Category: American

More portraits of Native Americans from before a lot of people decided to go out west and it was never the same again. From George Catlin’s work, “O-Kee-Pa; a Religious Ceremony; and other Customs of the Mandans,” an account of an annual religious ceremony practiced by the Mandan tribe. Published in 1867.

Page 47. Collections of the University of Pittsburgh Library System.  Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation, digitalizing sponsor. In the public domain. via https://archive.org/details/okeepareligiousc00catl/page/n47/mode/2up
Page 53. Collections of the University of Pittsburgh Library System.  Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation, digitalizing sponsor. In the public domain. via https://archive.org/details/okeepareligiousc00catl/page/n51/mode/2up
Page 57. Collections of the University of Pittsburgh Library System.  Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation, digitalizing sponsor. In the public domain. via https://archive.org/details/okeepareligiousc00catl/page/n57/mode/2up

Note: there are 13 of these plates, there being one more post to come. These were published towards the end of Catlin’s life, but the images and the text refer back to a visit in July of 1832 when Catlin was joined by, among others, a J. Kipp who was agent for the Missouri Fur Company.

Vases made by Tiffany Studios. All of these taken from a recent Sotheby’s auction catalog.

“Jack-in-the-Pulpit” vase. ca. 1910. American. Favrile glass. Maker’s marks: engraved “776E L. C Tiffany-Favrile.” Image © 2020 Sotheby’s. Fair use license. via https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/dreaming-in-glass-masterworks-by-tiffany-studios/jack-in-the-pulpit-vase
“Jack-in-the-Pulpit” vase. ca. 1900-1903. American. Favrile glass. Maker’s marks: engraved “L.C.T./Y4993.”
Image © 2020 Sotheby’s. Fair use license. via https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/dreaming-in-glass-masterworks-by-tiffany-studios/jack-in-the-pulpit-vase-2
“Morning Glory” paperweight vase. 1907. American. Favrile glass. Maker’s marks: engraved “L.C. TIFFANY/FAVRILE/L.H. NASH” in red enamel. Also engraved “Paris/gold medal/Louis C. Tiffany Favrile ex 1274.” Image © 2020 Sotheby’s. Fair use license. via https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/dreaming-in-glass-masterworks-by-tiffany-studios/morning-glory-paperweight-vase

“Morning Glory” paperweight vase. ca. 1914. American. Favrile glass. Maker’s marks: engraved “8062H L.C. Tiffany-Favrile.” Image Image © 2020 Sotheby’s. Fair use license. via https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/dreaming-in-glass-masterworks-by-tiffany-studios/morning-glory-paperweight-vase-2

American women painted by Joseph deCamp. Living from 1858 to 1923, deCamp was a member of the Boston School. He also taught art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and at what became MassArt.

“Sally.” ca. 1907. Collections of the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester. In the public domain in the United States because the artist has been dead over 95 years. via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sally,circa_1907,_by_Joseph_DeCamp(1858-1923)-_Worcester_Art_Museum-_IMG_7587.JPG
“The Blue Mandarin Coat.” 1922. Oil on canvas. In the public domain in the United States because the artist has been dead over 95 years. via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joseph_DeCamp_The_Blue_Mandarin_Coat_1922.jpg
“The Seamstress.” 1916. Oil on canvas. Collections of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. In the public domain under the museum’s open access program. via https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.166442.html

What to look for when you manage to time travel back to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition which was held in San Francisco in 1915 to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal. Hand-colored lantern slides. Joseph Abel, photographer for the Department of Agriculture.

