Provenance: Objects as Sources of History
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Transcript of Provenance: Objects as Sources of History
“Exploring Colonial Revival: Prentis and Stencil Houses”
Tour and Presentation by Adriene Katz
Chittenden South and Chittenden East Supervisory Unions
History Camp 2014, Cambridge, MA
Provenance: Objects as Sources of
History
Who am I?
• Studied Art History during
undergraduate years and
received a Master’s in
Museum Studies
• Have been involved in the
museum field for ten years,
most recently worked for
the Shelburne Museum in
Vermont
• Love researching
Decorative Arts, Furniture,
Material Culture, and
Architecture
• Exploring being a teacher
for Social Studies, for the
secondary level (7th-12th
grades), and using material
culture in the classroom
High chest with Japanning, 1720-1750, Boston, MA, Shelburne Museum, VT
In 2013, Shelburne Museum adds a two-building tour for visitors:
“Exploring the Colonial Revival: Prentis and Stencil Houses”
Prentis House and Stencil House on Museum Map Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vermont
“Exploring the Colonial Revival” Tour
“Saltbox” of and inside Prentis House
Cape Cod, Stencil House
Prentis House, c. 1773, Shelburne, VT
In the mid-1950s, Katherine Prentis Murphy decorated the house with objects from her Candlelight Farm, Westbrook, CT. Faux marble floor painted in 2000.
By the request of museum founder Electra Havemeyer Webb, the house moved from Hadley, MA, to Shelburne Museum in 1955.
Stencil House, c. 1804, Shelburne, VT
From the advice of Henry Francis du Pont, Electra displayed some painted furniture.
Electra Havemeyer Webb sought the sour milk stencils in the house, for the museum. She had the house moved to grounds in 1953.
Exploring History Through Objects in Prentis House and Stencil House
Clock Jack, English, Prentis House
Cradle, French Canadian, Prentis House
Chair, American?, Stencil House
Interior decoration in 1950s > inspired from 1920s period rooms > New England colonial kitchen in the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia
Blue curtains, remade in 2000, thought to be inspired by the 18th c.textiles at the Metropolitan Museum, Prentis House
Brown Pearl Hall, 1704, Period Room,MFA Boston
Image of the Centennial Exposition taken from “Wallace Nutting and the Invention of the Old America”
Not only can objects reveal cultural and museum values, but also, happenings
over time.
Prentis House in Colonial Homes magazine, 1983
To explore the cultural and aesthetic values of a culture or an individual. Also: a museum’s values.
To learn about movements and/or events in history.
To share, and to story tell, happenings in history.
Objects can be utilized as a (re)source
Any questions?
Contact information:@appleandthebee &
adriene.katz at gmail.com
Tiny furniture on view in the American Wing, MFA Boston