Natural Resources
The natural resources collections offer centuries of evidence about how Americans have used the bounty of the American continent and coastal waters. Artifacts related to flood control, dam construction, and irrigation illustrate the nation's attempts to manage the natural world. Oil-drilling, iron-mining, and steel-making artifacts show the connection between natural resources and industrial strength.
Forestry is represented by saws, axes, a smokejumper's suit, and many other objects. Hooks, nets, and other gear from New England fisheries of the late 1800s are among the fishing artifacts, as well as more recent acquisitions from the Pacific Northwest and Chesapeake Bay. Whaling artifacts include harpoons, lances, scrimshaw etchings in whalebone, and several paintings of a whaler's work at sea. The modern environmental movement has contributed buttons and other protest artifacts on issues from scenic rivers to biodiversity.
7,693
Page 1 of 385
-
Col. Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky
- Description (Brief)
- Black and white print, half length portrait of a man (Richard Mentor Johnson).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- n.d.
- depicted
- Johnson, Richard Mentor
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- DL.60.3210
- catalog number
- 60.3210
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
The Municipal Law of England
- Description (Brief)
- Colored print of large tree representing "common law" growing out of "natural law" and "revealed law". The roots represent general customs, particular laws, and particular customs. It has two main branches: one commands the rights of persons and things and the other forbids public and private wrongs. A man with a pruning saw stands beside the tree.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1838
- maker
- J. H. Bufford and Company
- ID Number
- DL.60.2448
- catalog number
- 60.2448
- accession number
- 228146
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Summer
- Description (Brief)
- Colored print of three horses, seven sheep (five of them with horns) and four ducks grazing in a summer pasture. River, fence and trees in background.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1852-1856
- distributor
- Thayer, Horace
- lithographer
- Kellogg, Elijah Chapman
- ID Number
- DL.60.2355
- catalog number
- 60.2355
- accession number
- 228146
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
St Alexander Nevsky Ribbon
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- NU.68.21.174
- catalog number
- 68.21.174
- accession number
- 276536
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Rustic Interior
- Description (Brief)
- An undated ink drawing which may have been intended for use as a reproduction
- Location
- Currently not on view
- original artist
- Ferris, Stephen James
- ID Number
- GA.16696
- catalog number
- 16696
- accession number
- 119780
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Apothecary Jar, TEMPER
- Description
- This free blown urn-shaped glass container has a wide lip and an applied circular foot. The white oval cartouche is surrounded by a wreath of blue leaves capped with a yellow crown. The baked enamel label is marked in black, "TEMPER", with an alchemical symbol.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 18th century
- ID Number
- 1991.0664.0144
- accession number
- 1991.0664
- catalog number
- M-05292
- collector/donor number
- SAP 1
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Haverly's European Mastodon Minstrels
- Description
- Colored print of a large band performing on the steps of the Capitol (south wing), during the inauguration of the president. A row of Honor Guards stands at attention on the steps, to either side of the band. A large crowd looks on. Haverly's United Mastodon Minstrels was a blackface performers created in 1877, when J. H. Haverly merged four of his companies. The group included a brass band and a drum corp. The shows included lavish scenery and often a circus act.
- Entertainment entrepreneur J. H. (Jack) Haverly (1837-1901) was born Christopher Haverly near Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. He launched his show business career in 1864 in Toledo, Ohio, where he purchased a variety theater. Inspired by entrepreneurs like P. T. Barnum, Haverly went on to manage other theaters, and he created minstrel and comic performance groups on the East Coast and in the Middle West. In the late 1870s he consolidated his troupes into a single company called the United Mastodon Minstrels which included forty performers, along with a brass band and drum corps. The group continued to grow and at one point had more than a hundred members. Around the same time, Haverly took control of a black performing group called Charles Callender's Original Georgia Minstrels, which he renamed Haverly’s Colored Minstrels. He promoted their performances as authentic depictions of black life, even creating a mock plantation with costumed actors portraying slaves and overseers. Haverly’s troupes toured the United States, usually appearing at his own theaters in cities like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco. They also traveled to England and Scotland. Featuring lavish stage sets, extravagant special effects, and performers in blackface makeup and exotic costumes, his innovations inspired the creation of smaller minstrel shows during the late nineteenth century.
