RevolutionCrossroads/si_us_revolutionary_era_collections huggingface dataset:
Telescope
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: telescope
Date made: ca. 1769
1768-1769
maker: Nairne, Edward
place made: United Kingdom: England, London
Physical Description: metal, brass (overall material)
Measurements: tube: 12 in x 18 in x 9 in x 2 in; 30.48 cm x 45.72 cm x 22.86 cm x 5.08 cm
Topics: Scientific apparatus and instruments
Science
American Revolution (1775-1783)
Description: Samuel Williams (1743-1817), Harvard graduate, minister and, for several years, the Hollis Professor at Harvard, used this telescope to observe the most important astronomical event of the eighteenth century: the 1769 Transit of Venus across the face of the sun. He also used it to observe several lunar eclipses and one partial solar eclipse in the 1770s.
The "Nairne London 1.5/209 = 480" inscription on the tube indicates that this telescope was made by Edward Nairne (1726-1806). It also indicates that it has a focal length of 1.5 feet and was the 209th Nairne instrument of this size and the 480th Nairne telescope overall. A correlation of serial numbers and dates indicates that this example was made in 1768 or 1769.
Ref: Samuel Williams, "An Account of the Transit of Venus over the June, June 3d, 1769, as observed at Newbury, in Massachusetts," <i>Transactions of the American Philosophical Society</i> 2 (1786): 246-251.
Williams, "Astronomical Observations made in the State of Massachusetts," <i>Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences</i> 1 (1785): 81-124, on 86.
Gerard l'E. Turner, "The Number Code on Reflecting Telescopes by Nairne and Blunt," <i>Journal for the History of Astronomy</i> 10 (1979): 177-184.
Key to Lord Howe's Victory
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: Print
Etching
Date made: 1795
original artist: Brown, Mather
etcher: Orme, Daniel
Measurements: overall: 15 cm x 25.5 cm; 5 7/8 in x 10 1/16 in
Explanation of Copley's print
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: Print
Etching
Date made: 1791
depicted: Pitt, William
original artist: Copley, John Singleton
artist attribution: Bartolozzi, Francesco
Measurements: overall: 24 cm x 75 cm; 9 7/16 in x 29 1/2 in
Topics: Art
Communications
Politics
History
Index to the View of London
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: Print
Aquatint
Etching
Date made: 1789
maker: Swertner, John
place made: United Kingdom: England, London
Measurements: overall: 26 cm x 84 cm; 10 1/4 in x 33 1/16 in
Topics: Art
Communications
References to the Print... of Gibraltar
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: Print
Etching
Date made: 1799
engraver: Sharp, William
original artist: Trumbull, John
publisher: de Poggi, A. C.
place made: United Kingdom: England, London
Measurements: overall: 30 cm x 42 cm; 11 13/16 in x 16 9/16 in
Topics: Art
Communications
Military
Key to the Plate of the Royal Academicians
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: Print
Stipple Engraving
Date made: 1802
depicted: West, Benjamin
Copley, John Singleton
Kauffman, Angelica
Lloyd, Mary
engraver: Bestland, Charles
original artist: Singleton, Henry
place made: United Kingdom: England, London
Measurements: overall: 29.5 cm x 40 cm; 11 5/8 in x 15 3/4 in
Topics: Art
Communications
Key to print, Address of Louis XVI at the Bar
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: Print
Etching
Letterpress
Date made: 1797
depicted: Louis XVI King of France
Paine, Thomas
artist attribution: Benazech, Charles
engraver: Schiavonetti, Luigi
publisher: Testolini, Gaetano
place made: United Kingdom: England, London
Measurements: overall: 41.5 cm x 28.5 cm; 16 5/16 in x 11 1/4 in
image: 19 cm x 27 cm; 7 1/2 in x 10 5/8 in
Topics: Art
Communications
History
Key to portraits in engraving,Consecration of Napoleon
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: Print
Etching
Date made: 1804
depicted: Napoleon I Emperor of France
David, Jacques Louis
engraver: Massard, Felix
original artist: David, Jacques Louis
place made: France: Île-de-France, Paris
Measurements: overall: 29 cm x 49 cm; 11 7/16 in x 19 5/16 in
Topics: Art
Communications
History
Key to print, [trial of Robespierre]
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: Print
Collotype
depicted: Robespierre, Maxim
Measurements: overall: 28 cm x 42 cm; 11 in x 16 9/16 in
Topics: Art
Communications
History
Fire Helmet, "Hook & Ladder No. 15"
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: helmet, fire
Date made: 1800 or earlier
maker: unknown
Physical Description: leather (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 13 1/2 in x 13 in x 6 in; 34.29 cm x 33.02 cm x 15.24 cm
Credit line: Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art collection
Topics: Costume
Fire Fighting
Description: This high-crowned, leather work helmet dates from around 1790 to 1810 and lacks the thicker, elongated brims and detachable shields of later-nineteenth-century work hats. The text “Hook & Ladder No. 15” is painted in black directly on the hat’s front. This hat is one of the earlier examples in the firefighting collection, and its four combs distinguish it from simpler eighteenth-century “stove-top” style hats which were made from a single piece of leather.
