MESDA at the Winter Antiques Show™ in New York

Transcription

MESDA at the Winter Antiques Show™ in New York
MESDA at the Winter Antiques Show in New York
™
Fall/Winter 2006/2007
Old Salem Museums & Gardens
consists of four museums:
The Historic Town of Salem is a restored Moravian congregation town dating back to 1766, with costumed interpreters
bringing the late 18th and early 19th centuries alive. Restored
original buildings, faithful reconstructions, and historically
accurate gardens and landscape make the Historic Town of
Salem one of America’s most authentic history attractions.
The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts
Old Salem Museums & Gardens
PO Box F, Salem Station
Winston-Salem, NC 27108-0346
Phone (336) 721-7350
Fax (336) 721-7335
Website www.oldsalem.org
(MESDA), founded in 1965, contains 24 period rooms and six
galleries showcasing the regional decorative arts of the early
American South. MESDA also supports research on southern
decorative arts and material culture.
The Old Salem Children’s Museum provides hands-on fun
especially for children ages 4-9, and for their adults to learn and
play together. The Children’s Museum is designed to encourage exploration, imagination and play as a pathway to learning
about life long ago.
The Old Salem Toy Museum exhibits a significant collection of toys from the third century through the 1920s made in
Europe, Britain, and America. At the core of the collection are
toys owned and played with by Moravian children who lived in
Salem, North Carolina, during the 1800s.
ad mi ni st ration
Lee French
President
John Caramia
Vice President Education, COO
Jeff Lambert
Vice President & CFO
John Larson
Vice President Restoration
Paula Locklair
Vice President Strategic Planning
Robert Leath
Vice President Collections & Research
Michelle Speas
Vice President Development
Renee Shipko
Director of Marketing
Bill Young
Director of Retail Operations
Gary Albert
Director of Publications
Fall/Winter 2006/2007
This Publication is produced by Old Salem Museums & Gardens, which is operated
by Old Salem Inc., a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit educational corporation organized in 1950 in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Old Salem Museums & Gardens logo and name are
registered trademarks, and may not be used by outside parties without permission.
© 2006 Old Salem Museums & Gardens
Edited by Gary Albert and Betsy Allen
Publication Design by Hillhouse Graphic Design, LLC
Photography by Wes Stewart, except when noted otherwise
2
On The Cover: Mistipee, Yoholo-Mico’s Son by Charles
Bird King, Washington DC, 1825. Oil on canvas. Gift of
Mr. and Mrs. James W. Douglas. MESDA acc. 3542.
This painting is one of 58 objects representing
MESDA and Old Salem Museums & Gardens in the loan
exhibition for the 53rd annual Winter Antiques Show in
New York City, January 19–28, 2007.
Old Salem Museums & Gardens
Contents
Volume 1, Number 1
Old Salem was featured
in The Magazine Antiques
in 1965, 1967. . . and 2007
From the President • 5
Introducing Lee French • 6
Fall/Winter 2006/2007
Old Salem Museums
& Gardens welcomes its
seventh president, Lee
French • Pages 5 & 6
Old Salem & MESDA then and now • 8
Honoring Donors • 10
The Winter Antiques Show
National Honorary Exhibition Committee • 14
A message from Governor Easely • 17
Winter Antiques Show Loan Exhibition •18
Cabinet-on-Chest,
or Lady’s Closet, 1750–
60; page 20
Special Events for Spring • 32
Calendar of Events • 34
Sponsors
Information from the sponsors of
Old Salem Museums & Gardens magazine
“It is not difficult at all
to imagine a bright and
exciting future for
Old Salem Museums
& Gardens. We have a
platform of world-class
collections and preservation experiences upon
which to build,
and an impressive
pipeline of initiatives to
continue that tradition
for years to come.”
—Lee French, president
Friends of Old Salem • 4
Wachovia Wealth Management • 12
Friends of MESDA and the Collections • 16
North Carolina Cultural Tourism • 36
Fall/Winter 2006/2007
3
The history of the men, women, and children of the Carolinas and
America comes to life daily at Old Salem Museums & Gardens. Your generous support
continues to open the story of the 18th and 19th century to today’s families and to future
generations. Old Salem Museums & Gardens is your history, your legacy, your future.
To make a gift, or to learn
more about giving to
Old Salem Museums & Gardens,
please call 1-336-721-7327
or visit www.oldsalem.org
One ticket. Four museums. A thousand memories.
The Historic Town of Salem • Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts • The Old Salem Children’s Museum • The Old Salem Toy Museum
from the President
Dear Friends,
I am pleased
to be writing you this letter as we launch the new Old Salem Museums & Gardens
magazine. We believe this format will allow us to bring you engaging articles about the research and historical
explorations that are at the core of our work to preserve and present our collections. Additionally the new magazine is an opportunity to provide you with in-depth updates and rich documentation of what
is happening at the institution that you have nurtured for over fifty years.
My arrival at Old Salem Museums & Gardens coincides with a vast agenda of projects
and initiatives that is both exciting and daunting. There is no doubt we have work to do.
Unquestionably it is the quality of past accomplishments that has made us what we are
today. And, there is also no doubt that the institution is far from achieving its potential as an
extremely important historic site and a collection of world-class museums. I am energized
every day by the passion and expertise of our staff and the support of friends like you. Our
pledge is to prioritize and address every opportunity to continue the mission of preserving
and building the collections, research capabilities, and site amenities that have become a hallmark of excellence for this unique and special place.
This first issue of Old Salem Museums & Gardens magazine is dedicated to the
Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA). Future issues will carry themes and
timely stories that focus on each of the museums and programs that comprise Old Salem
Museums & Gardens—for it is our great fortune and responsibility to share a canvas of
many colors. But today the light shines brightest on MESDA as we prepare to take over fifty
masterworks from the collection to be the featured exhibit at the 53rd annual Winter Antiques Show in New
York. The legacy of Frank Horton as a collector, scholar, and leader in the field of American decorative arts will
be on display for ten days at the Seventh Regiment Armory from January 19–28. Frank’s legacy, and our responsibility to preserve it, has spawned a generation of collectors, contributors, scholars, and enthusiasts who have
helped keep his dream alive and thriving. And now we are bringing it to New York to share with the world. In
these pages you will see examples, in photographs and words, of why we are so proud.
I extend my personal invitation for you to visit Old Salem Museums & Gardens and discover or rediscover
all that we have to offer. Our historic garden behind the Single Brothers’ house was recently honored with
Preservation North Carolina’s Minnette C. Duffy Award for Landscape Preservation. We have a full slate of
holiday programming that has become one of the great traditions at Old Salem. The music programs have
recently been enhanced by the restoration of a second organ made by David Tannenburg for Salem’s congregation; this one, built in 1798, has been installed in its original location in the Single Brothers’ House Saal.
The Old Salem Children’s Museum continues to build its reputation as a leader in historic puppetry, while
the Toy Museum continues to acquire significant objects. Finally, each day brings new historical discoveries
that add perspective and authenticity to our interpretation and programming for the Salem of the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries.
Please enjoy this inaugural issue of our magazine. We look forward to bringing you more current events,
color photos, and thought-provoking stories about Old Salem Museums & Gardens. Now, it’s off to New York
to celebrate MESDA. I hope to see you on the square soon!
“I am energized every
day by the passion and
expertise of our staff and
the support of friends like
you. Our pledge is to prioritize and address every
opportunity to continue
the mission of preserving
and building the collections, research capabilities, and site amenities
that have become a
hallmark of excellence for
this unique and special
place.”
—Lee French
Fall/Winter 2006/2007
—Lee French, president, Old Salem Inc.
5
Old Salem Museums & Gardens
Hires Lee French as President
This fall,
Old Salem Museums &
Gardens president
Lee French, left, surveys
the Historic Town with
Scott Douglas, Old Salem
museum interpreter.
6
when Old Salem Museums & Gardens announced the selection of Lee French as its
seventh president he was relatively unknown in the world of museums and historic preservation.
That low profile, however, is due to be drastically and delight­fully changed with MESDA’s and Old
Salem’s exposure as the loan exhibition at the New York Winter Antiques Show this coming January.
Chairman of the Old Salem’s Board of Trustees Darryl Thompson announced French’s
selection and described him as “well qualified, with a unique combination of business experience,
accomplish­ments, energy, and a vision for the future.”
Prior to coming to Old Salem Museums & Gardens, French was most recently the president and
chief operating officer for Kaplan Early Learning Company, in Lewisville, North Carolina. He was also
a vice president and general manager at Sara Lee Corporation.
Born in El Paso, Texas, French grew up in Missouri. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English
Literature from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, and a master’s degree from Northwestern
University’s Kellogg School of Business in Evanston, Illinois. French and his wife Margaret have four
children. Their oldest son Sam is a student at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. William is at Reynolds
High School and Charles Martin and Anna are students at the
Summit School. The other important member of the French household is Gus, their chocolate lab, who was named for Gustav Stickley,
the American furniture designer whose arts and crafts pieces the
Frenches admire.
French appreciates photographs, mostly contemporary
black and white, but historical reprints of personalities and
families and children are also favorite subjects. In his time
away from the office that is not spent with his family—
which with four children is nearly monopolized by a myriad of children’s activities—French plays golf and likes to
read Larry McMurtry novels and other novels rooted in
history.
After just a couple of months on the job, French said
“It is not difficult at all to imagine a bright and exciting future
for Old Salem Museums & Gardens. We have a platform of
world-class collections and preservation experiences upon
which to build, and an impressive pipeline of initiatives to
continue that tradition for years to come. There is plenty
of work yet to do and I cannot imagine a more inviting
challenge than helping this institution and its staff to reach
their potential.” m
Old Salem Museums & Gardens
Then and Now
Old Salem and MESDA in The Magazine ANTIQUES
By Betsy Allen
When one of
Old Salem Museums & Gardens’ and MESDA’s oldest and dearest
media friends, The Magazine ANTIQUES, asked us to share their celebration as the feature of
their 85th birthday issue for January 2007, we were every bit as thrilled as the two year old we
were when ANTIQUES first featured MESDA in January 1967—or for that matter the fifteen year
old that Old Salem was when ANTIQUES featured it in the January 1965 issue.
T
he upcoming issue of The Magazine
ANTIQUES issue coincides with the 53rd
annual Winter Antiques Show January 19–28,
2007, which has chosen MESDA as its featured
loan exhibition. This is America’s most
prestigious antiques show. It is, along
with London’s Grosvenor Show and
TEFAF (The European Fine Arts Fair
at Maastricht), one of the three finest
antiques shows in the world. The cotton
just doesn’t get any taller.
The Winter Antiques Show will be at the
Seventh Regiment Armory in New York.
It benefits East Side House Settlement in
the South Bronx. Attendance last year was
over 25,000. This will be the first loan exhibition
of southern decorative arts at this show. The
loan exhibition, entitled Southern Perspective:
A Sampling from the Museum of Southern
Decorative Arts, will feature nearly sixty pieces
from the MESDA and Old Salem collections.
