Letter opener received by Cab Calloway: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A Tiffany & Co. letter opener received by Cab Calloway from the New York chapter of The Northeasterners. The letter opener is from a single piece of molded sterling silver. It has a short, roughly rectangular handle and a blunt, elongated blade. The blade is long and tapers to a point at the top. On the back is molded text that reads [TIFFANY & CO. / STERLING]. The handle is thicker and embellished with sets of thin molded stripes divided by thin flutes. At the center of the top of the handle is a plain silver box with a description that reads [To Cab Calloway / The Northeasterners N.Y.].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1980-1989
• Manufactured by: Tiffany & Co., American, founded 1837
• Issued by: The Northeasterners, American, founded 1930
• Received by: Cab Calloway, American, 1907 - 1994
• Type: letter openers
• Medium: sterling silver
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 1/16 × 13/16 × 9 1/4 in. (0.2 × 2 × 23.5 cm)
• Place used: New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Band (Music)
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Conductors (Musicians)
• Topic: Correspondence
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Object number: A2015.273.1.19.1
• 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: No known copyright restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.