Historic Deerfield will delve into the creative heart of Colonial America during the upcoming forum, “Balance and Beauty: Georgian Design in Early America,” November 11‱3. Beginning with a full-day of workshops that Friday, the program will continue with six lectures on Saturday and Sunday including a keynote address by Dr Adam Bowett, independent furniture scholar and author of the book Early Georgian Furniture , 1715‱740 (2009).
“The Georgian era (1714‱830) refers to the period when four kings, all named George, successively occupied the British throne,” said Amanda E. Lange, curatorial department chair and curator of historic interiors. “Even though fashions in architecture, interior design and decorative furnishings changed during that time, Georgian taste based on elegance, balance and symmetry, achieved favor in Great Britain and its colonies in North America.”
The Georgian style had its roots in Seventeenth Century England, when architects Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren designed buildings influenced by Andrea Palladio’s principals developed during the Italian Renaissance. Roman and Greek temples were being excavated in the Eighteenth Century inspired decoration, while technology and increasing prosperity allowed for more expansive and spacious architecture.
Colonists looked to England for precedents of fashion and taste. Georgian designs became popular emblems of cultural sophistication for wealthy Englishmen, and by 1700 began to reach the American colonies in the form of architectural pattern books. Those who desired to display their status, knowledge and refinement selected the Georgian style for their new homes and furnishings.
“Although unfair to call their grand Eighteenth Century Georgian homes ‘McMansions,'” said Lange, “homeowners in the American colonies certainly saw these structures as physical manifestations of their growing success.”
In addition to the keynote address, speakers will include Dr Kimberly Alexander, chief curator of Strawbery Banke; Brock Jobe, professor of American decorative arts at the Winterthur Museum and author of Harbor and Home: The Furniture of Southeastern Massachusetts, 1710-1850 (2009); Thomas Michie, the Russell B. and Andrée Beauchamp Stearns Senior Curator of decorative arts and sculpture, art of Europe, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Joshua Lane, curator of academic programs and curator of furniture at Historic Deerfield; and Janine Skerry, curator of metals at Colonial Williamsburg, and co-author of Salt-Glazed Stoneware in Early America (2009).
For information and registration, 413-775-7179 or email events@historic-deerfield.org .