There will be a few items that readers of the 1967
ANTIQUES article might remember from the
black-and-white photographs and copy writ-
Fall/Winter 2006/2007
The Solomon Bell
lion is one of thirteen
MESDA objects
highlighted in both
the January 1967 and
the January 2007
issues of
The Magazine
Antiques.
ten entirely by Frank Horton and ANTIQUES
Contributing Editor Helen Comstock. Among
them are the court cupboard, the Bell lion, and
several portraits. If you would like to test your
memory, there are thirteen MESDA
objects highlighted in the ANTIQUES
January 1967 issue that also appear in glorious color in the first issue of 2007.
Now that we’ve remembered some of
what’s similar in these magazines forty
years apart, it is even more fascinating
to see what has changed. And whoever it
was who said the more things change the
more they remain the same certainly
wasn’t referring to the price of antiques.
A very small ad, in what is called “The Attic”
section, in the back pages of the January 1967
issue from an antiques shop in Shreveport,
Louisiana, featured a lovely baroque highboy for
only $1800. The hardware supplier Ball and Ball,
in a charming line-drawing ad, said they would
mail their catalog for just one dollar.
Another ad of interest in the 1967 issue was
one placed by the Mint Museum Antique Show
7
Then and Now: Old Salem and MESDA in The Magazine ANTIQUES (continued)
in Charlotte for their annual April show that
year featuring Old Salem’s Director of Research,
Mr. Frank L. Horton.
The two most immediately obvious differences in the magazine are the size, it was slightly larger in the 1960s, and the use of color.
In both the Old Salem issue of 1965 and the
MESDA issue of 1967 only one color was
used on the front cover, which in both cases
had a black-and-white cover photo with a
one-color surround. The 1965 Old Salem
issue had four interior color shots. The 1967
MESDA issue had only one ad with a color
image of a painting. Everything else in
both issues was in beautifully
crisp black and white. The
January 2007 issue will be the
newer, slightly smaller, easier
to handle format and gorgeous
full color. In 1965 ANTIQUES
cost $1.25 a copy or $10.50
annually. By 1967 the price had
jumped to $1.50 an issue or
$12 a year. Currently, the going
rate is $5.00 each issue, or $39.95
annually.
Some of the reprints of the
1967 MESDA ANTIQUES issue
were hardbound, which not only
made an attractive keepsake for
subscribers but preserved the copies as they aged. With the increased
costs of binding, today’s subscribers
will have to take care of preserving
their own copies. There will be no hardbound
reprints, only paperback.
The only name on both the 1967 and the 2007
mastheads of ANTIQUES is Wendell Garrett’s.
He has gone from Managing Editor in 1967 to
Editor at Large today. Another constant is the
dealers at the 2007 Winter Antiques Show. There
are at least five listed in the 1967 ad who are also
on the roster for 2007. Among them are Alfred
8
(top) The Magazine
ANTIQUES,
January 1967,
highlighted
The MESDA
Collections; the
January 1965 issue
featured Old Salem
(bottom)
Bullard, Inc., Ralph M. Chait Galleries, Philip
Colleck, Ltd., Tillou, and The Old Print Shop.
And speaking of mastheads, the July 1965 issue
of ANTIQUES lists a Fifth Avenue address and
shades of Judy Holliday and Bells
are Ringing phone number Plaza
9-1600. Today Brant Publi­cations
is on Broadway but the phone
number is all numerical digits.
What we see in the pictures of
both the 1965 and the 1967 issues
that is another striking difference:
the use of textiles and fresh flowers
in MESDA’s period rooms and Old
Salem’s exhibit buildings. They were
everywhere in the 1960s, in many
cases even obscuring the furniture.
Current photographs show rooms with
considerably fewer accessories.
In looking at articles written for
ANTIQUES about Old Salem and
MESDA in 1965, 1967, and 2007 there
are of course similarities, changes in
perspective, changes in presentation and
enormous changes in technology. The antiques
and appreciation of them have remained
the same or have improved and increased,
as have their value. Information gathering, storing, and disseminating is much
improved. But that too falls under technology’s umbrella. The people involved in
gathering and dispensing this information
are certainly not aging with their subject matter.
They’ve long since left behind the 3x5 index cards
and manual typewriters those 1960s articles were
composed on for a wired and now a cyberspace
world. The where and when and how and why
the next find in the world of antiques appears as
if by magic and they all know all about it instantaneously. The magazine articles that come later
will be reserved for savoring, enjoying the color
photographs, and rereading the details.
In the years since the first of MESDA’s and
Old Salem Museums & Gardens
Gene Stafford
Fall/Winter 2006/2007
(above) The Horton
Museum Center
Not only has there been a large increase in the
number of our restored buildings, we’re up to
about seventy restored and reconstructed buildings from twenty-two in 1965. We also have
two new museums—the country’s
most significant toy museum, and a
delightful children’s museum—and a
covered bridge, the only one built in
North Carolina in the last hundred
years. Although not a type of a bridge
built by the Salem Moravians, this
covered bridge replicates the double
truss timber bridges that were built
in North Carolina in the nineteenth
century. It was made from timbers
recycled from such disparate locations
as the Savannah harbor and the Saint Lawrence
Seaway, among others. The bridge provides a
pedestrian walkway over a modern by-pass and
connects the historic district and the Old Salem
Visitors Center. Completed in 1999, it was aptly
called our bridge to the twenty-first century. m
Gene Stafford
Old Salem’s dedicated ANTIQUES issues
appeared U.S. presidents have changed. Wars
have changed. Our currency has been devalued and Europe has an entirely new currency.
Looking back at earlier issues of
ANTIQUES we note changes sometimes charming, sometimes subtle,
but in the end all due to the vagaries
of taste and time. The constant at
Old Salem has been the Moravians
themselves, their heritage, their architecture, their furniture, crafts and
music. The changes, while fun to seek
out, are probably the same things that
will be modified even more over the
course of the next forty plus years.
In the 1965 Old Salem issue of ANTIQUES
editor Alice Winchester described us as “The
Moravian church town in North Carolina…
one of the most authentic town museums in
this country.” It is a tag line that suits Old
Salem Museums & Gardens well 47 years later.
Old Salem
Museums & Gardens’
bridge to the
twenty-first century.
9
Honoring Donors
By Johanna Brown
You won’t
find MESDA’s two
newest portraits hanging in one of
the museum’s period rooms, but the
importance of the portraits to the
institution is second to none. The
story of how the portraits came to the
museum began simply enough with
an e-mail, as so many things do in
this age of technology.
T
James Simpson Lynch
10
he archivist at the Dorothy Carpenter
Medical Archives at the Wake Forest
University School of Medicine had been made
guardian of a portrait of James Simpson Lynch,
a former chairman of the North Carolina Baptist
Hospital board. She e-mailed MESDA wanting
to know if, in light recent events, the museum
would be interested in having the portrait.
In 2003, Old Salem Museum & Gardens’ development office received the exciting news that
MESDA was the residual legatee of the estate
of James Simpson Lynch and Betty Faulkner
Lynch. With a final value exceeding $4.5 million,
the Lynch’s bequest has been the largest single
gift to the MESDA endowment since its establishment by Frank Horton and his mother,
Theo L. Taliaferro, in 1963.
Therefore, when asked if MESDA wanted
Old Salem Museums & Gardens
These images of the caretakers of history
have a history of their own.
the portrait of Mr. Lynch, we answered with a
resounding “Yes!” Arrangements were made
with the approval of Len Presler, the president
and CEO of the hospital, to transfer the portrait to MESDA. The portrait provides MESDA
a distinctive way to honor the Lynches for the
generous way in which they acknowledged the
importance of the museum to them and to the
Winston-Salem community.
The arrival of the portrait of Mr. Lynch has
prompted MESDA to reconsider another portrait that has been in our hands for many years.
Frank Horton’s mother, Theo L. Taliaferro, had
her portrait painted in 1953 by local artist Irene
Price. In fact, Theo’s personal journal records
each of her fourteen sittings for the portrait. The
portrait originally hung in Frank’s and Theo’s
home, but eventually made it into MESDA’s
painting storage. Frank was content to keep it
there, a vestige of his reluctance to draw attention to his mother’s legacy or his own. Now that
MESDA is custodian of both Theo’s and Mr.
Lynch’s portraits, the museum has decided it is
high time to put a face on the generosity of these
two key donors by hanging the portraits in a
place of prominence. We hope to add a commissioned posthumous portrait of Frank Horton.
The contributions over many years of MESDA
cofounders Frank Horton and Theo Taliaferro
and the one-time legacy of James and Betty
Lynch both illustrate the importance of planned
giving to institutions such as MESDA and Old
Salem Museums & Gardens. The significant
commitments made by these individuals are
crucial to the day-to-day and long-terms success
of our museums. m
Fall/Winter 2006/2007
Theo L. Taliaferro
11
SPOIL YOUR
GRE AT-GRE AT-GR ANDCHILDREN.
Creating a legacy
M A D E P O S S I B L E W I T H WAC H OV I A
Wealth often takes on a different meaning over time. It becomes more
about opportunities than money. At Wachovia Wealth Management,
we know you have a vision for the future and we’ll work with you to help
achieve it. Focusing on your unique perspective, we’ll develop ideas
tailored to your individual needs.
In Manhattan, call Joseph Giglia, Regional Director, 212-350-3719.
In Winston-Salem, call Sue Henderson, Regional Director, 336-732-4003.
To find a Wealth Management office near you, call 1-888-283-9633.
I N V E S T M E N T M A N AG E M E N T
FINANCIAL PL ANNING
BANKING AND CREDIT
TRUST SERVICES
INSURANCE
Uncommon Wisdom
The Massachusetts office of Wachovia Wealth Management is part of Calibre Advisory Services, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor and a subsidiary of Wachovia Bank, N.A. Employees of this
office are not employees of Wachovia Bank, N.A. For clients of the Massachusetts office, Personal Trust, Philanthropic Services and Banking and Credit Services will be provided by employees of
Wachovia Bank, N.A., through offices located outside the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. © 2006 Wachovia Corporation 066129
at the 53rd annual
Winter Antiques Show
™
A Benefit for East Side House Settlement
January 19–28, 2007 • Seventh Regiment Armory • New York City
Sponsored by the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies
Loan Exhibition Designed by Stephen Saitas
Southern Perspective
A Sampling from the
Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts
National Honorary Exhibition Committee
Honorary Chairs
Honorable Michael F. and Mary Easley
Governor and First Lady of North Carolina
Chair
Mrs. Gordon Hanes
Ms. Lisbeth C. Evans and Mr. James Lambie
Thomas A. Gray
Vice Chairs
Rosemary Harris Ehle
Mrs. George M. Kaufman
Mr. and Mrs. Alfred F. Ritter, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Earl Slick
Benefactors
Zanne and Bud Baker
Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Beck
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Arthur Daniels, Jr.
Dr. and Mrs. Meyer E. Dworsky
W. Ted Gossett
Mr. and Mrs. J. Roderick Heller, III
Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Millhouse
Michael and Carolyn McNamara
Drewry and Christoph Nostitz
Mr. and Mrs. William T. Wilson, III
Patrons
Ranlet S. and Frank M. Bell, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Deutsch
Mrs. Roger Parke Hanahan
Robert Hicks
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Hollinshed
Mrs. Ozey K. Horton, Jr.
