Photograph of Cootie Williams playing the trumpet: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A silver gelatin print depicting a black-and-white image of Cootie Williams playing a trumpet. Williams is centrally depicted from the knees up, performing on a stage. He is facing the viewer, with his body turned slightly towards the left edge of the image. There are two (2) male musicians seated behind music stands behind him. The Williams is wearing a black, double breasted suit, white collared shirt and black bow tie. He has a white pocket square in his proper left breast pocket and he is holding the trumpet to his lips. The musicians behind him are wearing black tuxedos with white shirts and black bow ties. The man on the right is playing a brass saxophone. The music stands are decorated with a zig zag pattern. The curtain in the background is decorated with outlines of stars. There are no inscriptions on the front or the back of the photograph. There is a stamp in black ink on the back of the photograph that reads, [harry rossner / CANDID PHOTOGRAPHER / 116 ave. c, b’klyn, n.y.].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1935-1960
• Photograph by: Harry Rossner
• Subject of: Cootie Williams, American, 1911 - 1985
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 6 5/8 × 4 5/8 in. (16.8 × 11.8 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 6 15/16 × 4 15/16 in. (17.7 × 12.6 cm)
• Place made: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Band (Music)
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Nightlife
• Topic: Photography
• Object number: 2013.46.25.205
• 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.