Communications

WANN Microphone

Tools of communication have transformed American society time and again over the past two centuries. The Museum has preserved many instruments of these changes, from printing presses to personal digital assistants.

The collections include hundreds of artifacts from the printing trade and related fields, including papermaking equipment, wood and metal type collections, bookbinding tools, and typesetting machines. Benjamin Franklin is said to have used one of the printing presses in the collection in 1726.

More than 7,000 objects chart the evolution of electronic communications, including the original telegraph of Samuel Morse and Alexander Graham Bell's early telephones. Radios, televisions, tape recorders, and the tools of the computer age are part of the collections, along with wireless phones and a satellite tracking system.

Topic: Art

A Rustic Genji (Inaka Genji)

Wood block, Japanese. Landscape with two kimono-clad female figures in foreground; men engaged in agricultural activities in background with waterwheel. Block used to produce left-hand print in a triptych with GA 03213 and GA 03215.
Description
Wood block, Japanese. Landscape with two kimono-clad female figures in foreground; men engaged in agricultural activities in background with waterwheel. Block used to produce left-hand print in a triptych with GA 03213 and GA 03215. 24 separate impressions were required to complete the image from 14 printing surfaces on eight blocks. This block printed impressions GA 03216.08 and .14( gray and green--recto) and GA 03216.17 (red details on hair ornaments and clothing--verso). Both sides of block show some Japanese writing.
ID Number
GA.03216.30
accession number
22582
catalog number
03216.30

A Rustic Genji (Inaka Genji)

Wood block, Japanese. Landscape with two kimono-clad female figures in foreground; men engaged in agricultural activities in background with waterwheel. Block used to produce left-hand print in a triptych with GA 03213 and GA 03215.
Description
Wood block, Japanese. Landscape with two kimono-clad female figures in foreground; men engaged in agricultural activities in background with waterwheel. Block used to produce left-hand print in a triptych with GA 03213 and GA 03215. 24 separate impressions were required to complete the image from 14 printing surfaces on eight blocks, of which this is the key block providing the outline of the entire image on the recto. Four lines of Japanese writing on verso.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Morikawa, Kokichiro
ID Number
GA.03216.25
accession number
22582
catalog number
03216.25

baren

Barens used for rubbing the back of the paper against the inked block in Japanese printmaking. See illustrations GA.03209.03-.04. A baren is made of four parts. A stiff disk formed of paper layers pasted together is turned up at the edge to form a shallow receptacle.
Description
Barens used for rubbing the back of the paper against the inked block in Japanese printmaking. See illustrations GA.03209.03-.04. A baren is made of four parts. A stiff disk formed of paper layers pasted together is turned up at the edge to form a shallow receptacle. It is covered with cotton cloth. A second disk of twisted cord fits into this receptacle and is held in place by a bamboo sheath drawn tightly over it and twisted together on the back to form a handle wrapped with additional paper. See illustrations GA.05028-29 diagramming the method of printing with the baren. One baren is divided into its constituent parts; there are several barens registered under this number.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
GA.03211.10
accession number
22582
catalog number
03211.10

A Rustic Genji (Inaka Genji)

Wood block, Japanese. Landscape with two kimono-clad female figures in foreground; men engaged in agricultural activities in background with waterwheel. Block used to produce left-hand print in a triptych with GA 03213 and GA 03215.
Description
Wood block, Japanese. Landscape with two kimono-clad female figures in foreground; men engaged in agricultural activities in background with waterwheel. Block used to produce left-hand print in a triptych with GA 03213 and GA 03215. 24 separate impressions were required to complete the image from 14 printing surfaces on eight blocks. This block printed impressions GA 03216.09 and .12( aqua and blue--recto) and GA 03216.15, .16, .18 (--verso).
ID Number
GA.03216.31
accession number
22582
catalog number
03216.31

Nandina domestica

Japanese wood block print. No. 33 in a series of progressive proofs of a stylized group of leaves and berries from the shrub Nandina domestica. Designed by Tsubaki Chinzan, engraved by Kotaro Kido, and printed by Iwakichi Yamamoto.Currently not on view
Description
Japanese wood block print. No. 33 in a series of progressive proofs of a stylized group of leaves and berries from the shrub Nandina domestica. Designed by Tsubaki Chinzan, engraved by Kotaro Kido, and printed by Iwakichi Yamamoto.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
GA.03217.33
catalog number
03217.33
accession number
22582