Thomas S. Kenan, III
Mr. and Mrs. David Long
Mr. and Mrs. John B. McKinnon
Mr. and Mrs. Darryl Thompson
Mr. and Mrs. William R. Watson
Sponsors
Dr. and Mrs. Eugene W. Adcock, III
Mrs. Archie G. Allen, Jr.
Bharti Bakri
Dale Cunningham Box
Mary Spotswood Box
Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Bozymski
Elizabeth Bradham
Elizabeth D. Bullock
Dr. and Mrs. Benjamin H. Caldwell, Jr.
Litchfield Carpenter
Mrs. Barbara Carson
Mr. and Mrs. Henry M. Carter, Jr.
Kay Chalk
Linda C. Chesnut
Claire and Hudnall Christopher
Earlane B. Croom
Julia Graham Daniels
Mr. and Mrs. J. Haywood Davis
Daniel C. De Roulet
Dr. Morgan D. Delaney
Washington Dender
Mrs. William N. Dixson
14
Frank E. Driscoll
Alexander L. Franklin II
Dr. and Mrs. Henry F. Frierson, Jr.
John P. Graham
The Honorable and Mrs. Lyons Gray
Mr. and Mrs. William L. Gray
Mr. and Mrs. F. Borden Hanes, Jr.
Mrs. Mary Anne Hunting
Mr. and Mrs. Christopher H. Jones
Linda W. Kelly
Eleanor D. Kress
Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Leath
Mr. and Mrs. Douglas B. Lee
Mr. and Mrs. William E. Loughridge
Osborne Phinizy Mackie
Mrs. Carolyn J. Maness
Richard I. McHenry
Anne McPherson
MESDA Interpretive Staff
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Nassau
Mr. and Mrs. William A. Parsley
Elbert H. Parsons, Jr.
Josie Ward Patton
Robert E. and Jane C. Pearce
J. Randolph Pelzer
Mr. and Mrs. James O. Pratt
Joan K. Quinn
Kathleen H. Rivers
Wyndham Robertson
Dr. and Mrs. Thomas H. Sears, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. David du P. Silliman
Jane Webb Smith
Mrs. Ann Lewallen Spencer
Mr. and Mrs. Jurgen Stanley
Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Strickland
Mary Sudar
Catherine Beck Swetnam
Thomas Jay West
Mr. and Mrs. Alan Weston
Mary Penn Whaling
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Whaling, Jr.
Bruce Whipple
Mr. George C. Williams
Anna Marie and David Witmer
Old Salem Museums & Gardens
Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts at the 53rd annual Winter Antiques Show
Corporate Members
Wachovia Wealth Management • North Carolina Department of Commerce
North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources • Brunk Auctions of Asheville, North Carolina
Scholars
Luke Beckerdite
Ralph O. Harvard, III
Catherine B. Hollan
Robert L. Hunter
Ronald L. Hurst
Deanne Deavours Levison
Angela D. Mack
Milly McGehee
Maurie D. McInnis
Sumpter Priddy
Margaret Beck Pritchard
Jonathan Prown
Bradford L. Rauschenberg
J. Thomas Savage
William Merritt Singer
Kathleen Staples
Johanna Brown
Curator
Robert A. Leath
Vice President, Collections & Research
Stephen Saitas
Exhibition Designer
Supporters
Clifton Anderson
Pat Bacot
Barbara Conway Bailey
Mrs. Whaley W. Batson
Joanne L. Bear
James and Barbara Bilderback
Linda L. Bradford
Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas B. Bragg
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel V. Dowd
Mr. and Mrs. Carl A. Dull, Jr.
Jeff and Beverley Evans
Mr. and Mrs. Michael O. Hartley
Paul and Sally Hawkins
Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Hoffman
Mrs. Gordon B. Hughes
Mr. and Mrs. John G. Johnson
Gail B. Kahn
Rosemary Lee
Adele W. “Hutch” Livingston
Mrs. Audrey Michie
Mr. and Mrs. Spencer W. Morton, III
Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth F. Mountcastle
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Noe
Elizabeth P. Overton
Doris Pearce
Mrs. Tolly G. Shelton
Mildred and Harold Southern
Mrs. Frank E. Williams
Mary Witten Wiseman
Mr. and Mrs. J. Hugh Wright
Old Salem Board of Trustees
Dr. Eugene W. Adcock, III
Leslie M. Baker, Jr.
Mrs. Dale Cunningham Box
Michael J. Bozymski
Dr. Benjamin H. Caldwell, Jr.
Mrs. Kay H. Chalk
Mr. F. Hudnall Christopher, Jr.
J. Haywood Davis
Dr. William R. Ferris
Mrs. Ragan Folan
Anthony L. Furr
Richard Gottlieb
James A. Gray, III
Thomas A. Gray
F. Borden Hanes, Jr.
Mrs. Kay Heller
Stanhope A. Kelly
Mrs. Lisa Valk Long
Mr. Dalton M. McMichael, Jr.
Christoph Nostitz
Ms. M. Patricia Oliver
Mrs. Ronda T. Plummer
Michael L. Robinson
The Honorable Evelyn A. Terry
Darryl Thompson
Jerry Warren
MESDA Advisory Board
Clifton Anderson
Robert S. Brunk
Mrs. Elizabeth D. Bullock
Russell Buskirk
Dr. Benjamin H. Caldwell, Jr.
Mrs. Gertrude Caldwell
Mrs. Linda Chesnut
Dr. Morgan D. Delaney
Mrs. Davida T. Deutsch
Fall/Winter 2006/2007
Dr. Henry F. Frierson, Jr.
Mrs. Melinda Frierson
Dr. Katherine C. Grier
Ms. S. Revelle Gwyn
Paul M. Hawkins
Mrs. Sally Hawkins
Mrs. Kay Heller
Robert Hicks
Richard I. McHenry
Mrs. Chris Minter-Dowd
Christopher R. Ohrstrom
Mrs. Betsy Overton
Mrs. Jane Pearce
Dr. Robert Pearce
Dr. Thomas H. Sears, Jr.
Mrs. Sara Sears
Ms. Kathleen A. Staples
George C. Williams
Mrs. Mary Witten Wiseman
15
There are many treasures at the
Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts
But the greatest one is you.
Through your generous support and donations of objects, our early southern decorative arts
in the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA), antique toys in the Old Salem Toy Museum,
and Moravian decorative arts in the Historic Town of Salem have been recognized
throughout America as significant, must-see collections.
For more information about making a gift or donating an object to
Old Salem Museums & Gardens, please call 1-336-721-7327 or visit www.oldsalem.org
One ticket. Four museums. A thousand memories.
The Historic Town of Salem • Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts • The Old Salem Children’s Museum • The Old Salem Toy Museum
Fall/Winter 2006/2007
17
Southern Perspective
A Sampling from the
Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts
The
Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) is one of four museums
collectively known as Old Salem Museums & Gardens in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Opened in 1965, MESDA grew from the vision of Frank Horton and his mother, Theo
Taliaferro, to preserve and interpret the artistic legacy of the early South. From fine art to
folk art—including furniture, paintings, ceramics, metalwork, and textiles —MESDA collects southern-made objects from three distinct regions: the Chesapeake, Lowcountry, and
Backcountry.
The collection’s focus spans the first English settlement at Jamestown in 1607 through
to the rise of industrialization that occurred in the nineteenth century. With Africans,
Britons, Germans, Dutch, Swiss, Indians, and French Huguenots, a rich cultural diversity
characterized early southern lifestyles. MESDA’s period rooms and galleries offer a unique
opportunity to explore the extraordinary range of
the South’s early decorative arts.
From its founding, MESDA’s
approach has been firmly rooted
in research and documentation. These efforts created a
library and research center
with files that now record
over 18,000 southern
craftsmen and over
20,000 southern-made
objects. It is the most
comprehensive facility of
its kind in the nation.
Catalog photography by Wes Stewart,
except when noted otherwise.
18
Old Salem Museums & Gardens
Furniture
MESDA Loan Exhibition
Furniture
Court Cupboard
Believed to be the earliest, most intact example of
southern furniture in America, this rare piece is made
of oak, yellow pine, and ebonized walnut. Although
court cupboards were frequently recorded in estate
inventories of wealthy seventeenth-century Virginians, this court cupboard is one of only two Southern
examples known. Often listed on inventories with a
cupboard cloth and the ceramics, pewter, and silver
that adorned them, court cupboards were important
not only for storage, but also for display. This particular example descended in the Vines-Collier-Hicks
family of York and Brunswick counties.
1660-80
Maker unknown
Probably York County, Virginia
Oak, yellow pine, and walnut
HOA 49 M”; WOA 50”; DOA 18 M”
Gift of Frank L. Horton; acc. 2024.6
Gaming Table
With exceptionally British characteristics, this gaming
table represents the flowering of the cabinet trade in
Charleston at the end of the 1740s. Mahogany became
the primary wood of choice for Charleston furniture,
and the city’s talented cabinetmakers incorporated
sophisticated construction techniques in their products
while preserving the simple-yet-elegant styles eagerly
sought by their clients. This gaming table embodies all
of these elements, placing it at the pinnacle of mid-eighteenth-century cabinetmaking in the Lowcountry.
1745-55
Maker unknown
Charleston, South Carolina
Mahogany, cypress, and ash
HOA 28 G”; WOA 33”; DOA 17”
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frank R. Liggett III; acc 3266
Side Chair
One of only five cabriole leg side chairs that can be attributed to
Charleston, this graceful side chair has stylistic elements found not
only in England but also in New England and the middle colonies as
well. This chair descended in the Blake family.
1750-60
Maker unknown
Charleston, South Carolina
Mahogany and cypress
HOA 38 I”; WOA 23”; DOA 18G”
Gift of Mrs. J. William Haynie; acc. 3513
Armchair
1745-65
The shaping of the arm supports of
this eastern North Carolina armchair are characteristically
British and seldom seen on American chairs. Likewise the
splat pattern and cabriole rear legs bespeak British influence. These details suggest the presence of a talented but
as-yet unidentified British chairmaker working in Edenton
at the middle of the eighteenth century. This chair is one
of three remarkably similar armchairs. No side chairs from
this group have been found, suggesting that the sets were
comprised of armchairs only—a rare instance in either
Britain or America.
