Strawberry Hill Acquires Walpole’s Iconic Blue and White Tub
Yes, that tub! Lots of places to go for more information, but one might start with Luisa Calè, “Gray’s ‘Ode’ and Walpole’s China Tub: The Order of the Book and The Paper Lives of an Object,” Eighteenth-Century Studies 45.1 (Fall 2011): 105–25. From the press release, via Art Daily:
One of the most iconic and macabre objects owned by Horace Walpole (1717–1797) has been reacquired by Strawberry Hill House, thanks to the UK’s Acceptance in Lieu scheme. The beautiful, large blue and white vase achieved a certain notoriety after Walpole’s favourite cat, Selima, drowned in it while trying to catch goldfish, which the author kept in it. The incident was later immortalised in a mock-heroic ode by Walpole’s friend, the poet Thomas Gray, “Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes” (1747).
The cat’s death actually occurred at Walpole’s London house, in Arlington Street. The bowl, along with many other works of art, was moved to Strawberry Hill sometime in the 1760s. In 1773, Walpole commissioned a Gothic-style pedestal for the tub and a label to be affixed to it with the first stanza of the poem. After 1778 the tub was moved to the Little Cloister, outside of the house, with the 1784 Description describing the new location: “On a pedestal, stands the large blue and white china tub in which Mr. Walpole’s cat was drowned; on a label of the pedestal is written the first stanza of Mr. Gray’s beautiful ode on that occasion, ‘Twas on this lofty vase’s side, Where China’s gayest art has dy’d. The azure flow’rs that blow, Demurest of the tabby kind, The pensive Selima reclin’d, Gaz’d on the lake below’.”
Research prompted by last year’s In Focus exhibition devoted to the tub, together with the expertise required to secure its return to Strawberry Hill House, demonstrated that it is an outstanding work of art in its own right—albeit with an extraordinary backstory. The quality of every aspect of the jardiniere is superior; from the shaping of the pot, to the glazing and firing, all demonstrate a remarkable level of artistry.
Announcing the permanent return of the vase, Derek Purnell, Director, Strawberry Hill House & Garden, said: “Once again, we are grateful to the Acceptance in Lieu scheme, which has allowed us to reacquire one of the most iconic objects in the collection. An object whose true value recently emerged, thanks to the attention prompted by our 2021 In Focus exhibition featuring the goldfish bowl. Traditionally described as a typical 18th-century Chinese product, made for a foreign clientele, Walpole’s porcelain vase is in reality an older and more valuable object. The jardinière, of exceptional quality, dates from the 17th century and is decorated with a continuous design of the ‘Three Friends of Winter’—pine, prunus, and bamboo—within a fenced garden of rocks and plants.”
Edward Harley OBE, Chairman of the AIL Panel said: “This Chinese jardinière is remarkable for its association with Horace Walpole and the drowning of his favourite cat. It was placed on prominent display in the cloisters at Strawberry Hill during Walpole’s lifetime, and it is fitting that, thanks to the Acceptance in Lieu scheme, it has been returned to its former home.”
Arts Minister Stuart Andrew said: “The Acceptance in Lieu scheme exists so important works of art and heritage objects can be owned by the nation and displayed for everyone to enjoy. It is fantastic that this vase has been returned to Horace Warpole’s former estate where it can go on permanent display in its rightful home.”
The porcelain vase will go on permanent display in the Hall at Strawberry Hill House, from Wednesday, 26 October 2022.
New Book | The Enlightened Mind
From Vernon Press:
Amanda Strasik, ed., The Enlightened Mind: Education in the Long Eighteenth Century (Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press, 2022), 164 pages, ISBN: 978-1648895142, $68. With contributions by Dorothy Johnson, Amanda Strasik, Rachel Harmeyer, Brigitte Weltman-Aron, Franny Brock, Madeline Sutherland-Meier, and Karissa Bushman
The rise of Enlightenment philosophical and scientific thought during the long eighteenth century in Europe and North America (c. 1688–1815) sparked artistic and political revolutions, reframed social, gender, and race relations, reshaped attitudes toward children and animals, and reconceptualized womanhood, marriage, and family life. The meaning of ‘education’ at this time was wide-ranging and access to it was divided along lines of gender, class, and race. Learning happened in diverse environments under the tutelage of various teachers, ranging from bourgeois mothers at home, to Spanish clergy, to nature itself.
