Green artist Tanya Aguiñiga creates furniture, like her Rock Sofa, out of upcycled foam scraps and re-purposed yarn. She describes the process of building the piece as a process of “getting to know” the materials intimately. The felting process consists of wetting and rubbing the wool for hours, while the hypnotic wrapping process allows the artist to continuously “hug” the artwork. The brightly colored final work is very comfortable and a favorite of both children and adults.
What can your senses – other than sight – tell you about an object? The Chipstone Foundation explores this idea in their blindfold object lab. I quite like this as an exercise, having always been interest in what thinking sound tells us. Here touch is the method, but nonetheless helpful in beginning to think about what role all senses have in our understanding of things.
Christie’s (New York) Important American Furniture and Folk Art Auction rolls through January 25, 2010. As one might expect, there is some important furniture on offer (notably lot #346, a Queen Anne maple stool from Philadelphia). Also in the mix are some handsome game boards and a molded statue of General Marquis de Lafayette. The small sculpture is of late 19th-century American origin.
A personal favorite from the preview is lot #109 (above). A sailor-made woolwork picture inscribed “New Bedford,” the piece is wonderfully detailed and dates to the 19th-century.
View some game boards and the handsome Mr. Lafayette after the jump. Enjoy the full catalog at this link.
On view at the New Britain Museum of American Art to April 11, 2010, Inspired Innovations highlights a selection of beautiful artifacts from the Shaker community. Included are examples of Shaker nesting carriers and “swallowtail” oval boxes (both above), along with furniture, inventions, and other handcrafted artifacts. The exhibition is curated by Stephen Miller, who puts emphasis on the local Enfield, CT Shaker community and its artistic output from 1790 to 1917.
A full review of Inspired Innovations was published in this weeks Antiques and the Arts.
Running through to September, 2010, Convenient and Fashionable: Furniture of Inland Massachusetts, 1790-1830 covers my favorite period of American decorative arts – the Federal. The exhibition, held at Old Sturbridge Village, includes 22 pieces of furniture and a smattering of related objects. Everything shown is of central Massachusetts origin, or documented to the area. Many objects being shown are often kept out of the public eye, making their “homecoming” all the more rich for visitors.
A full review of the exhibition has been published in this week’s edition of Antiques and the Arts. Additionally, Old Sturbridge has prepared a well thought out web component. Check that at OSV.
Above: Trade Signc. 1820-1830. Amasa Blanchard (b.1771), Brookfield, Massachusetts. Pine, paint. OSV collection 1.202.88. Blanchard was working as a cabinetmaker in Brookfield in the 1790s and later identified himself as both a cabinetmaker and a chair maker on his trade sign.
Yesterday, though the blog of Sub-Studio Design, I discovered this magnificent archive of exhibition preparation photographs from the American Museum of Natural History. Ranging from shots of staff moving the skelton of a brontasaurus (see Charles H. Coles’ 1938 photograph above) to preparing bird mounts, the material gives behind the scenes access to many elements of exhibition design.
While the images themselves are arresting, I’m posting because they also offer a rare look at life inside of a museum. Conservation and preparation are often out of the scope of interest for many museum goers. The archive is well worth exploring.
I’ve selected a few choice images. Please find these after the jump.
Running through February 7, 2010, Eco Home at London’s Geffrye Museum examines new and current ideas about “eco living” and links thought about ecology to how we decorate and inhabit our homes. Eco Home serves as introduction to a range of new green products. The intent is to educate and encourage discussion about how the home works as central point in an ecologically sound lifestyle.
The Geffrye Museum depicts quintessential English middle-class living via the the living room. Period rooms from the 1600s to the present day act as portals into the lives and values of their inhabitants. Eco Home is a special exhibition presented with aid from John Lewis.
Nineteen years ago, Jeff Bridgman took the jump from collector to dealer of Americana. His focus is on folk art and painted furniture, and even more explicitly in Antique Flags. In fact, he’s the nations biggest seller of early Stars and Stripes. Over the years his accumulated knowledge about early Americana has been shared through scholarly work and Bridgman is also frequently featured in the Magazine Antiques. He’s also appeared on HGTV.
A few select examples of current offerings after the jump.
Located in Colchester, CT, Nathan Liverant & Son Antiques has actively been dealing in fine examples of 18th and 19th century Americana since the 1920s. Current specialization focuses on pieces of Connecticut and New England furniture made before 1840 (roughly speaking this date is a bit of a cut off between hand and machine manufacture). Arthur Liverant, a third generation dealer and now owner of Nathan Liverant & Son, is one of the most engaging and knowledgeable characters in the industry. His eye for furniture and related decorative arts continually unearths new gems, making the shops stock a joy to explore.
Above is a miniature chest of drawers of mahogany. Built between 1825-1835, it bares the inscription “S.L. Torrey, 1830.” A very handsome little piece.
A few more bits that caught the eye after the jump. First a set of 19th-century cast iron banks. Second, a matched set of 5 Walnut Chippendale side chairs with “owl eye” splats, MA, 1750-80.
Freshly open at the New York Historical Society, Lincoln and New York focuses on exactly what you might expect. The exhibition explores the connection between Abe and the great metropolis, allowing for discussion of Civil War politics and public feeling in a New York context. Additionally, the argument for the influence of New York media on Lincoln’s election is posed and well documented.
On view through March 25, 2010.
Edward Rothstein reviews Lincoln and New York fully in today’s New York Times. Head to the jump to see more installation views via the related slide show.
