton's Parlor Throw

Sophia M. Tilton decorated her patches on this parlor throw with a wide range of painted flowers. According to donor Helen T.
Description
Sophia M. Tilton decorated her patches on this parlor throw with a wide range of painted flowers. According to donor Helen T. Batchelder, her grandmother Sophia was inspired by wildflowers such as morning glories, violets, and clover on her farm, and the roses, pansies, and lilies in her garden. Sophia was also remembered as a china painter and she used similar motifs to decorate ceramics.
China painting became a popular pastime in the United States in the 1870s. Pottery kilns developed by ceramicists such as Susan Frackelton who patented a “China-firing Apparatus” in 1886 and 1888, helped spur a large growth in both amateur and professional china painters. It is estimated that there were 20,000 professional china painters by 1900, many listed in city business directories. On this parlor throw, Sophia combined her needlework and painting skills to create her unique version of the crazy patchwork throw that was also very fashionable in the late 19th century.
The silk fabrics and ribbons that comprise this throw were said to have been bought in Boston, possibly at Thresher Bros., as Sophia’s eldest son, Alfred, owned a drugstore nearby. The throw was made for Alfred and later given to his son, the donor’s father.
A 5-inch border in the “Flying Geese” pattern frames the crazy-patchwork. The russet satin lining is decorated with bands of white silk feather-stitching framing a center rectangle outlined in herringbone-stitching. Within the rectangle is embroidered a spray of flowers and leaves in white silk. According to family tradition, it may have been designed by Sophia. The throw is edged with an orange silk cord.
Sophia Moore Leavitt, the daughter of Thomas Moore Leavitt and Sally Dearborn, was born about 1820 in Stratham, Rockingham County, N. H. Sophia’s first name was given as “Survial,” possibly a nickname, in the letter of donation. She married Nathaniel D. Tilton January 4, 1846, in Newburyport, Massachusetts. They had four sons, Alfred, Charles, Edward, and Nathaniel and were living in Watertown, Middlesex, Mass., in 1870. By 1880 Sophia was widowed and living with her youngest son (17), Nathaniel D., in Auburn, Rockingham Co., N. H.. It would have been about this time that she made her crazy-patch throw.
According to the donor at the time of donation in 1951, “Needless to say, her four sons considered it a masterpiece and I suppose it was, of the period . . . . It will be very pleasant to think of it in your department where many people can enjoy it instead of having it laid away in a trunk . . . . I give it to the museum in return for the inspiration and stimulation it has given me.” A granddaughter’s generous donation allows others to see and be inspired by her grandmother Sophia’s “masterpiece.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880-1890
maker
Tilton, Survial Leavitt
ID Number
TE.T11009
accession number
192928
catalog number
T11009

Soldier's Memorial Spanish American War of 1898

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1898
associated date
1898
ID Number
ZZ.RSN82660W23

Joseph Francis Congressional Gold Medal, United States, 1890

The 19th-century American inventor Joseph Francis received many honors after his metallic life-car rescued 200 stranded passengers from the Ayrshire shipwreck in 1850 and subsequently saved thousands more just from wrecks off the New Jersey shore.
Description
The 19th-century American inventor Joseph Francis received many honors after his metallic life-car rescued 200 stranded passengers from the Ayrshire shipwreck in 1850 and subsequently saved thousands more just from wrecks off the New Jersey shore. He was knighted by kings, emperors, and czars, and received numerous valuable gifts from all over the world. Despite these accolades, decades passed before Francis’ own country recognized his accomplishments.
In 1859, a Captain Douglass Ottinger of the U.S Revenue Cutter Service had applied for a relief grant from Congress for unspecified, unverified and unsupported lifecar inventions. Joseph Francis was in Europe at the time and unaware of Ottinger’s claim. With no information to the contrary, Congress granted Ottinger $10,000 for inventing the lifecar. Francis returned from Europe in 1862, too late to address Ottinger’s claims.
In February 1886, a Congressional resolution for a gold medal for Francis was proposed, but Ottinger’s senator stonewalled the resolution on behalf of his constituent. This delayed debate long enough to prevent a presidential signature on the action. Later, Senator William M. Evarts of New York introduced legislation to award Francis with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the legislative branch upon a particular person. The bill passed without opposition on August 27, 1888, signaling to the U.S. Mint that it should begin creating the medal.
Each Congressional Gold Medal is unique, crafted to specifically commemorate the honoree, and Francis’ was designed by Zeleima Bruff Jackson and modeled by the famous American sculptor Louis St. Gaudens. St. Gaudens is best known for his monumental statuary, which may be locally seen at Washington’s Union Station and the Library of Congress. He was also interested in the art of medals and coins.
Francis’s three-pound medal was forged in solid gold, and valued at $6,000 in 1889. When President Benjamin Harrison presented Joseph Francis with the award in the White House’s Blue Room, he spoke of the thousands of people rescued by Francis’ devotion to improving life-saving equipment. “Not many of these have been able to know or thank the man who saved them,” the President said in his address. “But the nation today voices the gratitude of these and many thousands more who will owe their deliverance to you.”
In 1890, Francis donated his medal to the Smithsonian, together with a diamond-encrusted snuff box from French emperor Napoleon III. Here, they joined his lifecar and associated lifesavings materials given earlier to the people of the United States.
date made
1890
original issue
1888
inventor of metallic life-car
Francis, Joseph
refused to sign declaration for medal
Cleveland, Grover
Introduced legislation to award Joseph Francis the medal.
Evarts, William M.
presenter
Harrison, Benjamin
designer
Saint-Gaudens, Augustus
obverse engraver
Saint-Gaudens, Louis
reverse engraver
Saint-Gaudens, Louis
editor
United States Congress, 51st
manufacturer
United States Mint
obverse designer
Jackson, Zeleima
reverse designer
Jackson, Zeleima
ID Number
NU.23240.0002
accession number
23240
catalog number
5694