Fall/Winter 2006/2007
Maker unknown
Edenton, North Carolina
Mahogany, beech, and cypress
HOA 39 G”; DOA 23”; WOA 26 G”
MESDA Purchase Fund; acc. 2418
19
Furniture,
continued
2007 Winter Antiques Show
Slab Table
1750-60
Attributed to Anthony Hay
Williamsburg, Virginia
Cherry, maple, yellow pine, marble
HOA 28”; WOA 49”; DOA 23”
MESDA Purchase Fund; acc. 4013
Tea Table
1750-60
Robert Walker
King George County, Virginia
Mahogany and cherry
HOA 28 H”; WOA (with top down) 30”;
DOA (with top up) 25”
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John T. Warmath in memory
of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Worsham Dew; acc. 3992
Cabinet-on-Chest,
or Lady’s Closet
1750-60
Attributed to Robert Dean and Henry Burnett
Charleston, South Carolina
Mahogany, cypress, light wood inlay
HOA 93 J”; WOA 35 J”;
DOA 20 H”; DOA Open 33”
Given in memory of Polly and Frank Myers by
Mr. and Mrs. George Kaufman; acc. 3522
Desk
1765
Thomas White
Perquimans County, North Carolina
Walnut with white cedar, yellow pine, and walnut
HOA 42”; WOA 39 H”; DOA 21”
DOA with desk open 35 G”
MESDA Purchase Fund; acc. 3250
20
With distinctive foot turnings that relate to the
Anthony Hay Shop in Williamsburg, this table
features lamb’s-tongue knee carving that mirrors
the carving seen on at least two card tables also
attributed to the shop’s master, Anthony Hay
(w. 1750–70). The table descended in the Irby
family of southeastern Virginia and was listed
as “1 Marble Slab” in the 1829 probate inventory
of Edmund Irby of Nottoway County. It is the
only marble-top table known to have been made
in Williamsburg.
A masterpiece of Virginia craftsmanship, the ornately carved
rim of its mahogany top places this tea table in a class of its
own. The table descended in the Carter-Braxton family of
northern Virginia and was made by Robert Walker (d. 1777), a
Scottish émigré cabinetmaker who arrived in America around
1740 with his brother William (d. 1750) and became, respectively, the cabinetmaker and builder of choice for northern
Virginia’s colonial elite.
Called a “lady’s closet” in Scottish parlance, this cabinet-on-chest
defies association with standard American furniture forms. However,
the Earl of Dumfries commissioned a similar glass-fronted piece from
Francis Brodie (w. 1725–80) of Edinburgh in 1753. Robert Dean (w.
1750–65) was a Scottish craftsmen working in Charleston at the middle
of the eighteenth century. Skilled at architecture and cabinetmaking,
in 1749 he submitted plans for finishing the interiors of St. Michael’s
Church where he may have collaborated with the carver Henry Burnett
(d. 1761) and prominent Charleston cabinetmaker Thomas Elfe
(ca. 1719–75).
In 1765, the Quaker merchant Thomas Newby
paid cabinetmaker Thomas White (d. 1788) twelve
pounds North Carolina currency for this desk.
Several of its characteristics, such as the five bay
arrangement and carved shells of the interior,
relate strongly to furniture made in Newport,
Rhode Island. Although positive proof of White’s
training by a Newport cabinetmaker has eluded
furniture scholars, there is ample evidence of a
strong commercial relationship between eastern
North Carolina Quakers and their New England
counterparts in Rhode Island.
Old Salem Museums & Gardens
Furniture
MESDA Loan Exhibition
This may be one of the chairs listed in an inventory of
Moravian Church buildings in Salem, which included
“6 black-walnut chairs with woven seats.” The solid splat
of the chair reflects Baroque style, but the turned stretcher
base is reminiscent of an even earlier period. Stylistic conservatism is common in Moravian furniture as it is in furniture made in other German-American settlements in the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The secondary rounds
to receive the woven seating is a peculiar feature that can
be traced to Bavaria and is seen in the Shenandoah Valley,
another area heavily influenced by Teutonic traditions.
Martin Pfeninger (d. 1782) is one of eight cabinetmakers known
as the “German School” working in Charleston during the 1770s
and 1780s, and the only Charleston cabinetmaker known to have
advertised as a specialized inlay maker. Although this pembroke
table is strikingly British in appearance, its engraved inlay relates
to other pieces in the German School group. This table is a
reminder that fine German craftsmanship could be found in sophisticated urban centers, and not exclusively in the Backcountry
as is often supposed.
The fylfot symbol seen on this small cabinet was used
frequently on decorative arts made in the Southern
backcountry, particularly by German craftsmen. With
an interior fitted with four small drawers, diminutive
cabinets like this one were often used for the storage of
valuables. The profile of the cabinet’s ogee feet and the
heavy astragal banding around the door relate it to a large
group of furniture made in the lower Yadkin River valley
of Rowan County, North Carolina.
Referred to as a “bottle case” in period documents, today
this form is often called a cellaret. The upper case is fitted
with compartments to house the tapering square gin bottles that were ubiquitous in eighteenth-century Chesapeake
households. Despite the stylish inlay around its top and
drawer, the back is unfinished, suggesting that this particular bottle case was to be used and stored against a wall.
Fall/Winter 2006/2007
Side Chair
1765–80
Maker unknown
Salem, North Carolina
Walnut, hickory split seat
HOA 42 G”; WOA 18”; DOA 15 H”
Long term loan from the Wachovia Historical
Society; acc. C-44
Pembroke Table
1775–80
Attributed to Martin Pfeninger
Charleston, South Carolina
Mahogany with mahogany veneer, cypress, ash,
light wood inlay and brass
HOA 28 M”; WOA (closed) 21H”; WOA
(open) 37K”; DOA 26 I”
Gift of Mildred Paden, Betty Crockett,
Rosalind Willis, and Rob Willis in memory of
Anne and Meade Willis; acc. 4455
Valuables Cabinet
1780–1800
Maker unknown
Central Piedmont, North Carolina
Walnut, yellow pine, maple
HOA 15”; WOA 12”; DOA 9”
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. R. Phillip Hanes, Jr.;
acc. 1071.1
Bottle Case
1780–1800
Roanoke River Basin School
Northeastern North Carolina
Walnut, elm, yellow pine
HOA 33 L”; WOA 19”; DOA 14”
MESDA Purchase Fund; acc. 950.20
21
Furniture,
continued
2007 Winter Antiques Show
Tea Table
1813–25
Possibly by Karsten Petersen
Salem, North Carolina
Walnut
HOA 27 I”; WOA 31 K”; DOA 22 M”
Given in memory of Harrison Lassiter
by his family; acc. 3880
The only North Carolina table known with a spiral
turned pedestal, its construction characteristics
include sliding dovetailed battens to secure the top
that relate it to another Salem-made tea table. Born
in Danish-controlled Schleswig-Holstein, Karsten
Petersen (1776–1857) trained as a turner and cabinetmaker. When he migrated to America, he lived
in Salem in 1806, moved to Georgia to work as a
missionary with the Creek Indians, and returned
to Salem in 1813. Moravian records note that upon
his return, Petersen “set up a turning lathe.” He
may have been responsible for making this sophisticated table as some of the turned components
relate to other work by this artisan.
Desk and Bookcase
1801 (desk) and 1806 (bookcase)
John Shearer
Martinsburg, Virginia (now West Virginia)
Walnut, cherry, mulberry, yellow pine, and oak
HOA 106J”; WOA 45”; DOA 24H”;
DOA with fall front down 34 G”
MESDA Purchase Fund and anonymous
gift; acc. 2979
Working in Martinsburg, John Shearer (w. 1798–1818)
was a creative and spirited cabinetmaker unrestrained by
convention. His combination of baroque, rococo, and
neoclassical details and his reinterpretation of familiar
features are unparalleled in the work of his contemporaries.
Shearer identified himself with an inscription on this desk
that reads, “Made by me, John Shearer Septr. 1801 From
Edinburgh 1775/ Made in Martinsburgh,” and included
loyalist phrases such as “God Save the King 1801.” Because
the upper case is signed and inscribed with a date of 1806,
the owner probably purchased the desk and later added the
bookcase.
Chest
1820–30
Maker unknown
Eastern Tennessee
Walnut, poplar, light wood inlay
HOA 16 I”; WOA 16 M”; DOA 11 J”
MESDA Purchase Fund; acc. 2500
22
Although the exact function of this delightful little
chest is a subject of great debate among furniture
scholars, its charm and appeal cannot be argued.
The inlay on and around the drawers relates to
other eastern Tennessee furniture, and the small
inlaid dwelling is not unlike buildings seen on
needlework pictures of the period.
Old Salem Museums & Gardens
Ceramics
MESDA Loan Exhibition
Ceramics
Gavin Ashworth
Shop Sign
1773
Born at Heidersdorf (now part of the Czech Republic), Gottfried Aust (1722–88) was the first potter to arrive in Wachovia,
the tract of land owned by the Moravians, and is responsible for
one of most vibrant pottery traditions in America. As master of
the first Moravian pottery in North Carolina, Aust originally
set up shop in Bethabara in 1755 and later moved to Salem in
1771. Dated 1773, this piece served as the shop sign for his Salem
pottery and is a veritable sampler of the designs and techniques
found on the pottery produced in his shop.
Gottfried Aust
Salem, North Carolina
Slip decorated earthenware
DIA 21 I”; DOA with mount 5 I”
Long term loan from the Wachovia Historical Society;
acc. B-180
Stove Tile
Gavin Ashworth
1760–75
Gottfried Aust
Bethabara or Salem, North Carolina
Gavin Ashworth
Tile stoves were a popular heating device in central Europe
and, in the mid eighteenth century, were first brought to North
Carolina by the Moravians. Aust began manufacturing this
form in Wachovia in 1756 when Bethabara Church records
note, “ Br. Aust burned stove tiles, and when they were ready,
he set up stoves in the Gemein Haus and the Brothers’ House,
probably the first in Carolina.”
Throughout his life, Gottfried Aust worked in a central and eastern European tradition that survived his migration to America.
The highly stylized flowers, foliage, and birds chosen as decorative motifs on this slip-decorated dish are clear evidence of his
European training.
Slip decorated earthenware
HOA 8 9/16”; WOA 7 K”; DOA 3 H”
Collection of Old Salem Museums & Gardens;
acc. 5248
Deep Dish
1770–88
Gottfried Aust
Bethabara or Salem, North Carolina
Slip decorated earthenware
DIA 13 H”; DOA 2 K”
Gift of Frank L. Horton; acc. 89.34
Sugar Jar
Gavin Ashworth
Attributed to Rudolph Christ
Bethabara or Salem, North Carolina
Slip decorated earthenware
HOA 9 H”; WOA 10 H”; DOA 10”
Old Salem Purchase Fund; acc. 2708
Sugar Jar
Sugar was an expensive commodity, so it stands to reason that
Moravians and their customers chose to store it in a vessel that
was practical but also highly decorative. While many of Gottfried
Aust’s surviving slip decorated works incorporate stylized flowers
and foliage, many pieces attributed to Christ bear designs that are
more geometric in nature, such as those seen on this sugar jar.
Dark slip bases created by a heavy saturation of iron in the slip
mixture provide a an outstanding contrast to the lighter colors of
the trailed slip decoration on this and other plates made by the
Wachovia potter Rudolph Christ and his contemporaries. This
particular example is one of the finest that survives.
