Century Vase
Century Vase
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- Description
- This ornate, baluster-shaped vase is known as the Century (or Centennial) vase. Commemorating the first 100 years of U.S. history, it features a relief portrait of George Washington, molded North American bison heads employed as handles, and historical scenes and images, including Penn's treaty with the Indians, the Boston Tea Party, and a log cabin with an early settler. A similar vase was manufactured for exhibition at the U.S. Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia in 1876. Congress mandated the exhibition to commemorate "the natural resources of the country and their development, and [the country's] progress in those arts which benefit mankind, in comparison with those of older nations."
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- vase
- date made
- c. 1876
- maker
- Union Porcelain Works
- place made
- United States: New York, Brooklyn, Greenpoint
- Physical Description
- ceramic; porcelain (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 21 3/4 in x 19 1/4 in; 55.245 cm x 48.895 cm
- ID Number
- CE.74.17
- accession number
- 312735
- catalog number
- 74.17
- See more items in
- Cultural and Community Life: Ceramics and Glass
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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