Nantucket Crafts–Furniture, Needlepoint & more!

For decades, Nantucket has been known for its natural beauty, its weathered clapboards, and its unique sense of place. So it is not surprising that this special island has made its mark on American design. Over the next few months, the NHA looks forward to sharing some of these influences with treasures and stories from our archives, leading up to our major summer fundraiser, Nantucket by Design .

Nantucket by Design is going virtual in order to keep public health a top priority while still celebrating our events. Be sure to mark your calendars for our annual Nantucket by Design events, July 30-August 1, featuring design luminaries Alessandra Branca, Meg Braff, Young Huh, Richard Keith Langham, Steele Marcoux, and Ellen Fisher.

“Our beautiful island provides solace and comfort in so many ways, and so, it is appropriate that we had chosen the theme of ‘Sanctuary’ for this year’s Nantucket by Design , well before we had any inkling of what was to come.” said Kelly Williams, Chair.

Attendees can look forward to engaging lectures, an online antique show, house tours, lively panel discussions, and more!

Read the Full Press Release

Kelly Williams, Chair

Nantucket by Design 2020

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Welcome to Nantucket

Nantucket, the faraway island, has drawn many by its quiet beauty and deep history, as a place of respite, restoration, and sanctuary. Some have been inspired to capture its essence in film. As the first in a series of moving impressions of our island, we feature a brief introduction to the NHA’s signature production, Nantucket , a film by Ric Burns.

Nantucket & Crafts

From the Collection

Practical, seaward-focused Nantucket was never a center of artistic innovation during the whaling period, but the breakdown of Quaker social and cultural dominance on the island after the American Revolution opened the door for a flowering of creativity in the folk and decorative arts, of which this desk is one of the finest examples. Cabinetmaker Heman Ellis (1777–1816) made the desk in 1808 for Sylvanus Ewer (1767–1836), a wealthy Nantucket shipowner. Its cylinder front; flat, veneered surfaces; and tapered legs were stylish and up-to-date, revealing that at least one Nantucketer of means was aware of the latest styles coming out of American and European urban centers at the time and wanted to furnish his home in the modern taste.

Cylinder desk, 1808. Heman Ellis (1777–1816). Wood, 453/8 x 411/8 x 213/8 in.

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Amos B. Hostetter Jr. 1987.215.1

Explore the Collection

Written in Cloth

The history of the island has been written in many forms. Curator Dan Elias takes a close look at an album quilt made for the first Nantucket Agricultural Fair in 1856 and a lighthearted tablecloth memorializing a decade of summer visitors at the beginning of the 20th century. These two textiles testify to the growth of agriculture as whaling declined and the appearance of fun-seeking seasonal residents.

History Topic:

The History and Uses of Needlework Tools

Sampler, ca. 1800–10.

Lydia Coffin (life dates uncertain)

Silk on linen; 18 1/2 x 14 1/4 in.

Gift of Robert M. Waggaman. 1971.62.7

By Elizabeth Gilbert

Needlework tools have an illustrious history. They were invented out of necessity, and have been in existence for thousands of years. Today, we take the basics for granted as everyday commodities, but through the centuries, they became scarce, expensive, and frequently worthy of being included in wills and inventories. A sewing basket would contain such basic items as pins, needles, thimbles, and scissors, but kept in special cases, workboxes, or "pockets" were such highly prized treasures as bodkins, measures, shuttles, bobbins, awls, stilettos, emeries, etuis, pincushions, pinballs, "sewing birds," and chatelaines.

Nantucket School of Needlery

The Nantucket School of Needlery was founded by Mary Anne Beinecke (1927-2014) in the latter half of the 1960s. Originally located on Harbour Square on Straight Wharf and at 2 India Street in 1968, the school brought needlework experts from around the world to Nantucket.

It introduced Beinecke's Home-Study Extension Course, the first of its kind in 1969; this correspondence course offered thirty-five lessons to be completed over approximately three years for a certificate. In 1975, the school moved to North Adams, Mass., becoming part of Mary Ann Beinecke's new business, Textile Studios. The efforts of the Nantucket School of Needlery represent a portion of the craft revival taking place on island in the 1960s and 1970s.

Above Right: Logo of the Nantucket School of Needlery embroidered on linen, circa 1978. Kuehl, Pamela (Hamachek); Beinecke, Mary Ann. 21 1/2" x 13 1/4". Gift of Julie Beinecke Stackpole and the Estate of Mary Ann Beinecke. 2018.0011.051

In 2014, the NHA collaborated with student researchers from the University of Massachusetts Boston to collect interviews from formers students: Elizabeth Gilbert, Suzanne Gardner, and Susan Boardman. Interviews were conducted by Daniel Morast, Katie Fortier, and Laura Kintz. Collection consists of three audio interviews with transcriptions.

Left: Nantucket School of Needlery Home StudyCourse box, 1968. Gift of Julie Beinecke

Stackpole and the Estate of Mary Ann.Beinecke. 2018.0011.095

Search the Collection

Care and Conservation of Fabrics and Embroideries on Nantucket

Elizabeth Gilbert discusses how to ensure the future of historical and new needlework. She shares do's and don'ts of caring for, preserving, and storing modern fabrics as well as treasures of the past. She demonstrates actual examples of each process, using archival products and tried-and-true methods.

NHA Historic Property:1800 House

Local housewright Richard L. Coleman had purchased the land on Mill Street in 1801, and within the next half-dozen years built the house now known as the 1800 House. In 1807, Coleman sold the house to Jeremiah Lawrence (1768–1827), High Sheriff for the County of Nantucket, for $2,000, an above-average price for a new house of the period, indicating that the house had features that made it special.

The house had several owners in the ensuing years. In 1950, Louise Melhado, owner of neighboring Moors End purchased 4 Mill Street from Leonora James and the next year gifted it to the Nantucket Historical Association adding to its property portfolio with a representative house from the early nineteenth century.

For many years, the 1800 House was furnished with artifacts from the NHA’s collection and was open for public viewing; it provided curious visitors with a glimpse of domestic life in an earlier era. The house underwent a major restoration beginning in 2003, and reopened in 2005 as a center for instruction in early-American decorative arts and crafts, celebrating the rich legacy of Nantucket artists and artisans.

Learn more about 1800 House history

Learn more about the workshops offered at the 1800 House

1800 House At Home

Block Printing on Fabric

Mary Lacoursiere, Peter M. and Bonnie J. Sacerdote Chair of Education and Community Relations, demonstrates a traditional method for creating hand-block printed fabric.