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Deerfield, Mass. (June 16, 2017)
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Historic Deerfield's fall decorative arts forum,
"Early American Furniture: Recent Research in Training, Technique, and Lifestyle,"
will examine current research in the study of early American furniture from the cabinet shop to parlor and chamber. The weekend in Deerfield, among our museum houses and extensive collections, will kindle a passion for learning about the unspoken meanings imbedded in early American craftsmanship.
Ongoing research drives any field of inquiry fueled by new information, theories, and methods. In the world of art and antiques, the information is both intellectual and visual, always appealing to multiple senses and taking us back in time to when the artifacts were new and defined by modern techniques and lifestyles. Taken together, objects populate places just like people do and become a time machine for imagining what shaped the past and therefore ourselves.
The forum will be held
September 15-17, 2017, at Historic Deerfield.
The forum is sponsored by
Skinner, Inc.
This forum brings together an impressive group of scholars who will offer a variety of perspectives on the topic of recent research of early American furniture. Forum speakers and demonstrators include
Tara Hingston Cederholm, Private Curator and Scholar;
Mack Cox, Collector and Independent Scholar, Richmond, KY;
Kevin Ferrigno, Vice President and General Counsel, DATTCO, Inc., New Britain, CT;
Bruce Hoadley, Professor Emeritus, Wood Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst;
Peter Kenny, Co-President, Classical American Homes Preservation Trust, New York, NY;
Silas Kopf, master woodworker and winner of the 2015 James Renwick Alliance of the Smithsonian Institution's Master of the Medium Award, Northampton, MA;
Ethan Lasser, Theodore E. Stebbins Jr. Curator of American Art and the Head of the Division of European and American Art, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA;
Clark Pearce, Independent Scholar, Boston, MA;
Christine Ritok, Associate Curator, Historic Deerfield;
Christine Thomson, Conservator;
Christina Vida, Independent Museum Consultant, West Hartford, CT;
Gerald W.R. Ward, The Katharine Lane Weems Senior Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture Emeritus, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and
Philip Zea, President, Historic Deerfield.
Participants who arrive early to the Forum are welcome to enjoy Deerfield's historic houses along Old Main Street. The museum exhibits ingenious examples of New England decorative arts in the Museum's Attic of the Flynt Center of New England Life and in the exhibition
Into the Woods: Crafting Early American Furniture.
Before the Forum begins, three optional workshops (additional fee of $50 per workshop required) are offered on
Friday afternoon, September 15:
1:00 p.m, 3:00 p.m.: Workshop: "Identifying Woods in American Antiques" with Bruce Hoadley.
1:00 p.m. Workshop: "Inlay and Marquetry Techniques: A Hands-on Demonstration of Traditional Methods" with Silas Kopf.
1:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m. Workshop: The Furniture of Daniel Clay of Greenfield, Massachusetts" with Christine Ritok.
Registration for the forum is $385 and includes all lectures and demonstrations, admission to Historic Deerfield for the duration of the Forum, two receptions, one lunch, and refreshments. Friends of Historic Deerfield receive a $20 discount on their registration fee.
About Historic Deerfield, Inc.
Historic Deerfield, Inc., is dedicated to the heritage and preservation of Deerfield, Massachusetts, and the Connecticut River Valley. Its museums and programs provide today's audiences with experiences that create an understanding and appreciation of New England's historic villages and countryside. For more information, please call (413) 775-7214 or visit historic-deerfield.org.
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