In the 1500s, Spaniards introduced domesticated turkeys from the Americas to the world. In other countries, the bird was valued for its exotic appearance as well as its tasty meat. Here, turkeys would come to represent the American Thanksgiving.
This ceramic tureen in the form of a turkey was created in France in the mid-1700s at the Strasbourg factory. (Others were made in Germany and elsewhere.) Though it is tempting to assume it was intended specifically for serving a stew or soup made from turkey, it probably was used to contain a range of tempting hot foods.
Tureens in naturalistic animal and vegetable shapes were popular elements of fashionable table settings. Such a tureen would have been at home on a table with dishes shaped like cabbages or cauliflowers and dinner plates painted with designs inspired by nature. In some cases, moss, potted plants, or flowers helped to complete the theatrical quality of the dinner display.
Winterthur curator Leslie Grigsby has long embraced the idea of bringing nature to her dinner table. For special meals, she often creates a centerpiece by arranging her favorite ceramic animal figures among greenery and fall leaves gathered from outside her home.
Leslie B. Grigsby, senior curator of ceramics and glass
Ceramic turkey tureen, Strasbourg factory, France, 1750-1760
“Autumn and apple-picking are always paired thoughts in my mind, and the squared form of this basket when made by tinsmiths was used for apples, but this one is made from translucent cattle horn. The S-curved sides are engraved and pierced with the American national eagle and stars surrounded by leaves and blooming flowers very much in the manner of lady’s high back combs of the 1830s. I knew the hair comb industry was prolific, but horn baskets are unusual survivors. When I found this one in an antique shop, it was a natural fit for the collection. With a little help from Winterthur’s conservators to make new laces and stabilize the sides, it is now ready for display.”
Ann Wagner, senior curator
Basket, probably made in Rhode Island or Massachusetts, ca. 1830-50
Museum purchase with funds drawn from the Centenary Fund, 2016.0020
A signature installation at Winterthur further explores historic craft, trade, and lifeways
A reinstallation of With Hammer in Hand: A Story of American Craft at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library refreshes and updates the story of the Dominy family, skilled craftsmen who worked and traded in East Hampton, Long Island, in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
The updated exhibition presents a more detailed, nuanced view of the Dominys as vital members of a vibrant, diverse community, which included English colonists, members of the Shinnecock and Montaukett communities, enslaved people, and free people of color, who earned their living from offshore fishing and farming.
“The Dominys reflected and helped shape the special regional identity of their community through furniture, clocks, and other objects that may appear to our eyes as common, simple, and practical, but they are beautifully designed and executed,” said Josh Lane, the Lois F. and Henry S. McNeil Curator of Furniture at Winterthur. “We want visitors to understand the Dominy craftsmen as members of a multigenerational family living under one roof with their wives and children and apprentices, and as a vital part of their community where everyone turned to them for all sorts of woodworking and small metalsmithing needs.”
Three generations of the family—Nathaniel Dominy IV (1737–1812), Nathaniel Dominy V (1770–1852), and Felix Dominy (1800–1868)—worked in the shops from the mid-18th century through about 1840. In the patchwork of communities that made up eastern Long Island, they built houses, barns, and windmills; supplied furniture, clocks, and coffins; repaired hay rakes, wagon wheels, and spinning wheels; mended watches; and helped maintain civic buildings such as schoolhouses.
With Hammer in Hand displays nearly all the contents of the Dominys’ woodworking, clock making, and watch repair shops—including lathes, workbenches, and more than 1,000 hand tools. It also contains examples of furniture and tall clocks as well as extensive shop records and family papers.
In addition, it features short video interviews with Charles F. Hummel, curator emeritus at Winterthur and the preeminent scholar of the Dominys, outlining how the collection survived and how it came to Winterthur as well as video excerpts on how the collection continues to intrigue and inspire craftspeople. A new floor-to-ceiling mural of a saltwater marsh situates the Dominys in the seaside community of their time.