The contributors to this cross-disciplinary volume weave together methods in art history, gender studies, and literary analysis to reexamine ‘education’ in different contexts during the Enlightenment era. They explore the implications of redesigned curricula, educational categorizations and spaces, pedagogical aids and games, the role of religion, and new prospects for visual artists, parents, children, and society at large. Collectively, the authors demonstrate how new learning opportunities transformed familial structures and the socio-political conditions of urban centers in France, Britain, the United States, and Spain. Expanded approaches to education also established new artistic practices and redefined women’s roles in the arts.
Amanda Strasik is an Associate Professor of Art History at Eastern Kentucky University. She received her PhD in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European art history from the University of Iowa. Her research focuses on representations of royalty, childhood and family relationships, and issues of gender identity in French art during the long eighteenth century. Strasik has received numerous grants and fellowships to conduct research in France at the Musée du Louvre, the National Museum of the History of Education in Rouen, the Palace of Versailles, as well as The Frick Collection in New York City.
C O N T E N T S
List of Figures
About the Editor
About the Contributors
Acknowledgements
The Enlightened Mind: Introduction — Amanda Strasik
1 Anatomy Lessons: Teaching Anatomy to Artists in Eighteenth-Century France — Dorothy Johnson
2 Painting Paradoxes: Jeanne-Elisabeth Chaudet’s Little Girl Teaching her Dog to Read — Amanda Strasik
3 The Education of Daughters: Embroidered Pictures after Angelica Kauffman — Rachel Harmeyer
4 Madame de Genlis’s New Method and Teaching Drawing to Children in Eighteenth-Century France — Franny Brock
5 Outside for Girls in Madame d’Epinay’s Conversations d’Emilie — Brigitte Weltman-Aron
6 Reforming Education in Eighteenth-Century Spain: Padre Sarmiento’s Reflections on Teaching Young Children — Madeline Sutherland-Meier
7 Religious Education and the Lasting Effect on Goya’s Depictions of Saints — Karissa E. Bushman
Index
Baltimore Museum of Art Announces New Appointments
From the BMA press release (22 September 2022) . . .
Dr. Lara Yeager-Crasselt has been named Curator of European Painting and Sculpture and Department Head at the Baltimore Museum of Art.
The Baltimore Museum of Art recently announced that Dr. Lara Yeager-Crasselt has been named Curator of European Painting and Sculpture and Department Head. Yeager-Crasselt is a scholar and curator of early modern European art, specializing in painting, sculpture, and tapestry produced in Northern Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. As part of her new role, she will oversee the reconceptualization of the BMA’s galleries of 15th- through 19th-century European art, with a particular emphasis on expanding the narratives told through the museum’s expansive holdings.
The BMA has also promoted Dr. Leslie Cozzi to Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs in recognition of her numerous contributions to the museum since she joined in 2018.
Additionally, the museum announced that it has received a generous $2 million gift from BMA trustee and longtime Baltimore-based philanthropist Anne L. Stone to endow a curatorial position in the Decorative Arts department. The funds are currently applied to the position of Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts, which is held by Brittany Luberda, a scholar of 18th-century objects and furniture who has been with the BMA since 2019. In recognition of Stone’s gift, the position is named the Anne Stone Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts. This named endowment will also follow future promotions in the department. The BMA’s Decorative Arts collection comprises approximately 8,000 works of art, including examples across media from North America, Europe, and non-Indigenous South America from around 2500 BCE to the present day.
Dr. Asma Naeem, Interim Co-Director and The Eddie C. and C. Sylvia Brown Chief Curator at the BMA states, “We are delighted to have such exceptional scholars to support the BMA’s mission. Dr. Lara Yeager-Crasselt’s appointment brings an incredible depth of knowledge, experience organizing world-class exhibitions, and alignment with our mission for equity and scholarship that will be invaluable to the ongoing development of the museum’s curatorial vision. Dr. Leslie Cozzi is an outstanding scholar, curator, and colleague who has a record of championing underrepresented artists with her acquisitions and exhibitions, and we are deeply grateful to our trustee and friend Anne Stone for her generous gift to endow the position of Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts, which highlights the importance of the department. The decorative arts are crucial to the museum’s mission to connect Baltimore communities and upend hierarchies of painting and sculpture.”
