Platinum Record Award for the album 1999 given to Prince: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A framed award commemorating the sale of over one (1) million copies of the album “1999” by Prince from the Recording Industry Association of America. The award features a platinum record album with the “1999” center label attached. The label depicts Prince’s proper left eye and eyebrow, with the spindle hole in the center of the iris. Affixed at the bottom of the record is one half of a cassette tape, also covered in platinum. In the label area of the cassette a plaque is attached that is engraved with the text: “PLATINUM SALES AWARD”. Below the cassette tape is a silver plaque divided into thirds. On the left side of the plaque is a small image of the “1999” album cover. In the middle section the plaque is engraved with text that reads: “PRESENTED TO / PRINCE / TO COMMEMORATE THE SALE OF MORE THAN / 1,000,000 COPIES OF THE / WARNER BROS. RECORDS / ALBUM, CASSETTE AND C.D. / ‘1999’”. On the right side of the plaque is a holographic sticker that reads “RIAA / CERTIFIED SALES AWARD”. The album, cassette, and plaque are mounted on dark blue paper, which is covered with black matting board so that only a thin frame of the blue paper is visible as an outline around the items. The wood frame is covered in black vinyl on the left, right and top edges. The verso is covered in brown paper and a metal self-leveling sawtooth picture hanger is stapled at the center top of the frame.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1983
• Issued by: RCA Records, founded 1901
• Owned by: Prince, American, 1958 - 2016
• Type: multimedia works
• Medium: plastic, glass, paper, metal, and wood
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 21 × 17 × 1 1/8 in. (53.3 × 43.2 × 2.9 cm)
• Place made: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Rock and roll (Music)
• Object number: 2014.97.8
• 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.