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.

Resource Type: Prints

Nandina domestica

Japanese wood block print. No 32 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 32 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.03217.32
catalog number
03217.32
accession number
22582

Girafe saturnienne

Etching with embossing and pochoir coloring. One of suite of six, "La Conquete du Cosmos II"Pencil signed by artist LR; edition number XXXV/ICLXXXXV; printed on Rives paper at Imprimerie d'Art Bellini, ParisEtching with embossing and pochoir coloring.
Description (Brief)
Etching with embossing and pochoir coloring. One of suite of six, "La Conquete du Cosmos II"
Pencil signed by artist LR; edition number XXXV/ICLXXXXV; printed on Rives paper at Imprimerie d'Art Bellini, Paris
Etching with embossing and pochoir coloring. One of suite of six, "La Conquete du Cosmos II"
Pencil signed by artist LR; edition number XXXV/ICLXXXXV; printed on Rives paper at Imprimerie d'Art Bellini, Paris
Etching with embossing and pochoir coloring. One of suite of six, "La Conquete du Cosmos II"
Pencil signed by artist LR; edition number XXXV/ICLXXXXV; printed on Rives paper at Imprimerie d'Art Bellini, Paris
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 1974
original artist
Dali, Salvador
ID Number
GA.24872.04
catalog number
24872.04
accession number
1978.0297

Egyptian Street Scene

James David Smillie etched Frederick Arthur Bridgman’s painting of a Middle Eastern street scene Lady of Cairo Visiting for the American Art Review issue of June 1881.
Description
James David Smillie etched Frederick Arthur Bridgman’s painting of a Middle Eastern street scene Lady of Cairo Visiting for the American Art Review issue of June 1881. Commenting on the issue, the New York Times noted that Smillie had been “particularly happy in his drawing” of the donkey, which appears prominently in the print.
A catalogue raisonné of Smillie’s prints has estimated that about 10,000 impressions of this scene were made, primarily for use as art magazine illustrations. To produce such a large number of prints from a copper plate, a soft metal that deteriorates with use, the publishers would have had to face the copper by electroplating. In this process (known as “steel facing”), a thin layer of iron is deposited on the copper plate.
Frederick Arthur Bridgman (1847–1928) trained with Jean-Léon Gérôme in Paris and later was known as “the American Gérôme.” He made a number of trips from his Paris base to North Africa and Egypt to sketch and collect artifacts for his paintings of Egyptian and Algerian subjects.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1881
original artist
Bridgman, Frederick Arthur
graphic artist
Smillie, James David
ID Number
GA.14802
catalog number
14802
accession number
94830

if each day falls...

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2000
c.2000
Associated Name
Neruda, Pablo
graphic artist
Wolfe Editions
Wolfe, David
author
Neruda, Pablo
ID Number
2009.0021.05
accession number
2009.0021
catalog number
2009.0021.05

Russian Beef Borsch

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968-1970
author
Waters, Alice
ID Number
2016.0085.22
accession number
2016.0085
catalog number
2016.0085.22

Whole Wheat Bread

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968-1970
author
Waters, Alice
ID Number
2016.0085.29
accession number
2016.0085
catalog number
2016.0085.29

Nandina domestica

Japanese wood block print. Second 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. Second 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.03217.02
catalog number
03217.02
accession number
22582

Moonlite Water

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
graphic artist
Totten, Ralph J.
ID Number
2013.0196.08
accession number
2013.0196
catalog number
2013.0196.08

Residence of John Richie, Yolo Yolo, Co., Cal.

