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: United States

The Old Clothes Dealer, Cairo

Beneath the image in the plate, left: "S J Ferris aquaforti 1879"; right, "J L Gerome Pinxt". In pencil, bottom right: "Earliest proof from plate J L G Fr" and "S J Ferris". There are three impressions in the collection. Printed on chine colle.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Beneath the image in the plate, left: "S J Ferris aquaforti 1879"; right, "J L Gerome Pinxt". In pencil, bottom right: "Earliest proof from plate J L G Fr" and "S J Ferris". There are three impressions in the collection. Printed on chine colle.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1879
original artist
Gerome, Jean Leon
graphic artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.14517.03
catalog number
14517.03
accession number
94830

Billy Bird

Billy Bird, seen here autographing a paper plate, played with Ernest Tubb (1920-2001) and was a pioneer of the electric guitar.Currently not on view
Description
Billy Bird, seen here autographing a paper plate, played with Ernest Tubb (1920-2001) and was a pioneer of the electric guitar.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1973
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.075
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.075

Cabbage Leaf

Mounted gelatin silver print of Edward Weston's Cabbage Leaf, 1931. The photograph was printed by Edward's son Cole Weston from his father's original negative.Edward Weston was influential in the modern photography movement beginning in the 1930s.
Description (Brief)
Mounted gelatin silver print of Edward Weston's Cabbage Leaf, 1931. The photograph was printed by Edward's son Cole Weston from his father's original negative.
Edward Weston was influential in the modern photography movement beginning in the 1930s. He is well known for photographing the natural surroundings of his home on the California coast. Weston created striking works of art, some abstract, some more traditional images. A leader in American photography of the 20th century, Weston's prints were first exhibited at the Smithsonian in 1947. Afterwards, he remained interested in the national photography collection. At times, Weston recommended photographers to curators for collecting opportunities, and eventually donated a selection of his work and several cameras to the Photographic History Collection.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1931
maker - negative
Weston, Edward
ID Number
PG.69.137.02
catalog number
69.137.2
accession number
288850

Mary Louis McLaughlin plate

Before becoming an international phenomenon, the Arts and Crafts movement began with the ideas of British artisan William Morris (1834-1896) and writer John Ruskin (1819-1900).
Description
Before becoming an international phenomenon, the Arts and Crafts movement began with the ideas of British artisan William Morris (1834-1896) and writer John Ruskin (1819-1900). Morris and Ruskin believed that the growth of cities isolated urban workers and that mass production negatively affected artisan crafts. They proposed to solve these issues by returning to a medieval-inspired village model where everybody participated in a community lifestyle. In the United States, artisans adapted these ideas into the studio art pottery movement. Unlike their British counterparts, who often focused predominantly on social issues and therefore made objects that incorporated Gothic and Renaissance motifs, American craftsmen developed a cohesive and novel aesthetic.
This pink-rimmed plate was decorated by American ceramics innovator Mary Louis McLaughlin. Historians generally acknowledge McLaughlin as being the first American ceramics decorator to develop the technique for underglaze slip decoration. Influenced by the Haviland & Co. porcelain at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876, McLaughlin allegedly recreated the complex technique in less than three months in 1877.
Before McLaughlin’s experimentation, underglaze ceramic decoration was limited to the five high-firing colors that can withstand the blazing temperatures of the kiln: cobalt blue, manganese purple, copper green, antimony yellow, and iron brown. Her innovations allowed McLaughlin to explore a new range of colors for her wares, including the delicate shell pink on this plate.
Although Victorian women were still culturally expected to fulfill duties in the home, the Arts and Crafts movement saw a surge of women playing prominent roles in the decorative arts. Like her colleagues Adelaide Alsop Robineau and Maria Longworth Nichols Storer, McLaughlin was a prominent woman ceramicist whom her contemporaries recognized during her lifetime; celebrated furniture designer Gustav Stickley featured several articles about her work in his journal, The Craftsman.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 1895-1898
ID Number
CE.74.157
catalog number
74.157
accession number
314609

Pepper & Toast

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968-1970
author
Waters, Alice
ID Number
2016.0085.19
accession number
2016.0085
catalog number
2016.0085.19

plate

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CE.75.130T
catalog number
75.130T
accession number
317832

Anita Carter

The youngest of the three Carter Sisters, Anita began performing with Mother Maybelle and the Carter Family at age four. She performed with her mother and sisters throughout her career, though she found success of her own during the 1950s.
Description
The youngest of the three Carter Sisters, Anita began performing with Mother Maybelle and the Carter Family at age four. She performed with her mother and sisters throughout her career, though she found success of her own during the 1950s. Anita (1933-1999) was the first to record the song "Ring of Fire," written by her sister June (1929-2003). It later became a hit for her brother-in-law Johnny Cash.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1973
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.078
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.078