Fall/Winter 2006/2007
1790–1800
1790–1800
Attributed to Rudolph Christ
Salem, North Carolina
Slip decorated earthenware
HOA 7 H”; WOA 8”; DOA 7 H”
Gift of Frank Horton; acc. 89.9
Deep Dish
1800–10
Attributed to Rudolph Christ
Salem, North Carolina
Gavin Ashworth
Gavin Ashworth
Rudolph Christ (1750–1833) apprenticed to Aust around 1766
and became the master potter in Salem in 1789, after Aust’s
death. The fylfot motif seen on this example is a symbol associated with German American decorative arts but is not confined
to that culture. Christ’s creative use of this symbol incorporates
the head of a bird at the terminal of each lobe.
Slip decorated earthenware
DIA 15 G”; DOA 3 G”
Gift of Frank L. Horton; acc. 89.37
23
Ceramics,
continued
2007 Winter Antiques Show
Deep Dish
DIA 12 H”; DOA 2 I”
Gift of Frank L. Horton; acc. 89.21
Squirrel Bottle
1800–20
Attributed to Rudolph Christ
Salem, North Carolina
Earthenware
HOA 8 G”; WOA 2H”; DOA 5 G”
Gift of Frank L. Horton; acc. 89.35
Gavin Ashworth
Salem, North Carolina
Slip decorated earthenware
This lively slip-decorated plate features several techniques and
motifs associated with the work of Christ and other Wachovia
potters including “seed pod” decoration, the fan, the fylfot, and
stylized foliage with fan-like delineated leaves.
The Salem pottery inventories list a veritable menagerie of animal
bottles including squirrels, fish, chickens, foxes, owls, turkeys, and
turtles. Adding a touch of whimsy to the bottles, the Salem potters
often depicted the animals engaged in a moment of activity. This
squirrel, for example, appears to be enjoying a light snack.
Gavin Ashworth
1800–10
Attributed to Rudolph Christ
Fish Bottle
1800–20
Gavin Ashworth
Attributed to Rudolph Christ
Salem, North Carolina
LOA 9 H”; HOA 4 G”; DOA 2”
Old Salem Purchase Fund; acc. 3175
From surviving examples we know that at least four sizes
of press molded fish bottles were made by Christ; however, he must have had multiple molds in each size. Old
Salem owns both a fish bottle and a fish mold which are
nearly identical and appear to be mates, but the details
on the bottle differ ever so slightly from the mold.
Fish Bottle Mold
Salem, North Carolina
Each piece: LOA 11”; WOA 6 G”; DOA 2H”
Long term loan from the Wachovia
Historical Society; acc. M-236
Evidence suggests that Salem’s master potters passed
molds on to their successors. While it is likely that
Christ made this fish bottle mold, it was probably
used by John Frederic Holland (1781–1843) and Henry Shaffner (1798–1877), two of the master potters
who succeeded Rudolph Christ.
Plate
1800–39
Friedrich Rothrock
Slip decorated earthenware
DIA 11H”; DOA 2 G”
Gift of Frank L. Horton; acc. 89.51
Gavin Ashworth
Friedberg, North Carolina
Gavin Ashworth
1800–20
Attributed to Rudolph Christ
Although his training is not documented in the Moravian records, Friedrich Rothrock (b. 1772) may have apprenticed with
either Gottfried Aust or Rudolph Christ. The floral and abstract
motifs found in the slip decoration of this plate clearly point
to Rothrock’s instruction in the Moravian pottery tradition.
By 1793, Rothrock had set up his own pottery near the Moravian community of Friedburg. This plate is stamped “FR” on
the verso. The “GR” on the front may be for George Rothrock,
Friedrich’s brother.
1800–50
Salem School of Pottery
Salem, North Carolina
Earthenware
HOA 7 L”; WOA 3 H”; DOA 4 H”
Old Salem Purchase Fund; acc. 4249
24
Owls were listed on Salem pottery inventories as early as 1804.
By 1829 at least three sizes were in production. This owl was
decorated in the “Whieldon” manner with mottled streaking of
copper, manganese, and iron. Due to the tradition of master potters passing molds to their successors, this owl bottle, one of only
a few known, could have been made by Christ, or perhaps just as
easily by Henry Shaffner, the master potter in Salem from 1834
until shortly before his death in 1877.
Old Salem Museums & Gardens
Gavin Ashworth
Owl Bottle
Ceramics
MESDA Loan Exhibition
Gavin Ashworth
Doll Bottle
Dolls were listed on the pottery inventories of John Frederic
Holland, master potter in Salem between 1821 and 1843. This
example may have used as a child’s toy, or perhaps as a caster.
The back is pierced with small holes and the bottom has one
large hole.
1800–50
Salem School of Pottery
Salem, North Carolina
Slip decorated earthenware
HOA 5 H”; WOA 2G”; DOA 1I”
Given in memory of Lillian Dillon Wooten; acc. 3453
Deep Dish
This dish reflects the stylistic variation within the complex network of
German potters working in western
Maryland and the Shenandoah Valley
of Virginia in the early nineteenth century. Born in Germany,
Henry Adam (1782–1819) in 1813 advertised with Daniel Reichard (1780–1859), Peter Bell (1774–1847), and John Snavely (w.
1805–20), that the four potters “had met… and mutually adopted” an agreed upon list of prices for their goods “as their fixed
rule” in response to an increase in the price of materials and an increase in prices charged by
their competitors. The white ground on this dish was previously thought to be tin glaze, but
recent analysis has contradicted that assumption.
This covered jar was produced by one of the closely related
Hagerstown potteries that made MESDA’s deep dish. The jar’s
lid and sides are decorated with elongated ovals that trail through
concentric circles, a motif that also appears on the dish. The jar
shares the dish’s overall coating of white slip as a ground for
colorful slip decoration. The consistent use of these motifs and
techniques by the Hagerstown potters is not unusual when one
considers their close inter-relationships and their strong ties to
German pottery traditions.
This stoneware jar with exuberant cobalt blue decoration was
made by an African American potter, David Jarbour (1788–1840).
Born a slave, in 1820 Jarbour purchased his freedom for $300
from Alexandria merchant Zenas Kinsey. According to city tax
records, Jarbour was employed by Hugh Smith when he made
this piece. However, Jarbour’s name and date are inscribed on the
bottom.
1800–10
Maker unknown
Hagerstown, Maryland
Slip decorated earthenware
DIA 12 L”; HOA 2 L”
MESDA Purchase Fund; acc. 4361
Covered Jar
1800–20
Maker unknown
Hagerstown, Maryland
Slip decorated earthenware
HOA 4 H”; DIA 4 5/16”
Gift of H. E. Comstock; acc. 4362
Jar
1830
David Jarbour
Alexandria, Virginia
Salt-glazed stoneware with cobalt decoration
HOA 27 I”; DOA at widest point 14 H”
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Byron J. Banks; acc. 2964
Lion Figure
Solomon Bell (1817–82) learned the pottery trade from his father
Peter, a second-generation German American who worked
in Hagerstown, Maryland and later in Winchester, Virginia.
Solomon worked for his father in Winchester and then for his
brother John (1800–1880) in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, before
settling in Strasburg, Virginia. Solomon created this enchanting
ceramic animal for his niece. One of MESDA’s most beloved objects, it survives as an icon of
the Bell family pottery tradition and has been adopted as an unofficial mascot for the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.
Fall/Winter 2006/2007
1840–60
Solomon Bell
Strasburg, Virginia
Earthenware with lead glaze over slip wash,
manganese dioxide, and copper oxide
HOA 11”; LOA 14 H”; WOA 6”
Gift of Frank L. Horton; acc. 2024.95
25
Paintings & Prints
View of the Town of Savannah
1734
Pierre Fourdrinier after drawings
by Noble Jones and George Jones
London, England
Ink on paper
HOA 25 J”; WOA 29 I”
Gift of Frank L. Horton; acc. 2024.28
Mary Ross Beale
2007 Winter Antiques Show
Paintings & Prints
The orderly and egalitarian vision of James Oglethorpe, the founder of the colony of Georgia, is clearly
reflected in this iconic view of Savannah. Oglethorpe
instructed the first surveyor of Savannah, Noble
Jones (1702–1777), to create the initial drawing for
the plat. Jones’s drawing sailed to England with Peter
Gordon (w. 1732–38), a Savannah upholsterer. Jones
instructed Gordon to have the London draughtsman, George Jones, redraw the image in preparation
for the engraver Pierre Fourdrinier (d. 1758). The
prints carry Gordon’s name, but his role has now
been relegated to that of courier for the project.
1765–67
John Wollaston
Charleston, South Carolina
Oil on canvas
HOA 36 I”; WOA 32 H”; DOA 3”
Gift of Mrs. Jan Mendall; acc. 3050
One of the most influential eighteenth-century colonial
painters, John Wollaston (w. 1749–67) was instrumental in
introducing the English rococo portrait style to this side of
the Atlantic. Stylistic elements such as almond shaped eyes,
poses, and fabric treatment were subsequently echoed in
the works of his contemporaries, John Hesselius (1728–78)
of Maryland and Jeremiah Theus (c. 1719–74) of Charleston. Related to the prominent Drayton family, Mary Ross
was the wife of prominent Charleston merchant John
Beale.
View of Charles-Town
1773
Thomas Leitch (or Leech)
Charleston, South Carolina
Oil on canvas
HOA 22 I”; WOA 62 I”
MESDA Purchase Fund; acc. 2024.30
View of Charles-Town
1776
Samuel Smith after Thomas Leitch (or Leech)
London, England
Ink on paper
HOA 22 I”; WOA 33 J”
Gift of Frank L. Horton; acc. 2024.29
26
MESDA is fortunate to own
the only known oil painting
and engraved view of a colonial
American city. Painted in 1773,
this rare example provides an
exceptional view of Charleston
seen from the harbor. At the height of its colonial prosperity and culture, the work points
to Charleston’s booming sea trade and provides a detailed architectural rendering. The only
other known painting attributed to this British-born artist, Thomas Leitch (w. 1773–74), is a
partial harbor scene of New York City, now in the collections of the Winterthur Museum.
Adapted from the Leitch view of Charleston, this copperplate print was published on
3 June 1776 in London. Two years earlier,
Leitch advertised in the South Carolina
Gazette that his “Picture will be ready to
send Home by the next Ships, expected from
London, in order to be engraved; and will be
so exact a Portrait of the Town, as it appears
from the Water that every House in View will
be distinctly known.”
Old Salem Museums & Gardens
Paintings & Prints
MESDA Loan Exhibition
Rachel Moore Allston
The Philadelphia-born Henry Benbridge (1743–1812)
spent several years studying in Italy where he enrolled in
the academy of famed Grand Tour portraitist Pompeo
Batoni (1708–1787). After spending some time in London
where he worked with fellow Pennsylvanian Benjamin
West (1738–1820), Benbridge returned to American, settling in Charleston in 1772. His work, often employing
elements of Italian Grand Tour portraiture, quickly supplanted that of the aging Jeremiah Theus. Mrs. Allston was
the mother of artist Washington Allston (1779–1843).
