Friends of the Black Oscar Nominees Award received by Cab Calloway: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A Friends of the Black Oscar Nominees Pioneer Award received by Cab Calloway. The smooth sculpture top portion (A2015.273.1.17a) is constructed from carved whitish mauve stone with light and dark brown discolorations. The award has a detached base (A2015.273.1.17b). The sculpture depicts a stylized woman’s head and neck. The face, hair, and neck are thin, and elongated. Her eyes are closed and she has a serious expression on her face. The front of her hair is parted on the proper right side and carved into diagonal rows with V-shaped furrows between the rows. The neck is long and rounded. Underneath the neck is a discoloration where it used to be adhered to the base. The base is polished, light green stone with white and brown discolorations and carved into a truncated pyramid, with a square surface and a larger square base with beveled edges. Adhered to the front of the Oscar base is a gold tone, metal label with blackened, engraved text that reads [Friends of The BLACK OSCAR NOMINEES Presents / The 1991 Pioneer Award To / CAB CALLOWAY / For Your Unfailing Inspiration / To Us ALL]. There is a round glue spot where the sculpture detached. The bottom of the base is covered in black felt.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1991
• Manufactured by: Unidentified
• Issued by: Friends of the Black Oscar Nominees, American, 1981 - 2007
• Received by: Cab Calloway, American, 1907 - 1994
• Subject of: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, American, founded 1927
• Type: trophies (prizes)
• Type: sculpture
• Medium: stone and marble with metal and felt
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Overall): 12 3/16 × 6 5/8 × 6 9/16 in. (31 × 16.9 × 16.7 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (A2015.273.1.17a): 10 13/16 × 5 11/16 × 4 5/16 in. (27.5 × 14.5 × 11 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (A2015.273.1.17b): 1 3/8 × 6 5/8 × 6 9/16 in. (3.5 × 16.9 × 16.7 cm)
• Place used: Los Angeles, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Band (Music)
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Conductors (Musicians)
• Topic: Craftsmanship
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Professional organizations
• Object number: A2015.273.1.17ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Cabella Calloway Langsam
• 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: © Friends of the Black Oscar Nominees Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.