Object Photography at the Mayville Historical Society

On August 11 I spent a beautiful sunny day at the Mayville Historical Society in Dodge County. The Society manages a complex of buildings, the largest of which is the Hollenstein Carriage Factory and House (the Hollensteins linked their business and their residence). I spent most of my time in the home, photographing a wide assortment of artifacts including a spinning wheel made by local wood turner Frank Fell, needlework by Rudolph Sauerhering, and a willow basket by Joseph Leibl. Volunteers Barbara Larsen and Lois Gadow were extremely helpful and spent the entire day with me. Board members Ann Guse and Alyce Wurtz joined us and took me to lunch.

Look for artifacts from the Mayville Historical Society in the Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database later this fall.

Posted by Emily Pfotenhauer.

Object Photography at the New Holstein Historical Society

Detail, Fretwork desk, Charles Trowbridge, Sheboygan Falls, 1911

The New Holstein Historical Society in Calumet County operates two sites, the recently restored Timm House and the Pioneer Corner Museum. At the Timm House, I photographed several examples of furniture made in the region, including a striking desk/display cabinet made by Charles Trowbridge, a dentist in Sheboygan Falls (detail above). Creating elaborate decorative fretwork like the cutouts on this desk was a popular hobby among men in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Trowbridge’s desk is by far the largest piece I’ve seen that incorporates this technique–smaller items like clocks were more typical. The style mirrors the Victorian “gingerbread” architectural ornament popular at the time. This website from a contemporary fretwork hobbyist includes a digital reproduction of an 1895 how-to guide, Fretwork and Marquetry: A practical manual of instructions in the art of fret-cutting and marquetry work, by David Denning.

Other items I photographed in New Holstein included willow baskets made by the Schildhauer family, an icebox manufactured in Fond du Lac and decorated to look like an Eastlake-style cabinet, and a large vase hand-painted with birds.

Posted by Emily Pfotenhauer.

Rare Coverlet at Elmbrook Historical Society

I recently headed over to Brookfield to meet with Marion Bruhn of the Elmbrook Historical Society. I had a specific object in mind that I wanted to see: a coverlet woven in Milwaukee in 1850. After seeing how excited I was about this very rare and important piece, Marion generously agreed to loan it for the upcoming exhibition of Wisconsin decorative arts at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Elmbrook’s coverlet will be one of 40 artifacts from collections across the state presented in The Finest in the Western Country: Wisconsin Decorative Arts 1820-1900, opening at MAM on September 11, 2008.

Unfortunately, my search for more information about the coverlet’s makers, Mealey and Leity, has so far proved unsuccessful. A John Leity is listed in the 1849 city directory for Milwaukee, but his occupation is not given. Neither weaver appears in any of the census records I’ve seen.

Posted by Emily Pfotenhauer.

Object Photography at Vesterheim

Earlier this week I visited the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa. Vesterheim’s extensive collection of artifacts related to Norwegian immigrants in America includes many examples of furniture made by Norwegians in Wisconsin, most notably the early immigrant cabinetmaker Aslak Lie of Dane County and the well-known rosemaler Per Lysne of Stoughton.

I spent two days at Vesterheim photographing furniture and other artifacts with the help of curator Tova Brandt. I also had the opportunity to visit Vesterheim’s Jacobson Farmstead, about 7 miles outside Decorah, with Deputy Director Steven Johnson. Pastor Abraham Jacobson and his family lived in the Town of Perry in the southwest corner of Dane County, Wisconsin from 1868-1878. They brought many of the furnishings from their Perry home to Iowa when they relocated to a farm near Decorah in the late 1870s. The walnut center table (above) and cane-seat rocking chair used in the Jacobson’s parlor in Perry (see image below) are now among the furnishings at the Jacobson Farmstead.

Interior of Perry Lutheran Church Parsonage, ca. 1877. Photograph by Andreas Larsen Dahl. Wisconsin Historical Society WHi-27217.

Posted by Emily Pfotenhauer.

Object Photography at the Marathon County Historical Society

After my visit to Portage, I headed further north to Wausau, where I photographed collections at the Marathon County Historical Society. I spent the day with volunteer curators Kathy Jansen and Linda Forbess, who sifted through the Society’s extensive holdings for some interesting artifacts, including a wafer iron made by a local blacksmith and several examples of crochet and other needlework. One of the most exciting things I got to see was a group of books printed by the Philosopher Press, a fine printing press operated by Helen Van Vechten and William Ellis in Wausau around the turn of the twentieth century. The Marathon Historical Society recently acquired several books produced by this important press, including a gorgeous full-color version of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (the book’s frontispiece is shown above).

While in Wausau, I also had the chance to get a sneak peak at the Yawkey House (below), which reopens to the public this weekend after an extensive restoration by the Marathon County Historical Society. The house was built in 1901 by Milwaukee architects Henry Van Ryn and Gerrit de Gellke, but remodeled in 1908 by George Maher, resulting in an unusual combination of a Classical Revival-style exterior and an Arts and Crafts interior.

Posted by Emily Pfotenhauer.

Visit to the Fort Winnebago Surgeons’ Quarters

Fort Winnebago surgeon’s quarters before restoration, Portage, Wisconsin, ca. 1919. (WHI #42905).

