Failey Grants Awarded to British and Irish Furniture Makers Online, The Center for Painted Wall Preservation, Preservation Long Island, and Stenton

The Decorative Arts Trust is pleased to offer support through Dean F. Failey Grants to four exceptional projects in our field. 

Giles Grendey, Card table London, 1735–40. Lacquered and gilded beech, lined with felt. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Louis J. Boury, 1937, 37.114.

Funding was provided for internships to support the British and Irish Furniture Makers Online (BIFMO) project. Launched in 2016 as a joint undertaking between the Furniture History Society and the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, the website aims to be a one-stop definitive resource for biographical information about British and Irish furniture makers and ancillary tradespeople, from the early modern period to the first decades of the 20th century. BIFMO is wholly managed by the Furniture History Society, with an advisory committee of academics, furniture curators, and the Society’s Trustees. The interns will research the names of as many immigrant tradespeople as possible in New York City, Philadelphia, Annapolis, and Baltimore from 1700–1840. BIFMO Managing Editor Dr Laurie Lindey, Digital Editor Jonathan Blaney, and BIFMO Project Manager Adriana Turpin will guide the interns on collecting data from primary and secondary source material, with the goal of an April 2024 completion.

Detail of Rufus Porter’s mural, likely early 1830s, in the Andrews House in West Boxford, MA. Distemper paint on plaster. Courtesy the Center for Painted Wall Preservation.

The Center for Painted Wall Preservation (CPWP) received a Failey Grant for a virtual museum of historic painted interiors and associated website development. CPWP is a non-profit dedicated to the research and preservation of 18th- and early-19th-century American paint-decorated plaster walls. During the past year, CPWP has captured 21 interiors in an interactive platform that allows one to move through a virtual environment and zoom in on specific details. This most recent documentation effort augments 25 years of ongoing research by CPWP’s board members and advisors. Project Coordinators Margaret Gaertner and Linda Carter Lefko anticipate that the museum website will launch in spring 2024.

Edward Lange, ‘Lower Main Street, Northport,’ 1880. Watercolor, gouache, and lead pencil on paper. Collection of Preservation Long Island, 2011.2.

Preservation Long Island (PLI) was awarded funding to aid in the production of the book Promoting Long Island: The Art of Edward Lange, 1870-1889. The groundbreaking publication focuses on the 19th-century artist, designer, printmaker, and book publisher renowned for painting landscape scenes across Long Island. The publication grew out of The Art of Edward Lange Project, which generated an interactive website and an exhibition. The volume will be edited by PLI Curator Lauren Brincat and PLI Curatorial Fellow Peter Fedoryk, who will contribute essays along with Jennifer L, Anderson, Thomas Busciglio-Ritter, Sarah Kautz, and Joshua Ruff. Publication is scheduled for fall 2024.

Anne Reckless Emlen, Shellwork grotto, 1757, Philadelphia. The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Stenton.

Administered by The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Stenton is one of the earliest, best-preserved, and most authentic historic houses in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia home was completed in 1730 for James Logan, Secretary to William Penn. Stenton was awarded a Failey Grant for the conservation of a 1757 shellwork grotto made by Anne Reckless Emlen. The grotto is an undisputed highlight of Stenton’s collection. Stenton Curator Laura Keim, Stenton Curatorial Assistant Kaila Temple, and Conservator Lara Kaplan will work with conchologists to more accurately identify the shell species and with textile specialists to identify the materials used for the dolls’ clothes. These details could shine new light on their origins and may reveal global connections. Stenton plans to use findings from the conservation report to create content for virtual programming and presentations about the grotto box.

Failey Grant applications are due October 31 annually, as part of the Trust’s robust Emerging Scholars Program. Thank you to the members and donors who help make these grants possible. For updates on grant opportunities and announcements, sign up for the e-newsletter and follow the Trust on Instagram and Facebook.