Page 31 – Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

Photographic Documentation

Documentation is part of every conservation assessment or treatment. Photographic documentation—the creation of accurate images—is the core of the process.

Each object is photographed before conservation treatment to record its condition and visible damage, then photographed after to document repairs. Images usually capture both overall views and details. Photographs may be taken during treatment, especially before inpainting or other forms of compensation. To record damage as accurately as possible, photographs may be taken in both reflected and raking light, which reveals surface texture and planar distortions. Special equipment and procedures are used for highly reflective objects such as silver or large objects like quilts.

Winterthur’s digital image capture and storage follows guidelines set by the American Institute for Conservation. Digital files are processed and stored using the most durable formats and methods available.

Painting viewed in ultraviolet light reveals patches and inpainting

Lighting Specialists

Because the energy from fluorescent lamps, visible light, and sunlight causes chemical changes that result in weakening, embrittlement, darkening, or fading of museum objects, conservation lighting is a specialty that is extremely important to their preservation.

Some materials such as paper and textiles are highly sensitive to light; they are exhibited at 5 footcandles. Materials such as metals and ceramics are safe at higher levels. They can be exhibited at 20 footcandles. Specialists must work within these limitations to light exhibits in a way that complement the objects and allow the public to see them clearly.

(Left) The Flock Room before lighting upgrades appears dark due to uneven lighting. (Right) The Flock Room after lighting upgrades is evenly lit by a system that allows lights to be set at different levels that enhance both guest viewing and preservation.

Member Resources & Activities

Relax with an online puzzle!

Jigsaw Puzzles

Each month we will debut two new digital jigsaw puzzles, featuring photos from Winterthur’s iconic rooms, rare objects and gorgeous gardens!

How to use the jigsaw puzzle

The toolbar at the top gives you three options: the first adds or removes pieces from the screen, the second allows you to only see the edge pieces, the third allows you to preview the completed picture. If you want to modify the puzzle, hit the menu bar in the upper left corner and hit ‘modify this puzzle.’ Three options will pop up in the center of your screen: the first increases the number of pieces to make the puzzle more challenging, the second rotates the pieces, and the third changes the background color. If you have further questions, click the question mark in the upper right corner of the screen and a screen with a few tips and tidbits will pop up. Enjoy puzzling!

May 2020 – Peonies
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

June 2020 – Primroses in the Quarry Garden
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

July 2020 – Winterthur Barns
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

August 2020 – Resurrection Lillys
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

September 2020 – Butterflies
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

October 2020 – Fall Berries and Meadows
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

November 2020 – Fall Colors on Upper Pond and Autumn Woodland
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

December 2020 – A Festive Chinese Parlor and a Snow-Draped Cut Leaf Maple
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

January 2021 – The Pinetum on a Snowy Day and a Painted and Flocked Wallcovering (detail)
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

February 2021 – Sheep and Valentine (detail)
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

March 2021 – Glory of the Snow and du Pont Dining Room (detail)
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

April 2021 – Daffodil’s signaling spring at Winterthur
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

May 2021 – Dogwood blossom and Azaleas
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

June 2021 – Enchanted Woods Cottage and Children at Enchanted Woods
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

July 2021 – Koi in Their Pond and Hydrangeas
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

August 2021 – Cardinal Flower and Indian Cup
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

September 2021 – Anemone and golden bright Rudbeckia
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

October 2021 – Stone Arch and Wier
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

November 2021 – Fall Color
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

December 2021 – Dried-flower Tree and Spring’s First Flowers
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

January 2022 – Fine-feathered Friends and Ornate Imagery
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

February 2022 – Spring Snowflakes and Valentine Fan
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

March 2022 – Hellebore and Witch Hazel
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

April 2022 – Daffodils and Magnolia Bend
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

May 2022 – Peony and Azaleas
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

June 2022 – East Barn and Fairy at Enchanted Woods
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

July 2022 – Spicebush swallowtail and Winterthur waterway
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

August 2022 – Sunflower and Reflecting Pool
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

September 2022 – Anemone and Eagle
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

October 2022 – Autumn beckons and fall crocus
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

November 2022 – Camellia ‘Snow Flurry’ and Magnolia ‘Elizabeth’
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

December 2022 – Dreaming of a white Christmas and the colorful Dried-Flower Tree
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

January 2023 – Red-tailed hawk and meadow path in winter
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

February 2023 – Witch hazel and a valentine
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

March 2023 – Bloodroot and Japanese Pieris
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

April 2023 – Daffodils and Sargent cherry trees
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

