Photograph of Don Redman and his Orchestra: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A silver gelatin print depicting a black-and-white image of Don Redman and his Orchestra. Redman and his Orchestra are depicted on a stage decorated in a gambling theme that includes dice, roulette wheels, playing cards, and racing forms. In the center of the photograph is Don Redman, depicted wearing a white suit with a dark tie. He is standing in the middle of a painted roulette wheel on the floor. On either side of the stage are large dice. Along the back of the stage are two (2) rows of fourteen (14) musicians in total, playing brass and string instruments. The backdrop of the stage is decorated with suspended large playing cards and two (2) large racing forms. At the center of the backdrop is a large roulette wheel of numbers. Inside the wheel is a swirl of lights that ends at the center. In the lower left and right corners is a seated audience with their backs to the viewer. The image is bordered with white and along bottom is black text on the left and right sides. The text in the lower left corner reads, [DON REDMAN / and his Orchestra]. The text in the lower right corner reads, [CENTURY ORCHESTRA CORP. / 1619 Broadway, New York, N.Y.]. There are several inscriptions in pencil on the back of the photograph.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1936
• Photograph by: Unidentified
• Distributed by: Century Orchestra Corporation, American
• Subject of: Donald "Don" Matthew Redman, American, 1900 - 1964
• Subject of: Don Redman And His Orchestra, American, 1931 - 1940
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 6 15/16 × 9 9/16 in. (17.7 × 24.3 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 8 × 10 1/8 in. (20.3 × 25.7 cm)
• Place used: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Nightlife
• Topic: Photography
• Object number: 2013.46.25.44
• 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.