Leonard Finger collection of actress glass and theatrical memorabilia
Overview
The collection contains commemorative glassware, tiles, and a sketch related to 19th century actors and actresses, collected by Leonard Finger.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1850s-1900s
Language of Materials
English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.
Extent
4 boxesThis collection contains 29 pieces of Early American Pattern Glass tableware (such as bowls, milk pitchers, cake stands, and a pickle dish) bearing the images of 19th century actresses, including Lotta Crabtree, Fanny Davenport, and Maggie Mitchell. Also included are two ceramic tiles and a metal plaque depicting the actor Joseph Jefferson portraying Rip Van Winkle, and a sketch by John La Farge of the actor Edwin Booth as Hamlet for his memorial stained glass window at the Church of the Transfiguration in New York City.
Biographical / Historical
Leonard Finger was born on March 24, 1951 in Texas, lives in New York City, and is a casting agent. He collected theater memorabilia for many years before auctioning most of it off through Slater’s Americana in 2003.
Sources
Green, Jesse, “THEATER; How Much Is That Evita In the Window?” New York Times, Sept 21, 2003,
“Leonard Zindler Finger,” Ancestry.com. Texas, Birth Index, 1903-1997 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005
Arrangement
The collection is in the order in which it was received from the dealer and it was minimally processed.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
2003MT-292, 2003MT-315(b), and 2003MT-293(b). Purchased from Slater's Americana Catalog in June 2003 using the Hatch fund.
Processing Information
Processed by Annalisa Moretti, May 2020.
Collection was received in no discernible order. This collection was processed to a basic level with minimal rehousing, organization, and preservation.
Genre / Form
Occupation
Topical
Subject
- Jefferson, Joseph, 1829-1905 (Person)
- Title
- Finger, Leonard. Leonard Finger collection of actress glass and theatrical memorabilia, circa 1850s-1900s
- Status
- completed
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard University
- Date
- May 2020
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou04231
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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