WINTERTHUR FURNITURE FORUM NEW PERSPECTIVES ON BOSTON FURNITURE,

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1 THE SEWELL C. BIGGS WINTERTHUR FURNITURE FORUM NEW PERSPECTIVES ON BOSTON FURNITURE, March 6 8, 2013

2 FURNITURE FORUM SCHEDULE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6 Early Boston furniture has been a favorite of collectors for years. Outstanding pieces from the city now fill museums, historic houses, and private collections across the country. This year s forum offers the first in-depth look at more than two centuries of Boston s craft history. The story is a rich, colorful tale of immigrants and native-born sons, of European designs and regional innovation, of local customers and distant markets, and much, much more. Join thirty experts for three days of groundbreaking presentations. The 2013 Sewell C. Biggs Winterthur Furniture Forum is the inaugural event of Four Centuries of Massachusetts Furniture, a collaborative venture of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts; Concord Museum; Fuller Craft Museum; Historic Deerfield; Historic New England; Massachusetts Historical Society; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; North Bennet Street School; Old Sturbridge Village; Peabody Essex Museum; and Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library. Winterthur is grateful to the Colonial Society of Massachusetts for its assistance in the development of the 2013 Furniture Forum and its commitment to publish selected papers. 1:00 2:00 pm Registration, Visitor Center 2:00 2:10 pm Welcome Brock Jobe, Professor of American Decorative Arts, Winterthur 2:10 2:30 pm Forty Years of Boston Furniture Scholarship: From Boston Furniture of the Eighteenth Century to Today: A Reminiscence Jonathan L. Fairbanks, Director, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA 2:30 3:45 pm Seventeenth-Century Boston Furniture: Tools and Techniques Video-Assist Demonstration Peter Follansbee, Joiner, Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth, MA 3:45 4:15 pm Afternoon Break 4:15 4:45 pm Early 18th-Century Boston Case Furniture Edward S. Cooke, Jr., Charles F. Montgomery Professor of American Decorative Arts, Yale University, New Haven, CT 4:45 5:15 pm Boston Japanning: Case Studies Christine Thomson, Private Conservator, Salem, MA, and Tara Cederholm, Curator, Brookfield Arts Foundation, Salem, NH 5:15 5:45 pm Mrs. Oliver s Chair: A Boston Classic Gregory Landrey, Division Director for Library, Collections Management, and Academic Programs, Winterthur 6:00 7:30 pm Boston Furniture at Winterthur Exhibition open for viewing in the Winterthur Galleries

3 FURNITURE FORUM SCHEDULE FURNITURE FO THURSDAY, MARCH 7 8:00 8:45 am Registration, Visitor Center 8:45 9:15 am Introductory Remarks J. Thomas Savage, Director of Museum Affairs, Winterthur 9:15 10:00 am Boston and Its Craft Community, J. Ritchie Garrison, Director, Winterthur Program in American Material Culture, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 10:00 10:30 am Such Ruins Were Never Seen in America : The Looting of Thomas Hutchinson s House at the Time of the Stamp Act Riots John Tyler, Editor of Publications, Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Boston, MA 10:30 11:00 am Morning Break 11:00 11:30 am Boston or New York? Revisiting the Apthorp- Family and Related Sets of Queen Anne Chairs Philip Zimmerman, Museum Consultant and Independent Scholar, Lancaster, PA 11:30 am 12:15 pm A Scotsman, Thomas Chippendale, and the Green Dragon Tavern: Connecting the Dots Kemble Widmer, Independent Scholar, Newburyport, MA 12:15 2:00 pm Lunch 2:00 3:30 pm The Turret-Top Tea Tables and Card Tables of Boston The Robert Francis Fileti Endowed Lecture/Video-Assist Demonstration Brock Jobe, Professor of American Decorative Arts, Winterthur, and Allan Breed, Cabinet- and Chairmaker, Rollinsford, NH 3:30 4:00 pm Afternoon Break 4:00 4:30 pm Pigeonholes and Patriots: Desks in Colonial Boston Gerald W. R. Ward, Senior Consulting Curator and the Katharine Lane Weems Senior Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture Emeritus, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA 4:30 5:00 pm Windsor Furnituremaking in Boston: A Late but Innovative Center of the Craft Nancy Goyne Evans, Independent Furniture Historian, Hockessin, DE 5:00 5:30 pm Samuel Gragg, Chairmaker: New Discoveries Michael Podmaniczky, Private Conservator, Wilmington, DE 5:30 8:00 pm Reception Galleries Reception Area

