The Decorative Arts Trust - Fostering appreciation for the decorative arts

Moira Gallagher and Medill Higgins Harvey on the Edward C. Moore Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Register for the March 9 virtual dialogue about the exhibition Collecting Inspiration: Edward C. Moore at Tiffany & Co.

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Winterthur Virtual Tour with Tom Savage

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LATEST NEWS

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Mar 5

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Mar 3

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Welcome to the Decorative Arts Trust’s Board of Governors, Torren Gatson and Yao-Fen You!

Torren is an assistant professor in the department of history at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Yao-Fen You serves as senior curator and head of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

Learn more about Torren and Yao-Fen in this blog post: https://decorativeartstrust.org/gatson-you-board-post/. *Link in bio*

@uncg
@cooperhewitt
#DecorativeArts
#MaterialCulture
#Leaders
#Leadership
#NonprofitLeaders

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Mar 2

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Greetings Decorative Arts Trust fans! Moira Gallagher here, Research Associate for decorative arts in the American Wing (@metamericanwing) at The Met (@metmuseum). Today I’m sharing one of my favorite objects that I’ll discuss in my talk on the forthcoming publication, ‘Collecting Inspiration: Edward C. Moore at Tiffany & Co.’ This petite mustard pot by Tiffany & Co. measures at just over three inches in height but packs a big decorative punch. Designed in 1879, the pot exhibits the firm’s successful attempts at inlaying gold and copper as well as experimental efforts to replicate Japanese mixed metal techniques. Under the creative direction of Edward C. Moore, head of the firm’s silver manufacturing division during the latter half of the 19th century, Tiffany & Co. achieved unprecedented success and debuted some of its most innovative designs.

I can’t wait to share more about this object and others next week. Join me and Medill Higgins Harvey, the project’s lead curator, on March 9 at 6 pm to learn more about how Edward C. Moore forever changed the landscape of American silver.

Use the link in our bio to register!
https://decorativeartstrust.org/moore-dialogue/

Pictured: Tiffany & Co., Mustard pot, c. 1879. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Friends of the American Wing Fund and Emma and Jay A. Lewis Gift, 2016, 2016.689.

#TrustVirtual
#DecorativeArts
#MaterialCulture
#ArtHistory
#Art
#History
#Research
#MuseumFromHome
#Exhibition
#Silver
#MustardPot
#TiffanyAndCo
#EdwardCMoore

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Mar 1

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For #WomensHistoryMonth, we will feature talented craftswomen and designers who left a mark on the decorative arts. Elizabeth Pantin Buteux Godfrey (c. 1700–1771) was one of the most successful female silversmiths in 18th-century England, serving as the proprietress of the Hand, Ring, & Crown on Norris Street in London for 40 years. She registered marks in her own name, first as Elizabeth Buteux and later as Elizabeth Godfrey. A new addition to the Colonial Williamsburg collection, this c. 1731-1732 dish was featured during this year’s virtual Antiques Forum. The shallow circular dish, with a scalloped and fluted rim, is inscribed with the coat of arms of Milbanke impaling Delaval for Sir Ralph Milbanke, 4th Baronet of Halnbay, Yorkshire, and his second wife Anne, daughter of Edward Delaval, of South Dissington, Northumberland. Learn more about this artist and object at https://emuseum.history.org/objects/107559/dish. Also see Janine Skerry’s article in the 2018 journal of the Silver Society, 'Silver Studies': https://www.thesilversociety.org/shop/journal-34-2018/.

