National Medal of Arts awarded to B.B King, with case: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is a National Medal of Arts (a) awarded to B.B. King, along with its presentation box (b). The medal consists of a silver pendant in the shape of a swirl with a hole in the center. The swirl creates an uneven circle with smooth polished outer edges. The inside of the swirl is textured and rough. Around the top rim of the swirl is engraved text that reads “NATIONAL MEDAL OF ARTS 1990.” On the underside of the pendant the silver is textured. On the left it is engraved with text that reads “UNTED STATES / OF / AMERICA.” On the right it is engraved with text that reads “B.B. KING.” The medal is suspended from a woven strap of red, white, blue and silver threads. The strap is flat and threaded through a bar welded to the underside of the top of the pendant. The presentation box (b) is a dark blue leather case with a white and blue silk lining.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1990
• Distributed by: National Endowment for the Arts, American, founded 1965
• Owned by: B.B. King, American, 1925 - 2015
• Type: boxes (containers)
• Type: medals
• Medium: a: silver and ribbon
• Medium: b: wood and cloth
• Dimensions: Diameter (a: medal with ribbon): 2 15/16 × 15 3/4 in. (7.5 × 40 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (b: box): 1 15/16 × 9 1/8 × 5 11/16 in. (5 × 23.2 × 14.5 cm)
• Place used: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Blues (Music)
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Music
• Topic: Musicians
• Object number: 2021.102.2ab
• 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: No known copyright restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.