4 FURNITURE FORUM SCHEDULE RUM SCHEDULE FRIDAY, MARCH 8 8:45 9:00 am The Mystery Card Table Wendy A. Cooper, Lois F. and Henry S. McNeil Senior Curator of Furniture, Winterthur 9:00 9:30 am The Best Workman in the Shop : Cabinetmaker William Munroe of Concord David F. Wood, Curator, Concord Museum, Concord, MA 9:30 10:00 am The Federal Sideboards of Benjamin Bass, Jr. Morrison Heckscher, Lawrence A. Fleischman Chairman of the American Wing, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 10:00 10:30 am Boston Classical Furniture: A (Nearly) 40-Year Reflection Page Talbott, Principal, Remer & Talbott, Bala Cynwyd, PA 10:30 11:00 am Morning Break 11:00 am 12:00 noon Classical Excellence in Boston: The Work of Isaac Vose, Clark Pearce, American Arts Advisor and Independent Scholar, Essex, MA, and Robert Mussey, Conservator and Independent Scholar, Milton, MA 12:00 noon 1:30 pm Lunch 1:30 2:15 pm Early Boston Pianomaking: The State of Scholarship Darcy Kuronen, Pappalardo Curator of Musical Instruments, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA 2:15 2:45 pm Boston Furnituremakers and the New Social Media, Kelly L Ecuyer, Ellyn McColgan Curator of Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA 2:45 3:15 pm Afternoon Break 3:15 3:45 pm John Ellis & A. H. Davenport: Furniture Manufacturing in East Cambridge, Massachusetts, Nancy Carlisle, Curator, Historic New England, Boston, MA 3:45 4:15 pm Boston Furniture for Public Spaces Caryne Eskridge, Lois F. McNeil Fellow, Winterthur Program in American Material Culture, Class of 2013, Winterthur 4:15 5:00 pm Framing the Interior: The Entrepreneurial Career of John Doggett Richard Nylander, Curator Emeritus, Historic New England, Boston, MA 5:00 5:15 pm Concluding Remarks Philip Zea, President, Historic Deerfield, Deerfield, MA Cover: (detail) Card table, Museum purchase with funds provided by the Henry Francis du Pont Collectors Circle Interior (left to right): (details) Side chair, Gift of Henry Francis du Pont Tall clock, Museum purchase Armchair, Gift of Henry Francis du Pont Address panel: Dressing table, Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont

5 R E GI STR ATI ON FOR M 3 WAYS TO REGISTER Complete form and mail with payment to Winterthur Information and Tours Office, 5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, Delaware Complete form and fax to Call Registration Fee Includes: Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday lectures Wednesday afternoon coffee and Thursday and Friday lunches and coffee breaks Thursday evening reception Option of registering for workshops Registration Fee Members of Winterthur and the Colonial Society of Massachusetts and nonprofit professionals $350 (Members include Member # ; professionals include business card) Nonmembers $405 Students and graduates within the past five years $250 (include a copy of valid student ID) Northeast Auctions Scholars $0 (see reverse for scholarship information) Optional workshops: $75.00 each $ I (We) would like to make a gift to the Winterthur Scholarship Fund* $ TOTAL ENCLOSED $ Name (as you would like it listed on your name tag and the participant list) Address City State Zip code Daytime telephone Check enclosed, payable to Winterthur Museum Charge my Visa MasterCard American Express Discover Account number Exp. date Cardholder name Signature *Awards from the Scholarship Fund provide conference registration fees for students and young professionals in the decorative arts and related studies programs. Your gift is tax deductible; receipt will be provided.