Yeager-Crasselt is a renowned scholar of early modern European art with significant experience in curating, teaching, and writing on a range of subjects in the field. Prior to joining the BMA, Yeager-Crasselt served as Curator of The Leiden Collection, a private collection of Dutch and Flemish art based in New York. There, she co-edited the online catalogue and oversaw the collection’s research, loans, and exhibitions, including co-curating its global tour with exhibitions at Louvre Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates; the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and The State Hermitage Museum in Russia; and the National Museum of China in Beijing. Closer to home, she developed the collection’s focus exhibitions with recent shows at the Loeb Art Center at Vassar College and Exchanging Words: Women and Letters in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Genre Painting, currently on view at the Timken Museum of Art in San Diego. Previously, Yeager-Crasselt held positions at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA; the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC; and KU Leuven as a Belgian American Educational Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellow. Her publications include Michael Sweerts (1618–1664): Shaping the Artist and Academy in Rome and Brussels (Brepols, 2016), as well as contributions to exhibition catalogues and articles in journals. She has held teaching positions at several universities, and her research focuses on artists working in the Southern Netherlands and Brussels, the dynamics of artistic exchange between the Low Countries and Italy, as well as broader issues of artistic mobility, identity, and collaboration. Yeager-Crasselt earned her PhD in Art History from the University of Maryland and her BA in History, Art History, and French from Vassar College.
Dr. Leslie Cozzi joined the staff of the BMA in the fall of 2018 as Associate Curator in the department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs. She is responsible for the museum’s post-1900 collection of works on paper, and over the past four years has curated exhibitions on the work of William Cordova, SHAN Wallace, Keith Calhoun and Chandra McCormick, Zackary Drucker, Ana Mendieta, and Valerie Maynard. She co-curated the critically acclaimed survey A Modern Influence: Henri Matisse, Etta Cone and Baltimore and is currently organizing solo exhibitions on Darrel Ellis and Omar Ba. Prior to her arrival at the BMA, Cozzi was the 2017–18 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation/National Endowment for the Humanities Post-Doctoral Rome Prize Winner in Modern Italian Studies at the American Academy in Rome, where she conducted research on the intersections between feminism, race, and text in post-war and contemporary Italian art. Between 2013 and 2017, Cozzi served as the Curatorial Associate at the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts at the Hammer Museum. She received her PhD from the University of Virginia in 2012 and her BA from Yale University in 2003.
Brittany Luberda is a scholar of 18th-century objects and furniture, and as the Anne Stone Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts, she oversees and works with a growing collection of approximately 8,000 objects and furniture from North America, Europe, and non-Indigenous South America. She curated the exhibition She Knew Where She Was Going: Gee’s Bend Quilts and Civil Rights, co-curated a major reinstallation of the American Modernism collection, and is currently organizing an exhibition of works by regional artists who have received a Baker Artist Award. Prior to joining the BMA in 2019, Luberda spent three years as the Research Assistant in Decorative Arts and Design at the Saint Louis Art Museum, where she studied European and American decorative arts from the 15th through 19th centuries. From 2013 to 2016, Luberda was a department assistant in both Conservation and Decorative Arts at The Frick Collection in New York. She has additional curatorial experience at the Dallas Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Smart Museum of Art in Chicago. Luberda holds an MA in Art History from Southern Methodist University and a BA in Art History from the University of Chicago.
Anne L. Stone is a Baltimore native and a longtime supporter of local education and arts organizations. She has a passionate interest in the arts and collects fine art, craft furniture, and fine American antiques. A BMA Trustee since 2021, Stone has been very supportive of the museum for many years as an active Council Member and generous contributor of works of art. Her early education in Baltimore was at Calvert and Bryn Mawr schools, along with piano training at the Peabody Institute. After earning her master’s degree in Library Science, Stone worked in Manhattan at a publishing company before returning to Baltimore and working at the Enoch Pratt Free Library. She has previously served on the boards of the Choral Arts Society and Maryland SPCA and volunteered extensively at the Forbush School at Sheppard Pratt.
New Book | Industry and Ingenuity: Ince and Mayhew
From Bloomsbury:
Hugh Roberts and Charles Cator, Industry and Ingenuity: The Partnership of William Ince and John Mayhew (London: Philip Wilson Publishers, 2023), 448 pages, ISBN: 978-1781301098, $100.
The first comprehensive study of William Ince and John Mayhew’s famous eighteenth-century cabinetmaking partnership, complemented by high-quality photographs of their work.
