Page 15 - 2020 March JOA

Masterpieces of 17th-19th Century British Design the Focus of

an Exhibition at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg
WILLIAMSBURG, VA – When the first curators at painted in London between 1590 and 1600 by an
Colonial Williamsburg began to buy objects for the unknown artist. This commanding likeness of the
collection 90 years ago, they acquired what they believed monarch was inspired by the 1575 Darnley portrait,
at the time to be appropriate for furnishing the buildings which may have been her officially sanctioned image.
being restored in the historic town. These pieces of his- Her bodice and skirt are set with pearls, sapphires,
torical importance and intrinsic beauty were assembled rubies, and other gemstones. Her signature white neck
into what we now refer to as the Colonial Revival style. ruff frames her face.
It was the vision of philanthropist John D. British Masterworks features several important exam-
Rockefeller Jr., who financed Colonial Williamsburg’s ples of English furniture including a marble-topped pier
restoration, that these objects “should become second to table made ca. 1735. Likely inspired by the work of
no collection of its kind in the country.” Nearly 50 years William Kent, a leading English architect and designer
later, research conducted by the next generation of who studied Italian art and architecture and introduced
curators indicated that Virginia colonists preferred to the Palladian style to England at the start of the 18th
furnish their houses in the “neat and plain” style rather century. In this example, the central carved mask, foliate
than the high-style English antiques that by then graced swags, scrolled legs, and fish scale motifs carved into the
Historic Area interiors. As a result, significant examples sides of the legs are all hallmarks of Kent’s design work.
of British fine art and decorative arts were removed from Thomas Chippendale suggested in his 1762 design
the Historic Area buildings and replaced with more book that chandeliers “if neatly done in Wood, and gilt
appropriate objects that have not been on public view for in burnished Gold would look better, and come much
many years. This changed now that British Masterworks: Ninety Years of cheaper” than brass or glass examples. A chandelier, made ca. 1760, is a high-
Collecting at Colonial Williamsburg has opened at the DeWitt Wallace light of the exhibition and has a history of use at Benningborough Hall in
Decorative Arts Museum, one of the Art Museums of Colonial Yorkshire, England. It exemplifies the important feature of asymmetry in
Williamsburg. Approximately 46 objects ranging from portraits to furniture rococo design that very few English objects exhibit to the fullest.
to ornate decorative arts include an extraordinary portrait of Queen Elizabeth The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg remain open during
I, an ornately inlayed jewelry box presented to Colonial Williamsburg by construction of an entirely donor-funded $41.7 million expansion. The Art
Queen Elizabeth II, an exceptional baroque chandelier and pier table likely Museums of Colonial Williamsburg include the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk
inspired by William Kent among other spectacular pieces. The exhibition Art Museum and the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum. The Art
will remain on view through December 2022. Museums of Colonial Williamsburg are located at the intersection of Francis and
Among the highlights of British Masterworks is a portrait of the Virgin South Henry Streets in Williamsburg, VA. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Queen, Elizabeth I (for whom the colony of Virginia was named) that was daily. Visit colonialwilliamsburg.org

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