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Decorative Arts Collection
The Decorative Arts collection encompasses furniture, ceramics, glass, and metals. Its emphasis is on Louisiana-related artifacts from 1790 to 1890. The museum looks to expand its 20th-century collections as well as those artifacts related to under-represented groups in Louisiana history.
The collection's strengths are:
High-style 19th-century furniture used/made/sold in Louisiana
Acadian and plantation furniture
Newcomb College pottery and crafts
Decorative arts used in commercial settings
Silver made or used in 19th-century Louisiana
19th-century European porcelain used in Louisiana
Folk art
High-style 19th-century furniture used/made/sold in Louisiana
Created by commerce along the Mississippi River, Louisiana's great wealth in the antebellum period drew large numbers cabinetmakers and dry goods dealers to the area, especially the port city of New Orleans, where plantation owners throughout the state came to purchase goods.
Retail business was centered on New Orleans's Royal Street, where fashionable shops sold everything from New York furniture and English hardware to French porcelain and musical instruments. In addition to the flourishing import business, the city was also a distribution center for locally made goods, many of them crafted by the city's large population of free people of color.
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Parlor table
William McCracken, c. 1860
Marble, rosewood
1982.001.35
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William McCracken, an Irish immigrant, first set up a shop in New Orleans in 1838 with his brother James and had a presence on Royal Street until his death in 1872. Along with François Seignouret, Prudent Mallard, and Joseph W. Meeks, the McCrackens were the premier purveyors of furniture in New Orleans in the mid-19th century. In addition to manufacturing furniture, the firm also imported from the Northeast.
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Chest of drawers, or semainière
Dutreuil Barjon, Jr., c. 1855
Mahogany, yellow pine
1980.169.04
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Barjon Jr. (c. 1821-1870) was a free man of color cabinetmaker who took over his father's workshop in 1855.
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The 1850 House depicts middle class family life during the most prosperous period in New Orleans' history. Click here to learn more about this historic landmark.
Acadian and plantation furniture
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Acadian cradle
1810-1840
Cypress
1975.042
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Features double arch design on rockers, tapered posts and arched headboard.
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Ladder-back chair
Moro Plantation, c. 1840
Marble, rosewood
1998.039.1
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This diminutive ladder-back child's chair descended in the Wilson and Calhoun families. According to family tradition, it was made by slaves on Moro Plantation in Concordia Parish. As an alternative to the hide seat seen here, these types of chairs frequently featured rush seats. Initials of family members are carved in one of the back splats.
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Newcomb College pottery and crafts
In 1886 Josephine Louise Newcomb made a gift to Tulane University to establish the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, a coordinate women's college. Newcomb's Art Department, especially its art pottery enterprise, proved to be a success for many decades. In the early 20th century, Newcomb Pottery became the most recognizable example of the Arts and Crafts style in the American South. Newcomb artists regularly won prestigious awards at international expositions and were featured in numerous publications.
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Jewelry box
Attributed to Rosalie Urquhart, Tulane Decorative Art League
1886-1887
Rosewood, brass
1997.1.24.1
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The Tulane Decorative Art League, led by Ellsworth Woodward, was an outgrowth of the women's decorative art courses that were taught two nights per week. It offered instruction in art pottery, woodcarving, fresco, metalwork and needlework.
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Tyg, Lake Pontchartrain
Mary Pearl Davis, decorator; Joseph Meyer, potter
1902
Earthenware
1996.1.2.2
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The text on this tyg, or three-handled friendship mug, reads "Like birds across a blue sky with snowy wings a-strain / the sloops in white-sailed beauty fly o'er dark blue Ponchartrain".
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Vase, Iris
Anna Frances Simpson, decorator; Joseph Meyer, potter
1922
Earthenware
1975.001.3
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Some of the favored subjects of Newcomb artists were the various landscapes of the Gulf South, including the cypress trees and Spanish moss depicted here. They incorporated the same motifs in a variety of utilitarian and decorative forms, including vases, candlesticks, bowls, and lamps.
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Decorative arts used in commercial settings
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Chair from steamboat J.M. White
Attributed to Jacob Ziegler, 1880-1889
Walnut with other inlaid woods
2009.095.1
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Detail, backsplat
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Silver made or used in 19th-century Louisiana
Presentation silver
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Two-handled vase
Dominick & Haff, 1928
Sterling silver
2003.093.4
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This vase was presented to meteorologist Dr. Isaac M. Cline by the citizens of New Orleans in appreciation of his tireless warnings, which saved thousands of lives during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.
The text reads: (Front) "Presented to / Dr. Isaac M Cline / by the / Citizens of New Orleans / in Grateful Appreciation / of His Outstanding Service / Resulting in the Preservation / of Life and Property during / the Flood of 1927"
(Back) "New Orleans Board of Trade / New Orleans Cotton Exchange / New Orleans Assn of Commerce / New Orleans Steamship Assn"
Also a major donor of paintings to the Louisiana State Museum, Cline opened an art shop in New Orleans after his retirement.
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Tea and coffee service
Gorham & Co., c. 1860
Coin silver
1998.1.33.2.1-.5
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Coffeepot is inscribed: "Presented to Brigadier General Edward Griffen Beckwith, U.S.A. / While in command of New Orleans and the defenses of the Gulf / By the officers serving under him / 1864"
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Silver tableware
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Title
Maker, date
Medium
Acc #
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Info here about silver - need correct image showing Hyde & Goodrich, Griswold, etc…
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19th-century European porcelain used in Louisiana
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Dinner service (40 pieces)
Haviland et cie, Limoges, France
Decorated by G. Mansard, Paris
c. 1850
Porcelain
1985.1.1.1-.6
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Info here about John Slidell etc
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Folk art
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Magazine holder, Picking Cotton
Clementine Hunter, 1970s
Oil on wood
1998.076.75
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Clementine Hunter (c. 1886-1988) moved with her family to Melrose Plantation when she was fourteen. Cammie Henry, the plantation's mistress, made Melrose a haven for many artists and writers in the Cane River area. At age 54, through the encouragement of her friend Francois Mignon, Hunter began painting. She used canvas as well as everyday objects found on the plantation-from bottles to boards to roof shingles-to record the activities of daily life at Melrose.
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Wax figures, female chicken vendor and male banana vendor
Vargas family, 1920s-1930s
Beeswax, cloth, wood
1994.018.5, .9
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Mexican artist Francisco Vargas (1824-1915) perfected a technique of sculpting life-like figures covered with a fine layer of beeswax. When he moved to New Orleans in 1874, he achieved commercial success, especially with his religious figures and those inspired by local French Quarter merchants and vendors. Several generations of the family carried on the artistic tradition continued until the late 20th century.
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