Fall Symposium
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206 West State Street FIRST Suite 300 CLASS THE DECORATIVE Media, PA 19063 INDICIA ARTS TRUST 610.627.4970 HERE Fall Symposium www.decorativeartstrust.org ON THE WATER: SALEM & THE NORTH SHORE September 15 - 19, 2021 The Decorative Arts Trust Invites You To Attend ON THE WATER: SALEM & THE NORTH SHORE njoy a wonderful coastal New England experience on Massachusetts’s North Shore, a region abounding with historic houses and impressive collections. Founded in 1629, Salem, the “City of Peace,” is of great importance. EThe second oldest settlement in New England (four years before Boston), Salem contains a rich maritime history built on international trade. This vibrant, pedestrian-friendly port town is best known for the infamous Witchcraft Trials of 1692 but features a bevy of beautifully preserved architecture, ranging from the late 17th century onward. Participants registering for the pre- and post-symposium tours will have the opportunity to explore the larger region, from Newburyport to Marblehead. SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE Thursday, September 16, 6:00 - 9:00 pm Salem Waterfront Hotel Welcoming Remarks and Opening Program Sponsored by: The Jonathan L. Fairbanks Lecture A 40-Year Contribution to the Decorative Arts of Salem A conversation with Dean Lahikainen, The Carolyn and Peter Lynch Curator of American Decorative Art, Peabody Essex Museum (PEM), and Elizabeth Lahikainen, upholstery conservator Hosted by Karina Corigan, Associate Director for Collections and the H.A. Crosby Forbes Curator of Asian Export Art, PEM Opening Reception (Continued) Clockwise from top left: Beauport, Castle Hill, Custom House, Coffin House, Salem from above Friday, September 17, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Saturday, September 18, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Out and About in Salem Peabody Essex Museum Following introductory lectures on Salem’s development and architecture, Sneak Preview: The Putnam Galleries of Native and American Art we depart from the Salem Waterfront Hotel for a day exploring an array of Sarah Chasse, Associate Curator for Exhibitions and Research historic houses. A team of architectural historians orchestrates a sequence of walking tours to orient us to the scope of the town. At mid-day, we break for Japanomania: Japanese Art Goes Global lunch at Hamilton Hall, an important building designed in 1805 by Salem’s Karina Corigan, Associate Director for Collections and the H.A. Crosby premier Federal-era architect and master woodcarver, Samuel McIntire, Forbes Curator of Asian Export Art which features his famous flexible spring ballroom floor. While enjoying lunch, we hear about the Remond family, the African American caterers who In American Waters: Maritime Art operated the Hall in the 19th century. Dan Finamore, Associate Director for Exhibitions and the Russell W. Knight Curator of Maritime Art and History The tour includes a splendid selection of houses. A masterpiece of Federal architecture by Samuel McIntire, the interior of the Gardner-Pingree Lunch is served in the historic East India Marine Hall where we benefit House (1804) features lavishly-carved woodwork including fireplace from remarks on the East India Marine Society by George Schwartz, mantels, cornices, internal window shutters, and stairway balustrades. Associate Curator for Exhibitions and Research. The Pickering House is Salem’s oldest house, built in 1660 by settler John In the afternoon, we have the privilege of curator-guided tours at the Pickering, an English immigrant carpenter. The house’s library contains Peabody Essex Museum, enjoying an exclusive behind-the-scenes Revolutionary War documents, artifacts, and portraits, and the dining room exploration of new galleries and special exhibitions. The curatorial showcases entertaining in the early 1800s. The garden features a variety of staff shares how they reinterpreted this renowned collection to tell compel- historic trees. ling stories about the ongoing cultural exchanges between Salem and the wider world. We have the opportunity to delve into installations of the Samuel McIntire designed the Peirce-Nichols House (c. 1782) in a museum’s world-class holdings of Asian export art, fashion and design, transitional style between the late-Georgian and early-Federal modes and maritime art, American decorative arts, and a special visit to Yin Yu Tang, then remodeled portions of the house in a full Neoclassical taste 20 years the only complete Qing Dynasty house outside China. later. The estate originally swept down to the North River, where Captain Jerathmiel Peirce could dock his ship at the foot of his own property. The Phillips House (c. 1821) sits on Salem’s famed Chestnut Street. Remodeled by the Phillips family shortly after purchasing the house in 1911, the dwelling combines a Federal exterior with a Colonial Revival interior. The kitchen, pantry, and a domestic staff bedroom present a rarely seen picture of how great houses were adapted to meet modern conveniences. FUNDRAISER FOR THE TRUST’S EMERGING SCHOLARS PROGRAM AT THE HOME OF JONATHAN LORING Friday, September 17, 6:00 pm We are honored