The Meaning of Things: Historic New England’s Collections           

Celebrating its centennial year, Historic New England is the country’s oldest and largest regional heritage organization, serving as a national model for preserving and showcasing buildings, landscapes, and collections. Since its founding as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities in 1910, Historic New England has collected artifacts along with family narratives, related photographs, and histories of use. Thanks to this rich documentation, these materials resonate with meaning, providing evidence of the way the objects with which we surround ourselves reflect who we are and where we came from. Nancy Carlisle will single out examples that tell surprising tales of New Englanders– entrepreneurs and ne’er-do-wells, mariners and artists, men and women, old and young.

Nancy Carlisle, a curator at Historic New England for more than twenty years, has written and lectured widely on the material culture of domestic life from the seventeenth to the twenty-first century. She is the author of Cherished Possessions: A New England Legacy, which tells the stories of more than 175 objects (and their owners) from Historic New England’s collections. She is also the co-author of the recently published America’s Kitchens. A graduate of the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture, Nancy began her career as Curator of Prints and Photographs at the Atwater Kent Museum, the city history museum of Philadelphia

John and Samuel Dunlap were cabinetmakers working in southern New Hampshire in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Their furniture, now highly prized for its distinctive design, construction, and beauty, is unlike anything that was being produced by tradesmen in urban centers such as Boston and Portsmouth, only a few miles away. Philip Zea will examine the interplay between cultural traditions and “place” in the woodworking of the Dunlaps, as illustrated by their craftsmanship.

Phil Zea has been affiliated with Historic Deerfield for twenty-five years, serving as Curator, Deputy Director, and President. He also spent several years as V.P. of Museums & Collections at Historic New England (S.P.N.E.A.) and prior to that, was Curator of Furniture at Colonial Williamsburg. A native of New Hampshire and a graduate of the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture, Phil has lectured and consulted widely. He is the author of The Dunlap Cabinetmakers: A Tradition in Craftsmanship, and Useful Improvements, Innumerable Temptations: Pursuing Refinement in Rural New England, 1750-1850. Last year Phil was the recipient of the 8th annual Antiques Dealers’ Association Award of Merit

Located on Hancock St. opposite the grounds of Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth’s South End, the Joshua Wentworth House has led an interesting life. Linda Miller will present a photographic study of the house’s history, from its beginnings as a smaller center chimney building in the early eighteenth century to the addition of a “new” house surrounding the original in the latter half of the century. Documented by the Historic American Building Surveys, the Wentworth house was given to Strawbery Banke in the twentieth century and moved to its present location. In great need of attention, the house which is now privately owned, recently underwent an extensive exterior and interior restoration. Ms. Miller will provide us with a detailed “insider’s” look at the work that has brought this historic architectural treasure into the twenty-first century.

Linda Miller has been working in the architectural field for thirty years, focusing on restoration and additions to old buildings from the seventeenth century to the Victorian era, mainly in the New England area.

Jon and Keith Dodge have many years of experience in construction and restoration; their combined skills include complete woodworking, framing and “in kind” repairs to old buildings. Past projects have been in the areas of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine

With a background in art history and painting, Joan Brownstein, noted folk art dealer, is uniquely qualified to discuss folk art’s relationship to academic art and provide us with greater insight into folk artists themselves. Her approach attempts to understand the artist’s background, training, and customers, as well as the economic, social and political influences of their time. Joan will be comparing early English and French portraits with American academic and folk portraits, including those painted in the greater Piscataqua area.

Joan Brownstein received her BFA in painting from Cornell University and her MA in Fine Arts from Hunter College, New York. She has taught, worked in arts administration, and written extensively. An abstract artist in her own right, her paintings can be found in many public and private collections. As a dealer since 1980, Joan specializes in finding, researching, and selling New England folk paintings of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. She exhibits regularly at major antique shows throughout the Northeast.

In July 1934, the Piscataqua Garden Club hosted a Garden Club of America tour, opening thirty-three properties to hundreds of fellow gardeners. Images by local photographers, Marvin Breckinridge and John Mead Howells, were used in the tour guidebook, while other images in publications of the day documented and idealized the tour landscapes. Through these photographs, the Wetzels will provide a view of early twentieth century garden culture, exploring classic grounds components such as paths and borders, plantings of phlox and lilies, and pergolas and outdoor rooms. They will also feature cameos of selected properties, comparing them “then and now,” as five of the gardens are currently tended by the speakers.

Gary Wetzel began his landscape work at Historic New England’s Coffin House in 1979 and has served as Piscataqua Landscape Manager since 1981. Working among such treasures as the 200 year old terraces of the Rundlet-May House, the Barrett sugar maple allee, and the rose arbor on the grounds of Langdon House, Gary’s current favorite is the on-going restoration of the landscape at Hamilton House.

Nancy Wetzel is a gardener whose practice includes the garden of a nineteenth century writer’s house, now a museum; an eighteenth century farm under conservation; and a colonial property with a flower garden design inspired by a Chinese puzzle. Nancy is also a writer and speaker specializing in garden history.

Lectures Are Free For Society Members And $10.00 Each For The General Public
All Lectures Take Place At Strawbery Banke Museum’s Tyco Visitor Center, Just Off Of Hancock Street in Portsmouth, NH.
Lectures Start At 5:30 PM With Wine & Cheese Served Before Each Lecture