Gelatin silver print of Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black and white photograph of Jimmie Lunceford and his orchestra.

The thirteen (13) band members are pictured with their instruments on a stage in front of a curtain with a large floral design. Lunceford is standing at the center, leaning his proper right elbow on a grand piano and holding his saxophone in his proper left arm. He wears a light-colored double-breasted tuxedo with dark lapels. Just to the right of him is the drummer and drum kit, behind a large art deco style music stand with a diamond and key design. To the right, are three saxophone players seated behind smaller music stands in a similar diamond design, with the banjo and bass players on a raised platform behind them. To the left of Lunceford is the piano player, and the brass instrument players, also seated in two levels behind diamond music stands.

Printed in the photograph in white at bottom center is [Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra] in decorative type. At the bottom left, handwritten in white is [Standard Photo Service /Phila, Pa.]. Inscribed in black ink at the bottom left is [To Janice / from / Jimmie].

On the back, inscribed by hand in graphite is [SIGNED / BY JIMMIE LUNCEFORD / ca. 1932].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1932
• Photograph by: Standard Photo Service, American
• Subject of: Jimmie Lunceford, American, 1902 - 1947
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 5 7/8 × 9 5/16 in. (14.9 × 23.7 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Conductors (Musicians)
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Photography
• Object number: 2015.97.38.19
• 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 displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.