Chinese pagoda. National Archives ID #24720271. Local ID #16-SFX-23. 1915. American. Colored lantern slide. Joseph Abel, photographer for the Department of Agriculture. Collections of the United States Nation Archives. Fair use license. via https://catalog.archives.gov/id/24720271
Adventurous Bowman on top of the Column of Progress. National Archives ID #24720275. Local ID #16-SFX-25. 1915. Colored lantern slide. Joseph Abel, photographer for the Department of Agriculture. Collections of the United States Nation Archives. Fair use license. via https://catalog.archives.gov/id/24720275
Photograph of the sculpture “Muse Finding Head of Orpheus,” sculpted by Edward Berge. National Archives ID #24720287. Local ID #16-SFX-31. 1915. Colored lantern slide. Joseph Abel, photographer for the Department of Agriculture. Collections of the United States Nation Archives. Fair use license. via https://catalog.archives.gov/id/24720287
Fountain Duck Baby sculpture. Edith Barrets Parsons, sculptor. National Archives ID #24720293. Local ID #16-SFX-34. 1915. Colored lantern slide. Joseph Abel, photographer for the Department of Agriculture. Collections of the United States Nation Archives. Fair use license. via https://catalog.archives.gov/id/24720293

Stylized up flowers and other pretty things from a little over a century ago. Cover art for “Mayflower” magazine from the 1890s. American.

Issue of December 18, 1897. Collections of magazineart.org. Scanned by the Internet Archive Python library 1.8.1. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/Mayflower189712
August, 1893. Volume IX, Number VIII. Collections of magazineart.org. Scanned by the Internet Archive Python library 1.8.1. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/Mayflower189308
February, 1893. Volume IX, Number II. Collections of magazineart.org. Scanned by the Internet Archive Python library 1.8.1. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/Mayflower189302

Egyptian Revival neckwear. From different points in the 20th century but all fun. Egyptian Revival is one of the ones that never really goes away.


Scarab motif pendant necklace modeled as a pair of mirrored stylized lotus leaves, their stems intertwining underneath, sandwiching a scarab enameled in shades of blue, ochre, and green. Suspended on two short lengths of chain from a pair of side attachments embellished with plique-à-jour enamel. Early 1900s. Possibly German. Jugendstil with an Egyptian Revival flavor. Clearly marked on the back with a dragonfly. Image © 2016 Nouveau Deco Arts. Fair use license. via https://www.nouveaudecoarts.com/Jewellery/Arts-Crafts-Egyptian-Revival-Pendant-Necklace.Html#main
Egyptian Revival pendant modeled as a seated pharaoh. 1960s. American. Kenneth J. Lane, maker. Maker’s marks: © mark for Kenneth Lane on the reverse. © 2020 Poshmark, Inc. Fair use license. via https://poshmark.com/listing/1960s-Kenneth-Lane-Egyptian-Revival-Necklace-5c0db5428a2ff67283ef7071
Pendant modeled as the god Horus with a figure in the center. ca. 1920. Art déco. Enamel. Maker not known. Image © 2020 – WorthPoint Corporation. Fair use license. via https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/egyptian-revival-necklace-art-deco-1734934718

The olden times seen through a Symbolist eye, nearly all of them with things fluttering like mad. American. Elihu Vedder, artist. Living from 1836 to 1923, He is best known for his illustrations for an 1884 translation of “The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.” Also did design work for Tiffany.

“The Pleiades.” 1885. American. Oil on canvas. Collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the public domain in the United States because the artist died over 95 years ago. via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elihu_Vedder_-_The_Pleiades,_1885.jpg
“Rome Representative of the Arts.” Done for the Walker Art Building at Bowdoin College. 1894. American. Oil on canvas. Collections of the Brooklyn Museum. In the public domain. via https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/2222

“Wedding Procession.” 1872-1875. American. Oil on canvas. Collections of the Brooklyn Museum. In the public domain. via https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/158
“Weirdness.” 1868. American. Pencil on paper. Signed with initials. Imaged by Heritage Auctions HA.com. Image © 2020 Heritage Auctions. Fair use license. via https://fineart.ha.com/itm/works-on-paper/elihu-vedder-american-1836-1923-weirdness-1868pencil-on-paper4-7-8-x-3-1-4-inches-124-x-83-cm-/a/5218-62818.s

Oil lamps done in art glass. All with interesting designs.