Untitled George Washington

Black and white print, full length portrait of a man in military uniform (George Washington), standing with his arm on the back of his horse. In the background are ships on a body of water and part of a building in the landscape.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white print, full length portrait of a man in military uniform (George Washington), standing with his arm on the back of his horse. In the background are ships on a body of water and part of a building in the landscape.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1899
depicted
Washington, George
copyright holder
Sabin, J. F.
maker
unknown
original artist
Trumbull, John
ID Number
DL.60.3201
catalog number
60.3201

A Rustic Genji (Inaka Genji)

Japanese wood block print. Landscape subject with three kimono-clad figures under arching branch of tree. Right-hand print in a triptych with GA 03215 and GA 03216.
Description
Japanese wood block print. Landscape subject with three kimono-clad figures under arching branch of tree. Right-hand print in a triptych with GA 03215 and GA 03216. 23 separate impressions were required to complete the image from 13 printing surfaces on seven blocks, GA 03212.01-.07, of which this is the first progressive proof, the outline of the entire image printed from the key block.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Morikawa, Kokichiro
ID Number
GA.03213.01
catalog number
03213.01
accession number
22582

China painted plate

China painting swept across America in the late nineteenth century as one of the most prevalent decorative pottery techniques, especially among young women.
Description
China painting swept across America in the late nineteenth century as one of the most prevalent decorative pottery techniques, especially among young women. Considered a respectable form of work and creative outlet for women, china painting incorporated the element of hand craft that helped elevate standards of design during a period of mass production and industrialism. The technique of china painting could be done conveniently at home or in large pottery settings. Also known as “mineral painting,” after its materials, a china painter used enamels, low firing colors produced from various mineral-oxides, as a “painting” medium on pre-fired porcelain white porcelain, also known as blanks. These blank porcelain pieces were often imported from European countries, France and Germany in particular, and came in a variety of dinner ware forms and vases. The china painting technique of decorating porcelain was popularized in America by the highly influential Englishman, Edward Lycett. Trained as a potter in the English tradition at Spode pottery in Staffordshire, England, Lycett moved to America in 1861, where he almost immediately gained prestigious commissions for the White House and Tiffany & Co. His devotion to experimenting with materials and teaching pottery techniques across the country established Edward Lycett as the “pioneer of china painting in America” during his own lifetime. Ultimately, the creativity fostered by the china painting movement and the influence of Edward Lycett launched the American ceramic industry towards new and exciting avenues of decorative pottery.
This plate represents the custom of European blanks being exported into America as blanks for china painters to decorate. Depicting two Victorian women reading a book or sheet of music, this plate was most likely painted for leisure and hung on the wall as a form of decoration, fulfilling the Victorian aesthetic of the home.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 1880-1890
ID Number
CE.73.171
catalog number
73.171

Pope Leo XIII Plate

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 1890
c. 1901-1907
ID Number
CE.379446
catalog number
379446
accession number
150313

Cup and saucer

A gilded teacup and saucer with matching relief molded flowers and leaves.Currently not on view
Description
A gilded teacup and saucer with matching relief molded flowers and leaves.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca. 1890
ID Number
CE.59.2250ab
catalog number
59.2250ab
accession number
113420

Lycett dish

China painting swept across America in the late nineteenth century as one of the most prevalent decorative pottery techniques, especially among young women.
Description
China painting swept across America in the late nineteenth century as one of the most prevalent decorative pottery techniques, especially among young women. Considered a respectable form of work and creative outlet for women, china painting incorporated the element of hand craft that helped elevate standards of design during a period of mass production and industrialism. The technique of china painting could be done conveniently at home or in large pottery settings. Also known as “mineral painting,” after its materials, a china painter used enamels, low firing colors produced from various mineral-oxides, as a “painting” medium on pre-fired porcelain white porcelain, also known as blanks. These blank porcelain pieces were often imported from European countries, France and Germany in particular, and came in a variety of dinner ware forms and vases. The china painting technique of decorating porcelain was popularized in America by the highly influential Englishman, Edward Lycett. Trained as a potter in the English tradition at Spode pottery in Staffordshire, England, Lycett moved to America in 1861, where he almost immediately gained prestigious commissions for the White House and Tiffany & Co. His devotion to experimenting with materials and teaching pottery techniques across the country established Edward Lycett as the “pioneer of china painting in America” during his own lifetime. Ultimately, the creativity fostered by the china painting movement and the influence of Edward Lycett launched the American ceramic industry towards new and exciting avenues of decorative pottery.
In 1890, at the age of 57, Edward Lycett left Faience Manufacturing when it was sold as an agent to a French porcelain company. This, however, was not a setback in Lycett’s ceramic venture. Although retired, Edward Lycett continued to follow his passion for new ceramic inventions. He soon moved to Atlanta, Georgia to work in his son’s studio where he and continued to experiment with clay and glaze materials as well as different firing techniques with William until he died in 1910 at the age of 77.
In 1902 during his retirement in Atlanta, Georgia, Edward Lycett boasted, “I have amused myself by experiments [in this line] and have lately secured some fine results in metallic effects on porcelain, different to anything yet seen, and very beautiful.” Seemingly insignificant, these small pieces were the proud results of endless experimentation conducted by Edward Lycett. Rather than making flat test tiles, Lycett chose to make miniature forms to test his various metallic effects. Made in different sizes and shapes, such as cruets, vases, pitchers, and heart-shaped dishes, these test pieces display the similar red iridescence, mirrored and matte gilding, and bubbling glaze techniques.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 1902
c. 1890
maker
Lycett, Edward
ID Number
CE.217338G
catalog number
217338G
accession number
40008

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