The partnership of William Ince (1737–1804) and John Mayhew (1736–1811) ran from 1758 to 1804, and was one of the most enduring and well-connected collaborations in Georgian London’s tight-knit cabinetmaking community. The partners’ clientele was probably larger, and their work was arguably more influential over a longer period, than most other leading metropolitan makers—perhaps even than that of their older contemporary, the celebrated Thomas Chippendale. Despite their considerable output and an impressive tally of clients and commissions, much of Ince and Mayhew’s work has remained unidentified until recent times. The authors’ substantial research in private family archives, county record offices and bank archives has allowed them to uncover much new evidence about the business and its influence within cabinetmaking circles. In Industry and Ingenuity, the results of these new investigations are presented alongside an impressive selection of more than 500 colourful, vibrant photographs of Ince and Mayhew’s works, many previously unpublished, which together emphasise the partnership’s proper position in the pantheon of great eighteenth-century cabinetmakers.
Sir Hugh Roberts, Surveyor Emeritus of The Queen’s Works of Art, was Director of The Royal Collection, the art collection of the British Royal Family, from 1996 until 2010, having joined the Royal Household in 1988. From 1970 to 1987 he worked at Christie’s, where he was a main board director from 1976. He has written extensively on English and French furniture and decorative arts in Royal Collection exhibition catalogues and major journals, and is the author of For The King’s Pleasure (2001) and The Queen’s Diamonds (2012).
Charles Cator has worked at Christie’s, the fine art auctioneers, since 1973 and is currently Deputy Chairman of Christie’s International. During his career there he has held a number of senior positions, notably in the furniture and decorative arts fields, and has contributed articles to leading journals in these areas on furniture-makers and the history of collecting. He is also the co-author (with David Linley and Helen Chislett) of Star Pieces (2009).
C O N T E N T S
Preface
Part One: The Business
Apprenticeship and Partnership
Premises and Family
Role of the Partners
The Universal System of Houshold Furniture
Branches of the Business
Workshop Management
Accounting and Finance
Clientele
Relationship with Architects
‘House Style’ and Stylistic Development
Dissolution of the Partnership
The Suit in Chancery
Part Two: Commissions
Documented Commissions
Possible Commissions
Part Three: Illustrations
Select Bibliography
Photographic Credits
Acknowledgements
Index
Lecture | Hugh Roberts on Ince & Mayhew
Marquetry top of one of a pair of tables made by Ince and Mayhew for the Earl of Caledon, 1785.
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From the FHS:
Sir Hugh Roberts | Ince & Mayhew: Interpreting the Record
The Furniture History Society Annual Lecture
In-person and online, Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, London, 7 November 2022
The lecture marks the publication by Philip Wilson in 2023 of Industry and Ingenuity: the Partnership of William Ince and John Mayhew by Hugh Roberts and Charles Cator. This book is the culmination of many years of research by both authors. It brings together for the first time a corpus of well documented or firmly attributed work by one of the leading metropolitan cabinet-making firms of the eighteenth century, a firm which was as well-known and successful in its day as that of Thomas Chippendale.
By the time furniture history had become established as a serious area of study in the 20th century, much of the furniture produced by this long-lived business had lost its identity and no clear picture of the firm’s output existed. The lecture will examine the process by which the authors have been able to retrieve evidence of some ninety-seven commissions, and to reconnect around three hundred pieces of furniture with patrons and documents.
Admission to the lecture is free for FHS members, but attendance is by ticket only, which must be acquired in advance. Please apply to the Events Secretary by email or post. Numbers are limited to 90. We plan to live-stream the event for those who cannot attend in person.
Sir Hugh Roberts, GCVO, FSA, is Surveyor Emeritus of The Queen’s Works of Art and former Director of The Royal Collection.
At Christie’s | Ann and Gordon Getty Collection
Installation Views: the music room, the blue parlor, and the primary bedroom of Ann and Gordon Getty’s San Francisco residence
(Photograph by Visko Hatfield © 2022)
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From the press release for the upcoming sales (with six online sales having already begun and additional information available here):
The Ann and Gordon Getty Collection
Christie’s, New York, October 2022
Part 1 | Important Pictures and Decorative Arts, Evening Sale, 20 October 2022 #21604
Part 2 | Old Master, 19th- and 20th-Century Paintings, 21 October 2022, #21605
Part 3 | English and European Furniture, Porcelain, and Silver, 22 October 2022, #21606
Part 4 | Chinese Works of Art, English and European Furniture and Decorative Arts, 23 October 2022, #21607
The legendary Ann & Gordon Getty Collection will be sold at Christie’s through a series of landmark auctions beginning October 2022. A symphonic tour-de-force of masterpieces drawn meticulously from history’s most esteemed collections and from one of America’s most storied interiors, The Ann & Gordon Getty Collection stands alone in its quality, rarity and beauty. Nearly 1,500 superlative works of decorative and fine arts will be offered by Christie’s from the couple’s San Francisco residence. Continuing the Gettys’ lifelong commitment to philanthropic causes, proceeds from the sales this October, which are expected to achieve as much as $180 million, will benefit the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation for the Arts, devoted to the support of arts and science organizations. Designated beneficiaries will include leading California-based organizations with whom the Gettys have had a longstanding relationship, including the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Symphony, University of San Francisco, Berkeley Geochronology Center, and the Leakey Foundation.
