Collection Highlights
Proposed Coat of Arms for New Amsterdam, New Netherland: Preparatory Drawing for a Presentation to the Dutch West India Company
ca. 1630
1885.5
Black ink and wash, watercolor, red and black chalk, and red gouache, with contours incised by a stylus on laid on paper, mounted on card
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Museum Collections
Luce Center
Curtain
Object name
Curtain
Date
1790-1800
Medium
Cotton, linen
Dimensions
Overall: 85 x 28 1/2 x 1 in. ( 215.9 x 72.4 x 2.5 cm )
Description
Cotton copper-engraved curtain with the apotheosis of Benjamin Franklin depicted in red on white ground; additional figures include a personification of liberty standing next to Franklin and a female warrior holding a shield with thirteen stars floating in the air on his opposite side, George Washington standing upright in a chariot drawn by a pair of leopards and led by two Native Americans blowing trumpets and waving banners, and a pair of cupids holding between them an oval map showing the Atlantic Ocean and the eastern half of North America; linen backing.
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. J. Insley Blair
Object Number
1941.99d
Marks
printed: on banner held by Franklin: WHERE LIBERTY / DWELLS THERE IS / MY COUNTRY"
printed: on temple frieze: "TEMPLE OF FAME"
printed: on shield held by allegorical figure seated next to Washington: "AMERICAN / INDEPEND- / -ANCE. / 1776"
Gallery Label
Window and bed hangings printed with patriotic imagery frequently adorned the homes of upper-class Americans in the late eighteenth century. This curtain, part of a set, elevates the nation's leading heroes, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, to the exalted rank of gods. The printed fabric depicts Franklin guided towards the Temple of Fame by Athena and Liberty, and Washington driving a leopard-drawn chariot pulling an allegorical figure representing America.
A handwritten label associated with this objects reads, "Printed cotton Drapes - Washington and Homespun Bed Hangings from the Beekman Green Room."
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
