(Mostly) Eighteenth-century Chairs: A Collections Workshop

Chairs are fascinating.  They display design, materials, and construction clearly.  These many features signal times and places when the chair in question was made as well as subsequent changes and even its authenticity.  Although the Historic Odessa Foundation collection focuses on late-18th and early-19th century objects from the region, it encompasses chairs from other regions and times.  This workshop will employ a selection of some thirty chairs that will give participants ample opportunities to explore and refine their understandings of the objects—some of which are problematic.  Identification of style and regional origin, condition, connoisseurship, and the role of small details are just some of the topics to be pursued.

Philip D. Zimmerman, a furniture historian and author of A Storied Past: Collections of Historic Odessa (2023), the just-published Windsor Chairs of the Historic Odessa Foundation:  A History of Change, and many other books and articles on American furniture, will lead this investigative workshop.  No special skills or knowledge are required, but any reading and other preparation will make the program more valuable for you and others.  Please note that all of the furniture in the Historic Odessa collection is now included on the publicly accessible collection database, readily available on the Foundation’s homepage via the “search the museum collection” button.

The workshop will take place in the Bank Building, 201 Main St., Odessa, which provides the space and lighting necessary to examine individual objects.  Workshop attendance will be limited to ensure that everyone can participate fully.  Questions and follow-up discussions will be the order of the afternoon. 

Enrollment in this workshop is first come, first served, and will be confirmed in the order by which registrations are completed.  Please notify Historic Odessa of your intention to participate to ensure a space in this program!  To register, please call Jennifer Cabell Kostik, 302-378-4119, or email her at jennifer.cabell@historicodessa.org.  The cost of the program is $45.00 or $40.00 for Historic Odessa members.