Farmington, CT - In 1901, Theodate Pope and her parents, Alfred and Ada, moved into Hill-Stead, bringing with them, along with their collection of French Impressionist masterpieces, some of the furniture from their home in Cleveland. As they continued to decorate, each selected furnishings representing their interests. The resulting collection was impressive and well documented, but often did not identify the furniture maker.
When Will Neptune, Ed Quinlan and Mickey Callahan, members of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers, Connecticut Chapter, made a last-minute decision to look at the second floor while touring the museum in early 2010, they were immediately drawn to a dressing table in the Mulberry Suite’s Child’s Room. “We looked at each other and said simultaneously – Seymour,” Callahan said, referring to John and Thomas Seymour, father and son furniture makers of the late 18th – early 19th century.
“We were struck by the iconic style; the elegant, symmetrical arrangement of parts stands out immediately” Callahan added. “In my opinion, the Seymours were masters of a very intricate, elegant, and iconic style that has been a vital part of our American decorative arts heritage. Also, they have set a standard for meticulous workmanship that has been rarely matched anytime during or since the Federal period of 1780-1820.”
Callahan further explained, “This [dressing table] is simple by Seymour standards, but near the top of the line for when it was made. In its own time it was stylish furniture. It represents the same level of taste and connoisseurship for the family that bought or commissioned it from Seymour that Alfred Pope must have had in buying Monets.”
Their assertion was confirmed by furniture conservator and scholar Robert D. Mussey, who served as curator for the first major retrospective of the Seymours’ work, “Luxury and Innovation” (2003-04), at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA, and was principal author of the accompanying catalog, Furniture Masterworks of John and Thomas Seymour (Peabody Essex Museum and University Press of New England).
“The present example represents options, veneer choice and workmanship in a mid-price range, selected either by the customer or produced by Seymour among others for display and sale in his large Boston Furniture Warehouse showroom,” explained Mussey.
The discovery “came about because of Hill-Stead's willingness to affiliate with groups such as the American Society of Period Furniture Makers," commented Ed Quinlan. "I really hope people will come to see it.”
Dr. Sue Sturtevant, Hill-Stead’s Executive Director and CEO, explains, “Every day at Hill-Stead Museum seems to bring new, exciting discoveries. We are thrilled to find a rare piece of Colonial furniture that fits so well in this Colonial Revival country estate. Other Seymour collections reside at Winterthur, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA. Now furniture lovers, scholars and collectors can come to Hill-Stead Museum to examine this example of hand-crafted excellence.”
The piece is featured, through this spring, in Hill-Stead's 2nd Floor hallway exhibition space for easy viewing, after which it will be moved back to its ‘home’ in the Child’s Room.
A National Historic Landmark and an Official Project of Save America’s Treasures, Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, CT, is a member of CT’s Historic Gardens and a stop on the Connecticut Art Trail (www.arttrail.org), a partnership of fifteen world-class museums and historic sites across the state. The museum’s period rooms are open for tours Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am – 4 pm. The last tour of the day begins at 3 pm. Grounds are open to the public daily 7:30 am-5:30 pm. For tour and program information, browse www.hillstead.org or call 860.677.4787.
Hill-Stead is noted for its 1901 33,000-square-foot house filled with art and antiques. Pioneering female architect Theodate Pope Riddle designed the grand house, set on 152 hilltop acres, to showcase the Impressionist masterpieces amassed by her father, Cleveland iron industrialist Alfred A. Pope. Hill-Stead is one of the nation’s few remaining representations of early-20th-century Country Place Estates. Collections include original furnishings, paintings by Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet, James M. Whistler and Mary Cassatt, as well as numerous works on paper and Japanese woodblock prints. Stately trees, seasonal gardens, meadows, over three miles of stone walls and blazed hiking trails accent the grounds. A centerpiece of the property is the circa 1920 sunken garden designed by Beatrix Farrand, today the site of the renowned Sunken Garden Poetry Festival.
