Photograph of the Scoby Browne Quartet autographed by "Duke": Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black-and-white photograph, landscape orientation, of four men playing instruments together, around a free-standing microphone, all in matching tan suit jackets and dark pants. Each man is identified with handwritten inscriptions in black ink above their image and an inscription at the bottom right corner reads [To My Boy / "Acey" / Best Wishes / Duke]. From left to right, "Scoby" is holding a clarinet, "Me" or "Duke" is playing an accordian, "Jim" is holding a guitar, and "Choc" is holding an upright bass. There is a keyboard in the left foreground that no one is playing in the image. The four are pictured in front of a plain white background. A printed caption in black type at the bottom center reads [SCOBY BROWNE 4-TET]. There are no marks or inscriptions on the reverse.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1930s - 1950s
• Photograph by: Unidentified
• Subject of: Scoby Browne
• Subject of: Unidentified Man or Men
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 8 1/8 × 10 in. (20.6 × 25.4 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2014.3.11
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Paxton and Rachel Baker
• 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.