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

USS “Birmingham” Punch Service

Gorham Manufacturing Company

1908

The custom of honoring newly christened ships of the U.S. Navy with elaborate silver services began in the late 1880s. This so-called “presentation silver” was not purchased by the Navy, but donated by citizens of the states and cities for which the ships were named. The cruiser USS Birmingham was launched on May 29, 1907. This ornate punch service, engraved with views of the ship and the “Fairfield Steel & Iron Works,” was commissioned by the citizens of Birmingham, Alabama, and presented to the USS Birmingham on Sunday, March 31, 1909, at a ceremony in Mobile. 


Mayor George Ward presented the service, remarking, “The people of Birmingham have watched with proud and intense interest the various stages in the career of the cruiser that bears the city’s name…We have thought it singularly appropriate that the cruiser should be so christened, for ship and city alike are new types—one in naval construction, the other in city building. Speed is the pre-eminent quality of each—one unequalled in covering the seas, the other unrivalled in covering the land.” The first USS Birmingham was decommissioned in 1923. A second ship named for the city was launched in 1942 and decommissioned in 1947 after suffering heavy damage during World War II. Because presentation silver was typically removed from ships during times of war, this service may have never been used on that vessel. The Navy returned the USS Birmingham silver to its namesake in 1956.