Together, the tools, shop products, and written records tell a more complete story about the practices and roles of skilled craftsmen in preindustrial America than any other single grouping of artifacts and documents that have survived from this period.
With Hammer in Hand: A Story of American Craft is a permanent exhibition at Winterthur and is included as part of general admission.
ABOUT WINTERTHUR MUSEUM, GARDEN & LIBRARY
Winterthur—known worldwide for its preeminent collection of American decorative arts, naturalistic garden, and research library for the study of American art and material culture— offers a variety of tours, exhibitions, programs, and activities throughout the year. Admission includes the Winterthur Garden and galleries.
Winterthur, located on Route 52, six miles northwest of Wilmington, Delaware, and five miles south of U.S. Route 1, is closed on Mondays (except during Yuletide) and on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Museum hours are 10:00 am–5:00 pm, Tuesday–Sunday. $20 for adults; $18 for students and seniors; $6 for ages 2–11. Memberships are available for free and discounted admission. Winterthur is committed to accessible programming for all. For information, including special services, call 800.448.3883, 302.888.4600, or TTY 302.888.4907, or visit winterthur.org.
For the most updated information about Covid safety protocols, visit winterthur.org/faq.
Masquerading as snowflakes: The tiny white flowers of the garland spiraea (Spiraea x arguta) in the Sundial Garden look like a flurry of snowflakes among their colored leaves.
Another azalea show: Many of the azaleas are displaying lovely colored leaves – yellows, chartreuse, bronzes, purples, and some bright red. In particular, the ‘Firefly’ azalea (Rhododendron ‘Firefly’ Kurume hybrid azalea) along Garden Lane on the edge of Enchanted Woods is a show of brilliant reds.
Pretend it’s spring:
The forsythias are blooming on the field edge of Azalea Woods (Forsythia species) and on Sycamore Hill (Forsythia ‘Winterthur’).
In Enchanted Woods, several azaleas (Rhododendron ‘Alight’) are blooming.
Along the Winterhazel Walk, several Korean rhododendrons (Rhododendron mucronulatum) are blooming.
In Azalea Woods, 2 pink tree rhododendrons (Rhododendron hybrid Winterthur Dexter #55) are blooming.
ENTRANCE DRIVE AND PARKING AREA
pb Abelia x grandiflora (Glossy abelia – rosy-bronze bracts)
ber Catalpa species (Catalpa – long, bean-like green to brown seed pods)
Explore this place of beauty, history, and learning! Winterthur offers special rates for groups of 15 or more people. We are happy to work with you to customize your visit. To book your tour, please call 800.448.3883 or email grouptours@winterthur.org
Admission includes: a self-guided tour of elegantly furnished rooms in which Henry Francis du Pont entertained his family and friends in grand style; a narrated tram tour* through the 60-acre garden and its succession of show-stopping blooms; the Campbell Collection of Soup Tureens; exhibitions; and access to Winterthur’s world-class research library. Please plan to spend about three hours.
Winterthur has on-site dining in the Visitor Center Cafeteria. Boxed lunches are available by pre-order (see below) or your group may go through the line.
Group Rates
A minimum of 15 visitors are required per group to receive the General Admission group rate of $22 ($26 during Yuletide at Winterthur). Receive two complimentary tickets for 15 paid admissions.
No deposit is required. Payment in full is due one week prior to tour date. Group Tours are available by advance reservation only. We recommend booking your group tour at least four to six weeks prior to your desired tour date.
*March through December, weather permitting. Trams are shared with the general public and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Guided Garden Walks
Discover horticultural secrets on guided garden walks. $50 per group, optional add-on.