Satan tempting Christ in the wilderness

Title attribution from the British Museum online catalogue. Signed in the plate " DvB in." [invenit]. Vinckboons's original drawing is in the Kunsthalle, Hamburg.Currently not on view
Description
Title attribution from the British Museum online catalogue. Signed in the plate " DvB in." [invenit]. Vinckboons's original drawing is in the Kunsthalle, Hamburg.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
17th century
graphic artist
Visscher, Nicolaes Jansz
original artist
Vinckboons, David
ID Number
1978.0534.05
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.05

brush

Flat brush with wooden handle used for wetting paper in Japanese printmaking. Bristles held in place with two lines of stitching. See illustrations GA.03209.03-.04.Currently not on view
Description
Flat brush with wooden handle used for wetting paper in Japanese printmaking. Bristles held in place with two lines of stitching. See illustrations GA.03209.03-.04.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
GA.03211.08
accession number
22582
catalog number
03211.08

Nandina domestica

Japanese wood block print. No. 10 in a series of progressive proofs of a stylized group of leaves and berries from the shrub Nandina domestica. Designed by Tsubaki Chinzan, engraved by Kotaro Kido, and printed by Iwakichi Yamamoto.Currently not on view
Description
Japanese wood block print. No. 10 in a series of progressive proofs of a stylized group of leaves and berries from the shrub Nandina domestica. Designed by Tsubaki Chinzan, engraved by Kotaro Kido, and printed by Iwakichi Yamamoto.
Location
Currently not on view
engraver
Kido, Kotaro
ID Number
GA.03217.10
catalog number
03217.10
accession number
22582

Mendiant

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 1860
original artist
Fortuny y Carbo, Mariano
publisher
Goupil & Cie.
graphic artist
Delatre
ID Number
GA.16767
catalog number
16767
accession number
119780

Sketch of a Dead Mouse

A signed and dated ink drawing made on January 8, 1876, which took 40 minutes to complete. There is a sketch of a horse's legs on the verso with notes on the anatomy.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
A signed and dated ink drawing made on January 8, 1876, which took 40 minutes to complete. There is a sketch of a horse's legs on the verso with notes on the anatomy.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1876-01-08
original artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.16697
catalog number
16697
accession number
119780

Sunny Side

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1969
1962
original artist
Palmer, Frances F.
publisher
Travelers Companies, Inc.
ID Number
2012.3050.05.16
nonaccession number
2012.3050
catalog number
2012.3050.05.16

sheet(paper)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
U.S. Government Printing Office
ID Number
GA.20482
accession number
203077

Andre del Sarto

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
19th century
depicted (sitter)
del Sarto, Andrea
engraver
Monzies, Louis
printer
Salmon, A.
ID Number
2014.0250.49
accession number
2014.0250
catalog number
2014.0250.49

A Rustic Genji (Inaka Genji)

Wood block, Japanese, used to produce right-hand print of GA 03213 series forming a triptych with GA 03215 (center) and GA 03216 (left). Landscape with three kimono-clad figures under arching branch of tree.
Description
Wood block, Japanese, used to produce right-hand print of GA 03213 series forming a triptych with GA 03215 (center) and GA 03216 (left). Landscape with three kimono-clad figures under arching branch of tree. 23 separate impressions were required to complete the image from 13 printing surfaces on seven blocks. This block (recto) printed impressions GA 03213.06, .11, .12, and .21 (yellow, blue, red) and (verso) used for GA 03213.20 ( red outline).
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Morikawa, Kokichiro
ID Number
GA.03212.06
catalog number
03212.06
accession number
22582

photograph

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890s
ID Number
2012.0093.03
accession number
2012.0093
catalog number
2012.0093.03

A Rustic Genji (Inaka Genji)

Wood block, Japanese. Key block for right-hand print GA 03213 series forming a triptych with GA 03215 (center) and GA 03216 (left). Landscape with three kimono-clad figures under arching branch of tree. Four lines of Japanese calligraphy on verso.
Description
Wood block, Japanese. Key block for right-hand print GA 03213 series forming a triptych with GA 03215 (center) and GA 03216 (left). Landscape with three kimono-clad figures under arching branch of tree. Four lines of Japanese calligraphy on verso.
ID Number
GA.03212.01
catalog number
03212.01
accession number
22582

