If you like watching PBS’s “Antiques Roadshow” or scouring flea markets and antique stores for treasures, then Southern Style, a decorative arts lecture series at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh, is for you! Debuting in October, Southern Style will appeal to both novice and avid decorative arts collectors.
This highly anticipated lecture series offers a rare opportunity to hear from nationally known scholars and authors — who will explore fresh insights, recent discoveries and expanded boundaries in Southern decorative arts. The series’ first lecture highlights the latest research findings on Southern furniture. Virginia silversmiths will shine in another October program, followed by a November lecture with useful tips on collecting decorative arts.
Tickets cost $10 per lecture and $25 for the three-lecture series. (Associates members: $5 per lecture, $12 for series.) To purchase tickets, go to www.ncmuseumofhistory.org or call 919-807-7835.
LECTURES
Southern Furniture Studies: Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going
Thursday, Oct. 11, 7-9 p.m.
Presented by Ronald L. Hurst, Vice President for Collections, Conservation and Museums, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Hurst will examine the history of Southern furniture studies and highlight recent trends in research and discovery. Hear from this expert with decades of experience in Southern furniture.
Hurst currently oversees the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum; the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum; the Bassett Hall estate; 67,000 examples of British and American fine, decorative and folk art displayed in the museums and 25 historic buildings; 20 million archaeological artifacts; and 15,000 architectural artifacts.
Virginia Silversmiths: The Branching of the Trade
Thursday, Oct. 25, 7-9 p.m.
Presented by Catherine B. Hollan, Decorative Arts Scholar
Drawing on her book Virginia Silversmiths, Jewelers, Clock- and Watchmakers, 1607-1860, Their Lives and Marks, Hollan will discuss the lives and careers of Virginia’s luxury metals craftsmen and their activity in North Carolina.
Hollan has been researching, writing and lecturing on American silver for 30 years. She is president of the American Silver Guild, a special interest group of collectors and curators based in the Washington, D.C., area. Hollan has worked with the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts in Old Salem on the forthcoming book Virginia Silversmiths: The Branching of the Trade. In 1994 she curated the exhibition In the Neatest Most Fashionable Manner: Three Centuries of Alexandria Silver at The Lyceum in Alexandria, Va.
Collecting Southern Paintings and Decorative Arts: Opportunities and Pitfalls in the Marketplace
Thursday, Nov. 8, 7-9 p.m.
Presented by Andrew Brunk, Senior Specialist and Partner, Brunk Auctions, Asheville
New scholarship in the field of decorative arts has shed light on Southern artists and craftsmen. Discover how this research has affected the marketplace. Brunk, former head of the American Decorative Arts department at Christie’s in New York, will present the lecture. He recently moved back to North Carolina to rejoin his father’s Asheville firm, Brunk Auctions.
At Christie’s, Brunk was responsible for authenticating, researching, cataloging, marketing and selling American furniture at the highest level. He led the American team at Christie’s in numerous record-setting sales, including several million-dollar-plus objects. Prior to his five years at Christie’s, he was a research associate at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
For more information about the N.C. Museum of History, call 919-807-7900 or go to www.ncmuseumofhistory.org.