Boxed Lunches
Select Two
$17.50 per box
Roasted turkey with applewood smoked bacon, tomato, and lettuce with garlic aioli on a brioche
Grilled chicken with romaine lettuce, pecorino cheese, and Caesar dressing in a tortilla wrap
Roast beef with caramelized onions and arugula with blue cheese aioli on a ciabatta
Honey-baked ham with tomato, lettuce, Swiss cheese, and honey Dijon mustard on a brioche
Balsamic-roasted squash with tomato confit, red onion, feta cheese, sundried-tomato pesto, and spinach on a ciabatta
Grilled portobello mushroom with roasted bell pepper, Boursin cheese, arugula, and balsamic vinaigrette in a tortilla wrap
Smashed-chickpea and avocado with feta cheese, tomato, red onion, watercress, and green goddess dressing on seven-grain bread
Mixed-greens salad with citrus segments, shaved fennel, and toasted pine nuts with a citrus vinaigrette
Spinach salad with strawberries, red onion, and candied pecans with strawberry balsamic dressing
$19.00 per box
Genoa salami with spicy soppressata, tomato confit, marinated artichokes, mozzarella, arugula, and lemon-basil pesto on a ciabatta
Cilantro-lime shrimp with romaine lettuce, avocado, and chipotle slaw on a tortilla wrap
Grilled marinated steak with sautéed peppers and onions, provolone cheese, and herbed mayo on a ciabatta
All boxed lunches include a bag of chips, fresh fruit, house-baked cookie, a bottle of water, and eco-friendly cutlery.
Sandwich selections and counts are due 5 business days prior to your visit. Please ask your catering representative about private seating, delivery, or customized options.
Learn how Winterthur staff and students use the museum collection to understand America’s material past. See what’s new to the collection and join curators and conservators in looking closely at objects to better understand both the past and the present.
Objects currently on view include new acquisitions that curators are using to tell a more comprehensive story of American design and craft. They include examples from the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries. These works also help us better understand global influences on American material culture, past and present.
Work table
Attributed to Jennens and Bettridge
Birmingham, England; 1840–60
Papier-mâché, silk, paint, mother-of-pearl
Gift of Edward and Linda Mitchell 2020.0018a-c
Chair
Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown for Knoll International New York, New York; 1984
Plywood
Museum purchase with funds provided by the Henry Francis du Pont Collectors Circle 2019.0004
Wineglass
Netherlands or Germany; 1660–1700
Glass (nonlead)
Museum purchase with funds provided by Dwight and Lorri Lanmon and the Henry Francis du Pont Collectors Circle 2019.0045
Heather Ossandon’s ceramic still life stays rooted in the everyday while transcending the history it draws from.
Ceramicist Heather Ossandon describes herself as an “Air Force brat.” Born in the Philippines, she spent her childhood in England and the United States, in homes filled with traditional Japanese rice bowls, Korean objects, and British teapots. “We had that in our house because we lived there. I thought that was kind of commonplace but it turns out maybe not,” she laughs.
The unique ceramics traditions of the countries where she has lived and traveled inform both the functional pottery she makes for the commercial market and her sculpture pieces, such as Still Life with Fruit. The work is now on display in the Winterthur galleries as part of Transformations: Contemporary Artists at Winterthur, which showcases current responses to the traditional forms and objects the institution is known for.
“I’m really in love with still lifes and the more I look at them, the more I’m fascinated and just really intrigued by them,” Ossandon says. “Because I teach drawing as well, we use it as a tool, so I think sometimes people believe that they are sort of mundane. But there are actually so many things you can embed in them. And the longer I look, the more I think, ‘Look at this bowl of peaches. There’s so much happening.’ I’ve been really intrigued by that, so it’s just naturally moved into the work.”
Ossandon found ideas for her Still Life with Fruit through Winterthur’s Maker-Creator Research Fellowship, which provides access to all to Winterthur’s collections, grounds, and some staff for research that inspires the work of creative professionals. Among Ossandon’s sources were Mary Jane Peale’s Still Life with Fruit painting, historic glasses, crockery, tableware, cookbooks, and other resources from the Winterthur museum and library collections.
Also incorporated into Ossandon’s assemblage are references to Winterthur’s past as a working farm. Through the specific objects in the still life, some laden with personal significance, Ossandon conveys a sense of place that is specific to one location while being relevant to any location and expressing something that is personally meaningful to everyone.