The Red Shawl

"The Red Shawl" is a soft ground color etching and aquatint by May Gearhart (1872–1951). Although she created landscape prints like her sister Frances, May Gearhart also made prints of figure subjects.
Description
"The Red Shawl" is a soft ground color etching and aquatint by May Gearhart (1872–1951). Although she created landscape prints like her sister Frances, May Gearhart also made prints of figure subjects. "The Red Shawl" is an image inspired by one of her trips to Mexico.
In the print, a woman shown in profile holds a small bouquet of flowers while walking along a cobblestone sidewalk next to a white building. Her layered clothing, Gearhart's skillful use of color, and the deep shadows give the impression of a cold, but sunny morning. The woman is wearing a full, plaid, violet skirt and a red shawl. Her slightly bowed head is covered by a yellow kerchief and her face is shadowed.
Gearhart achieved a watercolor effect by thinning oil-based inks. This tiny print is very loosely rendered, a characteristic of the soft ground technique. Although the process of printmaking usually involves creating a set of identical images, Gearhart often printed in small editions, using different shades of ink for each print to produce unique impressions.
The Gearhart sisters both taught school, and they worked closely with two brothers, Benjamin and Howell Brown, to establish and support printmaking organizations in California. The Gearharts and the Browns exhibited their prints at the Smithsonian in the 1920s, and they all made generous donations of their work.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
[1920]
graphic artist
Gearhart, May
ID Number
GA.13357
catalog number
13357
accession number
70154

Indigo blue: Ai-gami

Small glass bottle of pigment used for printing Japanese woodblocks. Paper label in English with color name as transliterated from Japanese: Indigo blue: Ai-gami; separate label with catalogue number. No cork; glass broken at top.
Description
Small glass bottle of pigment used for printing Japanese woodblocks. Paper label in English with color name as transliterated from Japanese: Indigo blue: Ai-gami; separate label with catalogue number. No cork; glass broken at top. Bottle contains paper saturated with color which suggests this may be dayflower, Tsu-yu-kusa, rather than indigo which did not come in paper form.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
GA.03444
catalog number
03444
accession number
23218

Cavalier with Lute

The signed 1893 pen and ink drawing of a seated cavalier in large hat with plume and high boots, suggests seventeenth-century France, especially the era of the swashbuckling heroes known as three musketeers, created by Alexander Dumas, père.
Description (Brief)
The signed 1893 pen and ink drawing of a seated cavalier in large hat with plume and high boots, suggests seventeenth-century France, especially the era of the swashbuckling heroes known as three musketeers, created by Alexander Dumas, père. The cavalier is accompanying himself on a lute in what might be a tavern scene. A wine glass and carafe are lightly sketched at center left in pencil. Ferris also made a print of this subject.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1893
original artist
Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome
ID Number
GA.16620
catalog number
16620
accession number
119780

Booklet

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
GA.16388.01

American Text Books of Art Education: Perspective Drawing No. 3

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1873
author
Smith, Walter
ID Number
2014.0029.02
accession number
2014.0029
catalog number
2014.0029.02

print

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1944
maker
Kline, Franz
ID Number
2013.0057.01
accession number
2013.0057
catalog number
2013.0057.01

Zayda Playing an Instrument

Gerome Ferris titled the initialed pencil drawing of a seated young woman playing an instrument, Zayda/Three Princesses." Zayda is a character from "Legend of the Three Beautiful Princesses" in Washington Irving’s book, Tales of the Alhambra, first published in 1832.Currently not
Description (Brief)
Gerome Ferris titled the initialed pencil drawing of a seated young woman playing an instrument, Zayda/Three Princesses." Zayda is a character from "Legend of the Three Beautiful Princesses" in Washington Irving’s book, Tales of the Alhambra, first published in 1832.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1851
original artist
Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome
ID Number
GA.16629
catalog number
16629
accession number
119780

Portrait of Von Steuben

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1857
depicted (sitter)
Steuben, Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin
engraver
Huber, Kaspar Ulrich
ID Number
2014.0250.43
accession number
2014.0250
catalog number
2014.0250.43

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