Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Reproduction of a drawing by Miguel Covarrubias, after a 16th c. codex. The god wears a feather headdress and tail along with his costume. Translation of caption at bottom of card: "Smoking mirror / God of Providence." Bourbon Codice, Lam. 22. Unmailed card, no message, no postmark.
Local Numbers:
AC0200-0000005 (AC Scan)
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Reproduction of a color drawing by Miguel Covarrubias, after a 16th c. codex, depicting Tonatiuh, the God of the sun. He kneels on one leg, holds an eagle in the air with one hand, and a shield of some sort in the other. Translation of caption at bottom of postcard: "He who gives light / God of the Sun." Bourbon Codex, Lam. 6. Unmailed, no message, no postmark.
Local Numbers:
AC0200-0000001 (AC Scan)
General:
Maker unidentified.
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Reproduction of a drawing by Miguel Covarrubias, after a 16th c. codex. depicting the god of song, dance and music. This figure appears to have the head of a coyote, the animal that represents this god. Translation of caption at bottom of card: "Old Coyote / God of the Song, Dance and Music." Bourbon Codice, Lam. 4. Unmailed card, no message, no postmark.
Arrangement:
In series 3, box 27, grouping Religion--Mexico (Aztec).
Local Numbers:
AC0200-0000002 (AC Scan)
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Reproduction of a drawing by Miguel Covarrubias, made after a 16th c. codex, depicting a hummingbird god holding a serpent in one hand and a shield in the other, with a feather headdress. Translation of the caption at the bottom of the card: "God of the Aztecs and of War / Humming bird from the South." Codice Borbonico, Lam 34. Unmailed card, no message, no postmark.
Local Numbers:
AC0200-0000003 (AC Scan)
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Reproduction of a drawing by Miguel Covarrubias, after a 16th c. codex: a goddess wearing a headdress, a nose ring, and carrying two unidentified objects in her hands. She has a long, wide tail of jade, where images of tricksters are imprinted. Translation of caption at bottom of card: "She of the skirt of jades / Goddess of the waters." Unmailed card, no message, no postmark.
Local Numbers:
AC0200-0000004 (AC Scan)
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Genre/Form:
Postcards
Picture postcards -- 1900-1920
Collection Citation:
Victor A. Blenkle Postcard Collection, c. 1880-c. 1970, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution,
Reproduction of a drawing by Miguel Covarrubias, after a 16th c. codex, depicting Tlaloc, the Aztec rain god. He wears a feather headdress and costume with a long tail and carries unidentified objects in his hands. The caption and illustration indicate he is also a patron of farming and agriculture. Translation of caption at bottom of card: "God of the Rain / He who causes the rains and growth of vegetation." (Bourbon Codice. Lam. 7). Unmailed card, no message, no postmark.
Local Numbers:
AC0200-0000006 (AC Scan)
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Reproduction of a drawing by Miguel Covarrubias, after a 16th c. codex. Illustration of Quetzalcoatl wearing a headdress that resembles a bird, with a mask that includes a beak. He holds a serpent in one hand and an unidentified object in the other. Translation of caption at bottom of card: "The quetzal feather snake / God of the wind." (Bourbon Codice, Lam. 22).
Local Numbers:
AC0200-0000007 (AC Scan)
General:
Maker unidentified.
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Reproduction of a drawing by Miguel Covarrubias, after a 16th c. codex: an Aztec god wearing an elaborate feather headdress, holding a shield in one hand and an unidentifiable object in the other. Translation of caption at bottom of the postcard: "Our Lord Flayed / God of gold smiths." (Bourbon Codice, Lam. 14). Unmailed card, no message, no postmark.
Local Numbers:
AC0200-0000008 (AC Scan)
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
A drawing depicting the front entrance of a Mayan temple at Uxmal. The image has been colored in green, red and orange to highlight designs on the temple. According to the description on the back of the card, this is an exact replica, located at the World's Fair in Chicago, of a temple in "far away" Yucatan.
General:
Series III, Box 28, World's Fairs and Expositions--Chicago, 1933.
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Photographs made by Bill Wright circa 1993 documenting the Kickapoo Tribe in Colonia el Nacimiento, Mexico, and Black Seminole people in Coahuila, Mexico. There are also three images of the 1986 Tiwa Celebration of St. Anthony that depict dancers, preparations, and a procession.
Biographical/Historical note:
Bill Wright is a businessman and photographer in Abilene, Texas. His photography has been published in four photography books: Portraits from the Desert: Bill Wright's Big Bend, The Tiguas: Pueblo Indians of Texas, The Texas Kicakpoo: Keepers of Tradition, and People's Lives: A Photographic Celebration of the Human Spirit.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 91-3
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional Bill Wright photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 98-39.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Photographs are under copyright by the photographer.
Enlargements of photographs made by Donald Bush Cordry during his time in Mexico. These were mounted for a 1970s Bellas Artes-sponsored traveling exhibit based on Cordry's collection of Mexican Indian costumes. Included are images of Indigenous peoples of Mexico, fiestas and dances, pottery, boats, weaving, spinning, masks, vendors and markets, churches, and shrines. Depicted groups include the Huichol, Mestizo, Tarascan, Seri, Mayo, Tepehua, Totonac, Nahua, Mazatec, Cuicatec, Chinantec, Zapotec, Mixe, Amusgo, Huave, Mixtec, Chapanec, Zoque, Tzotzil, and Maya. Additionally, there are some self portraits of Donald Cordry and his wife Dorothy.