“I was looking at what people were eating, how people were communicating, how they were recording things all related to food because I feel like that’s really universal,” Ossandon says. “I was also familiar with the Peales and I felt like I wanted to highlight Mary Jane’s work, specifically, being a woman, I wanted to bring those to light.”
Still Life with Fruit also relates to the current exhibition Outside In: Nature-inspired Design at Winterthur not only through some of its forms—various fruits, a snail on the edge of a pie, farm animals such as a chicken and lamb—but also through the idea of transformations, the process of changing clay to rock and glass with heat. Still Life is the first large work that Ossandon has made entirely by wood firing in the kiln, a laborious, time-consuming effort that results in unique colors and surface textures. The lamb is the largest piece she has wood fired to date. “I’m very excited to see that all come together,” Ossandon says.
The particular inspirations for Still Life with Fruit may be recent, but for Ossandon, inspiration from Winterthur is nothing new. As a high school student in southern New Jersey, she visited Winterthur on a field trip in the mid-1990s to see the newly acquired Campbell Collection of Soup Tureens, which includes outstanding examples of ceramic craft.
“I always remembered going there, but I never remembered where it was,” she says. “So fast forward 20 years or something, I went to graduate school at the University of Delaware, then I became aware of Winterthur, and I realized, that’s the place!”
“I really feel like the fellowship has influenced the work I’ve made ever since, but it was influencing me all along because of that trip I had back in the day. It’s has been a really special place for me. Winterthur doesn’t end. And that’s how I feel about ceramics in general.”
Ossandon’s work, as well as the work of the other Transformations artists, is currently on view in the Galleries area.
Winterthur, DE, October 12, 2021—Chris Strand, the longtime director of garden and estate at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, has been named its Charles F. Montgomery Director and CEO. Strand has served as interim director and CEO at Winterthur since May.
“Chris is so skilled in so many areas—fundraising, morale raising, communication,” said Kathy P. Booth, chair of the Winterthur Board of Trustees. “The Board is thrilled to have someone who knows Winterthur so well.”
As interim director, Strand was responsible for all aspects of museum, library, and garden operations, including management of Winterthur’s academic programs through the University of Delaware, fundraising, Board relations, long-range planning, budget oversight, and daily coordination of the senior management team in service of Winterthur’s mission. He continues that work in his new role.
Strand had served as Brown Harrington Director of Garden and Estate at Winterthur since May 2005, managing the care of Winterthur’s nearly 1,000 acres and its diverse resources through close work with its horticulture, natural lands, facilities, and security teams.
“I am pleased and honored to be stepping into this role at this moment in Winterthur’s history,” Strand said. “I have really enjoyed working with the Board of Trustees and the staff over the past several months. The Trustees, staff, and our Members are a community that is very dedicated to Winterthur’s success. What they want most is to share this wonderful place with our friends and neighbors and that is an exciting and energizing challenge.”
Strand has enjoyed a long career in horticulture outreach, education, and management. Prior to joining Winterthur, he worked as director of Green Spring Gardens in Fairfax County, Virginia, from January 1998 to May 2005, managing its continuing evolution from a private property to a public garden and historic site, and as outreach horticulturist at The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University from July 1993 to January 1998. Strand earned a bachelor’s degree in Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology from the University of Colorado in 1989 and a master’s degree in Public Horticulture Administration with a certificate in Museum Studies through the Longwood Graduate Program Fellowship of the University of Delaware in 1992.
“The Covid-19 pandemic, recent storm damage on the estate, shifting tastes, changes in school visits, and new technologies all present challenges and opportunities,” Strand noted. He credits the Winterthur staff for their creativity in meeting challenges and embracing new audiences while remaining good stewards of the property and collection. “I am very proud of them, and because of them, I am incredibly optimistic about our future,” Strand said.
ABOUT WINTERTHUR MUSEUM, GARDEN & LIBRARY
Winterthur is known worldwide for its preeminent collection of American decorative arts, naturalistic garden, and research library for the study of American art and material culture. It offers a variety of tours, exhibitions, programs, and activities throughout the year. Admission includes the Winterthur Garden, galleries, and a museum tour (by reservation).
