DAR Museum

11/07/2023

Have you ever wanted to sew something, but didn’t know how to start?
In the mid-19th century, women could rely on books like Mrs. Pullen’s The Lady’s Manual of Fancy Work which contained patterns, instructions and advice for needlework, knitting, crocheting, and other sewing projects. The unfinished needlework slipper in the center of this photo was made from a pattern like one that appears in Mrs. Pullen’s book, printed on the right. The unfinished slipper is one of a pair in the DAR Museum collection.

11/03/2023

In 1785, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "I am an enthusiast on the subject of the arts...its object is to improve the taste of my countrymen, to increase their reputation." In Jefferson's America, not only could art improve one's reputation, but it could also transmit their status to others. The viewers of Ralph Izard's portrait miniature would have understood the stature of the wearer, as well as Izard, by the expensive nature of this art form and the well-dressed manner of the subject.

11/01/2023

This engraving was created in 1793 by William Richardson, after Simon de Passe. The Passe portrait is the sole surviving portrait of Pocahontas from her lifetime. During her stay in England from 1616 to 1617, the original print was produced.
Pocahontas (also known as Matoaka, and later Rebecca) is depicted wearing the elegant attire of an English courtier, complete with a tall hat, lace collar, pearl earring, and ostrich feather fan. Her appearance reflects her presentation in London as an "Indian Princess". The print has served as the inspiration for numerous later depictions of Pocahontas as her fame grew.

10/29/2023

How did descendants of American loyalists reconcile their family's politics with their own identities?

Join MaryKate Smolenski to learn about the story of Martha Codman Karolik, a Boston Brahmin who inherited a portrait of her loyalist ancestor, Katherine Greene Amory. Karolik denied her family's loyalism and published a journal that overlooked the presence of loyalists in the Revolutionary era. She will explore how Karolik's story is entangled in the history of race, gender, nationalism, and memory.
Register now for the symposium: https://FramingIdentitySymposium.eventbrite.com



Image: Portrait of Mrs. John Amory (Katherine Greene), c. 1763, John Singleton Copley, Oil on Canvas, 126.68 x 101.6 cm (49 7/8 x 40 in.), The M. and M. Karolik Collection of Eighteenth-Century American Arts, 37.36, Image Courtesy of the MFA, Boston

10/24/2023

Did you know the collections staff inventories all 31 period rooms and the galleries every year?
We take lists of objects to each location and check each item off. That is roughly 3745 objects we check each year. Some rooms take longer than others.
Can you guess which period room has the most objects? Here’s a hint: the name has two words, and it’s a lot of fun!

10/22/2023

Picturing the Fortens: A Look at the Material World of a Free Black Family in 19th Century Philadelphia

Join us to learn about the Fortens, a prominent free Black family in Philadelphia during the 19th century. Matthew Skic will explore painted and photographic portraits of three generations of the Forten family to better understand their material world. He will also discuss the challenges and limitations of researching the Fortens, especially the fact that only one photograph of one of the nine children of James Forten and Charlotte Vandine Forten is known to survive.



Register now for the symposium: https://FramingIdentitySymposium.eventbrite.com

Image: This photograph shows abolitionist Charlotte Vandine Forten in the 1860s. She died in 1884 at the age of 99. Courtesy of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University Archives, Howard University, Washington DC

10/21/2023

During the 19th century, westward expansion brought increased interest in and conflict with Native Americans. American attitudes towards Native Americans were shaped by stories and art. In the 19th century, the US War Department commissioned portraits of Native American delegations to Washington. Interest in these paintings was so high that the original paintings were reproduced as prints for mass consumption in a book, History of the Indian Tribes of North America. Painted by Charles Bird King, these subjects were posed in ways that were familiar to Bird and his white audience. This portrait resembles the mother and child paintings so prevalent in European art. One contemporary reviewer of the book even called the portrait the “Indian Madonna.” However, behind this pleasing portrait is a dark truth that reveals a gap between how Native Americans were portrayed and the violent exploitation they experienced in the 19th century.

