The Wonder of Wood Conference

The Wonder of Wood Conference

The Wonder of Wood Decorative Inlay and Marquetry in Europe and America, 1600–1900 Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library and Philadelphia Museum of Art

April 26–28, 2022

In Gratitude This conference is made possible by the generosity of more than thirty contributors, many of whom have sponsored individual speakers. We are especially indebted to the Richard C. von Hess Foundation, for its commitment to fund the publication of these presentations. We also recognize three sources at Winterthur in support of furniture programs: the Sewell C. Biggs Endowment, the Robert Francis Fileti Memorial Endowment, and the Wendy A. Cooper Fund. Other major funders include the Croll Foundation, the Fagus Foundation, Linda Kaufman, Forbes and Sara Maner, Kelly and Randy Schrimsher, and an anonymous donor. Additional support has been provided by the Alexandria Association, the American Decorative Arts Forum of Northern California, the Americana Foundation, Ben Barrett, Andrew Boro, Brunk Auctions, the Decorative Arts Trust, TomDensmore, the Furniture History Society, Inlay Product World, Inc., Brock Jobe, Linda and Ken Johnson, the Kaufman Americana Foundation, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, Steven M. Lash, Hampton Lynch, Michael Mascelli, Ken Mattie, Carolyn and Mike McNamara, the Miller-Worley Fund for Excellence in American Art, Robert W. Mustain, Catharine Dann Roeber, Dr. Thomas H. Sears, Jr., Jim Shapiro, the Society of American Period Furniture Makers, Tom Turiff, Bob Van Dyke, and the Washington Decorative Arts Forum. Without the contributions of so many, this conference would still be a dream in the minds of co-organizers Brock Jobe, Alexandra Kirtley, and Steve Latta. We owe you our deepest thanks.

Cover: Marquetry panel of a table box, attributed to Gerrit Jensen, London, ca. 1685. Courtesy of Burghley House, Lincolnshire.

Opposite page: Butterfly inlay on dressing glass, Elizabeth, New Jersey area, 1795–1810. Winterthur Museum. Gift of Henry Francis du Pont 1951.0023

Introduction Decorative inlay and marquetry have long sparked surprise, delight, even amazement. In both techniques, artisans apply small pieces of different species of timber to create pictures or patterns on furniture. “The woodworker’s desire to decorate wooden objects,” noted a famed marqueter, “is as old as man’s desire to work with wood.” Inlay and marquetry traditions existed in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, were revived during the Renaissance, and have flourished ever since. Over the centuries, the complexity of the ornament has varied enormously, from simple bands of contrasting colors to breathtaking trompe-l’oeil imagery of flowers and figures, and so much more. The best marquetry furniture stands at the apex of the cabinetmaker’s art. Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library and the Philadelphia Museum of Art welcome you to The Wonder of Wood, the first conference to explore both European and American traditions in inlay and marquetry. We embark on a three-day journey, with a talented mix of curators, conservators, historians, artists, and craftspeople from this country and abroad serving as our guides. Our travels will take us from Renaissance Italy to Gilded Age New York, from London workshops of the 1690s to those along the Ohio River a century later. We will witness the skills of the trade, discover the brilliant colors of pieces in their original state, and experience the full range of products that fall within the broad categories of inlay and marquetry. Take a seat and enjoy the show. After the presentations on the first two days, we encourage you to stay for the receptions at Winterthur. Current masters of marquetry and inlay will display examples of their work and answer your questions. Discover how each practitioner interprets historic methods in creative ways. And gain a richer understanding of why these decorative techniques continue to surprise, delight, and amaze.