Peyton C. March

Oil on illustration board. Portrait of four star General Peyton C. March.
Description
Oil on illustration board. Portrait of four star General Peyton C. March. Army Service Ribbons for Decorations and Medals include: Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Cross, Unknown Ribbon (three bands of blue equally spaced separated by two yellow bands on the left and a block of red on the right, possibly Russo-Japanesse War Medal), Spanish Campaign, Philippine Campaign, Mexican Border Service, Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, Grand Cross Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, Unknown Ribbon (mostly white with two equally spaced red bands, inbetween red bands are alternating bands of faint yellow and white), Unknown Ribbon (solid white with two equally spaced bands of light blue or white), Grand Cross Order of Saint George I, Unknown Ribbon (solid red with two equally spaced bands of blue at each ends), Unknown Ribbon (alternating bands of red and yellow), and China Service. March wears officer pins and the pin of the Chief of Staff on his collar. He has a goatee and is painted on a grey background. Catalogue card reads "Painted in France by Jos. C. Chase. Presented in 1922-1931".
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1917 - 1918
associated person
March, Peyton C.
artist
Chase, Joseph Cummings
ID Number
AF.37711
catalog number
37711
accession number
117218

print

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1893
graphic artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.14527
catalog number
14527
accession number
94830

Timothy Cole, Servant of the Church

Black and white print, half length portrait of a man (Timothy Cole) at a pulpit. He has one hand raised and another on a book, which is resting on the pulpit.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white print, half length portrait of a man (Timothy Cole) at a pulpit. He has one hand raised and another on a book, which is resting on the pulpit.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Cole, Timothy
maker
Moore, Thomas
original artist
Howes, S.P.
ID Number
DL.60.3206
catalog number
60.3206

compote

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1979.0247.09ab
accession number
1979.0247
catalog number
1979.0247.09ab

Engraved wood block "Kasanji"

Joseph H. Brightly (about 1818–about 1858) of Philadelphia and New York City engraved this printing block after the drawing Kasanji, a native of Kasanji, by Expedition Artist Alfred T. Agate. The wood engraving illustration was published on page 63 of Volume I of the U.S.
Description
Joseph H. Brightly (about 1818–about 1858) of Philadelphia and New York City engraved this printing block after the drawing Kasanji, a native of Kasanji, by Expedition Artist Alfred T. Agate. The wood engraving illustration was published on page 63 of Volume I of the U.S. Exploring Expedition Narrative by Charles Wilkes, 1844.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1844
ca 1844
publisher
Wilkes, Charles
printer
Sherman, Conger
author
Wilkes, Charles
original artist
Agate, A. T.
graphic artist
Brightly, Joseph H.
ID Number
1999.0145.038
accession number
1999.0145
catalog number
1999.0145.038
accession number
1999.0145

Council (or more properly, Sun Dance or Medicine Lodge)

Bear's Heart, or Nock-ko-ist (Cheyenne),drawn between 1875 and 1878 at Fort Marion, Florida"Council" (or more properly, Sun Dance or Medicine Lodge)Collected by Richard Henry Pratt about 1878Colored pencil, ink, colored ink, and watercolorThe drawing of a Sun Dance or Medicine Lo
Description
Bear's Heart, or Nock-ko-ist (Cheyenne),
drawn between 1875 and 1878 at Fort Marion, Florida
"Council" (or more properly, Sun Dance or Medicine Lodge)
Collected by Richard Henry Pratt about 1878
Colored pencil, ink, colored ink, and watercolor
The drawing of a Sun Dance or Medicine Lodge gathering offers a partial view of one moment in the most sacred of Plains Indian ceremonies. The event is represented here by the Sun Dance lodge with its cloth and tree-branch offerings flying. The people stand outside to bear witness to the sacred offerings being made, while four painted Sun Dancers stand ready to make their sacrifices inside. Four men, probably warrior society officers, stand guard over the ceremony.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1875-1878
original artist
Bear's Heart
ID Number
2008.0175.56
accession number
2008.0175
catalog number
2008.0175.056

dish

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CE.75.130AV
catalog number
75.130AV
accession number
317832

bowl, soup

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CE.75.130L
catalog number
75.130L
accession number
317832

Mother Maybelle and the Carter Family

Maybelle Carter (1909-1978) was an original member of the performing Carter Family. After the breakup of that group in 1943, she formed a new act, known as Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters, with daughters Helen (1927-1998) shown here on accordian, June and Anita.
Description
Maybelle Carter (1909-1978) was an original member of the performing Carter Family. After the breakup of that group in 1943, she formed a new act, known as Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters, with daughters Helen (1927-1998) shown here on accordian, June and Anita. Maybelle was an influential presence, particularly as the originator of a style of guitar playing emulated by Leadbelly, Woodie Guthrie, and many other musicians.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1973
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.079
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.079