The adult in this portrait is an Osage woman named Mohongo, also known as Sacred Sun. The Osages controlled a large region that included what is now Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the Osages were forced to cede most of their territory to the US through a series of treaties. In 1827, Mohongo and her husband were among a group of several Osages who were targeted by a con man named David Delauney, who claimed to be a representative of the US government and invited them on an official trip to Washington, D.C. The group boarded a ship in New Orleans and, to their surprise, landed in France, where Delauney planned to make them performers in his wild west show. At first, the group drew great interest in Europe and even met royalty. However, when their popularity waned, Delauney abandoned them in Paris. The Osages struggled to survive on their own and during this time, Mohongo gave birth to a child.

Eventually, the group caught the attention of the Marquis de Lafayette, who paid for them to travel back to America. On the trip, Mohongo’s husband and several others died of smallpox. The group landed in Virginia, and soon after, Thomas McKenney, the US Superintendent of Indian Affairs, brought them to DC in 1830. There, Mohongo was given a peace medal by President Andrew Jackson and Charles Bird King painted this portrait of her before she returned to the Osage Nation. That very same year, President Jackson enacted the Indian Removal Act, which forced the Cherokee and other southeastern tribes to move onto land that had been taken from the Osages. The Osage Nation moved to its current reservation in Oklahoma in 1872. In the early twentieth century, oil was discovered on the reservation, leading to a series of murders that are investigated in David Grann’s book, Killers of the Flower Moon, which is coming to theaters this month as a film adaptation by Martin Scorsese.

10/20/2023

Ruth Henshaw Bascom offered her talents as an artist to paint watercolor portraits on paper. This medium made owning a copy of one's likeness more affordable, compared to the more traditional and expensive portrait done in oil paints on canvas. Bascom, a self-taught artist, is estimated to have produced nearly 2,000 likenesses in her lifetime, making portraiture accessible to more people than was previously available in the 18th century.

10/18/2023

Though the transfer-printed decoration on this plate is titled “The Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road” the actual train shows that of the Hetton Colliery Railway in England which opened in 1822 to transport coal from mines to the town of Sutherland. The engineer tends to the boiler while his trusted fireman monitors the fire in the firebox. A busy pastoral scene, look for another train. The transfer printed decoration is based upon a woodcut originally published in “The American Farmer” in 1826. This was made to commemorate the establishment of the first railroad in the United States, the B&O which opened in 1830. Made in Staffordshire, England by Enoch Wood & Sons between 1831 and 1836. DAR Museum object #3617

10/17/2023

This is Frank! Say "hi," Frank!
..

In a former life, Frank was a Scottish ram, most likely a regimental mascot whose head was preserved after his death to commemorate his faithful service. A jeweled s***f box was mounted in his forehead, decorative thistle-like tips were added to his horns, and he was mounted on wheels to make it easier to roll the s***fbox at social gatherings. Frank was turned into a s***f box sometime between 1860 and 1890, and he came to the museum in 2002. As preservation chemicals often contained poisons like arsenic, Frank is handled with great care.

Come see Frank and enjoy our other seasonal offerings on display through October 31st! And be sure to check out our after hours Halloween event on October 26th! See dar.org/museum/programs-events for details! ***f ***fbox

10/15/2023

A Fashionable Gentleman in Miniature

Mary Way's "Gentleman" is a stunning example of a dressed miniature, a unique style of painting that was popular in Connecticut in the early republic. The portrait depicts a fashionable male sitter in the height of 1790s fashion. Way's meticulous attention to detail and use of delicate fabrics make this miniature a work of art to behold.
Join Dr. Josephine Rodgers to learn more about this fascinating work of art and its creator!
Register now for the symposium!
https://FramingIdentitySymposium.eventbrite.com



Image: Yale University Art Gallery, Lelia A. and John Hill Morgan, B.A. 1893, LL.B. 1896, M.A. (Hon.) 1929, Collection, 1940.532

10/14/2023

Don’t miss this opportunity to see a display of the Museum’s stoneware collection in the Study Gallery. Some of the objects have never been on display before. The mini exhibit features vessels made of stoneware from New England all the way to Texas, and includes forms as varied as jugs, crocks, butter churns, flasks and pitchers. Ornamentation from the well-known cobalt flourishes to iron and kaolin slip decoration is represented. You can see these objects until March of 2024.