Winterthur, located on Route 52, six miles northwest of Wilmington, Delaware, and five miles south of U.S. Route 1, is closed on Mondays (except during Yuletide), Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. Museum hours are 10:00 am–5:00 pm, Tuesday–Sunday. $20 for adults; $18 for students and seniors; $6 for ages 2–11. Memberships are available, which include free and discounted admission. Winterthur is committed to accessible programming for all. For information, including special services, call 800.448.3883 or visit winterthur.org.
Visit winterthur.org for the latest information and safety guidelines.
The art of Rob Finn is a bittersweet reminder that life is short—even for the oldest of trees.
Over his career as a portraitist of trees, watercolor painter Rob Finn has seen several variations on a peculiar theme. It began a few years ago with a large oak at the Northern California home where Jack London wrote Call of the Wild.
“I loved that tree,” says Finn. “It was gorgeous. The next time I went back, it was gone, because it was going to crush the house. I didn’t know that was going to happen when I took the picture. I didn’t know that when I started the painting.”
“Brown’s Meadow Oak” by painter Rob Finn commemorates a 300-old-year tree that was felled by a tornado in August 2020.
Nor did he know it would happen to a 300-year-old oak that he photographed in Brown’s Meadow at Winterthur. “I was interested in about a hundred trees on the estate,” says Finn. When he heard the old giant was destroyed by a tornado in August 2020, he thought, “I have to paint that tree now.”
His portrait of the Brown’s Meadow oak now hangs in the Winterthur Galleries as part of the Transformations installation of works by contemporary artists. The painting depicts what he calls one of his “memorial trees,” images of icons that once were, like another beautiful tree at Winterthur, a Japanese pine that fell in 2021.
“While sitting here looking at all this splendor, trees seem like part of the landscape but they’re living creatures who are only on this earth for a short time, like us,” Finn says. “It’s a very poignant view into the life of a place like this, how it changes, how everyone is trying to preserve it, at least in spirit. You’re not going to have that 250-year-old tree again. It’s a little scary, a little sad, but it’s life. It’s a good way to show folks how sweet and fleeting it is.”
Finn’s career started with two years of study into sculpture and painting at Parsons School of Design in New York City. After taking time off to travel across the county, he enrolled in the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in human ecology. He then moved to San Francisco, where he worked as a painting contractor renovating the famous Victorian houses known as “painted ladies” and occasionally making art.
While in California, Finn began what would become a series of 12 small watercolors that depicted some of his favorite trees. “I found a lot of meat in that subject matter,” Finn says. “I just really got into that. I realized it was more than landscape painting. That’s when I came up with this portrait concept. It’s not just a painting of a tree. It’s a portrait of a character.”
After Finn and his young family moved to Philadelphia in 2017, he was finally able to devote several years exclusively to his art. He later learned of Winterthur’s Maker-Creator Research Fellowship, a program that provides a stipend and gives access to all of Winterthur and some of its staff for research that inspires the work of creative professionals. The 1,000-acre Winterthur property with its variety of tree species was a perfect place to resume the portrait series—in a big way.
“Now most of my paintings are 35 by 52 inches, so they’re as big as a small person,” Finn says. “It’s a whole other thing.”
Unlike most watercolor painters, Finn does not work on a horizontal surface. “I do it on the wall,” he says. “It’s pretty fun to see it happen. The water and the pigment move a lot, but I paint in a way that keeps it from dripping. It’s generally a very controlled dance of danger, making these big pieces.”
Finn is aided in his art by digital photography. When working where there is not enough focal distance for the camera to register an entire tree in one frame, he can photograph it in sections and then assemble them digitally into an undistorted top-to-bottom view for reference in his studio.
“My work is contemporary because these trees couldn’t be painted this way before,” he says. “In close spaces, the artist’s perspective would have been foreshortened from any vantage point. It needs that extra layer of digital editing. I call it new naturalism or synthetic naturalism. It’s not about the piece. It’s about us experiencing the piece.” He pauses, then chuckles. “So it’s good to get the trees up on the wall and let people see them in real life.”
