Object Details
- Smith, Willard A.
- Tiffany & Co.
- Description
- This elegant silver vase was presented to Willard A. Smith, Chief of the Department of Transportation exhibits at the World’s Colombian Exposition in 1893. The Exposition was held in Chicago to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s “discovery” of America. The Exposition was a great success as a world’s fair, and demonstrated to the international community that Chicago had recovered from the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
- Presenting silver objects has always been a means of expressing gratitude and acknowledging deeds and accomplishments in American culture. It took Tiffany & Co. six months to construct this costly Art Nouveau style vase. Its decoration takes the form of the Transportation Building. The distinct semi-circular arches are the work of architect James Sullivan, who designed the building that housed the Department of Transportation exhibits. Medallions circling the vase celebrate the progress in the modes of land and water transportation, while representations of the Department of Transportation exhibitions adorn the vase as well.
- Credit Line
- Gift of Willard A. Smith
- 1894
- ID Number
- DL.63.821
- catalog number
- 63.821
- 63.281
- accession number
- 245502
- Object Name
- vase
- Physical Description
- silver (overall material)
- wood (base material)
- cast (overall production technique)
- hammered (makers mark production technique)
- Measurements
- overall: 61 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm; 24 in x 11 13/16 in x 11 13/16 in
- overall: 1 in x 6 1/4 in x 1 3/4 in; 2.54 cm x 15.875 cm x 4.445 cm
- Place Made
- United States: New York, New York City
- See more items in
- Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
- Transportation
- Art
- Artifact Walls exhibit
- Exhibition
- Always Ready: Fighting Fire in the 19th Century
- Exhibition Location
- National Museum of American History
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_214492
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a0-e6e8-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