May 2023 – Kousa dogwoods and Peonys
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

June 2023 – Azaleas and a fairy girl
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

July 2023 – Furled fern and hydrangea flowers
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

August 2023 – Butterfly and cockscomb
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

September 2023 – Yellowthroat warbles and crocuses
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

October 2023 – Costumed children and autumn leaves
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

November 2023 – Lower pond and woodland trees
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

December 2023 – Chinese Parlor and our Dried-Flower Tree
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

January 2024 – Pearlbush pods and a snowy lane
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

February 2024 – Amur Adonis and delicate snowflakes
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

March 2024 – Bloom print and swallowtail print
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

April 2024 – Cherry blossoms and the Sundial Garden
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

May 2024 – Azaleas and Point-to-Point fashion
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

June 2024 – Fairy girl and busy bee
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

July 2024 – Purple lilies and a basking turtle
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

August 2024 – Goldfinch on sunflowers and dazzling zinnias
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

September 2024 – Rudbeckias and Enchanted Woods
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

October 2024 – Sunlit autumn leaves and pumpkins at the greenhouse
Puzzle #1      Puzzle #2

Backgrounds for your Zoom calls

Now you can take your video calls from the elegant rooms of Winterthur or from our stunning gardens! Download the images below and follow the directions from Zoom on how to add a custom background to your call.

House

Port Royal Parlor (Enlarge)

Port Royal Parlor, View 2 (Enlarge)

Chinese Parlor (Enlarge)

du Pont Dining Room (Enlarge)

du Pont Dining Room, View 2 (Enlarge)

Exterior of main house (Enlarge)

Garden
All Garden photos by Bob Leitch

Enchanted Woods (Enlarge)

Daffodils (Enlarge)

Clenny Run (Enlarge)

Daffodils with Lookout Folly (Enlarge)

Cherry Trees (Enlarge)

Sundial Garden (Enlarge)

Reflecting Pool (Enlarge)

Duck Pond (Enlarge)

Azalea (Enlarge)

Wallpapers for your desktop

Hippocampus
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Magic Lillies
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Rhododendron
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Peony
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Object of the Month: Mechanized Color Guide

Catharine Dann Roeber was teaching a course in interior design when the “super sweet, super cool” Bay State Decorative Colorguide came into the library collection a few years ago as a gift from Sandra and Hyman Myers. “It was kind of like love at first sight,” says Roeber, the Brock W. Jobe Associate Professor of Decorative Arts and Material Culture at Winterthur. “It’s a like a television that helps me imagine the past.”

Various knobs control trim, walls, furniture, ceilings, and floor for dialing in custom color combinations.

Created by Wadsworth, Howland & Co. of Boston, Mass., the hand-operated box from about 1930 features five dials that allow the user to create and view various color and decoration schemes in a series of rooms, just as we would use a design app or website to redesign our homes today. One of only two such objects known to exist, it was likely used by a traveling salesman to market the company’s Bay State brand of paints to middle-class consumers.

“It’s interesting and fun because it has that moveable aspect,” Dann Roeber says. “It’s something you wouldn’t think of at Winterthur, but everyone decorates, so it has a universal appeal.”

Bay State Decorative Colorguide

Created by Wadsworth, Howland & Co. of Boston, Mass.

Circa 1930

Unknown manufacturer

Call number TP937 B35 TC F

Still Enchanting

For 20 years, Winterthur’s Enchanted Woods have provided a magical place for kids to be kids—while captivating grownups, too.

The creation myth says that the fairies and sprites who live in what is now Winterthur’s children’s garden missed the laughter of the two girls who once played on the swings and jungle gym there. To hear that laughter again, they gathered artifacts from across the estate and built a magical place that other kids would love.

At the time it was created, not many visitors brought their children to Winterthur, so the garden staff set out to create a place especially for them. This was no easy task. The space would need to fit the history of the estate while meeting the high standards of Winterthur founder Henry Francis du Pont, whose garden designs are among the finest in the world.

Twenty years since it opened—and now hosting a second generation of visitors—Enchanted Woods stands as a masterwork of design and intent, a place where kids can be kids, but also a place where they and their grownups find great beauty.

“There are people there every day,” says Suzanne French, an interpretive horticulturist who manages Enchanted Woods.

When Enchanted Woods was conceived in the late 1990s, most children’s gardens were gardens in name only. They were essentially playgrounds, purpose-built places full of features decorated in primary colors.

The designers of Enchanted Woods wanted to create a true garden, a place that would delight and inspire, and they paid close attention to what children wanted: high spaces that offered a view, nooks to hide in, and water, water everywhere.

