Early museum photography! Thomas William Smillie was the first official photographer at the Smithsonian in the late 19th century, documenting objects, activities, and exhibitions. As his photographs were mostly intended for use as reference, they were printed as cyanotypes, easy and cheap. The results, combining simple compositions with the deep Prussian blue of the cyanotype, have a striking beauty beyond their original purpose. Mostly circa 1890-1900, though Smillie worked at the Smithsonian until his death in 1917.
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Glass slides hanging in a window. Source
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| Smithsonian Institution |
Books. Source
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Candlesticks. Source
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A Confederate army coat. Source
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A lab, I think? Source
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| Smithsonian Institution |
The daguerreotype equipment of Samuel Morse (in addition to inventing the telegraph, he was into photography). Source
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| Smithsonian Institution |
A photograph or painting. Source
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| Smithsonian Institution |
A Chinese box kite. Source
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A stereograph. Source
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Stuffed animals. Source
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Figurines. Source
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A negative. Source
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I'm not sure what's being documented here... the pen? (yes, yes it is) Source
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A tintype. Source
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A letter. Source
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Not sure what these are... anyone? Source
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| Smithsonian Institution |
More stuffed animals. Source
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A sketch/line drawing. Source
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Presumably some kind of photograph, though I don't know why it looks like this. Source
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A model of the National Zoo in Washington DC. Source
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Another negative. Source
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A statue. Source
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Two photographs. Source
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A collection of figurines. Source
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| Smithsonian Institution |
Trays of some kind, I think? Frames? Boxes? Source
2 comments:
The last picture looks to me like a collection of those boxes for butterflies and geology samples.
I think your mystery slides are spectrum studies of different elements. My terminology is incorrect, I know.
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