Art
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.
1,235
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baren
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Studies for San Salvador, 1492
- Description
- Unsigned sheet of pencil drawings listing names of men who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his first expedition to the New World and shows some armor they might have worn. About 1930 Gerome Ferris painted San Salvador, 1492 in which Columbus claims the island of present-day San Salvador for Spain.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1920s
- maker
- Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome
- ID Number
- 1985.0650.004
- accession number
- 1985.0650
- catalog number
- 85.0650.004
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Engraved woodblock of a "Navajo blanket"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of a "Navajo blanket" was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Figure 53 (p.387) in an article by Dr. Washington Matthews (1843-1905) entitled “Navajo Weavers” in the Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1881-82.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1884
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- block maker
- W. T. & B.
- author
- Matthews, Washington
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.1180
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.1180
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Engraved woodblock of a "House-burial"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of a “House-burial” was prepared by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887); the print was published by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C. in 1881 as Figure 27 (p. 175) in an article by Dr. H. C. Yarrow (1840-1929) entitled “Mortuary Customs of the North American Indians” in the First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1879-80.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1881
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- graphic artist
- Nichols, H. H.
- author
- Yarrow, Harry Crecy
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0084
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0084
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Engraved woodblock of a "Basket with pendants"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of “Basket with pendants” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C; the print was published as Figure 313 (p.213) in an article by William H. Holmes (1846-1933) entitled “A Study of the Textile Art in its Relation to the Development of Form and Ornament” in the Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian,1884-85.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1888
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Holmes, William Henry
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0504
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0504
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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A Flower Piece
- Description
- Mezzotint from George P. Marsh's copy of The Houghton Gallery, vol. 1. Removed from the binding by curator S. R. Koehler for use in the Smithsonian exhbition at Cincinnati in 1888. Companion print to A Fruit Piece, also after van Huysum. In the volume's table of contents, the publisher described these two prints as surpassing, "in point of execution, every print before engraved in this manner."
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1778
- engraver
- Earlom, Richard
- delineator
- Farington, Joseph
- publisher
- Boydell, John
- original artist
- Huysum, Jan van
- ID Number
- 1978.0534.02.91
- accession number
- 1978.0534
- catalog number
- 1978.0534.02.91
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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The Mocking of Ceres
- Description
- Engraving, night print. Trimmed and mounted on manila paper within ink-ruled border; oval blind stamp of the SI Secretary's Library at lower left. Two columns of Latin verse signed "Janus Rutgers" form an inscription below the image. The subject is based on the Metamorphoses of Ovid and the print is dedicated to Cardinal Scipio Borghese.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1610
- original artist
- Elsheimer, Adam
- engraver
- Goudt, Hendrik
- ID Number
- 1978.0534.49
- accession number
- 1978.0534
- catalog number
- 1978.0534.49
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
A Boy with his Nurse
- Description
- Mezzotint after painting formerly attributed to Titian once in the Salon at Houghton. Now in State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg where it is provisionally attributed to Alessandro Bonvicino, called Il Moretto da Brescia. Print tipped onto sheet bound in George P. Marsh’s copy of The Houghton Gallery, vol. 1.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1778
- artist attribution
- Titian
- engraver
- Murphy, John
- publisher
- Boydell, John
- ID Number
- 1978.0534.02.89
- accession number
- 1978.0534
- catalog number
- 1978.0534.02.89
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Christ Laid in the Sepulchre
- Description
- Mezzotint after painting formerly attributed to Parmigianino (Francesco Mazzola) once in the Cabinet at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, England. Now in the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, as a copy. Print removed from George P. Marsh’s copy of The Houghton Gallery, vol. 2. Marsh probably wrote the numeral 54 in pencil in the lower right corner.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1788
- artist attribution
- Parmigianino
- publisher
- Boydell, John
- Boydell, Josiah
- engraver
- Hodges, Charles Howard
- ID Number
- 1978.0534.03.56
- accession number
- 1978.0534
- catalog number
- 1978.0534.03.56
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Archbishop Laud
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
The Larder
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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The Holy Family with John the Baptist
- Description
- Stipple engraving after painting by Johannes (Hans) Rottenhamer once in the Cabinet at Houghton. Now in Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow. Print removed from George P. Marsh’s copy of The Houghton Gallery, vol. 2. Impressions of this print were mistakenly included in both volumes of Marsh's set. The more typical location of the print was in vol. 2 according to the order given in the checklist of the contents of the Houghton Gallery in Rubenstein (1991). For Marsh's other impression, still bound into vol. 1, see 1978.0534.02.76.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1781