by the kind invitation to visit the home of Sunday, September 19, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Jonathan Loring, perched high above Salem Sound in Prides Salem Waterfront Hotel Crossing. A long-time member of the Decorative Arts Trust and an enthusiastic supporter of the Emerging Scholars Program, Will the Real Mr. King Please Stand Up? Cabinetmaker William King Jonathan is a descendant of multiple Salem ship captains. His of Salem Kemble Widmer, Independent Historian, and Brock Jobe, Professor 1940s house contains fine examples of Boston, North Shore, and Emeritus of American Decorative Arts, Winterthur Portsmouth furniture, and a distinctive art collection, including Boston-area artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, 18th century The Art of Japanning: A Look Beyond the 18th Century maps, and an extensive representation of watercolors by the Christine Thomson, Furniture Conservator, and Tara Cederholm, Georgian-era English artist, Thomas Rowlandson. Curator, The Crosby Company Please join us for a wonderful evening of connoisseurship and John A.H. Sweeney Emerging Scholar Lecture conviviality as we toast to our host’s hospitality and lend support “Out on the Waters!”: Image and Meaning in an Indian Princess Ship to the Trust’s efforts to encourage the next generation of curators Figurehead and academics through a growing series of grants, scholarships, Sybil F. Johnson, PhD Candidate, Boston University and internships. In 2021, more than four dozen graduate The Marie Zimmerman Emerging Scholar Lecture students and young professionals will benefit from the Trust’s “Turn to Nature”: Joseph Everett Chandler’s Colonial Revival Transforma- Emerging Scholars Program in spite of the continued hindrances tion of Stevens-Coolidge House & Gardens of the pandemic. Katharine F. Grant, Curatorial Fellow, The Trustees of Reservations Symposium concludes PRE-SYMPOSIUM OPTIONAL TOURS Wednesday and Thursday, September 15 - 16 Option 1 Option 2 Departing Salem for Beverly, our first stop is atLong Hill (1916), a Colonial Departing Salem for North Andover, we reach Stevens-Coolidge Place, Revival brick house containing early-19th-century interiors from a Federal- an 18th-century farm that was adapted as a rural retreat in the 19th century. style Charleston mansion. This stately dwelling was the summer home of This summer home received an elegant Colonial Revival makeover by Joseph noted author and editor Ellery Sedgwick and his family until 1978. The five Chandler on behalf of John Gardner Coolidge. Our visit highlights the tre- acres of cultivated grounds are laid out in a series of garden “rooms” that mendous cataloguing and preservation project that has revitalized the house. blend seamlessly into the surrounding woodlands. The Historic New England curatorial staff takes us for an exclusive look Castle Hill (1928) near Ipswich is part of a 2,100-acre estate that features inside their collections storage and conservation labs in Haverhill. incredible gardens, sweeping views of the Atlantic, and the summer home This newly renovated, state-of-the-art facility houses the organization’s of Mr. and Mrs. Richard T. Crane, Jr. The talented Chicago architect David exemplary decorative arts collection. Adler and the renowned Olmsted Brothers designed the house and land- Following lunch, we continue to Newburyport, which was first settled in scape, respectively. The ornate terraced gardens feature a magnificent grass 1635 and grew to prominence in the 18th century through shipbuilding and mall, the recently rejuvenated Italian Rose Garden, and the delightful mercantile activity. Casino, where we enjoy lunch. A 1797 Federal house was undergoing extensive restoration when we last The 18th-century Cogswell’s Grant in Essex was the summer home of visited, including returning both exterior and interiors to original paint colors pioneering American folk and decorative arts collectors Bertram K. and and installing historic window glass. That daunting task is now complete, Nina Fletcher Little. The rooms overflow with beautiful and curious 18th- allowing a study of the couples’ collection of mid-to-late-18th-century furni- and 19th-century objects that the Little’s amassed over 60 years, offering a ture documented to Salem and the North Shore. unique and important perspective on early Americana collecting. The Cushing House (1678) is a 21-room Federal house decked out with Perched on Gloucester’s Eastern Point, Beauport is an enchanting Arts fine furnishings and decorative pieces from the region. Collections of portraits, and Crafts-style cottage with a heralded collection of decorative arts. The silver, needlework, clocks, and early photographs are displayed, not to home of Henry Davis Sleeper, one of the country’s first professional interior mention the impressive holdings highlighting Newburyport’s early trade designers, Beauport was enormously influential on Henry Francis du Pont with China. as he set out to reimagine Winterthur. Touring its maze of rooms offers a romantic exploration of design and history. Our visit concludes with a The day concludes with a reception hosted by Trust Governor Tara reception in the garden overlooking Cape Ann.