Skip to main content
Advanced Search
DS2006-0169
Virginia Militia Painted Side-Drum
DS2006-0169

Virginia Militia Painted Side-Drum

Dateca. 1840-1850
OriginAmerica
MediumWood, leather, paint, gold leaf, skin, and rope
DimensionsOverall Height: 14 1/2"; Overall Diameter (outer hoops): 16 ¾"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number2006.3000.5
DescriptionA drum with a red-painted shell of closed-grained hardwood and inner hoops of beech (?). The rims are painted with red, white, and blue stripes. The front of the drum is painted with scenes celebrating Virginia. On the opposite side there is a small, round, wood-ringed vent centered vertically on the drum. Leather ears slide to tension the ropes for tuning the drumhead. Rectangular holes in the top and bottom rims may have been for securing a strap.

The decoration consists of the word "VIRGINIA" over a painting featuring (left to right and top to bottom): early settlers arriving by boat as a Native American watches from behind a rock, the bust of George Washington set in a round frame flanked by laurel, a shield decorated with an interpretation of the main theme on the state seal of Virginia (an armed figure representing Virtue stands in triumph over a defeated figure representing Tyranny), a cartouche featuring Mount Vernon, and a monument on a rock that is labeled "WASHINGTON / JEFEERSON / MADISON".Inscription(s)see description of decorationMark(s)see description of decorationProvenanceex: James and Nancy Glazer