Watercress Soup

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968-1970
author
Waters, Alice
ID Number
2016.0085.28
accession number
2016.0085
catalog number
2016.0085.28

Rooster Weathervane

Depicting a rooster. Body of cast iron with sheet metal tail. Legs are free standing. There is a metal vertical support between legs.
Description (Brief)
Depicting a rooster. Body of cast iron with sheet metal tail. Legs are free standing. There is a metal vertical support between legs.
ID Number
CL.65.0955
accession number
261195
catalog number
65.0955
collector/donor number
T-9

Pediment

Made of carved wood. Carving of an Indian and buffalo.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Made of carved wood. Carving of an Indian and buffalo.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CL.65.1159
accession number
261195
catalog number
65.1159
collector/donor number
T-28

Rookwood vase

Before becoming an international phenomenon, the Arts and Crafts movement began with the ideas of British artisan William Morris (1834-1896) and writer John Ruskin (1819-1900).
Description
Before becoming an international phenomenon, the Arts and Crafts movement began with the ideas of British artisan William Morris (1834-1896) and writer John Ruskin (1819-1900). Morris and Ruskin believed that the growth of cities isolated urban workers and that mass production negatively affected artisan crafts. They proposed to solve these issues by returning to a medieval-inspired village model where everybody participated in a community lifestyle. In the United States, artisans adapted these ideas into the studio art pottery movement. Unlike their British counterparts, who often focused predominantly on social issues and therefore made objects that incorporated Gothic and Renaissance motifs, American craftsmen developed a cohesive and novel aesthetic.
This small Rookwood vase showcases the company’s “Mahogany Standard Glaze.” Although it had been producing objects with the distinctive gradient coloration since 1885, Rookwood only began referring to the glaze as their “Standard Glaze” in 1900. This process was comparatively expensive; it was technically challenging to achieve and many of the pieces taken out of the kiln were defective. In the “Mahogany” version, the decorator airbrushed the slip yellow-tinted background onto a red clay body. Unlike traditional glaze decoration, which is actually a kind of glass, slip decoration is made from colored clay and adheres tightly to the clay surface onto which it is applied.
Like many of its counterparts, this vase features a floral motif. The trumpet flower on this vase was a popular flower in Victorian gardens and would have been easily recognized by its intended consumers: the rapidly growing American middle class.
This small Rookwood vase showcases the company’s “Mahogany Standard Glaze.” Although it had been producing objects with the distinctive gradient coloration since 1885, Rookwood only began referring to the glaze as their “Standard Glaze” in 1900. This process was comparatively expensive; it was technically challenging to achieve and many of the pieces taken out of the kiln were defective. In the “Mahogany” version, the decorator airbrushed the slip yellow-tinted background onto a red clay body. Unlike traditional glaze decoration, which is actually a kind of glass, slip decoration is made from colored clay and adheres tightly to the clay surface onto which it is applied.
Like many of its counterparts, this vase features a floral motif. The trumpet flower on this vase was a popular flower in Victorian gardens and would have been easily recognized by its intended consumers: the rapidly growing American middle class.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1885
maker
Rookwood Pottery
ID Number
CE.393577
catalog number
393577
accession number
208838

dish, pickle

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CE.75.130AS
catalog number
75.130AS
accession number
317832

Ernest Tubb arriving at music venue

For much of his career, Ernest Tubb, the "Texas Troubadour" was considered the ultimate honky tonk vocalist and stylist. Inspired by Jimmie Rodgers in the 1920s, Tubb sustained a musical career that at times also branched into film and television.
Description
For much of his career, Ernest Tubb, the "Texas Troubadour" was considered the ultimate honky tonk vocalist and stylist. Inspired by Jimmie Rodgers in the 1920s, Tubb sustained a musical career that at times also branched into film and television. No artist toured as much, or for as long as Ernest Tubb, who worked 150 to 200 shows each year between the early 1960s and 1982. No artist was kinder to his fans, and no fans were more loyal to their star. Ernest Tubb had one national fan club with a single president for its entire existence between 1944 and its deactivation in the early 1990s.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1973
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.084
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.084

Eagle

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1850 - 1899
maker
Schimmel, Wilhelm
ID Number
CL.65.1088
accession number
256396
catalog number
65.1088

dish

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
about 1879
ID Number
CE.75.125C
catalog number
75.125C
accession number
317832

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