Gordon Getty commented: “Though she left us far too soon, I know Ann would be proud that her exquisite eye and unmatched dedication to craftsmanship and scholarship are being shared with the world, and that the philanthropic planning around our art collection is being realized. These sales are a continuation of the longstanding philanthropic goals of the Getty family first established by my father, J. Paul Getty.”
Ann Getty’s intellect, curiosity and masterful feel for assemblage guided the Gettys in curating a world-renowned museum-quality collection across their Californian houses, including the very finest examples of English and European furniture, Asian works of art, European ceramics, Chinese export porcelain, silver, European and Asian textiles, and Impressionist and Old Master paintings. Vivid, daring, and steeped in history, the Collection evokes the golden age of England’s great houses; the fabled Grand Tour; the exotic tastes of the European courts; the feats of women adventurers, such as Isabella Bird in India and Gertrude Bell in the Middle East; and the vibrant intellectual circle of the Blue Stockings in the mid-18th century, such as Mary Delany and Queen Charlotte. Ann Getty masterfully styled each of their residences with distinctive details, themes, and layering. The Collection encapsulated the couple’s intellectual curiosity about the arts, music, science, and travel. Every object was hand-picked with a deep appreciation of its beauty and the artisanship that went into its creation.
The full press release is available here»
A video tour is available here»
New Book | Growing Up Getty
From Simon & Schuster:
James Reginato, Growing Up Getty: The Story of America’s Most Unconventional Dynasty (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2022), 336 pages, ISBN: 978-1982120986, $28.
An enthralling and comprehensive look into the contemporary state of one of the wealthiest—and most misunderstood—family dynasties in the world, perfect for fans of Succession, The House of Gucci, The Cartiers, and Fortune’s Children.
Oil magnate J. Paul Getty, once the richest man in the world, is the patriarch of an extraordinary cast of sons, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. While some have been brought low by mental illness, drug addiction, and one of the most sensational kidnapping cases of the 20th century, many of Getty’s heirs have achieved great success. In addition to Mark Getty, a cofounder of Getty Images, and Anne G. Earhart, an award-winning environmentalist, others have made significant marks in a variety of fields, from music and viniculture to politics and LGBTQ rights.
Now, across four continents, a new generation of lively, unique, and even outrageous Gettys are emerging, and not coasting on the dynasty’s still-immense wealth. August Getty designs extravagant gowns worn by Katy Perry, Cher, and other stars; his sibling, Nats—a fellow LGBTQ rights activist who announced his gender transition following his wedding to transgender icon Gigi Gorgeous—produces a line of exclusive streetwear. Their fascinating cousins include Balthazar, a multi-hyphenate actor-director-DJ-designer, and Isabel, a singer-songwriter-MBA candidate. A far-flung yet surprisingly close-knit group, the ascendant Gettys are bringing this iconic family onto the global stage in the 21st century.
Through extensive research, including access to J. Paul Getty’s diaries and love letters, and fresh interviews with family members and friends, Growing Up Getty offers an inside look into the benefits and burdens of being part of today’s world of the ultra-wealthy.
James Reginato, a writer-at-large for Vanity Fair and a contributor to Sotheby’s magazine, was formerly the features director for W magazine. He is the author of Great Houses, Modern Aristocrats, and The Carlyle. A graduate of Columbia University, he lives in New York City.
At Bonhams | Exploration and Travel Literature with Americana
From the press release for the upcoming auction:
Exploration and Travel Literature, Featuring Americana
Bonhams, New York, 25 October 2022
Lot 12, Miguel de Costansó, Manuscript Map of California, Carta Reducida del Occeano Asiatico ó Mar del Sur…, produced in conjunction with the Portola and Serra expedition, 30 October 1770, 84 × 84 cm, on four conjoined sheets. Estimate: $600,000–800,000. More information is available here.