10/13/2023

Education for girls and boys as the path forward for future generations became a dominant theme in neo-classical America. While family connections remained important, more progressive approaches to family planning and childbearing placed greater emphasis on education and a more fulfilling future. Books, like the one seen here in Clara Jane Gross's portrait, represented that shift and were especially frequent in likenesses of children.

10/10/2023

Save your pennies! This 19th century mechanical bank made by the J & E Stevens Company of Cromwell, Connecticut helped children do just that. In the 19th century John and Elisha Stevens produced a wide range of cast iron mechanical banks, including this Speaking Dog bank made in 1881. When a coin is placed on the plate held by the girl and the thumb piece on the base is pressed down, the girl's arm moves quickly and deposits the coin through a trap door in the bench. At the same time the dog opens and closes his mouth as if speaking and also wags his tail. Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSKZnFL6-yk

10/08/2023

Did you know that nineteenth-century vision aids were once considered fashionable accessories?

In this symposium session, Emily Harvey will dispel the myth of their universal unpopularity and explore how attitudes towards women wearing vision aids changed over time. Using portraits and photographs, etiquette guides, and popular magazines, Emily Harvey will show how women exercised agency in choosing how they wore and styled their vision aids.

Join us to learn more about the history of vision aids and women's self-fashioning in nineteenth-century America.

Image: Jean-Joseph Vaudechamp, Mrs. Antoine Julien Meffre-Rouzan, 1839, Oil on Canvas, 116.8 x 90.2 cm, Louisiana State Museum, 11427.2.



Register here: https://FramingIdentitySymposium.eventbrite.com

10/08/2023

The Museum and the Daughters of the American Revolution National Headquarters will be closed on Monday for the holiday.

10/07/2023

This year’s theme will explore the concept of identity and how it is conveyed as introduced in the DAR Museum’s exhibit, Pleasing Truths: Power and Portraits in the American Home. This exhibition takes a deeper dive into the context and symbolism of early portraits to better understand the transmission of ideas and their impact on people over time. In-person and Virtual options available.

Check out the Symposium page for a list of topics and speakers: https://www.dar.org/museum/pleasing-truths-framing-identity-symposium

The DAR Museum's Symposium is based on the current exhibition of "Pleasing Truths: Power and Portraits in the American Home

10/06/2023

Since the 16th century, Europeans have depicted Native Americans in a traditional European manner. In the 19th century, the War Department commissioned portraits of Native American delegations, such as Mo-Hon-Go, to Washington. Painted by Charles Bird King, these subjects were posed in ways that were familiar to Bird and his white audience. Interest in these paintings was so high that the original paintings were reproduced as prints for mass consumption.

10/05/2023

It was a huge honor to dress (and 3D scan) this gown (with beaded shoes and jewelry) worn by Marian Anderson to concerts in the 1930s, currently on loan to the Daughters of the American Revolution National Headquarters from Marian Anderson Historical Society, hosted in the DAR Museum Study Gallery from October 2 – February 15, 2024.

Many people are aware of the history when Marian Anderson was not allowed to sing in DAR Constitution Hall in 1939 and she subsequently sang on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to more than 75,000 people. Not as many people are aware that DAR invited Marian Anderson to sing in Constitution Hall a few years later in 1943, and that she went on to sing in Constitution Hall many times after that, including the launch of her farewell tour in 1964.

In 1939 Marian Anderson, a Black woman, was one of the most famous opera singers in the United States, popular among white and Black Americans. Howard University was planning a D.C. concert featuring Anderson, but needed to find a venue large enough to accommodate her popularity. DAR Constitution Hall was the largest concert venue in the District of Columbia but it had a “white artist only” policy. The request for Anderson to perform in the Hall was denied by the DAR. Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior at the time, offered up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as a powerful replacement venue.

Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior at the time, offered up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as a powerful replacement venue.

This 25-minute concert in the freezing cold became an iconic image of the Civil Rights Movement. Marian Anderson was intensely embarrassed by the situation, but knew it was important: "I could not run away from this situation. If I had anything to offer, I would have to do so now." Secretary Ickes said, "In this great auditorium under the sky, all of us are free. Genius, like justice, is blind. Genius draws no color lines.”