fabric fragment
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: Fabric fragment
Date made: 18th century
Measurements: overall: 71 in x 9 1/2 in; 180.34 cm x 24.13 cm
fabric sample
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: Fabric sample
Date made: 18th century
place made: Spain
Measurements: overall: 20 3/4 in x 40 in; 52.705 cm x 101.6 cm
fabric,fragment
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: Fabric,fragment
Date made: 1830
18th century
place made: France
fabric, fragment
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: Fabric, fragment
Date made: 18th century
place made: France
Magic Lantern Show
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: print
date made: 1808
place made: United Kingdom: England, London
Physical Description: paper (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 11 1/2 in x 19 in; 29.21 cm x 48.26 cm
Credit line: Estate of Eugene Ostroff through Tartt Gallery
Summer-and-Winter coverlet; c. 1800-1830; likely Pennsylvania
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: coverlet, Summer-and-Winter
date made: 1800-1830
place made: United States: Pennsylvania
Physical Description: wool, cotton (overall material)
Summer-and-Winter (overall production method/technique)
geometric (overall pattern)
white, tan (overall color)
Measurements: overall: 90 in x 79 1/2 in; 228.6 cm x 201.93 cm
Credit line: Gift of Hope Anthony Levy
Topics: Furnishings
Textiles
Description: This Summer-and-Winter weave coverlet of gold & tan has 1 1/4 inch gold knotted fringe on three sides with a rolled hem along the top edge. Woven in two sections, the center seam is hand sewn. Each panel is 40 1/4 inches wide. The warp and weft are both 2-ply, S-twist, Z-spun cotton, and the pattern weft is 2-ply, S-twist, Z-spun wool. The pattern is a geometric pattern similar to the German I-Block pattern found on page 123 of Marguerite P. Davison’s A Handweaver’s Pattern Book (1944). These geometric designs are often associated with Pennsylvania German weavers; however, the nature of four-harness looms and the designs that can be woven on them make these geometric patterns hard to attribute to one European weaving tradition. This particular pattern seems to be blend blockier, German geometric designs with British patterns like the Irish Chain.
Summer-and-Winter weave is often written about as the quintessentially American weave structure. Scholars like Dorothy Burnham have claimed it is a North American invention, while Craft Revival weavers and scholars like Marguerite R. Davis have claimed it was brought to North America by the Finnish and Swedish settlers of what is today Delaware where it spread to the German population of Pennsylvania. Whatever the case, the structure is noted for short weft floats (no more than two warp yarns) and its reversibility. The name of the structure is apocryphal as well. People have claimed that there is a warmer and cooler side that is appropriate for changing seasons; however, the structure is balanced on both sides and the thickness and weight of the coverlet the same throughout. The choice of name and its origin remain an American weaving mystery to this day.