@colonialwmsburg
@thesilversociety1958
#AntiquesForum
#ElizabethButeux
#ElizabethGodfrey
#DecorativeArts
#MaterialCulture
#MuseumFromHome
#ArtHistory
#Art
#History
#Silver

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Feb 26

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Feb 25

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We missed seeing you at @ColonialWmsburg’s Antiques Forum, but we enjoyed the virtual lectures! We especially loved the three presentations in the Carolyn and Michael McNamara Young Scholars Series. Rachel Asbury Cole from The Valentine Museum presented 'Re-envisioning a Colonial Mexican Dressing Case in the Global Context,' Scott Merrifield from Colonial Williamsburg presented 'Cesar Chelor: The Products of His Hands, Enslaved and Free,' and Emily Wells from William & Mary presented 'Keep Within Compass: Geography and Feminine Virtue in American Schoolgirl Art.'

Read more about Forum lectures on our blog: https://decorativeartstrust.org/antiques-forum-2021-post/. *Link in bio*

Pictured:

Dressing Case, Jewelry Box, or Casket; 1660-1710; Mexico, probably Mexico City or Puebla; Spanish cedar, spruce, tortoiseshell, silver, mother-of-pearl, silk, paint, and mirrored glass; Gift of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of England, 1957-164,A. Image courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

Detail of maker’s mark, Astragal Molding Plane (NC-663), c. 1753-1784, Wrentham, MA. Wood, iron, and steel. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Bequest of David V. Englund. 2016-396.

Attributed to Emma Louisa Lanneau Gildersleeve, Needlework Picture, 1820-1825, Charleston, SC, The Rivers Collection.

@thevalentinerva
@william_and_mary
#TrustEmergingScholars
#AntiquesForum
#DecorativeArts
#MaterialCulture
#MuseumFromHome

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Feb 24

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When curating “Careful, Neat & Decent: Arts of the Kentucky Shakers” at the @SpeedArtMuseum, Scott Erbes looked beyond just furniture. Bringing together roughly fifty objects from local Shaker Villages, the exhibition demonstrates the remarkable range of Shaker production in the 19th century and expands a commonly narrow understanding of Shaker experience.

In an interview for our blog, learn more from Erbes about how the exhibition came together and how it took on new resonance in the COVID-19 pandemic: https://decorativeartstrust.org/kentucky-shaker-post/. *Link in bio*

Pictured: South Union Shaker community, Silk neckerchiefs, 1825-1870. Collection of the South Union Shaker Village. Photography courtesy of the South Union Shaker Village. Pleasant Hill Shaker community, Child’s Chair, about 1840. Maple, other hardwoods, oak splint seat. The Speed Art Museum, gift of Mrs. Harry S. Frazier Jr., 2020.

#Kentucky
#ShakerCommonwealth
#ShakerVillageKY
#DecorativeArts
#DesignHistory
#yourSpeed
#MuseumFromHome
#19thCentury
#MaterialCulture

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Feb 22

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The Decorative Arts Trust has had the privilege of sharing a variety of stories that delve into research about Black history, material culture, and craftsmanship. Visit our blog for links to articles and program recordings that feature these stories: https://decorativeartstrust.org/black-history-2021-post/.

Pictured is a glazed stoneware jug by Thomas W. Commeraw, a free, African American potter who worked in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the early 19th century. Elizabeth St. George, Assistant Curator, Decorative Arts, featured this item in the Trust’s virtual tour at the @BrooklynMuseum.

@lizbethofgeorge
#DecorativeArts
#MaterialCulture
#BlackHistoryMonth
#BlackHistory
#BlackCraftsPeople
#ArtHistory
#History
#Art
#Stoneware
#Ceramics
#ThomasCommeraw

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Feb 19

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Join the Trust on February 26 at 1:00 pm ET for an exciting tour at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Brittany Luberda, Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts will lead participants through the galleries as she shares fascinating interpretations of incredible objects like this Tourbillons (Whirlwinds) vase.

The vase design was shown at the 1925 Paris exhibition and was originally attributed to famous glass artist, René Lalique. Thanks to Brittany’s research, the vase is now rightfully attributed to René’s daughter, Suzanne Lalique-Haviland. Join our tour to learn more about Brittany’s fascinating discoveries.

