A close-up detail from the center of a voluminous, horizontal mural, featuring a gowned, female figure -- the soprano opera singer and radio star Jessica Dragonnette -- standing atop a globe in front of a square microphone. She is surrounded by radiating lines of music which expand into a dense collage of scenes in shades of muted khaki brown, pale orange-red, dark blue, and olive green. Dragonnette is posed at an angle, her face turned slightly to her left and surrounded by dark, long, wavy hair. Her dreamy gaze is cast toward the distance and beyond the viewer. She is dressed in a pale red full-length ball gown --the vintage Worth gown she wore for 'Lights Golden Jubilee' in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Thomas Edison's invention of the lightbulb -- with a sweetheart neckline accented in the center with a floral detail. Decorative ferns and fleur de lis accent the front of the outer gown, its layered fabric swept forward. A large back bow peeks from the right side and the laced, cap sleeve highlights the singer's bent arm, hands clasped in front of the V-shaped basque waistline. A crescent moon and star to her left cast a glow onto and surrounding the singer. Celebrating the history of radio, the mural features skyscrapers, steamships, zeppelins, microphones, and allegorical figures.

See more objects with the tag entertainment, portrait, concert, globe, Radio City Music Hall.

Object Timeline

	We acquired this object.
1934	Work on this object began.
2016	We photographed this object.
2017	We exhibited this object.
2024	You found it!

Mural Detail, The World of Radio, 1934

This is a Mural detail. It was made for Jessica Dragonette. It is dated 1934. Its medium is cotton and its technique is wax resist dyeing (batik) on plain weave.

Singer Jessica Dragonette stands atop a globe with an NBC microphone held up by the allegorical figure of Radio. Dragonette is dressed in the vintage Worth gown she wore for the Lights Golden Jubilee, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Thomas Edison’s invention of the lightbulb. Held in Dearborn, Michigan on October 21, 1929, the event also honored Henry Ford’s Greenfield Village (originally the Edison Institute). Dragonette sang "Little Grey Home in the West," one of Edison’s favorite songs.

It is credited Gift of Nicholas Meredith Turner in memory of Jessica Dragonette.

Mural, The World of Radio
cotton.
Gift of Nicholas Meredith Turner in memory of Jessica Dragonette..
1983-73-1

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition The World of Radio.

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2FYuq2/
Accession Number s-e-2256
Object ID 1108721969