Tags | Collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

We have 30 objects tagged musical instruments.

Drawing, Water color; Tarantella dancers

Drawing, Water color; Tarantella dancers
pen and black ink and water colors on paper..
Gift of Eleanor and Sarah Hewitt.
1931-73-5

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.

Drawing, Design for Mirror & Piano Bench

Drawing, Design for Mirror & Piano Bench
Gift of The Lake St. Louis Historical Society.
2000-69-966

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.

Print, Ornamenti o Grottesche (Grotesque Ornament)

Print, Ornamenti o Grottesche (Grotesque Ornament)
etching on laid paper.
Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council.
1921-6-153-3

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.

Print, Ornamenti o Grottesche (Grotesque Ornament)

Print, Ornamenti o Grottesche (Grotesque Ornament)
etching on laid paper.
Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council.
1921-6-153-4

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.

Print, Ornamental Candelabrum

Print, Ornamental Candelabrum
etching on white laid paper, lined.
Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council.
1921-6-25

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.

Print, Mercury, plate from a suite of 6 ornamental designs with the Judgement of Paris

Print, Mercury, plate from a suite of 6 ornamental designs with the Judgement...
engraving on laid paper.
Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council.
1921-6-528-6

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.

Print, Ornament Panel Inscribed "Victoria Augusta"

Print, Ornament Panel Inscribed "Victoria Augusta"
engraving on off white laid paper.
Museum purchase through gift of Eleanor and Sarah Hewitt.
1946-29-4

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 3 images of this object.

Print, Plate 24, from Grotteßco: in diverßche manieren (Various Grotesques)

Print, Plate 24, from Grotteßco: in diverßche manieren (Various Grotesques)
etching on laid paper..
Museum purchase through gift of Mrs. John Innes Kane.
1945-59-12

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.

Print, Sense of Sound, plate from Quinque sensum typi in usum aurifabroru exarati (Images of the Five Senses Engraved for the Benefit of the Goldsmith)

Print, Sense of Sound, plate from Quinque sensum typi in usum aurifabroru...
blackwork, engraving on laid paper.
Museum purchase through gift of Mrs. John I. Kane.
1945-6-2-a

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.

Drawing, Study for an Abstract Composition

Drawing, Study for an Abstract Composition
pen and black ink, brush and black ink on paper.
Gift of Mrs. E. McKnight Kauffer.
1963-39-831

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Poster, Freddy Johnson and His Harlemites

Poster, Freddy Johnson and His Harlemites
offset lithograph on paper.
Gift of George R. Kravis II.
2018-22-47

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images and 1 video of this object.

Square drawing in gouache with an overall pattern design of what appear to be stylized, elongated guitars (shaped like stretched out figure-8’s) positioned at different angles. Most of the guitar bodies are cream with orange necks/fret boards and cream tuning pegs. A few have cream bodies and necks (no distinguishable fretboards) with orange tuning pegs. The background and the sound holes are chocolate brown. The ends of the guitar necks bend to their right. Some of the guitars are drawn in loose perspective with a part of one side or a bottom visible. The sides are rendered with simple orange accents which against the cream suggests some kind of shadow. There is a sense of musicality to the layout - the relative brightness (cream color) of the flat sinuous guitar shapes facing different directions comprise the main motif and keep the viewer moving throughout the pattern; the contrasting linearity of the necks and the orange accents create a sense of dynamism, and the sets of tiny tuning pegs (3 on each side of the neck) interspersed throughout the pattern are like delicate trills. The instruments seem cartoonish, with not realistic guitar proportions, however their various sizes, shapes, and positions serve to pleasantly fill the space.

Object ID #18640379
brush and gouache, graphite on paper, lined.
Gift of Donald Cameron.
1992-51-55

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 3 images of this object.

Drawing, Design for Carpet: Still Life with Musical Instruments, Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY

Drawing, Design for Carpet: Still Life with Musical Instruments, Radio City...
brush and gouache, graphite on cream wove paper, lined.
Gift of Donald Deskey.
1975-11-73

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 5 images and 1 video of this object.

Carpet For Radio City Music Hall (USA)

Carpet For Radio City Music Hall (USA)
wool.
Gift of Mrs. Robert Blasberg in memory of Robert Blasberg.
1987-69-1

This object is part of the Textiles collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Poster, Suite for Flute/Piano

Poster, Suite for Flute/Piano
offset lithograph on paper.
Gift of Various Donors.
1981-29-284

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 3 images of this object.