- This chromolithograph was produced by the Strobridge Lithographing Company. The Strobridge firm was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio ca 1847 by lithographer Elijah J. Middleton (cited in some sources as Elijah C. Middleton). Middleton was known as one of the pioneers of chromolithography in the United States. By 1854 another lithographer, W. R. Wallace, along with the bookseller Hines Strobridge (1823-1909) had joined the firm as partners. After the Civil War, Strobridge acquired sole ownership of the company and renamed it after himself. Strobridge and Company became especially well known for circus, theater, and movie posters. After leaving the company, Elijah Middleton established a reputation as a portrait publisher, producing prints of George and Martha Washington, Daniel Webster, and other American historical figures.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1880
- maker
- Strobridge Lithographing Company
- ID Number
- DL.60.2482
- catalog number
- 60.2482
- accession number
- 228146
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Rembrandt etching a plate
- Description
- Trimmed inside plate mark. Print attributed to Pierre Francois Basan after a plate once attributed to Rembrandt. Text lightly etched in lower margin: "Rembrandt gravant une planche/oeuvre de Mr Marriette." [Parisian collector/dealer P. J. Mariette] Pencil note "a portrait of himself" inside image above margin may be in Geo. P. Marsh's hand.See NHD 304, copy a; Hind 300 A; Biorklund-Barnard reject 81.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1645
- original artist
- Rembrandt van Rijn
- publisher
- Basan
- ID Number
- 1978.0534.42
- accession number
- 1978.0534
- catalog number
- 1978.0534.42
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
dish
- Description
- East Liverpool Potteries Company was only in business for a very short time from 1901 to 1907. Within those years they produced mostly semi-vitreous dinner wares. This serving dish is decorated using the transfer printing technique that was developed during the Industrial Revolution.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- c. 1901-1907
- maker
- Liverpool
- East Liverpool Potteries Company
- Liverpool
- ID Number
- CE.76.1
- catalog number
- 76.1
- accession number
- 319072
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Scrimshaw Sperm Whale’s Tooth, Mid-19th Century
- Description
- The engraving on this sperm whale tooth depicts a well-dressed young boy seated on a rock, with a red horn in his hands. He wears a brimmed hat, long jacket and knee-length breeches. By contrast, his feet are bare. The scene is framed by a simple quasi-vegetal repetitive motif. The frequent pinpricking around the edges and at key points throughout the image indicates that the artist used a contemporary illustration to create an outline before filling it in with pigment. In addition to the horn, the lapels and lower hem of the lad’s jacket are highlighted in red, now faded with age. The other side of the tooth is polished but undecorated.
- Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
- In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
- Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- DL.374504
- catalog number
- 374504
- accession number
- 136263
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Allegheny Parade Hat
- Description
- Beginning in the late 18th century, some volunteer fire fighters began to wear hats painted with their company’s name to identify themselves at chaotic fire scenes. During the 19th century, these fire hats became more ornate, as portraits of historical figures, patriotic scenes, allegorical images, or company icons were painted alongside the company’s name, motto, or founding date. Made of pressed felt, these “stove-pipe” hats were primarily used in Philadelphia, but other nearby cities such as Baltimore and Washington adopted them as well. Fire hats were personal items with the owner’s initials often painted on the top of the hat. While these hats were worn at fires, they are more colloquially known as “parade hats.” Fire companies commonly marched in the many parades of the period and these ornate hats contributed to the visual culture of their day. These distinguishing features in a company’s regalia often proclaimed the members’ cultural and political identity as well as their position on contested topics such as work, religion and immigration.
- This hat dates to the first half of the 19th century from Allegheny, Pennsylvania. The hat has been painted red, and bears the text “ALLEGHENY” in gold above a United States shield. The date “1802” is painted in gold on the back of the hat, and the crown of the hat has a star shaped designed with the letter “A” in the center. The Allegheny Fire Company of Allegheny, Pennsylvania was founded in 1802 and operated until 1870, when it was absorbed by the municipal fire department.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- in use
- 1802-1870
- company which the hat's owner belonged to
- Allegheny Engine Co.
- owner
- Neel, Harry
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- 2005.0233.0026
- catalog number
- 2005.0233.0026
- accession number
- 2005.0233
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Prescription Label, Hofapotheke in Braunfels von Carl Hagen
- Description (Brief)
- The Bristol-Myers Squibb Collection has over two hundred early prescription labels from dozens of apothecaries across Germany and Austria.
- Early labels were plain and without adornment. Later embellishments included decorative borders, images of animals such as stags, lions, or elephants associated with the name of the apothecary.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 1991.0664.1299
- catalog number
- 1991.0664.1299
- accession number
- 1991.0664
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Study of a Dog
- Description (Brief)
- An initialed sketch in pencil of a dog called Black made in 1875
- date made
- 1875
- original artist
- Ferris, Stephen James
- ID Number
- GA.16689
- catalog number
- 16689
- accession number
- 119780
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
The Hay Makers
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1835
- maker
- Richard Griffin & Co.
- ID Number
- 2013.0071.11
- catalog number
- 2013.0071.11
- accession number
- 2013.0071
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Expulsion of Adam & Eve by James S. Baillie
- Description
- This colored print depicts Adam and Eve, downcast beside a small lake. A distraught Eve is naked and kneeling on the ground. Adam is standing and fashioning a covering of branches to hide his nakedness and shame. A sylvan setting of trees and gentle hills forms the background.