Earlier this week I spent the day in the town of Portage, just a short drive north of Madison. My first stop was the Fort Winnebago Surgeons’ Quarters. Originally built in 1824, this log structure was the home for medical officers and their families stationed at Fort Winnebago between 1828-1845. In the 20th century, the building took on a new life when it was acquired and restored by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

The DAR saw that many of the original furnishings–including furniture made by the soldiers at Fort Winnebago–were returned to the Surgeon’s Quarters. I’ll be returning later this summer to photograph some of this important collection for the database.

Next I followed Nancy Kreier, board member of the Portage Historical Society, to the nearby Historic Indian Agency House. Built in 1832 as the home of John Kinzie, United States Indian Agent to the Ho-Chunk Nation, the house was restored by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America. It’s furnished in the Federal style to the period of the early 1830s. An intriguing connection for me is that Polly Stone–co-founder of the Chipstone Foundation, the organization that funds and supports my work–was a member of the Colonial Dames and a leader of the restoration efforts here. It was great to finally get to see the legacy of Mrs. Stone’s work.

After that, Nancy took me to the Museum at the Portage, the museum operated by the Portage Historical Society. The Society is relatively young (established in 1996) but they have done an excellent job of interpreting and exhibiting local history. The museum is housed in a great building, too–the former home of noted American author Zona Gale.

Posted by Emily Pfotenhauer.

Object Photography at the Sauk County Historical Society

Sauk County Historical Society Museum, Baraboo, Wisconsin (WHI #29088).

I spent the afternoon in Baraboo at the Sauk County Historical Society, working with Curator Destinee Swanson and Staff Assistant Mary-Farrell Stieve to photograph artifacts. I shot a variety of things, including ceramics attributed to the Pointon Pottery, an Oneida stamped basket, and a carved lion’s head that once decorated the mantle of the Ringling mansion in Baraboo.

The Sauk County Historical Society’s museum is currently located in a Tudor-style mansion built for Baraboo banker Jacob Van Orden in 1903. The Society is renovating the former offices of the Baraboo Woolen Mill in order to create the Sauk County History Center, expected to open this fall.

Artifacts from the Sauk County Historical Society’s collections will be online in the Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database later this summer.

Posted by Emily Pfotenhauer.

Object Hunting

I am currently on the hunt for objects to include in the exhibition of Wisconsin decorative arts opening at the Milwaukee Art Museum this fall. With the help of Ron Christman (of the Antiques Center at Wales), I’ve been able to expand my search to include private collections as well as public ones. Ron has generously offered his time to introduce me to a number of individuals with impressive collections of Wisconsin furniture, ceramics, metalwork, and more. He’s helped me turn up some exciting things that will make for important additions to the show. Through the search process, I’ve also had the opportunity to meet some great people with some fascinating stories to tell about their collecting experiences.

The exhibition–The Finest in the Western Country: Wisconsin Decorative Arts 1820-1900–opens at the Milwaukee Art Museum on September 11, 2008.

Posted by Emily Pfotenhauer.

Visit to the Grant County Historical Society

Bird’s-Eye View of Lancaster, Grant County, Wis. Looking North West, 1875 (WHI #12423).

Last week I spent a morning in Lancaster at the Cunningham Museum, operated by the Grant County Historical Society. They were having a volunteer work day to ready the museum for the annual spring visits from local schools, and the place was buzzing with activity. I explored and found a number of interesting things on exhibit, including a woven shawl made in the Lancaster Woolen Mill, a handmade rocking chair with its original splint seat, and a Civil War-era fundraising quilt. Also of interest was a center table made from walnut salvaged from Wisconsin’s first capitol building (for a short time, the state’s capital was the Grant County town of Belmont–the original location is now a state historic site).

The Grant County Historical Society also operates the Mitchell-Rountree Stone Cottage in Platteville. This house, built in 1837, is furnished with many items originally belonging to the Mitchell and Rountree families, and I plan to pay a visit there sometime this summer.

Posted by Emily Pfotenhauer.

Object Photography at the Oconto County Historical Society

Last week I spent a day with a group of volunteers at the Beyer Home Museum in the town of Oconto. Constructed in 1868, the building was one of the first in the community to be made from brick. The interiors have been restored to the period of the 1890s–the time when lumber baron George Beyer transformed the home from an Italianate mansion into a Victorian showplace.

I photographed several examples of local furniture, including a small hanging corner cupboard attributed to John Van Rens (above). It’s decorated with fine marquetry and inlay, and the shelves are lined with red velvet paper. Other artifacts I documented were some examples of porcelain hand-painted by local women, three quilts, and an unusual handmade banjo decorated with half-moons.

I also got to see another object of historical import–a five foot animatronic fiberglass pickle that once served as the mascot for Oconto’s Bond Pickle Company! Too bad it’s outside of my date range for this project. The pickle reminds me a bit of “Big Dreamers,” a documentary I saw last month at the Wisconsin Film Festival about a small town in Australia and its quest to build a giant fiberglass rain boot in hopes of attracting tourists.

Posted by Emily Pfotenhauer.