Collection Highlights
Study for "Carmen Jones"
1944
2001.104
Watercolor and graphite on paper
Support the New-York Historical Society
Help us present groundbreaking exhibitions and develop educational programs about our nation's history for more than 200,000 schoolchildren annually.
Museum Collections
Luce Center
Hill's Alphabet Blocks
Title
Hill's Alphabet Blocks
Object name
Alphabet blocks
Date
ca. 1875
Medium
Wood, paper
Dimensions
box: 1 x 6 1/8 x 6 in. ( 2.5 x 15.6 x 15.2 cm )
Description
Set of eighteen square blocks painted red or white with numbers or letters painted on two sides; wooden box with an applied label with four children playing with blocks in a nursery with a mother looking on; label inscribed, "HILL'S/ ALPHABET BLOCKS/ S. L. HILL WILLIAMSBURGH NY".
Credit Line
The Liman Collection
Object Number
2000.284
Marks
lithographed: on the box label: "HILL'S/ ALPHABET BLOCKS/ S. L. HILL WILLIAMSBURGH NY".
Gallery Label
First developed in 17th-century England, alphabet blocks were produced in New York by 1820. The first large-scale production of blocks was initiated in Williamsburg, New York (Brooklyn) by S. L. Hill, who patented his paper-on-wood spelling blocks in 1858.
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