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Tuesday, April 26, 2022 Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, Copeland Lecture Hall PROGRAM SCHEDULE

8:00–8:45 am Coffee and registration 8:45–9:30 am Welcome and introduction Chris Strand, Charles F. Montgomery Director and CEO, Winterthur Brock Jobe, Professor Emeritus of American Decorative Arts, Winterthur James Kelleher, Inlay Project Fellow, Winterthur 9:30–10:30 am Boullework

2:40–3:10 pm Taracea de las Américas: Inlay and Marquetry Traditions in Colonial Latin America Dennis Carr, Virginia Steele Scott Chief Curator of American Art, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA 3:10–3:40 pm Two Cupboards by Herman Doomer: The Origins of Dutch Floral Marquetry Reinier Baarsen, Senior Curator of Furniture, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Marquetry of Gerrit Jensen Adam Bowett, Independent Furniture Historian and Chairman of the Chippendale Society, Ripon, UK 4:40–5:10 pm Drawings for Parisian Marquetry of the Mid-18th Century Reinier Baarsen, Senior Curator of Furniture, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 3:40–4:10 pm Break 4:10–4:40 pm the Netherlands 5:10–5:45 pm Inlaid Lutes and Sand-Shaded Flutes: Marquetry Harpsichords from the

Yannick Chastang, Independent Furniture Conservator and Designer, Kent, UK Lecture/Video Assist Demonstration 10:30–11:00 am Break 11:00–11:45 am

The Challenges of Identifying Woods Used in Marquetry and Inlay: Past, Present, and Future Randy S. Wilkinson, Senior Furniture Conservator, Fallon & Wilkinson, LLC, Baltic, CT 11:45 am–12:20 pm Made with a Knife, Not with a Brush Antoine Wilmering, Senior Program Officer, Getty Foundation, Los Angeles, CA 12:20–1:30 pm Lunch 1:30–2:40 pm European Marquetry in the Second

Workshop of Jacob Kirkman Alexandra Cade, Ph.D. candidate in American Civilization, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 5:45–6:00 pm

Half of the 18th Century Yannick Chastang, Independent Furniture Conservator and Designer, Kent, UK Lecture/Video Assist Demonstration

Announcements and concluding remarks 6:00–7:30 pm

Happy hour and displays of work by current marqueters and inlay specialists in the Winterthur Visitor Center

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Wednesday, April 27, 2022 Philadelphia Museum of Art

8:00–8:30 am Gather at the Winterthur Visitor Center for coffee; board buses at 8:30 am 8:30–9:30 am Bus trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art 9:30–10:00 am Welcome in the Skylight Atrium, Perelman Building, Kathleen A. Foster, The Robert L. McNeil, Jr., Senior for American Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA Divide into two groups— Group A attends lectures before lunch; Group B attends lectures after lunch. Group A 10:00–10:30 am “A beautiful kind of Mosaic work”: Inlaid Marquetry on Early Pennsylvania Tables Alexandra A. Kirtley, The Montgomery-Garvan Curator of American Decorative Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Curator of American Art and Director of the Center Recent Discoveries on 18th-Century Marquetry Furniture at Hillwood Rebecca Tilles, Curator of 18th-Century Western European Art, Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, Washington, DC 11:00–11:30 am Observations on the Furniture Attributed to Jean-Henri Riesener Jürgen Huber, Senior Furniture Philadelphia, PA 10:30–11:00 am

12:00–12:30 pm Turnbull’s Diversity: Marquetry in a Post-Slavery Workshop John Cross, Independent Furniture Historian and Curator, Frederick Parker Collection, The Furniture Makers’ Company, London, UK 12:30–1:00 pm The Marquetry Work of Art Furniture Makers Collinson and Lock, London Clive Edwards, Professor Emeritus of Design History, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK 1:00–4:15 pm Lunch and self-guided tours of American and European galleries, with special focus on inlaid and marquetry objects Group B 10:00 am–1:00 pm Self-guided tours of American and European galleries, with special focus on inlaid and marquetry objects, and lunch 1:00–1:15 pm Walk from the Main Building of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the auditorium of the Perelman Building 1:15–1:45 pm “A beautiful kind of Mosaic work”: Inlaid Marquetry on Early Pennsylvania Tables Alexandra A. Kirtley, The Montgomery-Garvan Curator of American Decorative Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA 1:45–2:15 pm Recent Discoveries on 18th-Century Marquetry Furniture at Hillwood Rebecca Tilles, Curator of 18th-Century Western European Art, Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, Washington, DC