dress fragment
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: Dress Fragment
dress fragment
date made: 18th century
Measurements: overall: 64 1/2 in x 21 1/4 in; 163.83 cm x 53.975 cm
fabric fragment
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: fabric fragment
date made: 18th century
Measurements: overall: 10 in x 8 1/2 in; 25.4 cm x 21.59 cm
Met. Mus. Alcove Mantle Piece from City Tavern
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: lantern slide
date made: 1793
place made: United States: Virginia, Alexandria
Physical Description: paper (overall material)
glass (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 8.3 cm x 10 cm; 3 1/4 in x 3 15/16 in
Dress
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: Dress
Dress
Entire Body
Main Dress
Woman
date made: 1795-1805
Measurements: center back length: 49 in; 124.46 cm
Credit line: Smithsonian Institution, Cooper Hewitt Design Museum
Topics: Women
Collar
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: Collar
Accessories Worn on the Body
Woman
Collar
Neckwear
date made: 1795-1805
Measurements: center back length: 15 in; 38.1 cm
shoulder width at shoulder seams: 16 3/4 in; 42.545 cm
Credit line: Smithsonian Institution, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
Topics: Women
1796 - 1798 Bethiah Green's Embroidered Counterpane
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: counterpane
date made: 1796-1805
1796-1798
maker: Green, Bethiah D.
Physical Description: fabric, linen, cotton (overall material)
thread, linen, silk (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 103 in x 92 in; 261 cm x 234 cm
Credit line: Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Arthur M. Greenwood
Topics: Quilts
Furnishings
Textiles
Description: Under the center basket of this embroidered counterpane is the inscription “Bethiah D. Green” and on the basket at the top is “Begun October 2, 1796.” The date “1798” appears several times in the border. In addition to the many birds and floral motifs, other designs include the head of George Washington; his riderless horse; a milestone inscribed “12 miles to Boston;” and a pig. According to family tradition, this quilt was inspired by an event that Bethiah witnessed in 1789 when George Washington, passing through Weston, Massachusetts, was nearly thrown from his horse when a pig ran across the road.
[None]
2 Dollars, Maryland, 1774
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: paper money
note
date made: 1774
date on object: 1774-04-10
maker: A. C. and F. Green
place made: United States: Maryland
Physical Description: paper (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 6.1 cm x 10.5 cm x .01 cm; 2 13/32 in x 4 1/8 in x in
Credit line: Morton Stack
Topics: NNC Colonial Currency
2,000 Dollars
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: paper money
note
date made: 1781
date on object: 1781-05-07
maker: Dunlap, John
place made: United States: Virginia
Physical Description: paper (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 7.9 cm x 10 cm; 3 1/8 in x 3 15/16 in
Credit line: Chase Manhattan
Topics: NNC Colonial Currency
Miniature Teakettle
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: Teakettle
date made: 1807 - 1809
maker: Wright, Malcolm
West, Richard
place made: United States: Maryland, Baltimore
Physical Description: copper (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 11 cm x 8 cm x 6.4 cm; 4 5/16 in x 3 1/8 in x 2 1/2 in
overall: 5.5 cm; 2 3/16 in
Publisher: Sewer, Andy; Allison, David; Liebhold, Peter; Davis, Nancy; Franz, Kathleen G.. American Enterprise: A History of Business in America
Topics: Tea Drinking
Politics
Fire Bucket, "American 1810"
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: bucket, fire
bucket
date made: 1810
maker: unknown
Physical Description: leather (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 19 in x 9 in x 9 cm; 48.26 cm x 22.86 cm x 3 9/16 in
Credit line: Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
Topics: Mercury (Planet)
Outer space
Fire Fighting
Description: This bucket from 1810 is painted with an allegorical figure of Mercury, the Roman messenger god. This is a typical portrayal of Mercury, dressed in a wide cloak and wearing a winged cap. Early Americans were fascinated by the ancient classical world. Beginning in the 1770s, neoclassical themes appeared everywhere, such as in paintings and newspapers, and on currency, seals, ceramics, wallpaper, and furniture. Reading classical literature, originally the province of the educated elite, spread to the middle class in the first four decades of the nineteenth century, as literacy rates rose and books became more affordable. Early Americans were in the process of developing a culture distinctly their own, and classical taste and imagery implicitly tied the young government to the great ancient republics and helped to unite the disparate parts of the new country. The god Mercury was most likely depicted on this fire bucket because he was known for his swift flights from place to place: his golden sandals were described as carrying him over earth and sea “like the blasts of the wind.” In the early nineteenth century, citizen-firefighters would have needed to respond to a blaze as quickly as Mercury. The sooner volunteers arrived with buckets, the sooner the work of extinguishing a fire and salvaging property could begin.
