Contact sheet of photographs of Nat King Cole playing the piano: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A sheet of twelve black and white photos with Nat King Cole. Each photo is numbered at the top right corner in white. Image number one depicts Nat King Cole sitting down playing the piano with two men and two women behind him. The next photo to the right, number four, also depicts Nat King Cole playing piano but now with two women and one man behind him. The next photo to the right depicts a different man playing piano with two women behind him. The final photo to the right depicts a man smiling while two women sit at a table. Starting in the middle row to the far left, image two, is Nat King Cole playing the piano with two men and two women behind him almost identical to the very first photo. Moving to the right is Nat King Cole playing piano with one man and two women behind him similar to the second photo described. The next two photos to the right are nearly identical to the third and fourth photos described in the top row. In the last row starting to the far left the first three images are nearly identical to the original three photos described in the first row. The last photo in the bottom row depicts a man sitting at a table in between two women. The back of the sheet there is a stamp that reads "David Workman/ Photography/ 146 West 47th St., N.Y.C."

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1930-1965
• Photograph by: David Workman, American
• Subject of: Nat King Cole, American, 1919 - 1965
• Subject of: Unidentified Man or Men
• Subject of: Unidentified Woman or Women
• Type: contact sheets
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 7 1/2 × 9 1/2 in. (19.1 × 24.1 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 8 1/16 × 9 15/16 in. (20.5 × 25.3 cm)
• Place captured: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2013.118.191.9
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• 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: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.