1784
Henry Benbridge
Charleston, South Carolina
Oil on canvas
HOA 34”; WOA 31”; DOA 2 G”
Anonymous gift; acc. 2023.11
Mary Hawksworth Riddell
Charles Peale Polk (1767–1822) was born to Robert Polk
and his wife, Elizabeth Digby Peale. By 1776 he was living with his uncle, the noted artist Charles Willson Peale
(1741–1827). In 1778, Peale began instructing the young
Polk in drawing and painting. One of Polk’s finest works,
this portrait depicts Mary Hawksworth Riddell and her
daughter Agnes. Peale’s influence on his nephew’s style is
seen in the oval shape of the sitter’s faces, Mrs. Riddell’s
costume and accessories, her hair, her pose, and the chair
in which she is seated.
1791
Charles Peale Polk
Baltimore, Maryland
Oil on canvas
HOA 41 J”; WOA 39 G”; DOA 2UI”
Gift of Frank L. Horton; acc. 3374
Amelia Heiskell Lauck
Jacob Frymire (ca. 1770–1821) was an itinerant artist who
traveled in Virginia between 1799 and 1805, taking commissions in Winchester, Alexandria, and Warrenton. This
portrait of Amelia Heiskell Lauck was signed and dated by
the artist and is the first recorded painting by Frymire in
which the artist used a detailed background to enhance the
attractiveness of the subject. Amelia was the wife of Peter
Lauck, who built the Red Lion Inn in Winchester in 1783.
She was just 41 years old when this portrait was painted.
Considered Baltimore’s first significant native-born painter, Philip Thomas Coke Tilyard (1785–1830) was born in
Baltimore, trained with his English-born father, Thomas,
also a painter, and for a brief time offered his services at
“sign and ornamental painting.” Heavily influenced by his
contemporary Thomas Sully (1783–1872), by 1814 Tilyard
considered himself a “portrait painter.” He painted this
portrait of Sarah Meriweather Dorsey four years after her
marriage in 1819 to Baltimore merchant George Washington Waring.
Fall/Winter 2006/2007
1801
Jacob Frymire
Winchester, Virginia
Oil on canvas
HOA 32 3/16”; WOA 27 3/16”; DOA 2PM”
Gift of Frank L. Horton; acc. 3406
Sarah Meriweather
Dorsey Waring
1823
Philip Tilyard
Baltimore, Maryland
Oil on canvas
HOA 36UH”; WOA 32UH”; DOA 3UI”
Gift of Frank L. Horton; acc. 2024.142
27
Paintings & Prints,
continued
2007 Winter Antiques Show
The Cumberland River
Known as Tennessee’s first professional
artist, Ralph E. W. Earl (ca. 1785–1838)
was not only a painter, but also a collector responsible for opening a museum
of natural and artificial curiosities. After
marrying into General Andrew Jackson’s family, Earl became great friends
with the future president and was the
official “Court Painter” at the White
House during his presidency. This
painting depicts a landscape near The
Hermitage, the Jackson family estate in
Nashville where Earl lived following the
death of his wife.
1820–23
Ralph E. W. Earl
Nashville, Tennessee
Oil on canvas
HOA 35 H”; WOA 42”; DOA 4 G”
Gift of Mrs. Theo Taliaferro; acc. 2023.39
Mistipee, Yoholo-Mico’s Son
1825
Charles Bird King
Washington, District of Columbia
Oil on canvas
HOA 20 I”; WOA 17”; DOA 2”
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James W. Douglas; acc. 3542
Sampler
1807
Ann Gould
Eastern Shore of Maryland
Silk on linen
HOA 19 G”; WOA 15”
MESDA Purchase Fund; acc. 4042.1
Sampler
Elizabeth Gould
Eastern Shore of Maryland
Silk on linen
HOA 19 G”; WOA 15”
MESDA Purchase Fund; acc. 4042.2
28
Raised in the manner of his white neighbors, the
subject of this portrait is a Creek Indian boy who was
originally named Benjamin, which evolved to Mister Ben and eventually Mistipee. Although he wears
authentic Indian costume, his pose is clearly derived
from the Grand Manner style. Primarily celebrated for
his portraits of North American Indians, Charles Bird
King (1785–1862) also painted landscapes, still lifes,
and genre pieces. At the age of four, King’s father was
killed in an Indian raid. Perhaps this points to King’s
fascination with American Indians and his frequent
depiction of them in his paintings.
Textiles
Schools for young girls
advertised their success
at helping their students
achieve virtue and refinement. The motifs and
verses chosen for samplers
frequently reflect this pursuit. Made by sisters Ann
(1798–1872) and Elizabeth
Gould (b. 1793) in 1807,
these very similar samplers
are two of a small group of
Elizabeth Gould Sampler
Ann Gould Sampler
pieces with histories from
the same area. Both of the Gould sisters chose verses from Proverbs extolling the
virtues of a godly wife to adorn their samplers. While Elizabeth was fifteen when
she worked her sampler, her sister Ann was merely ten, making her one of MESDA’s
youngest documented artists.
Old Salem Museums & Gardens
Metalwork
MESDA Loan Exhibition
Metalwork
Salver
Recent scholarship has uncovered evidence that the Charleston
silversmith Alexander Petrie (d. 1768) was born in Scotland, but
where he trained remains unknown. By the time of his arrival in
the early 1740s, Petrie was a master of his craft, and by 1751 had
established a shop in the most prominent shopping area in the
city. At the estate sale following Petrie’s death one enslaved African American, Abraham, was listed as a “silver-smith,” indicating that he had played an important role in Petrie’s shop production. Marked three times with the AP mark of Petrie’s shop, this
salver is the basis of the design for MESDA’s logo.
1750–60
Alexander Petrie
Charleston, South Carolina
Silver
DIA 7 J”; DOA approx. 1 H”
Gift of Frank L. Horton; acc. 2024.48
Also made by Petrie’s shop, this coffee pot is nearly identical to
MESDA’s ornately decorated example below. The castings of the
hinge, handle sockets, spout, and foot ring are nearly identical to
those on three other extant Petrie coffeepots. Petrie constructed
the bodies of sheet silver, which he joined in a vertical seam at the
handle. This production method was uncommon in America for
this time period, as the use of sheet silver did not come into wide
use until the late-eighteenth century; however, British silversmiths
had adapted this method by the early eighteenth century.
Coffeepot
This ornate rococo coffeepot ranks among the country’s finest
examples of eighteenth-century silver. Although it is the only
known example of this form with chasing and repoussé made in
Charleston, written evidence confirms that this type of work was
extremely popular in the city. Among the items listed in the estate
inventory of Alexander Petrie was “1 New Chased Coffee pott”
weighing thirty-two-and-a-half ounces.
Coffeepot
The second known piece of rococo chased
silver made in Charleston, this sugar bowl
bears the initials of Daniel and Mary Cannon. Eighteenth-century
southern hollowware is rare; this piece is one of four known examples
of such work by Thomas You (w. 1753–86). You also sold imported
wares in his shop, but advertised that “Any Piece of Plate worked up
in his Shop, he will warrant as good as Sterling; and if any such piece
should break, he will mend the Piece Gratis.”
Christopher Hughes (1744–1824) was born
in Ireland and came to Baltimore from
Dublin about 1771. He and his partner,
John Carnan (w. 1773–4), were among the
first advertisers in the Maryland Journal and
Baltimore Advertiser, where they spoke of
themselves as Goldsmiths and Jewelers “at
the sign of the CUP and CROWN, the corner of Market and Gay Streets.” This partnership
was dissolved in 1774 and Hughes continued the business alone. The “DEG” monograms on
these sauceboats probably refer to Daniel E. Grant, the proprietor of the Indian Queen Tavern and later the Fountain Inn of Baltimore. The scalloped rims and ornately scrolled handles
of these sauceboats firmly place them firmly in the American rococo style.
Fall/Winter 2006/2007
1745–65
Alexander Petrie
Charleston, South Carolina
Silver and wood
HOA 10 K”; WOA 9”; DIA of base 4 K”
MESDA Purchase Fund; acc. 3996
1750–60
Alexander Petrie
Charleston, South Carolina
Silver and wood
HOA 10 M”; WOA 9”; DIA of base 4 K”
Gift of Frank L. Horton; acc. 2507
Covered Sugar Bowl
1753–65
Thomas You
Charleston, South Carolina
Silver
HOA 6 J”; DIA 4 H”
MESDA Purchase Fund; acc. 2506
Sauceboats
1771–90
Christopher Hughes
Baltimore, Maryland
Silver
HOA 4 M”; WOA 8 K”
Gift of Frank L. Horton; acc. 2223.1
29
Metalwork,
continued
2007 Winter Antiques Show
Fireback
1770–92
Marlboro Furnace
Frederick County, Virginia
Cast iron
HOA 34 5/16”; WOA 31 L”; DOA 13/4”
DOA with mount approx. 3”
Gift of Frank L. Horton; acc 2463
Fireback
1802–20
Charleston Iron Foundry
Charleston, South Carolina
Cast iron
HOA 23 3/4”; WOA 24”
Gift of Frank L. Horton; acc. 2997
Weighing nearly 300 pounds, this massive cast iron fireback
was commissioned for George William Fairfax and bears his
family’s coat of arms. The Marlboro Furnace was owned by
Isaac Zane, Jr. (1743–1795), a good friend of Thomas Jefferson.
The mahogany pattern for this fireback was created by noted
Philadelphia carvers Bernard and Jugiez. Remarkably, the 1770
pattern order survives, noting a payment of “Eight pounds for
the carving the arms of Earl of Fairfax for a Pattern for the Back
of a Chimney sent Isaac Zane Jr.” Despite years of use, the Fairfax family motto, “Zane” and “Marlboro” are all still visible.
In 1802, John Johnson (w. 1798–1830), a Charleston blacksmith,
built a foundry, or “air furnace,” four miles outside of Charleston on the Cooper River. According to a Baltimore newspaper
account of Johnson’s success, the products of his operation were
“equal in neatness and lightness to any that have been brought to
this city from any country…He has also made several essays at cabooses, chimney-backs, weights, jambs for chimnies, and several
other articles, in all of which he has succeeded.”
Water Pitcher
1810–25
Asa Blanchard
Lexington, Kentucky
Silver
HOA 6 5/16”; WOA 7 3/4”;
DOA 5 G”; DIA (base) 3 L”
Given in honor of Mr. Frank L. Horton by
Christine and Daniel Dowd; acc. 4608
Asa Blanchard (w. 1807–38) had established himself as a
silversmith in Lexington, Kentucky by 1807, advertising in the
Kentucky Gazette and General Advertiser that he had worked
previously in “the best shops in Philadelphia and New York, to
make himself master of his business.” Blanchard advertised that
he produced a wide variety of silver forms, and throughout his
long successful career his customers were among Kentucky’s
most elite residents.
Teaset
1815–20
Charles A. Burnett
Georgetown, District of Columbia
Silver and wood
Coffeepot: HOA 10 H”;
WOA 14 G”; DOA 4 3/4”
Given by Mrs. James P. Donovan in
Memory of James P. Donovan; acc. 3307.1-5
By the neoclassical period, many
southern silversmiths sold hollow­
ware made by firms in Philadelphia
and New York. Although Charles A.