['' None None None None]
Fire Bucket, "Saml. A. Otis / 1775"
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: bucket, fire
date made: 1775
Physical Description: leather (overall material)
stitiched by hand (overall production method/technique)
Measurements: overall: 11 3/4 in x 8 1/4 in x 9 1/4 in; 29.845 cm x 20.955 cm x 23.495 cm
Credit line: Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
Description: This bucket appears to have belonged to Samuel Allyne Otis (1740-1814), who was a significant political figure in Massachusetts during and after the American Revolution. After graduating from Harvard, Otis engaged in mercantile pursuits in Boston. He was a member of the state house of representatives in 1776 and again from 1784, when he was elected speaker of the house, to 1787. In addition, Otis was a member of the Board of War in 1776, a member of the Massachusetts constitutional convention, and a member of the Continental Congress in 1787 and 1788. Otis was elected the first Secretary of the United States Senate in April 1789, a position in which he served until his death in 1814. His brother, James Otis, was a lawyer and an influential Revolutionary patriot who made the argument that Britain did not have the right to tax colonists unrepresented in Parliament. Samuel Otis’ sister, Mercy Otis Warren, was a writer and one of the first female historians. Her most important work was the History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution (1805).
Otis’ bucket bears the year 1775 and the Latin motto “in angustie amici,” meaning “friends in distress.” Like many mottos adopted by volunteer firefighters, this emphasizes the communal, social nature of American firefighting—when one member of the community suffered from a blaze, his neighbors came to his aid. It was quite common for early Americans to adopt Latin mottos, as Latin was the international language of science and scholarship. The original national motto, “E Pluribus Unum,” or “out of many, one,” was also a Latin phrase.
['' '' 'J.\nOtis.\nAMICI.' None '']
Fire Bucket, "Solomon Henkel No. 4"
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: bucket, fire
date made: ca 1805
maker: unknown
Physical Description: leather (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 15 1/2 in x 9 in; 39.37 cm x 22.86 cm
Credit line: Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
Topics: Fire Fighting
Description: This bucket belonged to Solomon Henckel (1777-1847), whose family was very prominent within the Lutheran Church. Solomon’s father, Paul Henckel, was a Lutheran minister active in Virginia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Ohio. Paul Henckel encouraged his sons Solomon and Ambrose to establish a printery, the Henkel Press, in New Market, Virginia. Solomon was the main organizer and eventually the owner of this printery. In addition, while Solomon’s five brothers became Lutheran ministers like their father, Solomon was a medical doctor. The decoration of Solomon Henckel’s fire bucket reflects his profession: its identifying mark is the mortar and pestle. The mortar and pestle, a tool used to crush, grind, and mix substances, was traditionally used by pharmacists to prepare prescriptions. This common icon was used to represent Henckel’s involvement in medicine and healing, and made this fire bucket easily recognizable as his.
['' '' None '']
Fire Bucket, "Union Fire Co."
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: bucket, fire
date made: ca 1800
maker: unknown
Physical Description: leather (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 12 1/2 in x 9 5/8 in; 31.75 cm x 24.4475 cm
Credit line: Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
Topics: Fire Fighting
Description: This riveted leather bucket belonged to A. Stiles, a member of the Union Fire Company in Moorestown. The volunteer fire company provided men with the opportunity to prove their worth, fulfill a particular ideal of citizenship, and be instant heroes. Companies frequently chose names such as “Union,” which would demonstrate their patriotism, civic virtue, and devotion to American ideals. However, not everyone in nineteenth-century America was allowed to participate in fire companies and thus be acknowledged as a virtuous citizen. Firefighting was an exclusively male and Caucasian endeavor, as civic duty and property rights were considered the domain of white males. Women were not allowed in volunteer companies, though they might participate in limited ways, such as the bucket brigade. The volunteer fireman was celebrated as an ideal of masculinity; contests between companies, in which each would try to pump water the fastest and the highest, allowed men to put their masculinity on display. African-Americans were also not usually members of fire companies. In Philadelphia, blacks attempted to form their own African Fire Association in 1818, but community pressure and hostility from white companies quickly forced them to disband. Firefighters excluded people from public service, based on who they believed deserved the opportunity to prove their civic virtue.
