A Special Long Island Outing

Join the Decorative Arts Trust for a Long Island 0uting on Friday, November 30, 2018, to celebrate the exhibition Elias Pelletreau: Long Island Silversmith and Entrepreneur. The exhibition at the Long Island Museum and accompanying catalog published by Preservation Long Island, were supported by the Trust’s inaugural Dean F. Failey Grants. The project is the culmination of Dean’s forty years of research on Pelletreau’s life and work.

A Long Island native, Elias Pelletreau (1726-1810) apprenticed and began his career in Manhattan, where the cosmopolitan setting gave him a nuanced sensibility of current fashions and techniques, as well as a strong network of patronage. He returned to his birthplace in Southhampton, and spent the rest of his life as a rural craftsman. Though less celebrated than his colleague Paul Revere, Pelletreau was an ardent patriot throughout the American Revolution, and created a remarkable body of work that exemplifies the best of American artisanship. The exhibit, guest curated by Deborah Dependahl Waters, features nearly 170 objects, including many fine examples of Pelletreau’s work, paintings, and furniture, all of which illuminate the life and times of this significant early American artisan.

Participants will also enjoy a tour of Preservation Long Island’s nearby Sherwood-Jayne Farm, with curator Lauren Brincat. This 1730s farmhouse was renovated and furnished by PLI founder Howard C. Sherwood. The house contains period furnishings from Sherwood’s original collection, complemented by original late-18th-century painted plasterwork.

This tour is open to all current members of the Trust, but is restricted to 50 participants. The registration fee includes transportation to and from New York City, the two tours, and lunch at the Long Island Museum. As per our membership policy, members at the Benefactor-level and above may register a non-member as a guest. If the tour fails to reach the minimum required registration of 25 participants, the program will be cancelled and payment refunded.