Peacock in Freer Gallery of Art Courtyard

ID: SIA2007-0178

Creator: Unknown

Form/Genre: Photographic print

Date: c. 1923

Citation: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 02-082; Box 1, Folder: Photographs, Peacocks

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Summary

One of the three peacocks loaned to the Freer Gallery of Art by the National Zoological Park is starting up some steps in the courtyard.

Subject

  • Freer Gallery of Art
  • National Zoological Park (U.S.)

Category

Historic Images of the Smithsonian

Notes

On May 1, 1923, the Freer Gallery of Art opened with a private viewing for President Warren G. Harding, Mrs. Florence Kling Harding, the Smithsonian Regents and various cabinet members. In addition to the art exhibits, the courtyard became home to three peacocks. The peacocks, donated by the National Zoological Park, resemble the decorative images in James McNeill Whistler's Peacock Room. The peacocks moved back to the Zoo in the winter for safekeeping and returned to the Freer in the spring. The peacocks remained fixtures in the Freer courtyard in the 1920s.

Contained within

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 02-082; Box 1, Folder: Photographs, Peacocks

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

c. 1923

Restrictions & Rights

No restrictions

Topic

  • Courtyards
  • Animals
  • Peafowl
  • Birds

Form/Genre

  • Photographic print
  • Exterior

ID Number

SIA2007-0178

Physical description

Number of Images: 1; Color: Sepia; Size: 8w x 10h; Type of Image: Animal; Medium: Photographic print

Full Record

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