- The Expulsion represents the passage from the book of Genesis (3:22-24) after the Fall. That is, after Adam and Eve have eaten of the fruit which God has forbidden them to eat, they are cast out of the Garden of Eden and into the world where they are forced to labor and suffer the consequences of their sin. This scene encapsulates the central tenet of Christianity: only by repenting and following the teachings of Christ, can mankind obtain salvation.
- This print was produced by James S. Baillie, who was active in New York from 1838 to 1855. James Baillie started as a framer in 1838, and then became an artist and lithographer in 1843 or 1844. He discovered how to color lithographs while working as an independent contractor for Currier & Ives in the mid 1840s. He was a prolific lithographer and colorist for Currier & Ives, and his prints were extremely popular with a wide distribution. James Baillie spent his later years concentrating on painting instead of lithography.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- ca 1846
- depicted
- Adam
- Eve
- maker
- Baillie, James S.
- ID Number
- DL.60.2972
- catalog number
- 60.2972
- accession number
- 228146
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Vienna porcelain cup and saucer
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- c. 1806
- ID Number
- CE.P-501ab
- catalog number
- P-501ab
- accession number
- 225282
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Douglas MacArthur
- Description
- Oil on illustration board. Portrait of five star General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur wears a long sleeved khaki field uniform with a five star General pin on his collar. He also wears a peaked cap with ornamintation.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- associated date
- 1941 - 1945
- depicted (sitter)
- MacArthur, Douglas
- artist
- Chase, Joseph Cummings
- ID Number
- AF.46979
- catalog number
- 46979
- accession number
- 166217
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
John Quincy Adams. 6th President of the United States
- Description (Brief)
- Color print, half length portrait of a man (John Quincy Adams) seated in a chair holding a book in his right hand with his arm resting on documents on a table beside him. A column with green drapery is behind him.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- n.d.
- depicted
- Adams, John Quincy
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- DL.60.3183
- catalog number
- 60.3183
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Minton porcelain pâte-sur-pâte vase
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1870-1904
- c.1888
- ID Number
- CE.P-996
- catalog number
- P-996
- accession number
- 225282
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
ESS CASS LIGN
- Description
- This square-shaped blown and molded glass apothecary bottle, and illustrated on page 24 of The Squibb Ancient Apothecary Catalogue, has a baked enamel baroque-style blue and yellow cartouche on its front. It is labeled ESS CASS LIGN in black, with the first letter of each word in red. The jar would have contained an essence of cassia lignum, or cassia tree leaves or bark steeped in an alcohol solution, which was used as a laxative.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 17th-18th century
- ID Number
- 1991.0664.0343
- catalog number
- M-05492
- accession number
- 1991.0664
- collector/donor number
- SAP 204
- catalog number
- 1991.0664.0343
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
Pages
Filter Your Results
Click to remove a filter:
- data source
-
topic
- Furnishings 2596
- Pharmacy 1276
- Communications 1129
- European Apothecary 1025
- Peters Prints 1019
- Manufacturing industries 725
- Science 631
- Clothing and dress 603
- Dress accessories 603
- Animals 528
- Health & Medicine 525
- Military 519
- Portraits 442
- Religion 439
- Industrialization 425
- The Hans C. Syz Collection 415
- Meissen Porcelain: The Hans Syz Collection 348
- Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich Collection 347
- WW I 308
-
object type
- Prints 1461
- Lithographs 1283
- Jars 485
- Paintings 407
- Medals 346
- Engravings (prints) 297
- Bottles 266
- Drawings 263
- prescription label 240
- Photographs 234
- Saucers (plates) 211
- Cups 182
- Etchings (prints) 173
- Sketches 173
- plate 167
- jar; Pharmaceutical Container 148
- Vases 140
- bottle; Pharmaceutical Container 133
- Woodcut 124
- Chromolithographs 123
- date
- place
- culture
-
set name
- Art 7078
- Domestic Furnishings 2596
- Work and Industry: Graphic Arts 1873
- Home and Community Life: Domestic Life 1359
- Home and Community Life: Ceramics and Glass 1326
- Medicine and Science: Medicine 1282
- Communications 1129
- European Apothecary 1025
- Peters Prints 1019
- Clothing & Accessories 548
- Health & Medicine 525
- Military 519
- Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection 496
- Cultures & Communities 452
- Religion 439
- Political and Military History: Armed Forces History, Military 436
- Industry & Manufacturing 425
- The Hans C. Syz Collection 415
- Meissen Porcelain: The Hans Syz Collection 348
- Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich Collection 347
