Religion

One hallmark of the American experience captured in the Museum's collections is the nation's broad diversity of religious faiths. Artifacts range from Thomas Jefferson's Bible to a huge "Sunstone" sculpture carved for a Mormon temple in Illinois in 1844 to a household shrine from the home of a Pueblo Indian in the 1990s. Furniture, musical instruments, clothing, cooking ware, and thousands of prints and figures in the collections have all played roles in the religious lives of Americans. The most comprehensive collections include artifacts from Jewish and Christian European Americans, Catholic Latinos, Protestant Arab Americans, Buddhist and Christian Asian Pacific Americans, and Protestant African Americans. One notable group is the Vidal Collection of carved figures known as santos and other folk religious material from the practice of Santeria in Puerto Rico.

Made in Wenkheim, Germany, this silk Torah mantle was brought to San Francisco by Jewish immigrants during the California gold rush and presented to Congregation Emanu-El. Founded in 1850, Emanu-El (Hebrew for "God is with us") was one of the first synagogues in San Francisco.
Description
Made in Wenkheim, Germany, this silk Torah mantle was brought to San Francisco by Jewish immigrants during the California gold rush and presented to Congregation Emanu-El. Founded in 1850, Emanu-El (Hebrew for "God is with us") was one of the first synagogues in San Francisco. It provided a spiritual and social community for German and central European Jews who came to California in search of economic opportunities and political freedom.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1785 - 1786
ID Number
1988.0183.001
accession number
1988.0183
catalog number
1988.0183.001
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1852-1853
1890
ID Number
GA.285049.02.01
accession number
285049
catalog number
285049.02.01
"Evening in the City, Synagogue at Eutaw Place, Baltimore" is a color etching by Gabrielle de Veaux Clements (1858–1948). The very small image, printed predominantly in blues and browns, depicts a view across the city at twilight.
Description
"Evening in the City, Synagogue at Eutaw Place, Baltimore" is a color etching by Gabrielle de Veaux Clements (1858–1948). The very small image, printed predominantly in blues and browns, depicts a view across the city at twilight. In the foreground, very faintly rendered with delicate lines, is the roof of a building, the moldings barely visible in the shadows. Two birds are perched on the right side of the rooftop. Along the horizon is a row of buildings. The largest, presumably the synagogue, has a dome and a spire. Several tiny windows are lit with a glowing, yellow light.
Between the years of 1896 and 1927 Clements created several etchings of Baltimore, later to be known as "The Baltimore Series." The series comprised five large plates of significant Baltimore landmarks, such as the Washington Monument and Mount Vernon Place. "Evening in the City," printed in 1920, could be a study for the series.
Toward the end of their careers in 1936 Clements and her partner and fellow printmaker Ellen Day Hale exhibited jointly at the Smithsonian. By that time they had been producing prints for more than sixty years. Their work was included in the first exhibition of etchings exclusively by women at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1887. As a response to the Etching Revival of the late 19th century, curator Sylvester R. Koehler included more than 400 etchings by twenty-five artists in the very successful exhibition titled Women Etchers of America. In 1888 the Union League Club in New York exhibited the same works, plus about 100 more by eleven additional women. A traveling exhibition celebrating the centennial of these two ground-breaking shows, American Women of the Etching Revival, was organized by the High Museum in Atlanta, Georgia in 1988. The NMAH lent works by Hale, Clements and others, and the Museum showed the exhibition in Washington in 1989.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1920
ID Number
GA.10740
catalog number
10740
accession number
62397
This etching by Léopold Flameng is known as either Un Rabbin or Un Vieux (An Old Man). The painting by Rembrandt hangs in the Musée Bonat, Bayonne, France.
Description
This etching by Léopold Flameng is known as either Un Rabbin or Un Vieux (An Old Man). The painting by Rembrandt hangs in the Musée Bonat, Bayonne, France. The print was etched for the Gazette des Beaux-Arts, a publication started in Paris by Charles Blanc in 1859, which ceased only recently. Flameng had met Blanc in the studio of a well-known engraver, Luigi Calamatta, and became one of two graphic artists on the new publication. He etched no fewer than 100 plates for the Gazette and some forty plates for Blanc’s book on Rembrandt’s work, published in 1859. Flameng’s etchings after Rembrandt were highly regarded by collectors in this period.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
19th century
original artist
Rembrandt van Rijn
graphic artist
Flameng, Léopold
publisher
Gazette des Beaux-Arts
ID Number
GA.14958
catalog number
14958
accession number
94830
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
MI.154402
catalog number
154402
accession number
22914
The shofar, one of the earliest known musical instruments, is usually made from a ram's horn. Used in biblical times to signal important events, it is also blown on High Holy Days (10 days in the fall of the year).
Description
The shofar, one of the earliest known musical instruments, is usually made from a ram's horn. Used in biblical times to signal important events, it is also blown on High Holy Days (10 days in the fall of the year). It is sounded many times during the services of Rosh ha-Shanah (the Jewish New Year) and once to conclude Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).
