By accessing the Birmingham Museum of Art’s website and image gallery, you agree to the Museum’s Terms of Use and any additional terms listed below.

Open Content Program

The Birmingham Museum of art makes available digital images of works in the Museum’s collection believed to be in the public domain. Images are available free of charge for any use, commercial or non-commercial. Users do not need to contact the Museum for authorization to use these images. They are available through the Online Collection at artsbma.org/collection. See detailed instructions for specific work types below.

Identifying Open Content Images

The mission of the Birmingham Museum of Art is to spark the creativity, imagination, and liveliness of Birmingham by connecting all its citizens to the experience, meaning, and joy of art. The Museum understands that by sharing images of works online without restrictions, the BMA collection becomes more accessible to a larger audience.

For objects with images the rights status is displayed in the “credit line” section of the object information. The rights status or rights holder will be indicated. If the work is in the public domain and/or the image may be downloaded, the download icon will appear in the bottom right corner of the image area. To search the collection click here.

Works With Restrictions

For copyright-protected images that have been approved by copyright holders, a presentation-sized image is available, but can not be downloaded. A copyright statement clearly listing the name of the copyright holder is visible in the credit line area when the image is displayed. Thumbnail-sized images of copyrighted works are displayed under fair use.

When the owner of a work is impossible to determine or contact, the work is deemed an orphan work. The Museum will make thumbnails of orphan works available. If you are the representative or rights holder of an orphan work, please contact Rights and Reproductions.

Credit/Citations

Please use the following source credit when reproducing an Open Content image: Courtesy Birmingham Museum of Art, followed by the credit line provided in the object description.

Although there are no restrictions or conditions of the use of an Open Content image, the BMA would appreciate a gratis copy of any scholarly publication(s) in which the images are reproduced in order to maintain collection bibliography. Copies may be sent to the attention of:

Open Content Program
Digital Media Department
The Birmingham Museum of Art
2000 Rev. Abraham Woods Jr. Blvd
Birmingham, AL 35203

Disclaimer

  • If an image is not available under Open Content it may be because the work is still under copyright, the work is not owned by the museum, or the work has not yet been photographed to BMA standards.
  • Request Images: If an image of a work is not available online or is under copyright, you may submit a request through our online request form. You may also request files in additional sizes or formats. A fee will be charged for this service.
  • Our determination of public domain is made in good faith.
  • Electronic records are based on historical information and may not be the Museum’s complete or current knowledge about an object. Research is ongoing.
  • The ‘On View’ status may be delayed on the website by 24 hours. Please check with our Rights and Registration Office to confirm that a work of art will be on view before traveling to the Museum.
  • For additional details and additional terms of use, please see the Birmingham Museum of Art’s Terms of Use Page
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Tea Set

Tiffany & Company

About 1877

In the 1876, in an effort to reduce the power of the feudal lords known as samurai, the Japanese Meiji government banned the wearing of swords. This move, coupled with the government’s increasing support of mechanized production, had an adverse impact on metalworkers, many of whom made their living fashioning ornamental fittings for swords. Seeking new markets, Japanese silversmiths began producing fine wares for export.


Japanese metalwork, which had been shown to great acclaim at the Philadelphia Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, had a profound impact on the decorative arts of the United States, inspiring manufacturers such as Tiffany & Company to produce silver in the japonais style.

See More of the Collection

Stemless, conical drinking glass of clear glass and decorated with a thread of blue glass that spirals around the cone of the bowl and into the foot, which is comprised of a thick, clear cube-shaped blob of glass.
Large rectangular quilt made of cotton feed sacks in the "Six-Pointed Star" pattern, pieced of small six-pointed stars in a variety of patterns and colors between white hexagons, edged in pale green with a narrow pink binding.
Zigzag quilt, blue and white, Manhattan shirt cuffs
Yo-yo coverlet, diagonal stripes.