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Museum Skyphos, a Mystery
Elaine GersteinSkyphos (wine cup), Maker unknown, Apulia, Italy, 5th Century BC, Gift of Charles W. Gould, 1915-11-31. The Museum’s skyphos, a small wine cup, is from 5th century BC Apulia in Southern...
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Bluette by Atelier Martine
Kimberly RandallTextile, ca. 1912, Gift of Louise Dushkin, 1984-136-1.Bluette is a textile by an unknown designer made in the design school Atelier Martine. The school was founded by Paul Poiret (1879...
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Miniature Fantasy
Rebekah PollackPrint: Design for Ornament from Cinquieme Livre d'Ornemens, from Oeuvre de Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier, 1748 (first printing 1734). Designed by Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier. Purchased for the...
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One for the Money
Laura CamerlengoMiser’s purse. Designer unknown. 1810 – 1830. Gift of Mrs. Albert Blum. 1953-106-70.Has Tax Day left you pinching your pennies? Then you may appreciate the secure storage offered by...
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From Dumpster to Gallery, a Wallpapers Rise to Fame
Gregory HerringshawWallpaper, produced by United Wallpaper, Inc. Chicago, ca. 1955. Gift of Kathleen Paton, 1992-129-1-a,b.The provenance of this piece is kind of a fun rags to riches story. This...
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Wearing one’s heart on one’s sleeve and jacket front.
Sarah D. CoffinSet of Eighteen Buttons with West Indian Scenes, c. 1795. Artist: Agostino Brunias, Italian active in England and Haiti 1730-1796, Dominica (Current Haiti/Santo Domingo). Gift of R....
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A Colorful Identity
Maxwell TielmanFrom the New York Subway system to American Airlines, Massimo Vignelli is responsible for some of the most iconic and enduring graphic identities of the twentieth century. Born in Milan...
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A Fan with a Story
Lucy CommonerOf the 300 folding fans in the Cooper-Hewitt, Nation Design Museum’s collection, very few have as fascinating a provenance as this beautiful fan designed by the artist Simon Lissim...
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Diplomatic Swans
Rebekah PollackSwan Service Charger, Modelled by Johann Joachim Kändler, 1706 – 1775, Made by Meissen Porcelain Factory, Meissen, Germany 1737–41This charger belonged to the Meissen Swan Service, one...
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Out With the Old, In With the “Nowy”
Amanda KesnerPoster: Stepau, 1981 - Teatre Nowy, 1981. Gift of Sara and Marc Benda. 2009-20-24.This off-set lithograph shows a black and white image of a film strip depicting men carrying signs and...
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Fancy French Furniture
Stephen H. Van DykGuilmard, Désiré. Le Garde-Meuble. Paris: D.Guilmard, 1839-1852. Smithsonian Libraries. f NK2547.Z8 G96 Le Garde-meuble, ancien et moderne (Furniture repository, ancient and modern),...
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Wallpapering your Floor
Gregory HerringshawFloor paper, United States, ca. 1880s. Museum purchase from Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program and Sarah Cooper-Hewitt Funds, 1995-165-18This parquet border...
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Fractions
Ellen LuptonTextile: Fractions, 1949. Designed by Bernard Rudofsky. Manufactured by Schiffer Prints. Gift of Berta Rudofsky. 1991-101-1.How does a critic design textiles? With a typewriter, of course!...
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The Best Possible View
Gail S. Davidson and Floramae McCarron-CatesDrawing: Half Dome, Yosemite, 1873. Artist: Thomas Moran. Gift of Thomas Moran. 1917-17-32. The South Dome, Yosemite, CaliforniaThe South Dome, Yosemite,...
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The Effulgence of Country Gardens
Maleyne SyracuseTextile: Primavera. Designed by Don Wight for Larsen Design Studio. United States, 1959. Gift of Jack Lenor Larsen.Jack Lenor Larsen (b.1927) is one of America’s most prolific and...
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The George Washington Monuments
Stephanie KeatingDrawing: Tomb of George Washington, Mt. Vernon. Designer unknown, ca. 1820. Gift of Anonymous Donor from the Fraser/Martin Collection. 1974-100-32.By the time of his death in 1799,...
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Butterflies are free to let ones spirits fly
Sarah D. CoffinAraiso U Brooch, 2007. Designed and Made by Van Cleef & Arpels and Junichi Hakose (Lacquer), Paris, France and Japan. Gift of Van Cleef and Arpels. 2011-42-1.When I saw a few of...
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Dancing, Chanting and Music: The Noh Robe
Nadia VanekNoh Robe. Designer Unknown. Japan, ca. 1800. Gift of Eleanor and Sarah Hewitt, from the textile collection of Mrs. Abram Stevens Hewitt.When I first saw this Noh robe I thought about the...
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Like Gloves for the Walls
Gregory HerringshawGilt leather. The Netherlands, ca. 1750. Museum purchase through gift in memory of Josephine C. Howell and through bequest of Edith M. Henderson and from Sarah Cooper-Hewitt Fund....
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Preserving the Perfect Fit
Kira Eng-WilmotTextile. HTM Flyknit Racer, 2009-12. Designed by Ben Shaffer, manufactured by Nike, Inc. Gift of Nike, Inc. 2012-4-1a,b. Photo courtesy of Nike.Anyone who has scuffed their brand new...
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