Oscar Land: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A male ventriloquist doll made of wood. The doll, named Oscar Land, is painted brown and has pink accents to highlight the nose, cheeks, and lips. The doll has brown eyes, black hair and is wearing a black and white tuxedo and black shoes.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1950s
• Owned by: Stu Gilliam, American, 1933 - 2013
• Type: ventriloquial figures
• Medium: wood with cloth and fiber
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 42 × 19 1/2 × 7 3/8 in. (106.7 × 49.5 × 18.7 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Seated, Legs Extended): 23 1/4 × 16 1/4 × 24 1/8 in. (59.1 × 41.3 × 61.3 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Seated on Foam (9 x 12 x 12)): 32 1/4 × 16 1/4 × 22 1/2 in. (81.9 × 41.3 × 57.2 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Comedy
• Object number: 2014.178.17.1-.11
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Vivian Gilliam in memory of Stu Gilliam
• 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 displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.