New Ways to Read Old

Objects

Ware Petznick, PhD

Executive Director

The Shaker Historical Society

Shaker Heights, OH

Shakerhistory.org

Learning new languages

The Shaker Historical Society is supported in part by the residents of Cuyahoga

County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.

A Place to Sit

Phillipe Starck

Louis Ghost Chair

http://www.kartell.com/gb/small-armchair_cod20000112el.html

Louis XVI style

armchair

PRACTICALLY SPEAKING

CHAIRS

Shaker, Klismos, Carver, Office, Garden, Throne,

Caqueteuse, Lolling, Brander back…

We must have a

multidisciplinary

approach.

OBSERVATION

COMPARISON

PROVENANCE

CONTEXT

PERSPECTIVE

ASSOCIATION

PRESERVATION

AESTHETICS

FUNCTION

ORIGIN

USES

ANALYSIS

WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Every object holds different

meanings for different people, and

how we decode or translate the

many layers of meaning that an

object “says” varies depending on

culture, previous experience and

prior knowledge.

Old fashioned vs Timeless Comfortable then… but now?

CONTENT CONNECTIONS

Do windsor chairs evoke the coffee houses of

London, or the front porches of Southern

Plantation owners?

CONTEXT

Monroe County furniture maker, Mark Soukup,

of Gap Mills, was commissioned to make 32

Windsor Chairs for display and use at

Washington’s Mount Vernon on the Potomac…

in 2013.

Mountain Messenger, Jan 14, 2014. http://mountainmessenger.com/commission-george-washingtons-mount-vernon/

Inventory

might

mislead

future

historians

who rely

solely on

documents

STRATIFICATION

18th century form with

ancient Egyptian technology

Functional use

Paint evidence/layers

Wear patterns

All this we could read if we

had more than a photo. We

need the object to read it.

In situ?

Disturbed?

Function

Phillipe Starck

Louis Ghost Chair http://www.kartell.com/gb/small-armchair_cod20000112el.html

Windsor

Potty Chair

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/29075204_antique-windsor-potty-chair 10

ORIGINATION

An 18th Century Windsor

would have been a garden

chair, often painted to help

protect it from the elements.

Date

Place

Culture

Use…

Sources to add to your windsor

chair literacy… paintings &

gardens

The James Family

Arthur Devis (1712-1787),

Tate London

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arthur_Devis_13.jpg

INTERTECTONALITY

How does this modern

version, used for a teddy

bear, relate to other chairs?

Child’s Chair?

An Apprentice Piece?

Intended for doll’s?

Frame of Reference

Royal Wedding scene,

Stanley Donan director,

EMPATHETIC insights/suppositions

Is it a part of the Colonial Revival spirit

that prompted early 20th century

immigrants to have windsor chairs and

spinning wheels in their homes – regardless

if it was a part of their heritage or not?

Is it old-fashioned?

Did the owner seek to simply coordinate

the chair to coordinate with her inherited

antiques?

Did the maker intend to deceive?

“Authentic Colonial America”

Auntie Mame,

Morton DeCosta Director, 1958.

Authenticity

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/sackbac

k-windsor-chair-kit.aspx

Wallace Nutting

label, 1915

http://t4ngo.com/wp-

content/uploads/2013/12/Wallace-Nutting-

Furniture.jpg

Windsor Kit,

2015

The growth in popularity is proportional to the number of fakes, imitations and

reproductions

ANALOGOUS

MACROSTRUCTURE

Is it Patriotic to have a Windsor?

Does American avarice guide

its manufacture in China?

Would all races want a Windsor chair?

Was it the original “flat pack” a’ la IKEA?

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

The American Windsor

Cosby Show still, 1980s

Father of the Bride,

Charles Shyer, 1991

New technology and science can

help us read objects.

Siri doesn’t understand all accents.

We cannot learn all aspects of a

language now, hence needing to

preserve objects for future

interpretation when new technology

can help us “translate” elements of

objects we do not understand now.

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/292-what-you-say-will-be-searched-why-recognition-systems-don-t-

recognize-accents-and-more-1.3211777/here-s-why-your-phone-can-t-understand-your-accent-

1.3222569

WHY DON’T YOU

UNDERSTAND ME?

Robert Burns Nursing Chair

with Plaque, Robert Burns

Birthplace Museum,

Scotland https://burnsmuseum.wordpress.com/2015/03/

SOURCES

Pattern Books Billheads/Catalogues Journals

Slideshare.net/staforlife

CONCLUSION Deduce,

Lewis, I only

deduce.