The blasts of the instrument are meant to wake slumbering souls to review their actions of the past year, to make amends, and to renew their devotion to work for the social and communal good in the coming year. This shofar is of a form typical of central European instruments, with a straightened shaft and flattened mouthpiece. It belonged to Curator Cyrus Adler's grandfather, Leopold Sulzberger, who was born in Germany. Sulzberger arrived in the United States in 1838, and died in 1881.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
before 1838
user
Sulzberger, Leopold
Cotton States Exposition
ID Number
MI.095142
accession number
22131
catalog number
95142
accession number
25947
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Dale Button and Emblem Co.
ID Number
1986.0773.106
accession number
1986.0773
catalog number
1986.0773.106
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1900
user
Wernikove, Sarah
ID Number
1986.0102.02
accession number
1986.0102
catalog number
1986.0102.02
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1912
maker; user
Wernikove, Sarah
maker
Wernikove, Sarah
ID Number
1986.0102.01
accession number
1986.0102
catalog number
1986.0102.01
This sheet music is for the song “The Troubles of the Reuben and the Maid.” The lyrics were written by J. Cheever Goodwin and the music was composed by Maurice Levi. The sheet music was published by The Rogers Brothers Music Publishing Company in 1902.
Description (Brief)
This sheet music is for the song “The Troubles of the Reuben and the Maid.” The lyrics were written by J. Cheever Goodwin and the music was composed by Maurice Levi. The sheet music was published by The Rogers Brothers Music Publishing Company in 1902. The cover features inset illustrations from the song, and the cover is signed by Starmer. The tune came from the musical farce “The Rogers Brothers in Harvard” that was created by John J. McNally.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1902
lyricist
Goodwin, J. Cheever
composer
Levi, Maurice
publisher
Rogers Brothers
ID Number
1983.0424.051
accession number
1983.0424
catalog number
1983.0424.051
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1967
maker
Newman, Arnold
ID Number
PG.69.233.23
catalog number
69.233.23
accession number
288722
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1820 - 1830
user
Kahan, Benjamin
ID Number
CL.391204
catalog number
391,204
391204
accession number
192962
When traveling a long distance, one often must travel light. This small prayer bag, used to hold a Jewish prayer book, was the choice of one German immigrant.
Description
When traveling a long distance, one often must travel light. This small prayer bag, used to hold a Jewish prayer book, was the choice of one German immigrant. The drawstring leather pouch, measuring 6-3/4" x 6-3/8", is covered with multicolored beadwork in floral and geometric patterns and bears the initials "L.R.S.," for Lazarus Roth Schild. The bag was made for him as an engagement present between 1810 and1825, then given to his son, about to depart for St. Louis, Missouri. Like many immigrants to America from the 1830s to the mid-19th century, the owner of this prayer bag had no choice but to leave his country of origin. He wanted to marry, but in some German municipalities, no Jews were allowed to marry unless there was proof that another Jewish community member had died. Other regions had laws requiring that Jewish families keep a Matrikel, or list of "all legally permitted families," and prohibited others from living there. One German publication noted in 1839 that the laws "make it little short of impossible for young Israelites to set up housekeeping in Bavaria; often their head is adorned with gray hair before they receive permission to set up house and can, therefore, think of marriage."
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1810 - 1825
user
Roth Schild, Lazurus
ID Number
CL.61.0367
accession number
235938
catalog number
61.0367
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1898
ID Number
CL.158464
catalog number
158464
accession number
34414
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1898
ID Number
CL.158463
catalog number
158463
accession number
34414
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1889 - 1905
ID Number
CL.005491
catalog number
5491
005491
accession number
1981.0126
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CL.310078B
accession number
64002
catalog number
310078B
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CL.310079
catalog number
310079
accession number
64002
Giving is a fundamental part of many religions. These plaques were used during Purim, a Jewish holiday. Purim traditions include donating funds to charity, often through Jewish organizations.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Giving is a fundamental part of many religions. These plaques were used during Purim, a Jewish holiday. Purim traditions include donating funds to charity, often through Jewish organizations.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
late 19th - early 20th century
ID Number
CL.314494
accession number
65066
catalog number
314494
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1917
ID Number
CL.300827
catalog number
300827
accession number
61648
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1898
ID Number
CL.158462
catalog number
158462
accession number
34414
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
late 19th - early 20th century
ID Number
CL.314493
accession number
65066
catalog number
314493
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1820 - 1830
user
Kahan, Benjamin
ID Number
CL.391201
catalog number
391201
391201
accession number
192962
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
c. 1870
ID Number
CL.315245
accession number
207992
catalog number
315245

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.