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850
publisher
De Pue & Company
graphic artist
Joseph Winterburn & Company
ID Number
2014.0037.27
accession number
2014.0037
catalog number
2014.0037.27

Nandina domestica

Japanese wood block print. First 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. First 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.03217.01
catalog number
03217.01
accession number
22582

The Pool

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
ca 1928
ca 1931
ca 1927
ca 1933
ca 1932
ca 1936
ca 1929
graphic artist
Totten, Ralph J.
ID Number
2013.0196.42
accession number
2013.0196
catalog number
2013.0196.42

The Larder

Mezzotint after original painting by Paul de Vos once in the Gallery at Houghton. Now in the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, with descriptive title Cook at a Kitchen Table with Dead Game. Print tipped onto sheet bound in George P.
Description
Mezzotint after original painting by Paul de Vos once in the Gallery at Houghton. Now in the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, with descriptive title Cook at a Kitchen Table with Dead Game. Print tipped onto sheet bound in George P. Marsh’s copy of The Houghton Gallery, vol. 1. Formerly attributed to Marten de Vos as referenced on the print.
date made
1775
artist attribution
Vos, Marten de
engraver
Earlom, Richard
delineator
Farington, Joseph
publisher
Boydell, John
artist attribution
Vos, Paul de
ID Number
1978.0534.02.52
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.02.52

Portrait of the Painter Zamacois

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 1874
graphic artist
Fortuny y Carbo, Mariano
ID Number
GA.16778
catalog number
16778
accession number
119780

Nandina domestica

Japanese wood block print. No 31 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 31 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.03217.31
catalog number
03217.31
accession number
22582

nude woman reaching into water

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
graphic artist
Totten, Ralph J.
ID Number
2013.0196.09
accession number
2013.0196
catalog number
2013.0196.09

Nandina domestica

Japanese wood block print. No. 21 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. 21 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.03217.21
catalog number
03217.21
accession number
22582

Paella Valenciana

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968-1970
author
Waters, Alice
ID Number
2016.0085.17
accession number
2016.0085
catalog number
2016.0085.17

Nandina domestica

Japanese wood block print. Nol 4 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. Nol 4 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.03217.04
catalog number
03217.04
accession number
22582

Archbishop Laud

Mezzotint after painting formerly attributed to Anthony van Dyck, hung in the Drawing Room at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, England. Now in the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg as a repetition by the workshop of van Dyck.
Description
Mezzotint after painting formerly attributed to Anthony van Dyck, hung in the Drawing Room at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, England. Now in the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg as a repetition by the workshop of van Dyck. The painting that is now considered the original portrait is in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England. Print removed from George P. Marsh’s copy of The Houghton Gallery, vol. 2. Marsh probably wrote the numeral 11 in pencil in the lower right margin. Pencil note in the binding indicates the print was taken out for framing in March, 1894. SI Secretary's Library stamp embossed lower right.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1779
original artist
Van Dyck, Anthony
engraver
Watson, James
publisher
Boydell, John
ID Number
1978.0534.03.13
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.03.13

nude woman with cloth, dancing on beach

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
graphic artist
Totten, Ralph J.
ID Number
2013.0196.14
accession number
2013.0196
catalog number
2013.0196.14

Wild Geese

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
ca 1928
ca 1931
ca 1927
ca 1933
ca 1932
ca 1936
ca 1929
graphic artist
Totten, Ralph J.
ID Number
2013.0196.35
accession number
2013.0196
catalog number
2013.0196.35

Oath of Vargas

Paul Rajon’s print of Le Serment de Vargas is made after a watercolor of the subject by Louis Gallait (1810–1887), not from the oil painting that is now in the Wallace Collection in London.
Description
Paul Rajon’s print of Le Serment de Vargas is made after a watercolor of the subject by Louis Gallait (1810–1887), not from the oil painting that is now in the Wallace Collection in London. Juan de Vargas is swearing an oath before the Duke of Alva, who was a governor of the Netherlands in the 16th century during the long struggle by the Dutch for independence from Spain, achieved at last in 1648. He pursued a bloody campaign against the Dutch Protestants. Louis Gallait was a Belgian painter of history, portraits, and genre.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
19th century
original artist
Gallait, Louis
graphic artist
Rajon, Paul-Adolphe
printer
Salmon, A.
publisher
Gazette des Beaux-Arts
ID Number
GA.14912
catalog number
14912
accession number
94830

Nandina domestica

Japanese wood block print. No. 16 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. 16 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.03217.16
catalog number
03217.16
accession number
22582

Pate Maison

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968-1970
author
Waters, Alice
ID Number
2016.0085.18
accession number
2016.0085
catalog number
2016.0085.18

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