Finn’s work, as well as the work of the other Transformations artists, is currently on view in the Winterthur Galleries.
Winterthur recently presented the Henry Francis du Pont Award to Judith and the late John Herdeg, in recognition of their longtime support of the decorative arts and their commitment to collecting, research, and philanthropic leadership in the field.
“This award is Winterthur’s highest honor, and it is made with considerable care,” said Chris Strand, Interim CEO of Winterthur. “There are no two individuals more deserving than John and Judy, who have meant so much to Winterthur and so much to the community of collectors and supporters of the decorative arts.”
The Herdegs’ shared passion started in 1963 with the reconstruction and restoration of the William Peters House, a 1750s Georgian brick structure, which, through their efforts, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They spent their lives collecting, furnishing, and decorating it with 18th-century New England furniture, English ceramics, American paintings, and 17th- and 18th-century needlework. Their love of 18th-century design expanded into the landscape surrounding their house with an emphasis on native flora and plants introduced before 1775.
At Winterthur, John served on the Board of Trustees for 50 years, including as Chair of the Board from 1977 to 1986. Judy has served for many years on the Collections Committee and was instrumental in bringing the Delaware Antiques Show to Winterthur, serving in various leadership roles for more than 40 years. They generously donated more than 150 museum objects to the museum and numerous gifts to the library.
They have been active members of many other historical organizations committed to the preservation and celebration of American history. John served as trustee at Historic Deerfield, Inc., in Massachusetts, among other organizations. Judy was a regent of Gunston Hall Plantation in Virginia for 12 years. She served as first regent for five of those years, during which she oversaw a re-focusing of the collection to highlight George Mason’s life. Judy also oversaw the planning, construction, and fundraising for the George Mason Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
John and Judy researched their collection, travelling to both American and British historic sites, societies, and libraries to conduct research. John was the author of several scholarly articles, including “Son of Whom? A Collector’s Journey” and “The Story of a Serendipitous Find” as well as a forthcoming book, The Stories They Tell…from the Herdeg Collection. Judy is a member of the Embroiderers Guild of America. Her research into 17th- and 18th-century needlework has resulted in impressive reproductions of historic pieces and the design and stitch of a reproduction 17th-century English raised-work casket.
The award celebrates the vision and genius of Henry Francis du Pont, creator of Winterthur, the great American country estate, by recognizing individuals who have made contributions of national significance to the knowledge, preservation, and enjoyment of American decorative arts, architecture, landscape design, and gardens, du Pont’s genius and legacy are honored.
Previous Recipients 2016—Morrison H. Heckscher 2013—John L. & Marjorie P. McGraw 2007—George A. “Frolic” Weymouth 2003—Francis H. Cabot 2002—Linda H. Kaufman & George M. Kaufman 2001—William H. Frederick, Jr. 1999—Nancy Goslee Power 1999—Ralph Emerson Carpenter 1998—Abbott Lowell Cummings 1996—Israel Sack & sons Harold, Albert, and Robert 1994—Wendell D. Garrett 1992—Clement E. Conger 1990—Alice Winchester 1989—Frank Liipfert Horton 1986—Pamela Cunningham Copeland 1984—Bertram K. Little & Nina Fletcher Little
ABOUT WINTERTHUR MUSEUM, GARDEN & LIBRARY Winterthur—known worldwide for its preeminent collection of American decorative arts, naturalistic garden, and research library for the study of American art and material culture—offers a variety of tours, exhibitions, programs, and activities throughout the year. Admission includes the Winterthur garden, galleries, and a museum tour (by reservation).
Winterthur, located on Route 52, six miles northwest of Wilmington, Delaware, and five miles south of U.S. Route 1, is closed on Mondays (except during Yuletide), Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Winterthur is committed to accessible programming for all. For information, including special services, call 800.448.3883, or visit winterthur.org.
For the most updated information about Covid safety protocols, visit winterthur.org/faq.