Register today - link in bio!
https://decorativeartstrust.org/baltimore-tour/

Pictured: Suzanne Lalique Haviland, Tourbillons (Whirlwinds) vase, 1925, Paris. Mold pressed and enameled glass. The Baltimore Museum of Art, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Edward F. Lewison, Baltimore, in Honor of their Children, John and Wendy, Ned and Dana, and Robert and Robyn, BMA 2000.219.

@baltimoremuseumofart
#DecorativeArts
#Baltimore
#GlassArt
#Paris Exhibition
#Modern
#MachineAge
#Lalique
#ArtDeco
#20thCentury
#MaterialCulture
#ArtHistory
#Art
#History
#Research

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Feb 16

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Highlighting another important resource during Black History Month, an essential tool for the study of Black artisans is the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) Craftsman Database Search: https://mesda.org/collection/craftsman/. The "Status" query allows you to search for Black craftspeople, both free and enslaved, who lived throughout the Southeast and beyond.

MESDA also has a number of works by Black artists, some of which are featured on their online exhibition '"Black and White all Mix'd Together": The Hidden Legacy of Enslaved Craftsmen' at https://mesda.org/exhibit_category/black-and-white/. This salt-glazed stoneware storage jar with cobalt decoration was made in Alexandria, Virginia, by David Jarbour, one of several free black artisans working at the city’s Wilkes Street pottery. In 1820, Jarbour purchased his freedom from the Alexandria merchant Zenas Kinsey for $300. Ten years later he created this immense jar marked:
1830
Alexa
Maid By
D. Jarbour

You can learn more about Jarbour in this recent article '"…my friend David Jarboe…”: The Unfinished Portrait of an Alexandria Potter' by Angelika R. Kuettner in the MESDA Journal: https://www.mesdajournal.org/2020/my-friend-david-jarboe-the-unfinished-portrait-of-an-alexandria-potter/.

@mesdagram
@oldsaleminc
#StudySouth
#DecorativeArts
#MaterialCulture
#BlackHistoryMonth
#BlackHistory
#ArtHistory
#Art
#History
#MuseumFromHome
#DavidJarbour
#Pottery
#Stoneware

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Feb 12

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Imagine the frustration of Texan Mary Jane Harris Briscoe when on May 30, 1870, she penciled in her travel diary, “Got to New Orleans at half past 2, made a rush for City Hotel, had a poor dinner, and the most miserable apology for tea that I ever tasted. Had a hunt for dusters. Could find none.” Why was she on the hunt for this particular coat? Find out in our upcoming virtual dialogue!

On February 19, 2021, at 1:00 pm ET the Trust will host Rebecca Jumper Matheson, PhD candidate at the Bard Graduate Center in New York City, for a fascinating program titled “The Duster Coat: An Icon of American Women's Fashion.” Her talk focuses on the transformative power of women’s fashion in the 19th and early 20th centuries. After her presentation, she will be joined in conversation with Michele Majer, Assistant Professor at Bard Graduate Center. The program will close with a Q&A where Rebecca will be ready to answer all of your 19th-century fashion questions. We hope you can join us!

Use the link in our bio to register!
https://decorativeartstrust.org/duster-coat-dialogue/

Pictured: Duster and matching bonnet, linen, 1860–65. Costume Institute, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. C.I.39.49.2a, b. Gift of Mrs. W. H. Chamberlain, 1939.

@bardgradcenter
@costumesocietyamerica
#TrustVirtual
#DecorativeArts
#MaterialCulture
#Art
#Textiles
#NineteenthCentury
#DusterCoat
#FashionHistory
#Textiles
#WomensHistory
#ArtHistory
#History
#Research

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Feb 10

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The Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research is now accepting applications for the 2021-2023 Decorative Arts Trust Marie Zimmermann Resident Collections Fellow. This post-graduate fellowship will play a leading role in the preservation and interpretation of Cranbrook’s diverse historic collections The Collections Fellow will focus primarily on researching the decorative arts collection housed in Smith House. Developed between 1950 and 1984 by the home’s builders and owners, school teachers Sara and Melvyn Smith, the collection includes the original Frank Lloyd Wright-designed furniture and a broad collection of midcentury modern textiles, studio glass and woodworking, ceramics, and housewares. Many of the objects were created by artists associated with Cranbrook Academy of Art, including Paul Evans, Maija Grotell, Glen Michaels, Marshall Fredericks, and others. The salary is $35,600 plus health insurance and housing in an on-campus carriage house designed by Albert Kahn.

