Gelatin silver print of Nat King Cole, Perry Como, and Chester Dudley: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black and white photograph of Nat King Cole, Perry Como, and Chester Dudley looking at some papers.

Nat King Cole is on the left side of the image. He is wearing a white collared shirt, a pinstripe grey colored suit, and a short tie in a striped design. Perry Como is in the center. He is wearing a white collared shirt, dark pants, and a plaid suit jacket. He has a cigarette in his proper left hand and is holding several sheets of white paper. Chester Dudley is on the right. He is wearing a white collared shirt, a dark suit jacket, a necktie, and glasses. All three have white pocket squares and are looking down at the sheets of paper.

At the top left corner of the verso is the handwritten inscription in graphite: [Nat King Cole (Left) / Perry Como (Center) / Chester Dudley (rt)]. At the bottom left corner, a stamp in black ink reads: [PLEASE CREDIT PHOTO / BY EARL GRIFFIN].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1950s
• Subject of: Earl Griffin
• Subject of: Nat King Cole, American, 1919 - 1965
• Subject of: Perry Como, American, 1912 - 2001
• Created by: Chester Dudley
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 8 15/16 × 9 3/4 in. (22.7 × 24.8 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 7 5/8 × 9 1/2 in. (19.4 × 24.1 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2015.97.38.32
• 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.