On October 25, Bonhams will present the most important 18th-century map of California as the highlight of its Exploration and Travel Literature, featuring Americana sale in New York. Estimated at $600,000–800,000, this original manuscript map of coastal California is signed by Miguel de Costansó (1741–1814), a Catalan cartographer, cosmographer, and engineer for the Portola Expedition. Dated Mexico, 30 October 1770, Costanso’s map is the first to depict San Francisco Bay and marks the beginning of the Spanish settlement in the region. The map exists in three versions: an early version in manuscript, not showing San Francisco Bay; this version in manuscript; and the 1771 printed map produced in Spain from this version.
A selection of Americana also features in the sale, including a subpoena for then President Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), the first to be issued to a sitting president, requiring evidence in the case of treason against Aaron Burr. The document provides one of the earliest and most prominent tests of the concept now known as executive privilege. Burr, the third Vice-President of the United States and a Founding Father, was arrested and accused of High Treason for his role in a wild conspiracy to raise an army to separate the Louisiana Territory and Western states from U.S. rule in 1807. The subpoena gave rise to a host of issues, including executive privilege, equal rights under the law, and the independence of the executive branch, as well as the idea of preservation of state secrets. It is estimated at $200,000–300,000.
Additional Americana sale highlights include
• A previously unknown 1847 letter written and signed by American abolitionist and former slave, Frederick Douglass (1817–1895), estimated at $50,000–70,000. Douglass had fled the United States in 1845 for fear of being taken up as a fugitive. Returning for the first time to America as a free man, Douglass here vividly describes his mistreatment during his return voyage aboard the Cambria, a pivotal experience in his life.
• An incredibly rare copy of the first federal copyright law signed in 1790 by Thomas Jefferson as the first United States Secretary of State, which laid the foundation of American copyright law, spurring 230 years of innovation and creating the framework for modern intellectual property law in the 21st century (est: $100,000–150,000).
The sale will also feature material related to exploration and travel literature including
• Thesaurus rei herbariae by Johann Wilhelm Weinmann (1683–1741), a German apothecary and botanist known his influential masterwork Phytanthoza iconographia (1737–45), which contained more than 1,000 hand-colored engravings of several thousand plants. Estimated at $40,000–60,000, this manuscript is a rare and valuable record of plants cultivated in the early 18th century, based on Weinmann’s own collection.
• Three rare photograph albums featuring the work of British photographer John Claude White (1853–1918), including the personal journal in photographs of his son-in-law Henry Hyslop during their expedition to the coronation of the King of Bhutan in 1907 (est: $30,000–40,000).
Exhibition | ‘I Made This …’: The Work of Black American Artists
From the press release (19 September 2022) for the exhibition:
‘I Made This …’: The Work of Black American Artists and Artisans
DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, Colonial Williamsburg, 22 October 2022 — 31 December 2025
Armchair probably by enslaved artisans working in the Monticello Joinery, Albemarle County, Virginia, 1790–1815. Cherry, linen, tow, hair, leather, and brass (Colonial Williamsburg, 1994-107).
For the first time, the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg will display a wide range of works from their heralded decorative arts and folk arts collections made exclusively by Black artists from the 18th to the 20th centuries. The exhibition will include nearly 30 examples of paintings, furniture, textiles, decorative sculptures, quilts, ceramics, tools, metals, and more, including new acquisitions, and will focus on the makers and their stories. ‘I Made This …’: The Work of Black American Artists and Artisans will open on October 22 in the Miodrag and Elizabeth Ridgely Blagojevich Gallery of the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum and will remain on view until 31 December 2025. Among the objects to be presented are works by noted Black artists and artisans including David Drake, Bill Traylor, Thornton Dial, Sr., Cesar Chelor, Clementine Hunter, William Edmondson, members of the Gee’s Bend quilting community, as well as less known or anonymous makers.
“Colonial Williamsburg has long sought to acquire objects that illustrate the diverse nature of early American society,” said Ronald Hurst, the Foundation’s Senior Vice President, Education and Historic Resources and The Carlisle H. Humelsine Chief Curator. “The documented works of gifted Black artists and artisans have long been included in our exhibitions, but we have rarely had the opportunity to mount an exhibition that looks solely at this rich body of material. This is an important and timely undertaking.”