In 1943 the DAR allowed Anderson to perform in Constitution Hall for a war-benefit concert, which Anderson agreed to on the condition that the audience would be integrated. Constitution Hall ended its "white artists only" policy in 1952. On October 24, 1964, Marian Anderson kicked off her retirement tour at Constitution Hall. There is a Vinyl record of this concert on display with the gown.

Today, the DAR maintains a close relationship with the National Marian Anderson Museum and the legacy of Marian Anderson. The DAR has contributed over $200,000 to scholarships in Marian Anderson’s name, donated $10,000 for roof repairs to her museum, and will have some of her concert items on display in the DAR Museum and Constitution Hall. The DAR maintains several sections of their website dedicated to the complete history of the discriminatory act against Marian Anderson, including a vast database of primary sources from 1939 - they can be found at: www.dar.org/MarianAnderson

10/04/2023

New to our collection is this 17th-century painting depicting the Greek tragedy of Hero and Leander. According to Greek mythology, Hero was a priestess to Aphrodite (goddess of love, lust, procreation, beauty, pleasure, and passion). She lived in the Tower of Sestos, on the European side of the Hellespont. Leander lived across the strait in Abydo and fell in love with Hero. Because of her role as a priestess, Hero is not allowed to have a relationship, but Leander convinces her to meet in secret. Hero would light a lamp every night for Leander, to guide him as he swam across the strait to spend time with her. Their secret love affair lasted throughout the summer when weather conditions best permitted Leander’s swims. However, when winter came the couple agreed not to meet again until the weather was more favorable. One winter night, Leander sees the torch in Hero’s tower lit and attempts to swim across the stormy strait. A strong wind blows out the light and Leander loses his way. He is found, dead on the shore the next morning. When Hero sees his dead body, she throws herself off her tower so as to join him in death. Their bodies are found, “in an embrace,” and they are laid to rest in a lover’s tomb.
This large-scale painting now graces the wall in the Indiana period room.

10/03/2023

The DAR Museum and NSDAR Headquarters will be closed in the morning on Wednesday, October 4 for a staff appreciation event. The building will reopen at 11am on Wednesday, October 4

10/02/2023

What would you do with a piece of limestone from the dungeon where Joan of Arc was imprisoned before being burned at the stake for heresy and witchcraft?
When the dungeon in Rouen, France was torn down in the early 20th century, the Joan of Arc Statue Committee in New York City bought 229 stones for a statue to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the birth of this young girl whose spiritual visions inspired her to help liberate France from England during the Hundred Years’ War. Some of these stones were used for the base of the bronze Joan of Arc statue made by Anna Hyatt Huntington, but a few found their way into museum collections. The DAR Museum and the Smithsonian each have one of these rocks.

10/01/2023

Lauren Brincat will explore the entangled stories of the Lloyd and Hammon families across geographies and generations of enslavement. Learn how painted portraits were used to embody the wealth of generations, and how this prosperity was often built on the backs of enslaved people. Discover how enslaved individuals, including Jupiter Hammon's family, found ways to maintain connections and cultural traditions despite the dehumanizing system of chattel slavery.

Register now for the symposium!
https://FramingIdentitySymposium.eventbrite.com



Image: John Mare (1739–ca. 1803) after John Wollaston (active ca. 1742–1775). Henry Lloyd I (1711-1763), 1767. Oil on canvas, 55 x 44 in. (framed). Preservation Long Island, gift of Orme Wilson III and Elsie Wilson Thompson in memory of Alice Borland Wilson, 2020.5.1

09/29/2023

Hannah Morgan Stillman's expensive dress serves two purposes in her portrait. First, it distinguishes her as the matron of an affluent household. The expensive nature of the fabrics in this painting places her in Boston's upper class. Secondly, the lack of fertility symbolism suggests that she is more of a caregiver and no longer a child-bearer. This we know to be true because, by 1789, Hannah bore 14 children and in the next decade would establish the Boston Female Asylum, later the Boston Society for the Care of Girls.

