Finding Aid - Contains Digitized Material
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Finding Aids to Official Records of the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Record Unit 550

National Collection of Fine Arts. Office of the Director

Collection Records, 1895-1975

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:National Collection of Fine Arts. Office of the Director
Title:Collection Records
Dates:1895-1975
Quantity:0.43 cu. ft. (1 12 x 17 box)
Collection:Record Unit 550
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

These records consist of archival items purchased from Miss Mary P. Plummer in 1969, as well as correspondence and other material from NCFA files. The records were maintained by the Director until 1972, when they were deposited in the NCFA Library.

This record unit consists of photographs of Mr. and Mrs. Gellatly, reprints of several journal articles concerning the Collection, several pieces of correspondence, notes describing various Collection objects, a manuscript called "A Summary of the Gellatly Collection," and a letter of artist Childe Hassam to John Gellatly.

Historical Note

The John Gellatly Collection was amassed by wealthy collector John Gellatly and his first wife, Edith Rogers Gellatly, in New York City during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Mrs. Gellatly died in 1913, and in 1929 Gellatly gave the Collection to the National Gallery of Art of the Smithsonian Institution. The Collection was moved to Washington and opened to the public in 1933 at the renamed National Collection of Fine Arts (NCFA), then housed in the Natural History Building.

Gellatly married Charlayne Whiteley Plummer in 1930. After his death in 1931, she initiated legal proceedings to regain the Collection. Litigation continued until 1947, when the courts decided in favor of the Smithsonian Institution.

The Collection itself consists of some 1640 items, ranging from paintings to jewelry to sculpture, from around the world and from the United States.

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Descriptive Entry

These records consist of archival items purchased from Miss Mary P. Plummer in 1969, as well as correspondence and other material from NCFA files. The records were maintained by the Director until 1972, when they were deposited in the NCFA Library.

This record unit consists of photographs of Mr. and Mrs. Gellatly, reprints of several journal articles concerning the Collection, several pieces of correspondence, notes describing various Collection objects, a manuscript called "A Summary of the Gellatly Collection," and a letter of artist Childe Hassam to John Gellatly.

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This collection is indexed under the following access terms. These are links to collections with related topics, persons or places.

Name

Subject

Physical Characteristics of Materials in the Collection

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Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 550, National Collection of Fine Arts. Office of the Director, Collection Records

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Container List

Box 1

Index to Items

Box 1 of 1

Photographs - Items 1-5

John Gellatly seating in room with birdcage and framed picture (item 1). (Image no. SIA2016-009613)
Box 1 of 1

Items 8-25

Box 1 of 1

Items 26-44

Box 1 of 1

Summary/Inventory of Gellatly Collection - Parts 1-2 (2 folders)

Box 1 of 1

Catalog

Box 1 of 1

Gellatly Archives Contents

Box 1 of 1

Correspondence

Box 1 of 1

Photographs - Items 6-7

John Gellatly looking at woman's picture (item 6). (Image no. SIA2016-009614)
Box 1 of 1

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