The curation of ‘I Made This …’ is also an important first for the Art Museums. Colonial Williamsburg employees from across the Foundation’s various disciplines assembled to assist with the exhibition. The diverse advisory group—comprised of Black and white staff from the historic trades, museum theater, orientation, historic sites, curatorial services, archaeology, and conservation departments—met over the course of several months to discuss exhibit themes and to help with object selection. The outcome of their individual experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives guided important conversations, among them the decision to emphasize the personal stories of Black artists and makers alongside their objects in the exhibition. Committee members also worked with input from Foundation curators and conservators to refine a list of 140 objects from Colonial Williamsburg’s collections down to nearly 30 pieces in addition to several rotations of light-sensitive material.
A central concept of the exhibition is the idea to highlight makers from various circumstances and backgrounds in a way that celebrates their achievement, artistry, and craftsmanship over the course of three centuries. This was done by placing a diverse grouping of objects from various time periods alongside one another. While the creation of a multi-media, cross-disciplinary exhibition on African American art is new for Colonial Williamsburg, the acquisition and exhibition of Black-made objects goes back at least 75 years. The Foundation’s commitment to telling the larger story of American craft is also evident in the recent acquisition of important objects by Black artists and artisans. Nearly one third of the objects in the exhibition are comprised of pieces acquired within the past five years.
One exciting outcome of this project is new discovery. Ongoing research in the areas of furniture, textiles, mechanical arts, and painting has led to renewed scholarship, updated maker attributions, and groundbreaking findings on artists painting techniques. A symposium planned for November 2023 will feature scholars speaking on a variety of these topics related to African American art and craftsmanship.
Jug by David Drake, Edgefield, South Carolina, 1842, alkaline-glazed stoneware (Colonial Williamsburg, 2021.900.24).
The exhibition’s title quote, “I made this …,” comes from David Drake (ca. 1801–ca. 1875), among the more well-known artisans whose work will be featured. Drake is one of the few enslaved potters in 19th-century America whose work can be specifically attributed. Working in the Edgefield district of South Carolina, Drake is one of the very few enslaved potters known to sign and date his wares at a time when literacy for the enslaved was illegal. He often inscribed verses on his pots; several began with the words, “I made this ….” Drake may have learned to read and write from his first enslaver, Harvey Drake.
A five-gallon jug, made by Drake of ash-glazed stoneware and on view for the first time at the Art Museums, is among the highlights of the exhibition. Very few two-handled Drake jugs are known, and even fewer are signed and dated. This example, made at Stoney Bluff plantation in Edgefield, is the tallest of his recorded jugs at nearly 20 inches and is a monumental example of his outstanding potting techniques. It is dated “April 26, 1842” on one side and reads “L. Miles Dave” on the other, referencing Lewis J. Miles and Drake himself. Drake began working for Lewis Miles in 1840, while enslaved by John Landrum who died in 1846. In 1849, Miles became Drake’s enslaver.
Another featured work that will delight visitors is a 1993 watercolor on paper by Thornton Dial, Sr. (1928–2016), simply titled Painting and made in Bessemer, Alabama. The artist lived his entire life around Bessemer. Always interested in working with his hands, Dial toiled at odd jobs ranging from carpentry to iron work. In his spare time, he made sculptures from recycled materials. He worked for 28 years for the Pullman Standard Company where he learned about drawing from studying machine illustrations. Once Dial began to draw, he was prolific in the production of his pictures using them as a means for expressing his ideas and feelings. Tigers symbolized empowerment for him and were often a subject in his art as exemplified by this painting. As Dial said in 1995 and 1996 interviews, “Art is like a bright star up ahead in the darkness of the world. It can lead peoples through the darkness and help them from being afraid of the darkness. Art is a guide for every person who is looking for something. That’s how I can describe myself: Mr. Dial is a man looking for something.”
Sampler by Sarrah Ann Pollard, 1818, flat silk embroidery threads on a linen ground of 27 × 27 threads per inch, 53 × 52 cm (Williamsburg Foundation, 2011-103).
One of the notable textile examples to be seen in this exhibition is a sampler made in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1818 by Sarrah Ann Pollard (dates unknown), a student at the Salem African School. The primary goal of African schools was to provide religious instruction to Black children. Making samplers provided instruction for girls in arithmetic and spelling in addition to stitching. Sarrah’s teacher was Clarissa Lawrence, who presided over the school from 1807 to 1823. In 1832 Lawrence became a charter member of the Salem Women’s Anti-Slavery Society, established by free Black women, and served as chair for the Society’s committee for the Salem African School, helping to underwrite the teacher’s salary and provide substitute teaching when necessary. Lawrence was chosen in 1839 as a delegate to the third annual Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women. During a discussion about improving education for Black children, Lawrence addressed the convention saying in part, “We meet the monster prejudice everywhere … we are blamed for not filling useful places in society; but give us light, give us learning, and see what places we can occupy.”