Venetian “Fume” tea color four spot art glass oil lamp fluted flower vase. Hand blown with a ruffled rim and rigaree decoration on the neck. Each spot has a shell decoration at the bottom. ca. 1870-1900. Italian. Image © 1stdibs.com, Inc. 2020. Fair use license. via https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/decorative-objects/vases-vessels/vases/venetian-fume-tea-color-four-spout-italian-art-glass-oil-lamp-flower-vase/id-f_21321702/
Oil lamp, probably made in Bohemia for the English market. Late 19th c. Image © 2007–2020 Auctions Online USA Ltd. Fair use license. via https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/275402-antique-bohemian-art-glass-oil-lamp-prod?in=activity
Acid etched glass oil lamp with a cameo glass egg shaped reservoir in green, acid etched with a fern leaf textured ground. Glass probably by Baccarat or Saint Louis as similar acid etched and cameo glass with the fern leaf pattern are shown in the 1907-1908 Baccarat catalogue. Cast bronze stand in the form of a chestnut branch with a square red marble base. ca. 1907. Art Nouveau. French. Maker’s marks: Glass marked “Depose.” Burner marked for the German manufacturer Kosmos. Art glass with marble and bronze. Image © 1995-2020 eBay Inc. Fair use license. via https://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-French-Acid-Etched-Glass-Oil-Lamp-Art-Nouveau-Bronze-Marble-Stand-/303706243814
Art glass oil lamps in iridescent glass embellished with a pulled feather design and featuring removable glass encased wicks. Made in 1990. American. Stuart Abelman, maker. abelmanartglass.com. Engraved maker’s marks on the underside. Vases © Stuart Abelman. Image © 2020 EBTH, Inc. Fair use license. via https://www.ebth.com/items/9047671-stuart-abelman-art-glass-oil-lamps

“A Portfolio of Fish.” American fish beautifully portrayed by illustrator Miles Rost. From the 1930s. All from the website of archive.org. Collections of the Carlsbad City Library, Carlsbad, California.

“Dolly Varden trout (Salvelinus malma Walbaum),” from “A Portfolio of Fish,” ca. 1934-1937. Zoological illustration. Number 21. Miles E. Rost Papers, collections of the Carlsbad City Library. Scanned by the Internet Archive Python Library. Copyright status unknown. Fair use license. via https://archive.org/details/ccarl_000031
“Red salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka Walbaum)” from “A Portfolio of Fish,” ca. 1934-1937. Zoological illustration. Number 36. Miles E. Rost Papers, collections of the Carlsbad City Library. Scanned by the Internet Archive Python Library. Copyright status unknown. Fair use license. via https://archive.org/details/ccarl_000038
“Silver salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch Walbaum)” from “A Portfolio of Fish,” ca. 1934-1937. Zoological illustration. Miles E. Rost Papers, collections of the Carlsbad City Library. Scanned by the Internet Archive Python Library. Copyright status unknown. Fair use license. via https://archive.org/details/ccarl_000111

Plates with images from “Personal Narrative of Explorations and Incidents in Texas, New Mexico, California, Sonora, & Chihuahua.” Written by John Russell Bartlett and connected with the United States and Mexican boundary commission. Published in 1854. Volume I. Much of it is now southwest Texas.

“Fort Yuma, Colorado River.” Frontispiece. Page 3. Collections of and digitalized by the Missouri Botanical Garden. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/mobot31753000247996/page/n3/mode/2up
“Mission of San José, Texas.” Page 42. Collections of and digitalized by the Missouri Botanical Garden. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/mobot31753000247996/page/42/mode/2up
“Castle Mountain Pass, Texas.” Page 91. Collections of and digitalized by the Missouri Botanical Garden. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/mobot31753000247996/page/91/mode/2up