Michael Cipriano Papers
name: label: Creator
content: Cipriano, Michael, 1960-1993
label: Names
content: Barneys New York
label: Names
content: Bergdorf Goodman (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Bloomingdale's (Firm)
label: Names
content: Cooper-Hewitt Design Archive
label: Names
content: Ercole (Store)
label: Names
content: Etoile (Store)
label: Names
content: Kosta Boda (Firm)
label: Names
content: Macy, R.H., & Co., New York
label: Names
content: Puiforcat (Firm)
title: label: Topic
content: Bride's (Magazine)
topic: label: Occupation
content: Window display designers
label: Topic
content: Chelsea Passage
label: Topic
content: Display of merchandise -- United States
label: Topic
content: Show windows
label: Topic
content: Table setting and decoration
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This collection was donated in 1993 by D. Thomas Shoemaker.
creator: label: Creator
content: Cipriano, Michael, 1960-1993
setName: label: See more items in
content: Michael Cipriano Papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: Collection documents the work of display and window designer Michael Cipriano for Connecticut and New York stores including sketches, business records, correspondence, and photographic materials.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Michael Louis Cipriano (August 10, 1960-October 8, 1993) was born in Waterbury, New Haven, Connecticut to Michael Cipriano (1940-) and Evelyn M. Piperas (1941-2013). He studied fine art and art history at the University of Connecticut. His professional interests included costume, set, and theater design of the Art Deco, Art Moderne, and Art Nouveau styles. Prior to 1983, he did freelance displays for small shops in Connecticut. Cipriano began his professional career as a display trimmer for Macy's department store in New York in 1983. He designed for Bloomingdale's Incorporated from 1984-85, and for Bergdorf Goodman Incorporated Home Department from 1985 to 1986. Cipriano died of complications from AIDS in 1993 in New York City at the age of thirty-three.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.6 Cubic feet (4 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1979-1993, undated
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Transferred to the Archives Center from the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in 2012.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1274
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Advertising cards
label: Type
content: Clippings
label: Type
content: Color prints (photographs)
label: Type
content: Color slides
label: Type
content: Color xerographic copies
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Drawings
label: Type
content: Invoices
label: Type
content: Obituaries
label: Type
content: Purchase orders
label: Type
content: Proposals
label: Type
content: Receipts
label: Type
content: Sketches
label: Type
content: Swatches
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into two series:


Series 1: Photographic Materials, 1979-1991, undated


Series 2: Client Files, 1982-1993, undated
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Vanessa Broussard-Simmons, archivist, 2023. Finding aid encoded by Audrey Willius, intern, 2023.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Advertising cards
label: Genre/Form
content: Clippings
label: Genre/Form
content: Color prints (photographs) -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Color slides
label: Genre/Form
content: Color xerographic copies
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence
label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Invoices
label: Genre/Form
content: Obituaries
label: Genre/Form
content: Purchase orders
label: Genre/Form
content: Proposals
label: Genre/Form
content: Receipts
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
label: Genre/Form
content: Swatches
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection documents Cipriano's short professional career as a table setter and window designer for retailers in Connecticut and New York City.  It consists of business records, correspondence, photographs, and colored pencil sketches for Barney's Christmas windows dating from 1988-1989.  In addition, there are approximately five hundred color 35mm slides documenting  window displays for Macy's Incorporated, Bloomingdale's Incorporated, Bergdorf Goodman Incorporated, and Barneys New York. The collection covers the full range of Cipriano's design career from 1983 to 1993.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Materials at the Archives Center, National Museum of American History

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Edward J. Orth Memorial Archives of the New York World's Fair, NMAH.AC.0560


Archives Center Shopping Bag Collection, NMAH.AC.0570


Dorothy Shaver Papers, NMAH.AC.0631


Landy R. Hales Papers, NMAH.AC.0906


Gene Moore, Tiffany & Company Photographs, NMAH.AC.1280


William L. Bird Holidays on Display Collection, NMAH.AC.1288