New to the Foundation’s furniture collection and included in ‘I Made This …’ is a side chair made by Thomas Day, a free Black craftsman from Milton, North Carolina. Day learned the art of cabinetmaking from his father, later operating his own shop from the early 1820s until his death in 1861. Day employed free Black, white and enslaved workers in the production of furniture and architectural woodwork. He was well-regarded by local society, often described by customers and neighbors as “steady and industrious,” and considered to be a “first rate workman,” and a “highminded, good, and valuable citizen.” His attendance at The Fifth Annual Convention for the Improvement of the Free People of Colour in Philadelphia in 1835 and ties to national abolitionist leaders suggests he quietly harbored anti-slavery sentiments that he likely dared not share outside his family. This chair may have been originally owned by Day’s neighbors and fellow Presbyterian parishioners Samuel and Elizabeth Watkins, owners of the building that Day purchased for his shop and home in 1848.
Special programming related to the exhibition will include ‘Expert Insights’ talks with Colonial Williamsburg curators and educators who will offer an in-depth look at the Black artists and artisans featured in I Made This …’ on Tuesdays at 10.30am October 25, November 1, 8, and 15. On Wednesday afternoons at 3.00pm (October 26, November 2, 9, and 16) visitors can join ‘Works by Black Artists and Artisans’ tours, in which they can tour the museum galleries, including this exhibition, to explore decorative arts and folk art made by Black artists and artisans.
Additionally, an exhibition conference will be held 10–11 November 2023, with keynote lectures from founding members of the Black Craftspeople Digital Archives, Dr. Tiffany Momon (visiting assistant professor at Sewanee: The University of the South) and Dr. Torren Gatson (assistant professor, University of North Carolina at Greensboro), along with an opening dinner and presentation specially designed by James Beard award-winning author Michael Twitty. Dr. Bernie Herman (the George B. Tindall Distinguished Professor of Southern Studies and Folklore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) rounds out the lineup of guest lecturers.
‘I Made This …’: The Work of Black American Artists and Artisans is generously funded by a grant from The Americana Foundation.
Smithsonian Commitments to the Center for the Study of Global Slavery
Brownell’s recent article for The New York Times highlights priorities of the National Museum of African American History and Culture—as first established under the leadership of Lonnie Bunch, the museum’s founding director, who now oversees the entire Smithsonian Institution—as well as forthcoming projects including the international exhibition In Slavery’s Wake.
Ginanne Brownell, “A Smithsonian Museum Sharpens Focus on the History of Slavery,” The New York Times (14 October 2022). Despite ambivalence from some on the topic, the institution’s latest leader “knew that slavery had to be at the heart of the museum.”
Exterior view of the National Museum of African American History and Culture; Washington, DC (Photo by Alan Karchmer/NMAAHC).
“Every nation is ambivalent about slavery,” said Mr. [Lonnie] Bunch, the first African American to lead the Smithsonian. “The people of color are ambivalent: Is this something to be embarrassed by? Is this something that is better left unsaid? So basically, I knew that slavery had to be at the heart of the museum.”
When the museum [National Museum of African American History and Culture] opened in 2017, so did the Center for the Study of Global Slavery within it. The center’s work focuses on three international collaborative initiatives: the Slave Wrecks Project, the Global Curatorial Project, and the Slave Voyages Consortium.
The Slave Wrecks Project helps coordinate searches for sunken slave ships and works on maritime archaeological research and historical recovery. This month in Senegal, the inaugural Slave Wrecks Project Academy’s cohort of African and diaspora students are being trained in diving and learning about the global slave trade. The center also works with slavevoyages.org to help expand data collection beyond the trans-Atlantic slave trade and is working to broaden research into both the Indian Ocean and inter-American slave trades.
Under the auspices of the Global Curatorial Project, a number of partner institutions—including Liverpool’s International Slavery Museum, Iziko Slave Lodge in Cape Town, and Belgium’s Royal Museum of Central Africa—are in the midst of putting together In Slavery’s Wake, a traveling exhibition that will open first at the museum in Washington in late 2024 and then move to Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
The center will be hosting an event in Lisbon, Portugal in January, with a tentative title Reckoning with Race: The Social Memory of the Slave Trade in Our World, that will aim to bring more public attention to the role that Portugal played in the slave trade. Mr. Bunch will be one of the event’s speakers. . . .
The full article is available here»
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