6 INFORMATION WORKSHOP PREFERENCES Please indicate your top three choices for each time period in which you would like to take a workshop. We will accommodate your workshop preferences on a first-registered, first-served basis. Wednesday, March 6, 9:00 10:30 am Saturday, March 9, 9:00 10:30 am Wednesday, March 6, 11:00 am 12:30 pm Saturday, March 9, 11:00 am 12:30 pm INFORMATION All lectures will be held in Copeland Lecture Hall (located in the Visitor Center). Optional workshops ($75 each) will take place in the museum and research buildings. Please plan on arriving at least minutes prior to your first workshop to check in with your escort at the Galleries Reception Area (museum building). Conference Fee $405; $350 Members of Winterthur and the Colonial Society of Massachusetts and nonprofit professionals; $250 students and graduates within the past five years with valid student ID. Fee Includes Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday lectures and afternoon coffee, Thursday and Friday lunches and coffee breaks, Thursday evening reception, option of registering for workshops. Cancellation Winterthur reserves the right to cancel the conference or workshops. Should Winterthur cancel, participants will be issued a full refund. Furniture Forum participants who cancel by February 13, 2013, regardless of the reason, will be issued a full refund minus a $50 handling fee. No refunds after February 13. Lodging Lodging is the responsibility of the registrant. Winterthur will provide a list of local accommodations upon request. Please ask when you call to register. Scholarships Ronald Bourgeault and Northeast Auctions, Inc. generously underwrote scholarships for graduate students and young professionals in the museum or related fields wishing to attend the 2013 Furniture Forum. For application information, visit winterthur.org/furnitureforum or call Scholarship application deadline is December 14, 2012.

7 OPTIONAL WORKSHOPS Only registered conference attendees may participate in workshops. Workshops fill quickly, and registration is on a first-registered, first-served basis. $75 per workshop. Unless otherwise noted, workshops are offered at the following times: Wednesday, March 6 9:00 10:30 am and 11:00 am 12:30 pm Saturday, March 9 9:00 10:30 am and 11:00 am 12:30 pm Demonstration Making Furniture the 17th-Century Way Peter Follansbee, Joiner, Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth, MA Boston s earliest craftsmen fashioned furniture of joined, turned, or nailed parts. Observe a master joiner at work as he re-creates a Boston chair and cupboard from the 17th century. Demonstration Carving Boston Style Allan Breed, Cabinet- and Chairmaker, Rollinsford, NH Watch one of America s best craftsmen as he replicates the techniques of Boston carvers of the late 18th century. Using chairs from the Winterthur collection as his models, Breed will bring the work of the colonial craftsman to life. Demonstration Boston Federal Inlays Stephen Latta, Professor of Cabinet and Wood Technology, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, Lancaster, PA Federal-period furniture from urban centers such as Charleston, Baltimore, New York, and Boston displays signature styles of decoration. In this workshop, Latta will demonstrate the production of inlay, ornaments, and veneer work found on Boston furniture, especially that associated with John and Thomas Seymour. (Available on March 6 only) Object Workshop Looking Closely at Boston Classical Furniture Clark Pearce, American Arts Advisor and Independent Scholar, Essex, MA, and Robert Mussey, Conservator and Independent Scholar, Milton, MA After completing a multi-year survey of Boston furniture of the 1810s and 1820s, Pearce and Mussey welcome the opportunity to share their discoveries through an engaging conversation about Winterthur s best classical furniture. Object Workshop Fabric over Frame: Boston Upholstery, Gretchen Guidess, Assistant Conservator, Williamstown Art Conservation Center, Williamstown, MA, and Mark Anderson, Head Furniture Conservator, Winterthur Throughout its early history, Boston supported a vibrant upholstery trade. Upholsterers ranked among the wealthiest craftsmen in the town, and the high cost of upholstered furniture resulted from the expensive imported fabrics, not the wooden frames. Join Guidess and Anderson for a fascinating look at the methods and materials used by Boston upholsterers. Object Workshop and Demonstration Building the Best Boston Furniture Steve Brown, Instructor, Cabinet- and Furnituremaking Program, North Bennet Street School, Boston, MA The finest 18th-century American chairs are elegant and sophisticated. Their builders fully understood the materials, tools, and techniques required for such work. Through images and demonstration, Brown will highlight the construction process of the best Boston chairs, from design through fashioning, assembling, and finishing the parts. Object Workshop and Lecture Seeing the wood for the trees : American Woods in British Furniture, Adam Bowett, Furniture Historian, Old Cowling, England Wood identification is often the key in distinguishing English and American furniture. But is it an accurate guide? Furniture historian Adam Bowett examines the issue from a British perspective in a compelling lecture and workshop that include two clocks that may or may not be American. (Available on March 9 only) Exhibition Tour Boston Furniture at Winterthur Brock Jobe, Professor of American Decorative Arts, Winterthur Winterthur houses an exceptional collection of Boston furniture. Nearly 300 pieces fill the museum. Join Brock Jobe for a special look at the best of these objects, on view in the Winterthur Galleries.

8 5105 Kennett Pike Winterthur, Delaware THE SEWELL C. BIGGS Winterthur Furniture Forum March 6 8, 2013