Burnett (1760–1849) probably did
acquire the decorative castings and
rolled banding for this service from
another firm, evidence suggests that
his shop was responsible for the raising of each piece of this set in spite of the difficult classically-styled repousse of the bodies.
Presentation Medal
1824
Charles Pryce and J. Sands
Baltimore, Maryland
Gold
HOA 3 J”; WOA 2 3/16”
Gift of Frank L. Horton; acc. 2380
30
A gift to one of the giants of the American Revolution, this commemorative gold medal presented to the Marquis de Lafayette in Baltimore in
1824, is one of the smallest pieces in the MESDA collection. Replete with
patriotic symbolism, the medal was made by Baltimore silversmith Charles
Pryce (w. ca. 1824) and engraved by John Sands (w. ca. 1824), a Baltimore
engraver and copperplate printer.
Old Salem Museums & Gardens
Weaponry
MESDA Loan Exhibition
The earliest recorded Norfolk advertisement for Charles Branda
(w. ca. 1811–28) lists him as an engraver, copper-plate printer,
and jewelry merchant in 1811. He moved to Philadelphia in1814,
but had returned to Norfolk by 1818 when he advertised long
lists of wares and his services as an engraver. The extent to which
Branda sold wares of his own making is unknown, but he constantly advertised for old gold and silver. The pitcher includes an
engraved coat-of-arms for the Newton family of Norfolk and also
the family’s motto in Latin: “HUIC HABEO NON TIBI” (I hold
it for him, not thee).
Weaponry
This powder horn is one of four known by the same artist
and was probably acquired by a British officer in the French
and Indian War who carried it home to Britain; his family
crest is in a rectangular reserve above the Indian scene. The
map of the Cherokee towns commemorates the campaign of
the early 1760s. The scene of fortified Charleston shows the
Half Moon Battery at the foot of Broad Street, a site taken
over by the Exchange Building in the late 1760s. The spire of
St. Michael’s Church is evident to the left of the Battery. The British army did not carry powder horns, either for military or sporting purposes; like many horns of the French and Indian
War, this example was probably a souvenir.
Pitcher
1820–30
Charles Branda
Norfolk, Virginia
Silver
HOA 11”; WOA 9 H”; DOA 6 H”
MESDA Purchase Fund; acc. 3299
Powder Horn
1762–64
Maker Unknown
Charleston, South Carolina
Horn, ink, mastic-like filler
LOA 13”
MESDA Purchase Fund; acc. 4374
Officer’s Sword
In the early nineteenth century, officers in the United States Army
or local militia were required to procure their swords individually.
The officer who wore this saber purchased it through the Baltimore
silversmith shop of brothers Thomas (1780–1828) and Andrew Ellicott Warner (1786–1870) (in partnership 1805–12). The Warners
likely cast and mounted the silver and brass hilt on an imported
blade, using an existing European sword as a model for their design.
The elaborate metal scabbard—which was probably imported with
the blade—was meant for use with a dress uniform; however, an
ordinary leather scabbard may have protected the sword when the
officer wore it in the field.
1805–12
Thomas and Andrew Ellicott Warner
Baltimore, Maryland
Silver, Bronze, Ivory, and Steel
HOA 6”; WOA 39 H”; DOA 1”
MESDA Purchase Fund; acc. 3127
Longrifle
The gunsmith John Eagle (b. 1813) was born
in Rowan County, North Carolina, the son of
gunsmith George Eagle (b. 1783), and later
moved to neighboring Cabarrus County. This
rifle typifies the high quality of craftsmanship
attributed to the gunsmiths who worked in
central piedmont North Carolina in the nineteenth century. Its finely engraved brass and
silver mounts include the artisan’s signature, “Made by J. Eagle” and date, “Jan. 14 1836” and
an eponymous silver eagle, a popular symbol used throughout nineteenth-century America,
prominently displayed on the buttstock.
Fall/Winter 2006/2007
1836
John Eagle
Rowan County, North Carolina
Iron, steel, brass, silver, and maple
LOA 61 H”
Gift of Gordon Gray, Jr., Burton C. Gray, Boyden
Gray, and Bernard Gray in memory of their mother
Jane Craig Gray; acc. 3479.1
31
The Year of the
South
2007 is an exciting year for MESDA and its colleague institutions.
The early American South is the focus of many programs and publications, not the least
of which is MESDA’s loan exhibition at the 53rd annual Winter Antiques Show in New York. Here are
three important upcoming events in which MESDA is participating and our friends should not miss:
The 52nd Annual Washington Antiques
Show to Celebrate:
Treasures of the Chesapeake
January 5–7, 2007
This distinguished antiques show at the Omni Shoreham Hotel
in Washington, DC, benefits at-risk children and families in the
District of Columbia area. The 2007 show celebrates Treasures
of the Chesapeake with a loan exhibition featuring decorative arts
and furniture from the Chesapeake Bay port cities of Baltimore,
Alexandria, Washington, Norfolk, and Richmond. The Chesapeake
Bay Maritime Museum is contributing ship models, furniture, and
paintings showing the rich maritime heritage of the Eastern Shore.
The show will feature 45 dealers from the U.S., Canada, and
Europe specializing in American and English antique furniture,
Chinese porcelains, silver, ceramics, jewelry, fine art, books, and
other antique collectibles.
For more information, visit www.washingtonantiques.org. For tickets to
the 2007 Washington Antiques Show and its associated events, please call
(202) 388-9560.
The 59th Annual Colonial
Williamsburg Antiques Forum:
The Arts of the American South
February 4– 8, 2007
The Arts of the American South will explore the remarkable
furniture, silver, ceramics, textiles, paintings, and prints made and
used in the early South. The program brings together widely recognized curators, conservators, and collectors, including Philip Zea,
president of Historic Deerfield; Robert Leath, Vice President of
Collections & Research at Old Salem Museums & Gardens; Luke
Beckerdite, scholar and editor of the noted journal American
Furniture; and many others.
In addition to the formal program, Forum guests may register
for optional hands-on workshops with the Colonial Williamsburg
collections and tours of historic homes.
The Charleston Art & Antiques Forum 2007
Celebrating American
Masterpieces: 18th and 19th Century
Fine and Decorative Arts
March 14–18, 2007
The Charleston Art & Antiques Forum is celebrating its tenth season
of presenting the best in fine and decorative arts scholarship during Charleston, South Carolina’s 2007 Antiques Week. Founded in
1997 as the Charleston Antiques Symposium, The Charleston Art
& Antiques Forum opens Antiques Week with noted national and
international arts experts addressing topics relating to connoisseurship and the interpretation of American material culture.
The Charleston Art & Antiques Forum’s partnership with the
Gibbes Museum of Art provides a unique opportunity to focus this
year on Southern Masterpieces: Charleston before 1835, an exhibition showcasing paintings, furniture, silver and memorabilia from
private and public collections.
The Charleston Art & Antiques Forum schedule offers superb
lectures in small-scale sessions, with lively question and answer
sessions that often continue over lunch or dinner. Forum speakers
and participants enjoy a special camaraderie as they study significant collections together, visit historic properties and experience
the best in Southern hospitality at receptions in landmark venues.
Preregistration is required. For more information visit
http:// charlestonantiquesforum.org or call (843) 565-2706 ext. 25.
This mahogany and cypress side chair,
made in Charleston, South Carolina,
1750–60, is one of more than fifty
masterworks from the Museum of Early
Southern Decorative Arts’ collection to be
the featured exhibit at the 53rd annual
Winter Antiques Show in New York. See
pages 13–31 for a complete catalog.
Preregistration is required. For more information visit
www.ColonialWilliamsburg.org/conted or call (757) 565-8921.
32
Old Salem Museums & Gardens
Highlighted Events
at Old Salem Museums & Gardens
t
Friday and Saturday,
February 23 and 24, 2007
Since 1993, MESDA’s annual furniture seminar has built a reputation for providing one
forum at which the collector and curator,
woodworker and cabinetmaker, and conservator and restorer come together to explore
the subject of antique furniture.
Each year the seminar concentrates on
a particular perspective from which furniture design, style, material, and technology may be considered. The 2007 MESDA
Furniture Seminar will turn to the most
basic element of furniture construction—
“The Tools of the Trade.”
What was in the eighteenth-century
cabinetmaker’s toolbox? How did British
cabinetmakers’ tools differ from those of
woodworkers in the German tradition? How
do the tools used to build and shape furniture inform our understanding of regional
and cultural style as well as the authenticity
and quality of the objects we study?
Speakers will include Mack Headley,
Master of the Anthony Hay Shop, Colonial
Williamsburg Foundation; Brian Coe, Director
Fall/Winter 2006/2007
Pre-registration required. Seminar fee: $185.00,
includes two meals and all sessions, materials and
admissions. For registration, contact June Lucas
at (336) 721-7363 or e-mail jlucas@oldsalem.org.
Women’s History Symposium
Working Women
in the Early South
Friday, March 9, 2007
9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
To honor National Women’s History Month
and the work of the National Women’s
History Project (www.nshp.org), Old Salem
Museums & Gardens offers its biennial symposium focusing specifically on the life and
work of women in the South.
This year’s symposium, “Working Women
of the Early South,” includes the following speakers and topics: Michele Gillespie,
Professor of History, Wake Forest University,
“Enterprising Women: A New Look at the
Daughters of the Early South”; Johanna
Brown, Director of Collections and Curator,
Old Salem Museums & Gardens, “Henrietta
Johnston: Artist Amidst Adversity”; Gwynne
Taylor, Chair of the Salem Academy and
College Board of Trustees, “ ‘Usefulness in
Keeping with Their Talents’: Life and Work
in the Single Sisters’ House”; Valarie Holmes,
African American and Theatrical Interpreter,
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, “
‘Soul of a Sharecropper’: First-Person
Dramatization of a Former Slave from
Virginia”; George Williams, Independent
Scholar and Consultant, Columbia, South
Carolina, “Elizabeth Timothy: America’s
First Newspaperwoman”; Helen and Nell
Laughon, Silhouette Historians and Artists,
For more event information, call
(336 )721-7350 or visit www.oldsalem.org
Richmond, Virginia, “Where are the Ladies?”
On Saturday, March 10, interpretation at
Old Salem Museum & Gardens will focus
on women’s roles in the town of Salem and
special hands-on events will be offered at
various locations throughout the historic
district for children and young adults. In the
MESDA Auditorium on Saturday, Helen and
Nell Laughon will be cutting silhouettes from
11:00 a.m. – noon, and from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Registration for the conference is $60.00 ($50.00
for Friends of Old Salem or MESDA); $35.00 for
students. For registration information contact
June Lucas at (336) 721-7363 or e-mail jlucas@
oldsalem.org.
