Century Vase
From the collection of National Museum of American History. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
This ornate, baluster-shaped vase is known as the Century (or Centennial) vase. Commemorating the first 100 years of U.S. history, it features a relief portrait of George Washington, molded North American bison heads employed as handles, and historical scenes and images, including Penn's treaty with the Indians, the Boston Tea Party, and a log cabin with an early settler. A similar vase was manufactured for exhibition at the U.S. Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia in 1876. Congress mandated the exhibition to commemorate "the natural resources of the country and their development, and [the country's] progress in those arts which benefit mankind, in comparison with those of older nations."
National Museum of American History’s own description
