Collections

• Prints and Drawings Collection

• Decorative Arts Collection

• Archaeological Collection

• Architectural Fragment Collection

Prints and Drawings Collection

The Prints and Drawings Collection of the Octagon is a growing repository of architectural records containing over 100,000 original architectural drawings, 30,000 historic photographs, scrapbooks, sketchbooks, manuscript material, and models. Administered by The American Architectural Foundation since 1978, the collection is a valuable resource for architects, art and architectural historians, scholars, students, and the general public. The collection also serves as a model for other repositories with similar holdings and for the architectural profession, demonstrating the highest standards of preservation, conservation, cataloguing, housing, and storage of architectural records.

Among architects represented in the collection are William Thornton, Ammi B. Young, Thomas U. Walter, Henry Bacon, FAIA, Charles Sumner Greene, Clarence Stein, FAIA, Glenn Brown, Ralph Adams Cram, and Hugh Stubbins, FAIA. The largest collection within the repository is the extensive architectural records of Richard Morris Hunt, FAIA (1827-95), one of the nineteenth century's most prominent and influential architects. Hunt was the first American to complete the architecture program at the École des Beaux-Arts, in Paris. A founding member of the American Institute of Architects, Hunt was the first Secretary and third President of the AIA. His numerous commissions include Biltmore, the estate of George Washington Vanderbilt in Asheville, North Carolina; the Fifth Avenue wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City; the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and more than 225 designs for residential, commercial and public institutions throughout the United States. Richard Howland Hunt, FAIA (1862-1931) and Joseph Howland Hunt (1870-1924), the two Beaux-Arts trained sons of Richard Morris Hunt, continued the firm under the name of Hunt and Hunt after their father's death until the close of the firm in 1924. Office records, correspondence, and additional architectural drawings from the Hunt office, the first material of its type to be located since 1926, are also part of the Prints and Drawings Collection’s holdings.

An Iron Bridge, elevation for the concours in iron construction, 1847. Richard Morris Hunt, Architect (1827-1895)

The Prints and Drawings Collection includes:

• AIA Gold Medalist Collection
• Berla and Abel Collection
• Hugh Newell Jacobsen Collection
• Richard Morris Hunt Collection
• Hunt and Hunt Collection
• Chloethiel Woodard Smith Collection
• Water G. Peter, Sr. and Jr. Collection
• Nicholas Satterlee Collection
• St. Elizabeths Hospital Collection

Decorative Arts Collection

The Decorative Arts Collection, much of which was donated by the Tayloe family that built the Octagon, consists of items used to furnish the house to the period between 1817 and 1828. This collection of 760 pieces includes furniture, paintings, prints, ceramics, glass, silver, china, wooden ware, and a special collection of Tayloe-owned books on racing and breeding horses.

Until the furnishing of the Octagon is complete, original Tayloe and appropriate period furniture and decorative arts are exhibited throughout the building, including the upstairs parlor, where President James Madison signed the Treaty of Ghent ending the War of 1812. Adamesque cast iron stoves, an original looking glass, paintings, Chinese export porcelains, and original Coadestone mantels are among the numerous items that portray stylish furnishings of the early 19th century. These are balanced by collection items such as sewing implements on a plank table that suggest some of the functions of the basement rooms, which include the kitchen, servants' hall, and housekeeper's room.

Archaeological Collection

The Archaeological Collection was accumulated during the periods of restoration on the Octagon's buildings and grounds. It numbers 9,300 artifacts, ranging from thimbles and buttons to pottery fragments and animal bones. It is used in research projects, internships in collection management, and presentations related to restoration and preservation activities.

Architectural Fragment Collection

The Architectural Fragment Collection, also collected during various Octagon restoration periods, contains portions of original beams, nails, boards, and interior and exterior hardware. It numbers approximately 4,500 pieces. It is used in research projects, internships in collection management, and presentations related to restoration and preservation activities.

All rights to all images on this site are reserved. No images may be reproduced in any form without permission.

For more information about the Octagon's collections, please call (202) 626-7571 or email info@theoctagon.org.