Biographical/Historical note:
Donald Bush Cordry (1907-1978) was an artist and photographer who studied the art of Indigenous peoples of Mexico. In 1931, Cordry made his first trip to Guerrero, Mexico, where he became interested in contemporary mask making. In 1934, Cordry moved to New York to work as a marionette designer for puppeteer Tony Sarg. While there, he contacted George G. Heye to learn more about Indigenous Mexican art. This led to a series of collecting expeditions from 1935 to 1938, during which Cordry collected Mexican masks and other artifacts for the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 87-38, USNM ACC 361232
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional photographs made by Cordry can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 82-14.
Donald Cordry and his wife, Dorothy Mann Cordry, also donated clothing and musical instruments from Mexico to the Department of Anthropology in accessions 361232 and 355866.
The National Museum of the American Indian Archives holds the Donald Bush Cordry collection of photographs and negatives, 1933-1940, as well as artifacts collected by Cordry.
Photographs of the Donald Cordry Mexican mask exhibit can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 80-3.
The Donald Cordry Mexican mask collection can be found in the Department of Anthropology in accession 355867.
The bulk of the collection consists of photographs made from glass negatives collected and produced by the Bureau of American Ethnology. These photographs include portraits and field photographs by photographers and anthropologists, most associated with the BAE, including Alexander Gardner, William Henry Jackson, John K. Hillers, DeLancey Gill, C. M. Bell, Antonio Zeno Shindler Matilda Coxe Stevenson, and others. The collection also includes photographs donated to the United States National Museum and transferred to the Department of Anthropology which depict Zulus and people from Chiapas, Mexico. Some of the prints in this collection may have been made for an Indian Photographic Exhibit lent by the BAE to the Public Library Commission of Indiana.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 85
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Original negatives for the bulk of the photographs in this collection can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in the BAE historical negatives.
Original prints for photographs of Zulu and people in Chiapas are held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 97 and Photo Lot 24.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo lot 85, Bureau of American Ethnology photograph collection relating to Native Americans, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Photographs of Seri artifacts and craftspeople, probably made by Dennis McCarthy. They include images of wood carvings, baskets, a violin and bow, rasp and scraper, toy cradle, and necklace, as well as a man, probably Dennis McCarthy, with a basket maker, violin maker, and a saleswoman. The prints are mounted on unbound album pages, which also include a note on McCarthy's interest in the Seri, a resume, and a bibliography.
Biographical/Historical note:
Dennis McCarthy was a public service officer in Arizona, where he worked as State Parks Director, Historic Preservation Officer, and Natural and Cultural Resources and Urban Lands Planner for the State Land Department. He started visiting Seri fishing camps on Tiburon Island in 1968 and later made contact with the Seri at Punta Chueca. In his personal reflections, he reports having "become captivated" with their artwork, particularly wood carvings and basketry.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 86-27
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional photographs of Seri people can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 87-38, Photo Lot 89, Photo Lot 24, and the BAE historical negatives.
Additional photographs of Seri people can be found in the National Museum of the American Indian Archives in the Edward Harvey Davis Photograph Collection, Alanson Buck Skinner Photograph Collection, and George W. Avery photographs and negatives.
The Department of Anthropology holds examples of Seri basketry.
Photographs relating to a Mexican natural history collection, including archeological, ethnographic, physical, entomological, ornithological, conchological, and paleontological collections. The photographs are mounted in an album entitled "Collections de Auguste Genin," where they are divided according to discipline and have accompanying typewritten descriptions by Genin. There are images of Huichol peoples; a diorite yoke from Jalapa; Aztec, Zapotec, Matlatlzinca, Huichol, and Tarahumara arms, tools, urns, vases, and idols; statuettes from Nayarit and statuettes of musicians and musical instruments; a wooden instrument from Hidalgo; ancient and modern musical instruments; terra cotta Spanish objects; coins and medals; skulls from Guerrero and the Valley of Mexico; a shell collection; and mastodon bones.
Biographical/Historical note:
Auguste Genin (1862-1931) was a a Franco-Mexican writer, poet, photographer, ethnologist. He was a resident of Mexico and director of the Mexican National Company of Dynamite and Explosives.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 86-25B
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Digital surrogates for most of the photographs can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 4523, a duplicate album sent to the Bureau of American Ethnology.
Images of masks, mask making, and use of masks in various parts of Mexico. Also includes photograph of a painting by Donald Cordry depicting use of a mask and musical instruments.
Biographical/Historical note:
Donald Bush Cordry (1907-1978) was an artist, photographer, and ethnographer of the arts and crafts of Indians of Mexico. In 1931, Cordry made his first trip to Mexico (Guerrero) and become fascinated by contemporary Mexican Indian art, especially mask making. In 1934, Cordry moved to New York to work as a marionette designer for puppeteer Tony Sarg and soon contacted George G. Heye to learn more about Mexican Indian art. From 1935 to 1938, Cordry collected Mexican masks and other art forms on behalf of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. On his first 1935 collecting trip for Heye, Cordry traveled throughout the states of Michoacan and Guerrero and collected carved and painted dance masks.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 82-14
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Photographs of the Donald Cordry Mexican mask exhibit can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 80-3.
The Donald Cordry Mexican mask collection can be found in the Department of Anthropology in USNM ACC 355867.
Photographs taken by Cordry can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 87-38.
Donald Cordry and his wife, Dorothy Mann Cordry, also donated clothing and musical instruments from Mexico to the Department of Anthropology in USNM ACC 361232 and USNM ACC 355866.
The National Museum of the American Indian Archives holds the Donald Bush Cordry collection of photographs and negatives, 1933-1940, as well as artifacts collected by Cordry.
The University of Texas at Austin holds the Donald Cordry Collection Relating to Mexican Masks, 1931-1978.