2007 MESDA and UNCG
Graduate Summer Institute
in Early Southern History and
Decorative Arts
The Chesapeake Region
t
The Tools of the Trade
of Exhibition Buildings, Old Salem Museums
& Gardens; Don Williams, Senior Furniture
Conservator, The Smithsonian Institution.
t
2007 MESDA Furniture Seminar
June 24 through July 20, 2007
MESDA and the University of North Carolina
at Greensboro (UNCG) offer a graduate
summer institute focusing on southern
history and southern decorative arts before
1820. Founded in 1976, the program is
designed for graduate students and museum
personnel interested in American history and
material culture.
continued on page 34
33
Calendar of Events
Winter/Spring/Summer 2007
The Chesapeake Region, continued
The program’s purpose is to give students
the opportunity to study the decorative arts
of the early South within a historical context.
Enrollment is limited and the institute will be
centered at MESDA in Old Salem in WinstonSalem, North Carolina.
The curriculum includes lectures, discussions, workshops, museum studies, research,
and a five-day study trip to the Chesapeake
Region. The faculty is composed of members
of the staffs of MESDA and Old Salem, the
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
and guest lecturers. Three hours of graduate credit in History or Interior Design are
awarded through UNCG.
Tuition for four weeks is $1,200, excluding room
and board. This figure is subject to change. Partial
tuition fellowships will be available. Most meals
are on your own. Housing is on the campus of
Salem College, and house costs average between
$600–$800 for the four weeks, including lodging
on the study trip to the Chesapeake Region.
Persons who are graduate students in the
fields of American history, material culture,
American art, museum studies, historic preservation, or related fields, and professionals in the
museum, education, or related fields are encouraged to apply.
Applications will be mailed in January 2007.
The deadline for applications is April 20, 2007. To
receive application materials, contact Sally Gant
at (336) 721-7360 or sgant@oldsalem.org.
January 1 through March 4, 2007
is Winter Season. Winter Season is a great
time to bring family and friends to Old Salem
Museums & Gardens. Admission prices for
Winter Season are discounted to $15 for adults
and $8 for children. For recorded information
about Winter Season, call (336) 499-7960.
Hands-on activities held every weekend
offer great fun for families of all ages. Except
where noted otherwise, entry is included with
purchase of an Old Salem Museums & Gardens
All-in-One ticket.
January
6 Saturday
HANDS-ON ACTIVITY: “Hearthside
Cooking: Winter Receipts,” 10:30 a.m.
and 1 p.m., Single Brothers’ Workshop.
7 Sunday
HANDS-ON ACTIVITY: “Making a
Rag Doll,” 1:30 p.m. Single Brothers’
Workshop, $10.00 fee
13 Saturday
HANDS-ON ACTIVITY: “Jumping Jacks:
Popular American Toys,” make your
own throughout the day. Boys’ School.
14 Sunday
HANDS-ON ACTIVITY: “Watercolor
Botanical Paintings,” throughout the
day in the Boys’ School.
CONCERT: John Turner, Scottish
Fiddler, 7:30 p.m., Gray Auditorium.
$8.00 admission.
19-28 Friday – Sunday
MESDA LOAN EXHIBITION AT 53RD
ANNUAL WINTER ANTIQUES SHOW,
Seventh Regiment Armory, 67th Street
and Park Avenue, New York City. Visit
www.winterantiquesshow.com for
more information.
20 Saturday
HANDS-ON ACTIVITY: “Pottery:
Making a Small Pot,” 10:30 a.m.,
11:30 a.m., and 1:30 p.m., Single
Brothers’ Workshop, $5.00 fee.
There are many hands-on activities scheduled
during the discounted Winter Season—a great
time for families at Old Salem.
34
21 Sunday
HANDS-ON ACTIVITY: “Pottery:
Making a Tart Dish,” 1 and 2 p.m.,
Single Brothers’ Workshop, $5.00 fee.
27 Saturday
HANDS-ON ACTIVITY: “Making a Blank
Book for Diaries,” throughout the day
in the Boys’ School.
28 Sunday
HANDS-ON ACTIVITY: “Jumping Jacks:
Popular American Toys,” make your
own throughout the day in the Boys’
School.
February
3 Saturday
HANDS-ON ACTIVITY: “Hearthside
Cooking: Apple Dumplings,” 10:30 a.m.
and 1 p.m., Single Brothers’ Workshop.
4 Sunday
HANDS-ON ACTIVITY: “Pottery:
Making a Small Pot,” 10:30 a.m.,
11:30 a.m., and 1:30 p.m., Single
Brothers’ Workshop, $5.00 fee.
10 Saturday
HANDS-ON ACTIVITY: “Needle Book
Making,” throughout the day in the
Boys’ School.
11 Sunday
HANDS-ON ACTIVITY: “Valentine
Scherenschnitte (Paper Cutting),”
throughout the day in the Boys’ School.
14-15
Wednesday and Thursday
HOME SCHOOL DAYS: Activities and
special pricing specifically designed
for home school groups. A variety of
hands-on activities and experiences
planned throughout both days.
Pre-registration is required.
Contact the Group Tours office at
(800) 441-5305 for more information
or to plan your trip.
17 Saturday
HANDS-ON ACTIVITY: “Hearthside
Cooking: Corn Batter Cakes,” 10:30
a.m. and 1:00 p.m., Single Brothers’
Workshop.
18 Sunday
HANDS-ON ACTIVITY: “Theorem
Painted Reticule (Drawstring
Handbag),” 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.,
Single Brothers’ Workshop, $10.00 fee.
Old Salem Museums & Gardens
In January and February Old Salem Museums & Gardens will be closed on Mondays
Pre-registration for programs is requested if so indicated.
Call (336) 721-7350, FAX (336) 721-7335 or visit www.oldsalem.org for more information.
18 Sunday
LECTURE-CONCERT: “Music of the
Life and Times of Thomas Jefferson,”
Dr. Nancy Joyce Cooper, expert on
Jeffersonian-era music and adjunct
asst. professor of music at the
University of Montana. Gray Auditorium
on the Tannenberg Organ and the
Kearsing and Sons piano, 3 p.m.,
$8 admission.
23-24
Friday and Saturday
MESDA FURNITURE SEMINAR: “The
Tools of the Trade.” See description in
Highlighted Events on page 28.
24 Saturday
GIRL SCOUT DAY: Featuring activities specifically designed for Girl Scout
troops. Activities include quill pen writing, weights and measures, cooking
ginger cakes, playing games on Salem
Square, and creating punched paper
designs. Activities throughout the day
in the Historic Town of Salem.
March
7 Wednesday
HIDDEN TREASURES: MESDA Advisory
Board member Tom Sears will discuss
his experience reproducing the 1819
John Vogler house exterior, replete with
early early 19th-century grain painted
interiors from Guilford County. 12:30
p.m., MESDA Auditorium. Free. Bring a
lunch. Beverages will be provided.
9-10 Friday and Saturday
WOMEN’S HISTORY SYMPOSIUM:
“Working Women in the South.” See
description in Highlighted Events on
page 28.
11 Sunday
CONCERT: “The Reynolda Mile,” The
Carolina Chamber Symphony. Old
Salem Museums & Gardens is proud
to have formed a new partnership
with the Carolina Chamber Symphony
to host their performances in Gray
Auditorium. Concert is at 3 p.m. Call
(336) 779-6146 for information on
admission pricing.
Fall/Winter 2006/2007
April
4 Wednesday
HIDDEN TREASURES: Chet Tomlinson
of the Old Salem Single Brothers’
Joinery will discuss MESDA’s Piedmont
North Carolina valuables chest with the
fylfot decoration and his experience
reproducing it. 12:30 p.m., MESDA
Auditorium. Free. Bring a lunch.
Beverages will be provided.
11, 18
Wednesday
ORGAN RECITAL: Featuring students
from the North Carolina School of the
Arts. Noon, Gray Auditorium. Free.
22 Sunday
SINGLE SISTERS’ HOUSE OPENING:
Events commemorating the rededication of the Single Sisters’ House. Please
call for more information.
25 Wednesday
ORGAN RECITAL: Featuring students
from the North Carolina School of the
Arts. Noon, Gray Auditorium. Free.
28 Saturday
SISTER MAUS KRAUS PUPPET SHOW:
A delightful adaptation of John Hutton’s
children’s book Sister Maus Kraus set
in Salem’s Single Sisters’ House. Old
Salem Children’s Museum. Please call
(336) 779–6150 for specific show
times, locations, and more information.
May
21–June 15
Old Salem/UNCG Archaeology
Field School: For more information
call Michael Hartley at (336) 721-7384.
June
6 Wednesday
HIDDEN TREASURES: Michael Terry
of the Old Salem Interpretive Staff will
discuss the cultural exchange between
the Moravians and Cherokees. 12:30
p.m., MESDA Auditorium. Free. Bring a
lunch. Beverages will be provided.
23 Saturday
Jazz Concert: Carolina Chamber
Symphony. 7:30 p.m., Gray Auditorium.
$20.00 admission.
24 –JULY 20
MESDA / UNCG GRADUATE SUMMER
INSTITUTE: The Chesapeake Region. See description in Highlighted Events
on page 28.
July
4 Wednesday
ORGAN RECITAL: Jonathan Hall,
organist, performing patriotic music
on the Tannenberg Organ. Noon, Gray
Auditorium. $5.00 admission.
11, 18, 25
Wednesday
ORGAN RECITALS: Featuring area
organists. Noon, Gray Auditorium.
$5.00 admission.
2 Wednesday
HIDDEN TREASURES: Johanna Brown,
Director of Collections & Curator, will
discuss early landscape paintings. 12:30
p.m., MESDA Auditorium. Free. Bring a
lunch. Beverages will be provided.
12 Saturday
GARDENS DAY: Events celebrating
the historic landscapes of Old Salem
Museums & Gardens. Please call for
more information.
14– June 1
Old Salem/UNCG Historic
Building Technology Field
School: For more information call
John Larson at (336) 721-7332.
September
27-29 Thursday–Saturday
Conference on restoring Southern
Gardens and Landscapes
Lost Landscapes/Preserved Prospects:
“Facing and Combating Natural
and Human Threats to the Historic
Landscape” • Our treasured southern
landscapes—whether they be rural or
urban, formal or natural, agricultural
or architectural—are succumbing each
year to enemies that range from natural
disasters to human apathy, greed, haphazard development and unmanaged
growth. Conference information will be
available in May 2007. Save the date!
35
“we have discovered ...the goodliest soyle
under the cope of heaven...” _ ralph lane,1585
Somerset
Tryon
Place,
Palace
1785-1865,
Historic
Creswell
Sites &
Gardens,
1767,
New Bern
Cupola
House,
circa 1758,
Historic
Edenton
The Thomas Wolfe Memorial,
1883, Asheville
Bellamy
Mansion
Museum of
History
and Design
Arts, 1859,
Wilmington
Early English settlers spoke about this gentle land where creativity thrives
and seasons turn under blue skies. Start in Old Salem to discover North Carolina’s
icons. Architectural landmarks—Colonial, Antebellum, Victorian—will stir
your imagination. All complete with fine decorative arts that bring the graceful
ways of long ago to life today. You’ll find gleaming silver, hand-rubbed fine
furniture, and collectible treasures at museum stores, specialty shops and galleries.
History happens here. VISITNC.COM 1- 800-VISITNC