Academy Award, Best Sound, Dances with Wolves, presented to Russell Williams, II: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

2015.29.22.1: Academy Award, Best Sound, Dances with Wolves, 1990 owned and received by Russell Williams, II. The statuette is gold-plated britannium and depicts a knight rendered in Art Deco style holding a crusader's sword (vertically down from its chest) standing on a flat reel of film with five spokes. The entire statuette is on a circular metal base. Two things are etched into the film reel on the back of the statuette, (top) reads: [(c)/AMPAS/(R)] in one of the spokes, (side of reel) reads: [2542]. A label, etched into a gold-plate, on the front of the base reads: [ACADEMY AWARD / TO / JEFFREY PERKINS, BILL W. BENTON, / GREGORY H. WATKINS AND RUSSELL WILLIAMS II / SOUND / "DANCES WITH WOLVES" / 1990] in various text sizes. Three other labels, etched into a gold-plates, on the back of the base read: (top) [(c) ACADEMY OF / MOTION PICTURE / ARTS & SCIENCES (R)], and the others (left - side of back of base) [THIS STATUETTE MAY NOT BE SOLD, CONVEYED OR OTHERWISE / TRANSFERRED (OTHER THAN PURSUANT TO BEQUESTS) WITHOUT / FIRST BEING OFFERED TO THE ACADEMY], and (right - side of back of base) reads: [MANUFACTURED UNDER WORLD RIGHTS GRANTED BY / ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS & SCIENCES / TO R.S. OWENS CO. INC. CHICAGO, ILL. 60660]. There is black felt adhered to the bottom in the same shape of the base.

2015.29.22.2: Blue velvet bag cover used by Williams to be placed over top the Academy Award/Oscar statuette (2015.29.22.1). The bottom opening has drawstring like style, except the gold-threaded string that is strung through the folded in fabric is tied and does not stretch. The fabric is bunched along the bottom. The gold-threaded string loops twice and is visible through the splits in the fabric on both sides of the sack.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1991
• Issued by: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, American, founded 1927
• Received by: Russell Williams II, American, born 1952
• Created by: George Stanley, American, 1903 - 1973
• Designed by: Cedric Gibbons, Irish, 1893 - 1960
• Manufactured by: R.S. Owen & Company, American, founded 1983
• Type: trophies (prizes)
• Type: figurines
• Medium: britannia metal with copper , nickel silver and gold , felt (on the bottom of the base), velvet (bag)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2015.29.22a): 31 3/8 × 5 3/16 × 5 1/4 in. (79.7 × 13.2 × 13.3 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2015.29.22b flat): 17 × 9 × 2 1/2 in. (43.2 × 22.9 × 6.4 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2015.29.22b on award): 13 1/2 × 9 × 6 3/4 in. (34.3 × 22.9 × 17.1 cm)
• Place made: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Film
• Object number: 2015.29.22.1-.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Russell Williams II
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.