Baluster from the Dock Street Theatre: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A baluster from the Dock Street Theatre in Charleston, South Carolina. The bottom third of the baluster shaft is square straight up to a square band. The rest of the shaft is clover shaped. There is a hollow diamond shape near the top third of the shaft. On either side of the diamond shape are eight (8) tiered leaf shaped decorative elements with bands around the middle. Just below the bottom tiered decorative element is handwritten text in white ink that reads [R399]. At the top of the shaft is a clover shaped metal cap.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 19th century
• Manufactured by: Unidentified
• Owned by: Dock Street Theatre, American, founded 1736
• Owned by: Old Slave Mart Museum, American, founded 1937
• Type: ironwork
• Type: balusters
• Medium: iron
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 36 × 2 1/2 × 7/8 in. (91.5 × 6.4 × 2.2 cm)
• Place made: Charleston, South Carolina, United States, North and Central America
• Place used: Charleston, South Carolina, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: American South
• Topic: Architecture
• Topic: Building Arts
• Topic: Craftsmanship
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Skilled labor
• Topic: Slavery
• Object number: 2017.108.24.11.2
• 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.