The designers identified a site: three acres on Oak Hill that were flat and undeveloped, full of mature trees, an understory, azaleas, and some footpaths. The Quarry and Sundial gardens were near enough to encourage further exploration. There were restrooms in the vicinity, the area was served by the tram, and there was a tie to estate history: du Pont’s daughters played there as girls. Most important, French says, “We wouldn’t have been undoing any historical design that would have been important to H. F.”

The designers were also fortunate to have a store of objects and artifacts collected by four generations of preservationists. Old hairpin fencing and feed trough from the Winterthur farm, columns from a long-gone rose garden, stone benches, unused sculptures, urns, millstones, fenceposts, and stones from the original port cochere were all incorporated. “We had all these cool artifacts to use, and they tell a story,” French says.

As does the work and craftsmanship of Winterthur’s skilled arborists, carpenters, and painters, who maintain features such as a giant Robin’s Nest of large woven branches, which offers an elevated view of the garden and a labyrinth; the Tulip Tree House, fashioned from an upright hollow poplar trunk where kids can hide and seek; and the Faerie Cottage, a fantastical playhouse built with large wooden beams, a hearth and walls of stone, and a roof thatched in the traditional manner.

A small grove of tree stumps encourages athletic footwork. The mushrooms of the Forbidden Fairy Ring spray cool vapor on hot days. Hidden among the azaleas, the giant face of the Green Man emerges from the earth. Story Stones, a fascinating assortment of stone architectural fragments, mimics nature with its’ spiral arrangement. A circle of columns forms the Acorn Tea Room, in keeping with the tradition of hospitality and entertaining at Winterthur. A small pond and footbridge hide dozens of green frogs, and the area teems with other small animals such as chipmunks and squirrels.

Free of references such to popular tales such as Snow White or Peter Rabbit, the garden feels timeless, a blank slate that children could paint with the full power of their imaginations. “We haven’t done the thinking for the kids,” French says. “They do all the make-believing on their own.”

“There is no other Enchanted Woods in the world,” French adds. “I visit children’s gardens everywhere. Ours is truly unique. It’s tied to the history of the estate, so it can’t be replicated. It is one of the best things we have done in the modern history of Winterthur.”

Visits the sprites and fairies on Enchanted Summer Day, which celebrates the 20^th birthday of Enchanted Woods this year on June 19. For more, click here.

Photo Credits

Photographers

Allen Rokach
Barbara Israel
Ben Fournier
Bob Leitch
Bruce White
Carlos Alejandro
Chamart Limoges
Chip Riegel
Chris Cox
Christian Tauber
David Gentry
David Osberg
Don Shedrick
E. A. Kennedy
Ed Conine
Ed Nute, Plimoth Plantation
Eileen Tercha
Gavin Ashworth
Harry Keyser
illuminated fountains, courtesy Longwood
Joe Pulcinella
Joel Plotkin
John Russell
Linda Bailey
Lizzie Himmel
Lois Mauro
Marilyn Alderman
Michael Gunselman
Mike Kehr
Nikki Anderson
Pat Crowe
Peg Andreadis
Philip Greenberg
Raymond Magnani
Rich Dunoff
Rick Ziesing
Rob Cardillo Photography
Russ Kennedy
Ruth N. Joyce
Scott Duncan
Stromberg/Gunther Photography
Suchat Pederson

Winterthur Photographers

Gilbert Ask
Nikki Anderson
Laszlo Bodo
Herb Crossan
Linda Eirhart
Wayne Gibson
Gottlieb Hampfler
Ruth N. Joyce
Jeannette Lindvig
Carol Long
Amber Marcoon
Ida McCall
Albert Orr
Jim Schneck
Karen Steenhoek

Organizations / Institutions
Andover Fabrics
Andrea by Sadek
Blair House
Brandywine Museum of Art
Brunschwig & Fils
Caspari
Chelsea House
Connor Homes
Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts
Currey & Company
Designer Stencils
Diane James Designs
Family Heirloom Weavers
Fox Chapel Publishing
Galison
Hagley Museum and Library
Heritage Metalworks
Hickory Chair
Historical Window Treatments
Hull Historical
International Relief and Development
Kindel
Kravet, Inc.
Ladybug
Mirror Fair
Mottahedeh
Nemours Mansion and Gardens
Oriental Accent
Stark Wallcoverings
The Essamplaire
The Examplarery
The Hunt Gallery
Thomas Glenn Collection
Trans-Ocean
Wilmette Hardware
Woodburn: The Governor’s House
York Wallcoverings

Rolling in a Vintage Rolls

Driving a car from the 1920s is an experience all its own. Here’s a peek from behind the wheel.