['' '' None '']
Fire Bucket, "JONA. ANDREW"
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: bucket, fire
date made: 1794
maker: unknown
Physical Description: leather (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 11 1/4 in x 8 1/4 in; 28.575 cm x 20.955 cm
Credit line: Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
Topics: Fire Fighting
Description: This bucket is marked with the name of its owner, the motto of his fire company or fire society, and the year 1794. The motto “Pour Nos Amis” means “For Our Friends” in French. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, volunteer firefighting was viewed as a civic responsibility. Firemen received no monetary remuneration for risking their lives, but they were well paid in terms of community respect, praise, and tribute. For example, newspapers praised the chivalry and daring of firemen on every possible occasion. Volunteer companies chose mottos that would portray them as selflessly serving their communities and fulfilling their duty as citizens. They wanted to present themselves as devoted and morally worthy. “For Our Friends” emphasized the civic virtue and commitment of the volunteer fireman, who performed strenuous work in the service of his city. It highlighted the company’s connections to its neighbors, and thus encouraged the kind of community adoration and status enhancement that volunteers received in lieu of official payment.
This bucket was most likely made in a community with a sizable French-speaking population, which would have wanted to reflect its heritage by adopting a French motto. This suggests several possible places of origin. For example, French Huguenots, who were persecuted for their Protestant faith in France, settled in large numbers in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and various parts of New England. French Canadian immigrants from Quebec also settled in New England, particularly in Maine and Vermont. After the American Revolution, Congress gave French Canadians who had fought on the side of the colonies land in New York, on the shores of Lake Champlain. There was also a large French-speaking population in Louisiana, which had been claimed in the name of King Louis XIV of France in 1682. While in 1794, when this bucket was painted, Louisiana was under Spanish rule, most Louisianans were of French origin.
Note: Regarding potential cities of origin: This bucket is of the same design as G161, which belonged to W.P. Goodhue and is marked 1839. There was also a large Huguenot population in Charleston, South Carolina, but there is no W.P. Goodhue listed in the 1837-38 Charleston city directory, or in the 1838 New Orleans city directory; therefore this bucket is probably not from either of those cities.
['' '' None None]
Fire Bucket, "Protection in Danger"
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: bucket, fire
date made: ca 1800
maker: unknown
Physical Description: leather (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 12 1/2 in x 8 1/4 in; 31.75 cm x 20.955 cm
Credit line: Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
Topics: Fire Fighting
Description: This bucket belonged to Matthew Skilton, Jr., who lived in Burlington, Massachusetts. Burlington, a small town 13 miles northwest of Boston, was first settled in 1641 and was officially incorporated in 1799. Skilton was present at the first town meeting, held on March 11, 1799. His fire bucket features his company’s motto, “Protection in Danger,” which served as an identifying mark and articulated the company’s commitment to public service. The bucket also features a painting of an urn. Urns were a symbol associated with mourning and death, and were frequently featured on gravestones and in memorial paintings in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Here, the image of an urn may emphasize the danger and destructive nature of fire, and serves as a warning against inaction. This bucket is stamped with a maker’s mark on both sides of the seam. This mark, which appears to read “IFENNO,” may be that of John Fenno. Fenno was a well-known glazier who decorated fire buckets in Boston.
['' '' '' None '']
Fire Bucket, "William Martin 1798"
Collection: National Museum of American History
Object type: bucket, fire
date made: 1798
maker: unknown
Physical Description: leather (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 15 1/2 in x 9 in; 39.37 cm x 22.86 cm
Credit line: Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
Topics: Fire Fighting
['' '' None '']