- publisher
- Boydell, John
- original artist
- Rottenhammer, Hans
- engraver
- Michel, Jean Baptiste
- ID Number
- 1978.0534.03.32
- accession number
- 1978.0534
- catalog number
- 1978.0534.03.32
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Hercules on his funeral pyre at Mt Oeta
- Description
- Trimmed at the plate mark. Guido Reni's four paintings of the Labors of Hercules, once part of the collection of England's King Charles I, were purchased by the French King Louis XIV in 1662 and engraved by Rousselet in 1669-1670. The copper plates survive in the Chalcography of the Louvre. This impression probably was made in the 18th century.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 18th century
- original artist
- Reni, Guido
- graphic artist
- Rousselet, Gilles
- ID Number
- 1978.0534.07
- accession number
- 1978.0534
- catalog number
- 1978.0534.07
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Peasants in conversation
- Description
- Etching, weak or late impression of 6th state, trimmed to ruled border. Alternate titles "Grotesques" or "Three Grotesque Figures." See Godefroy 28.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1647
- maker
- Ostade, Adriaen van
- ID Number
- 1978.0534.24
- accession number
- 1978.0534
- catalog number
- 1978.0534.24
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Engraved woodblock of an "Indian mask from the northwest coast of America"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of an “Indian mask from the northwest coast of America” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Plate XIV.23 (p.173) in an article by William Healey Dall (1845-1927) entitled “On Masks, Labrets, and Certain Aboriginal Customs with an Inquiry into the Bearing of Their Geographical Distribution” in the Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1881-82. According to the annual report, the image shows a “dancing mask used by the Indians of Cape Flattery, Washington Territory” and was originally drawn by J.G. Swan (1818-1900).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1884
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Dall, William H.
- original artist
- Swan, J. G.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.1011
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.1011
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Engraved woodblock of the "Earliest map showing the location of the Cherokees, 1597"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of the “Earliest map showing [the] location of the Cherokees, 1597” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Plate VII (p.128) in an article by Charles Royce (1845-1923) entitled “The Cherokee Nation of Indians: a narrative of their official relations with the colonial and federal governments” in the Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1883-84.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1887
- publisher
- Government Printing Office
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- U.S. Government Printing Office
- author
- Royce, Charles C.
- block maker
- J. J. & Co.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.1531
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.1531
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Engraved woodblock of a "Basket with pendant buckskin"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of a “Basket with pendant buckskin” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Figure 312 (p.213) in an article by William H. Holmes (1846-1933) entitled “A Study of the Textile Art in its Relation to the Development of Form and Ornament” in the Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1884-85.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1888
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Holmes, William Henry
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0850
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0850
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Engraved woodblock of a "Vase of unusual shape"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of a “Vase of unusual shape” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Figure 211 (p.144) in an article by William Henry Holmes (1846-1933) entitled “Ancient Art of the Province of Chiriqui, Colombia” in the Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian,1884-85.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1888
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Holmes, William Henry
- block maker
- J. J. & Co.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.1289
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.1289
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Engraved woodblock of cliff dwellings and pueblos
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of cliff dwellings and pueblos was prepared by John Minton and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in John Wesley Powell's Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in 1875. Thomas Moran (1837-1926) was the original artist.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1880
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- original artist
- Moran, Thomas
- graphic artist
- Minton, John
- block maker
- V. W. & Co.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.1512
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.1512
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Portrait of Pope Innocent the Tenth
- Description
- Mezzotint after painting attributed to Velasquez, once in the Cabinet at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, England. Sent to the Hermitage Palace in 1779; sold to Andrew Mellon in 1930; since 1937 in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, as circle of Velazquez. Print removed from George P. Marsh's copy of The Houghton Gallery, vol. 1. Pencil note on mounting sheet: “Taken out for Cinc. Exhibition,” the Graphic Arts section of the Smithsonian’s exhibition at the Cincinnati Exposition of 1888.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1774
- artist attribution
- Velazquez, Diego Rodriguez de Silva y
- engraver
- Green, Valentine
- delineator
- Farington, George
- publisher
- Boydell, John
- ID Number
- 1978.0534.02.62
- accession number
- 1978.0534
- catalog number
- 1978.0534.02.62
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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