For more information or to apply, visit Cranbrook's employment webpage at https://cranbrook.edu/employment/part-time-temporary.

Pictured: 2016-2019 Center Collections Fellow Kevin Adkisson discusses “Cranbrook Rug No. 1” (1928) by Studio Loja Saarinen in the Cranbrook Art Museum Collections Wing, September 16, 2018. Jin Kim, photographer. Courtesy Cranbrook Center Center for Collections and Research.

@cranbrookcenter
@cranbrookedu
@cranbrook_art
#DecorativeArts
#MaterialCulture
#Architecture
#ArtHistory
#Curator
#Fellowship
#Job
#Opportunity
#Research
#FrankLloydWright
#AlbertKahn
#PaulEvans
#MaijaGrotell
#GlenMichaels
#MarshallFredericks

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Feb 9

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“During the 19th century, abolitionism was not for equality. There was still a very paternalist, very pejorative attitude towards the freedom of Black Americans where full freedom was not endowed to them and was only given through a limited sense of power and agency, and that's exhibited in some of the supplicant imagery that you see on something like the Wedgwood Slave Medallion where you see the man is kneeling.”
- Elizabeth St. George, Assistant Curator, Decorative Arts, @brooklynmuseum

On Thursday, January 28 at 7:00 pm the Trust shared a tour of a new American art gallery at the Brooklyn Museum. Catherine Futter, PhD, Interim Director of Curatorial Affairs and Senior Curator, and Elizabeth St. George, Assistant Curator, led us through their experimental reinstallation that hopes to create a more inclusive and representative interpretation of American Art.

Find the link in our bio to watch this inspiring tour.

Blog post: https://decorativeartstrust.org/brooklyn-tour-post/

Video: https://youtu.be/jp2zYyxhqtI

@decartskc
@lizbethofgeorge
#TrustVirtual
#DecorativeArts
#MaterialCulture
#ArtHistory
#BlackHistory
#BlackHistoryMonth
#History
#Art
#Research
#MuseumFromHome
#VirtualTour
#Brooklyn
#NYC

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Feb 5

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Feb 3

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For Black History Month, we will highlight some of the impressive work focused on Black artisans in the decorative arts. At the top of the list is the Black Craftspeople Digital Archive (BCDA) at https://blackcraftspeople.org/. The BCDA seeks to enhance what we know about Black craftspeople by telling both a spatial story and a historically informed story that highlights the lives of the artisans and the objects they produced. BCDA Founder and Director Tiffany Momon, PhD, recently cited this c. 1855 rocking chair by Richard ‘Dick’ Poyner and Poyner family members as an important example of the BCDA's window into the past. Poyner was born enslaved in Virginia and brought by his enslaver to Williamson County, TN, in 1816. In 1850, Richard Poyner placed ads in Tennessee newspapers and declared that he was a free man and went on to create a horse-powered chair factory in Williamson County and teach the art of chair making to family members. What Dr. Momon most admires about these chairs "is what they represent—an enslaved man defying the odds and using his skill to emancipate himself.”

We were honored that Dr. Momon participated in the November virtual symposium with @DraytonHall (https://youtu.be/yLfAhU4JIWI) and paired with @BethanyMcGlyn_ on our September virtual lecture (https://youtu.be/te0Nd7LE_J0) and an article in our member magazine (https://decorativeartstrust.org/enslaved-artisans/). We look forward to following Dr. Momon and the BCDA's new discoveries.