One of a pair of vertical drawings designed to be printed as a 2-panel mural wall covering. Although each panel can be appreciated individually, it should be noted that elements introduced on the left panel are completed on the right and vice versa. The entire mural depicts musicians playing instruments on one panel and children playing with kites on the other, set against exotic architecture. The types of instruments, and the style of the clothing, kites and architecture suggest the scene takes place in the East (and is reminiscent of miniature paintings and prints from that part of the world.) The elements are drawn in a playful, somewhat flat manner. The view is from an elevated perspective. The vanishing point is below the bottom page equidistant from the outer edge of each panel. The front plane of the building faces the viewer while both sides of the building are also visible (as diagonal planes heading backwards.) There are three areas of action: at street level, on a roof terrace/garden, and in the middle within and outside the building. In this panel, on the street level, the “serenade” is performed by five musicians sitting under a tall, open, canopy structure, in what appears to be an entryway to an outer yard bordered by a veranda like railing. The street has diamond-shaped tiles. The musicians are arranged like the 5 points of a W. Musician #1 sits on the railing, plays an instrument like a wooden flute (a ney?); #2 sits on the ground against the railing, plays an instrument like a broken-necked lute (an oud?) #3 sits on ground further back, plays an odd-shaped lap-held instrument (a zither?); #4 sits on the ground, against the railing (opposite #2) plays an instrument like a lute; #5 sits on ground furthest back, plays an instrument like an elongated acoustic guitar (dulcimer?) #3 and 4 wear turban-like headgear and all wear longish form-fitted jackets and are either barefoot or in sandals. The figures are vey small relative to the entire panel, taking up only the bottom 1/5. The canopy towers over the figures. Its sides have a decorative, loop-and-triangle pattern, and its roof has a pattern like wicker caning. Above the canopy, is a what appears to be a two-sided garden wall with an opening through which tree branches are partially visible. Branches are also visible at the sides and top edges of the wall. Above the opening is a large, cartoon-like, very white butterfly, starkly contrasted against the grey brick wall. (It is a kite whose string is held by children in the adjacent panel.) The side of the wall has a small grid pattern. Towards the left edge of the panel, roughly centered between the branches poking out from behind the wall, is a large 6-pointed star with spokes, drawn with shading as if to convey a source of light creating shadows. It’s another kite (manipulated by a child on the other panel.) Slightly below the star is a fragment of a balcony (completed on the other panel.) An empty sky creates a visual, restful exit from all the patterns in the scene below. The top of the paper appears discolored. The artist makes wonderful use of diagonals, light and dark, multiple patterns and geometric shapes, to create fantasy spaces on different planes, not always decipherable, with a few mysterious half-hidden figures for good measure, all of which keeps the viewer engaged. As this is a 2-dimensional, monochrome drawing (shades of gray on a light background) one of the exciting aspects of the artist’s skill is how she juxtaposes a variety of lines and patterns against each other, some dark and dense, some light and sparse, to distinguish areas and elements from one another, giving each its own voice in the artwork.

Drawing, Serenade, 1948
graphite, pen and ink on linen.
Gift of Matthew L. Edelman.
2016-37-1

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.

A wide-mouthed slightly bulbous circular bowl, tapering to a molded circular foot. The exterior of the bowl is decorated with a composition of stylized geometric architecture, art-deco advertising signs, cocktail glasses, and musical instruments in black, with a royal blue, transparent glaze over the whole surface. A small part of the interior is shown, which is decorated with a continuous band of musical staff and notations in royal blue over a black ground.

The New Yorker (Jazz) Punch Bowl
glazed, molded earthenware with sgraffito design.
Gift of Mrs. Homer Kripke.
1980-21-7

This object was made by Cowan Pottery Studio.
This object is part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts collection.
There are 4 images and 1 video of this object.

Sidewall, Chinois et Vase

Sidewall, Chinois et Vase
stencilled on paper.
Gift of The Museum at The Fashion Institute of Technology.
1998-75-59

This object is part of the Wallcoverings collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Poster, 1965/66 Stadttheater Basel [Poster for the 1965-66 Season of the City Theater, Basel]

Poster, 1965/66 Stadttheater Basel [Poster for the 1965-66 Season of the City...
offset lithograph on white wove paper.
Gift of Ken Friedman.
1997-19-144

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Desk
mahogany, burl walnut, burl elm, rosewood veneers, maple, pine, ash, gilt metal.
Gift of Eleanor and Sarah Hewitt.
1931-95-13

This object is part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts collection.
There are 5 images of this object.

Drawing, Mechanically-Operated Cylinder-Top Secretary Desk

Drawing, Mechanically-Operated Cylinder-Top Secretary Desk
pen and black ink, brush and watercolor on paper.
Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council.
1911-28-470

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Poster, Piano, Steinway and Sons

Poster, Piano, Steinway and Sons
offset lithograph on paper.
Gift of Various Donors.
1981-29-24

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Black Basalt Covered Urn Urn

Black Basalt Covered Urn Urn
stoneware ("black basalt").
Bequest of Erskine Hewitt.
1938-57-301-a/d

This object was made by Wedgwood.
This object is part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts collection.
There are 20 images of this object.

Cravat End (France)

Cravat End (France)
linen.
Bequest of Richard Cranch Greenleaf in memory of his mother, Adeline Emma....
1962-50-18-b

This object is part of the Textiles collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Tile (England)
transfer-printed, green-enamelled white pottery.
Gift of Mrs. Montgomery Hare.
1940-80-1

This object is part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Plaque And Frame (France)

Plaque And Frame (France)
gilt bronze.
Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council.
1910-30-10-a,b

This object is part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Sample Book, Hand Blocked Wall Papers, Chinese Motif

Sample Book, Hand Blocked Wall Papers, Chinese Motif
Collection of Smithsonian Institution Libraries.
SIL39088008656399

Cape For An Ecclesiastical Figurine

Cape For An Ecclesiastical Figurine
silk, metallic yarns.
Gift of Mrs. James O. Green.
1896-11-3

This object is part of the Textiles collection.
There are 3 images of this object.

Drawing, Three Putti with Tambourines and Trumpets, Design for Lunette of the Sala delle Muse, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican

Drawing, Three Putti with Tambourines and Trumpets, Design for Lunette of the...
black chalk and black crayon on heavy cream paper, squared for enlargement.
Museum purchase through gift of various donors and from Eleanor G. Hewitt Fund.
1938-88-7187

This object is part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design collection.
There are 2 images of this object.

Man with Trumpet Figure

Man with Trumpet Figure
porcelain, enamel, gilding.
The Henry and Ludmilla Shapiro Collection; Partial gift and partial purchase....
1989-41-239

This object was made by Korostensky Porcelain Factory.
This object is part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts collection.
There are 2 images of this object.