09/26/2023

Have you gotten your tickets yet for the Trivia Night DAR Museum ?!
Join us on Thursday for some after hours fun!

09/25/2023

Dress & Drinks: September 27th @ 7pm East, join the Costume Society of America as they sit down (virtually) with Alden O'Brien, Curator of Textiles at the DAR Museum. Alden has been at the DAR Museum since 1990 (!) and will be debuting her next exhibit in March of 2024 - Sewn in America: Making, Meaning, and Memory.

This is a free event, but be sure to register at the link below!

This Dress and Drinks shares the recipe the Autumn Gin Rickey, invented in the 1890s (just like the DAR) and reported by some as the most popular drink of Washington, D.C. Or a non-alcoholic Maple Apple Cider. Be sure to come by and support Alden as we prepare for an exciting year of sewing history!

Alden O’Brien received her BA in Art History from Barnard College and her MA in Museum Studies in Costume & Textiles from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. She has been at the DAR Museum since 1990, and has curated numerous exhibits on costume, toys, and quilts. Her most recent...

09/24/2023

Some work they are doing at the The Conservation Center (not on our stuff, but interesting just the same) - there are some fascinating before and afters!

Conserving four corroded antique swords

09/23/2023

We can find pictures of rabbits on samplers, quilts, plates and even children’s furniture in the DAR Museum collection, but we don’t have many 3-dimensional rabbits. This little brass rabbit is not just decorative, it’s also a functional tape measure too. The tape extends from his stomach and his tail serves as the winder to retract the tape.

09/22/2023

Susanna Warner Howe Robinson would have been very familiar with the evolving United States. As the daughter of General Jonathan Warner, who commanded patriot forces in New England, Susanna would have heard discussions of independence at a young age. By the time she reached adulthood, her native Massachusetts was no longer under British rule. During the 19th century, Susanna would have been instrumental in conversations on the changes taking place in the new nation because of her marriage to another patriotic family that led her to become the First Lady of Vermont.

09/20/2023

This chandelier was made in Birmingham, England between 1810 and 1820 out of brass, glass and steel. Instead of candles this chandelier is equipped with Argand oil burners to provide light. The central urn is filled with oil which flows through the connecting tubes to the burners. The burners are cylindrical whose hollow center creates a draft allowing the flame to burn brighter and more efficiently than candles. The brightness can be adjusted by turning the glass chimney collars (picture 2). The glass dish below is cut with a starburst pattern and helps enhance reflective light. Whale oil or spermaceti was the fuel of choice because it didn’t smell or smoke. Vegetable oils like colza offered a cheaper alternative. The chandelier will be installed in the Alabama period room early next year.

09/18/2023

Good morning!
Have you had a cup of coffee yet?
This coffee mill got many folks ready to start their day. According to the donor it belonged to the family of Colonel Zackquil Morgan, the founder of Morgantown, West Virginia. After grinding the roasted coffee beans in the hopper they fell into the drawer. Open the drawer and there is your ground coffee, ready to be perked.
Do you grind your coffee with a hand-crank mill like this or do you have an electric grinder?

09/16/2023

How much did it cost to buy a Chinese porcelain tea set in the early 19th century? Since Mercy Wood Tyler, a schoolteacher in Boxford, Massachusetts, saved the original bill of sale dated September 18, 1814, we know that her tea set cost $13.00 plus $5.74 in duties and freight charges as it passed through Amsterdam, New York and Boston. (A schoolteacher could make about $700 to $1400 a year depending on location and experience)

09/15/2023

Captain Christopher Marshall chose to portray himself in his 10th Massachusetts Regiment uniform, not in civilian attire. The younger Marshall's calm, while dark clouds loom behind him, suggests his ability to overcome situations outside of his control. Additionally, his rank of captain is centrally displayed to an audience who would have been familiar with his service during the American Revolution.

09/14/2023

Have you gotten tickets for the Paint Brunch on September 23?
Join us for breakfast catered by B.Lin Catering and painting instruction by The Art of Marcia Furman with bottomless mimosas! Tickets are $25. Get your tickets now!
https://PaintBrunchSept2023.eventbrite.com