@blackcraftspeopleda
@tmomonhp
#DecorativeArts
#MaterialCulture
#BlackHistory
#BlackHistoryMonth
#ArtHistory
#History
#Research
#Art
#Furniture
#RichardPoyner
#Chair

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Feb 2

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We missed seeing you in person, but we hope you enjoyed the virtual Emerging Scholars Colloquium on January 25! Presented by the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust (CAHPT), in conjunction with the Decorative Arts Trust, the Colloquium featured two joint presentations.

Mary Fesak, PhD Candidate in American Civilization at the University of Delaware, and Jeffrey E. Klee, Vice President and Senior Director of Architecture at CAHPT, who discussed the history of 19th- and 20th-century stables with particular attention to CAHPT’s stable at Millford. Pictured here is the F. Ambrose Clark Barn in Aiken, SC.

Then Allie Cade, Senior Curator and Director of Woodwind Studies at the Sigal Music Museum, and Grant Quertermous, Curator and Director of Collections at CAHPT, shared a fascinating conversation on musical instruments and associated seating furniture.

Read more about the event on our blog: https://decorativeartstrust.org/colloquium-2021-post/ *Link in bio*

Watch the recording on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/exzJji9RBUY

@classicalamericanhomes
@sigalmusicmuseum
@udamciv
#TrustVirtual
#TrustEmergingScholars
#DecorativeArts
#MaterialCulture
#Architecture
#ArtHistory
#Art
#History
#Research
#MusicHistory

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Feb 1

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During the Trust’s Americana Week program, Christie’s specialist Sallie Glover shared Joshua Johnson’s ‘Portrait of a Woman’ with virtual tour participants. Joshua Johnson (1763-1832) is renowned as the first professional African American portrait painter. The unidentified sitter is believed to be a member of the Maryland gentry. She is depicted featuring signatures of Johnson’s style including almond shaped eyes, elongated fingers, and pursed lips separated by a thick line. In this portrait, Johnson’s rendering of the transparent quality and delicacy of the lace is especially striking. The painting performed well above the estimate, and we were delighted to share this enchanting work.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our first ever virtual Americana Week with tours of Christie’s, Sotheby’s, the Neustadt Collection, Bernard & S. Dean Levy galleries, Hostler Burrows, and the Brooklyn Museum.

Read more about this painting and the Americana Week tours here: https://decorativeartstrust.org/americana-week-2021-post/. *Link in bio*

@christiesinc
@sothebys
@theneustadt
@levygalleries
@hostlerburrows
@brooklynmuseum
#TrustVirtual
#DecorativeArts
#MaterialCulture
#TheWinterShow
#AmericanaWeek
#Antiques
#Painting
#Art
#ArtHistory
#JoshuaJohnson
#NewYork
#NYC

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Jan 29

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Who was the Butterfly Man? The anonymous cabinet maker worked in New Orleans, Louisiana in the first quarter of the 19th century, creating a distinctive series of armoires that reflected the diversity of styles developing in the French Quarter. 18 of his armoires survive today and bear the same compelling clue: a “butterfly” or double dovetail patch.

Scholar Cybèle Gontar attempts to solve this fascinating material culture mystery in her publication and @LaStateMuseum exhibition ‘Chasing the Butterfly Man: The Search for a Lost New Orleans Cabinetmaker, 1810-1825.’

In a new blog post, discover more about what research informed her investigation into this enigmatic figure and his craftsmanship: https://decorativeartstrust.org/butterfly-man-post/. *Link in bio*

#DecorativeArts
#MaterialCulture
#AntiqueFurniture
#Furniture
#Antiques
#NewOrleans
#Louisiana
#19thCentury
#Armoires
#MuseumFromHome

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Exploring the Charles and Ray Eames House

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Moira Gallagher and Medill Higgins Harvey on the Edward C. Moore Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Winterthur Virtual Tour with Tom Savage

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