Conservator, The Wallace Collection, London, UK 11:30 am–12:00 pm Break

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Wednesday, April 27, 2022, continued Philadelphia Museum of Art

2:15–2:45 pm Observations on the Furniture Attributed to Jean-Henri Riesener Jürgen Huber, Senior Furniture Conservator, The Wallace Collection, London, UK 2:45–3:15 pm Break 3:15–3:45 pm Turnbull’s Diversity: Marquetry in a Post-Slavery Workshop John Cross, Independent Furniture Historian and Curator, Frederick Parker Collection, The Furniture Makers’ Company, London, UK 3:45–4:15 pm The Marquetry Work of Art Furniture Makers Collinson and Lock, London Clive Edwards, Professor Emeritus of Design History, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK Groups A and B 4:30–5:45 pm Board buses and return

Eagle inlay on clothes press, attributed to Michael Allison, New York, 1805–15.

Winterthur Museum. Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont 1957.0921

to Winterthur 6:00–8:00 pm

Reception at Winterthur and displays of work by current marqueters and inlay specialists in the Winterthur Visitor Center

Detail of cabinet door by Herter Brothers, New York, ca. 1877. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Promised Gift of Barrie A. and Deedee Wigmore.

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Thursday, April 28, 2022 Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, Copeland Lecture Hall

8:00–8:45 am Coffee 8:45–8:55 am Announcements 8:55–9:25 am

1:15–2:30 pm Historic Objects and Techniques and Their Influence on a Contemporary Marquetry Artist Silas Kopf, Studio Furniture Artist, Northampton, MA Lecture/Video Assist The Inlaid Furniture of the Upper Ohio River Valley, 1790–1830 Andrew Richmond, Independent Scholar and Owner, Wipiak Consulting and Appraisals, Marietta, OH 3:00–3:30 pm Decorative Inlay in Kentucky Mack Cox, Collector and Independent Scholar, Richmond, KY 3:30–4:00 pm Break 4:00–4:30 pm Marquetry in New York Furniture of America’s Gilded Age Demonstration 2:30–3:00 pm Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, Anthony W. and Lulu C. Wang Curator of American Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 4:30–5:00 pm The Marquetry of George A. Schastey and Co. (1873–97) Marijn Manuels, Conservator, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 5:00–5:10 pm Concluding remarks 6:00–9:00 pm The Philadelphia Show Preview

German Inlay and German Influences on Inlaid Furniture from Charleston, South Carolina Tom Savage, Director of

Educational Travel and Conferences, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, VA 9:25–10:40 am

Demystifying the “Art and Mystery” of Inlay: Surface Ornamentation during the Federal Period Steve Latta, Professor, Cabinetmaking and Wood Technology, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, Lancaster, PA Lecture/Video Assist Demonstration 10:40–11:10 am Break 11:10–11:40 am Flowers, Fans, Shells, and Eagles: Creating an Online Dictionary of American Inlay Daniel Ackermann, Chief Curator and Director of Research, Collections, and Archaeology, Old Salem Museums & Gardens and The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Winston-Salem, NC Brock Jobe, Professor Emeritus of American Decorative Arts, Winterthur 11:40 am–12:10 pm Rife with Inlay: The Banding and Pictorial Inlay of One Virginia Cabinetmaker Tara Gleason Chicirda, Curator of Furniture, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, VA 12:10–1:15 pm Lunch

Party at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (optional, pre-registration required)

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PRESENTATION SUMMARIES

Daniel Ackermann, Chief Curator and Director of Research, Collections, and Archaeology, Old Salem Museums & Gardens and The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts; and Brock Jobe, Professor Emeritus of American Decorative Arts, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library Flowers, Fans, Shells, and Eagles: Creating an Online Dictionary of American Inlay Sponsored by Brunk Auctions and the Croll Foundation The comparison of inlays can often provide important clues about patterns of craftsmanship, trade, and migration. However, inlays rarely are cataloged in a way that facilitates such comparisons. This lecture will discuss the challenges of creating a >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20

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