Lauren Fair laughs.

“I have to work on my upper body strength,” she says. “It takes a lot to turn from a standstill.”

That’s just the start of differences between driving a modern car and Winterthur’s 1927 Phantom I S 379 FM Ascot Tourer, one of two vintage Rolls Royces in her care as a member of the Rolls Royce Stewardship Team. “It doesn’t do a lot of the things our cars now do automatically.”

For starters, the Rolls doesn’t have power steering. Cranking the wheel of a 4,900-pound auto from stop takes a Herculean effort. Then there is the starting itself, which requires strict coordination of three levers on the steering column, along with all the other mechanics in the car: shift into neutral, turn on the ignition lever and starting carburetor, then depress the starting button on the firewall with your right foot.

From there it gets even trickier: once the engine has fired up, adjust the spark advance from “early” to “late”, tweak the throttle lever to optimal idling speed, dial back the starting carburetor so the running carburetor can take over, then shift into gear.

“You have to do the right things in the right order,” Fair says. “You have to practice over and over to develop the muscle memory.”

On the road, operating gets a bit easier, but it still takes a special touch. The Phantom I’s 12-foot wheelbase precludes tight turning, shifting through the three forward gears happens faster than in a modern manual transmission car, and carburation needs to be adjusted on the fly. “It takes a lot of listening and feeling,” Fair says. Groaning on the uphill? Dial back the intake of air and pour on the petrol. Cruising with some momentum? Run lean. Let the oxygen flow.

“It’s not zippy, but when it’s up and running, it’s like driving any big car,” Fair says.

Fair learned to drive Winterthur’s Ascot and its 1927 Phantom I S123 PM Pall Mall by watching Conservator Emeritus Gregory L. Landrey, by reading the original owner’s manuals, and by practicing with Landrey on the estate before moving onto the open road. Having learned to drive a manual transmission car as a teen was, she says, enormously helpful. (“Thanks, Mom!”)

Even after eight years of driving the Phantoms, Fair says, “I’m still learning. And I am always aware that I’m driving a really special thing. It’s a work of art, a priceless object. People think it’s cool and fun—and it is cool and fun—but it’s also work. It’s a big responsibility to take care of these vehicles.”

Travel back to a golden age of automobile design in this video with horticulturist Collin Hadsell and conservator Lauren Fair.

A Look Inside Outside In

Exhibitions manager Kim Collison discusses H.F. du Pont’s inspirations and enduring influence on design.

History of the Garden

Henry Francis du Pont had three lifelong passions: gardening, cattle breeding, and collecting American antiques. Gardening was his greatest. Even after he turned his home into a museum in 1951, he kept ownership of the garden until his death in 1969. He often said that though he was a mere visitor to the museum, he was always Winterthur’s head gardener.

Three generations of the du Pont family gardened at Winterthur beginning in 1839, when Evelina du Pont and her husband, Antoine Bidermann, came to live here. Before they named the estate, built the house, or even chose the site for the well, the Bidermanns considered flowers.

Flowers were Evelina’s passion, and the same is true of all the owners of Winterthur. Each generation built on the work of its predecessors, all preferring a garden that made the most of the natural landscape.

The Big Ideas Behind the Winterthur Garden

The most formally landscaped and gardened areas at Winterthur are those closest to the house, and were designed by du Pont and his dear friend Marian Cruger Coffin, the first woman in the country to own a landscape architecture firm. As you move farther away, the tame, cultivated garden gives way to the freer Wild Garden style.

The Wild Garden, a book by William Robinson, inspired a new type of garden design in Great Britain, Ireland, and America at the turn of the 20th century. An idea that appealed to large landowners such as du Pont, the Wild Garden realizes gardening on a broad scale, “placing perfectly hardy exotic plants under condition where they will thrive.”

At Winterthur, “Color is the thing that really counts more than any other,” du Pont said. The flora, mainly naturalized exotics planted in large drifts and grouped with other plants that harmonize in color and form, is arranged to appear as if it grew spontaneously.

The 60-acre Winterthur Garden is surrounded by nearly 1,000 acres of meadows, farmland, and
waterways. The views in every direction are carefully designed and important to the whole. The paths are an integral part of the overall design, curving rather than straight, following the contours of the land, passing around trees, drawing walkers into the garden.

H. F. du Pont as Master Gardener

H. F. du Pont said a garden “should fit in so well with the natural landscape that one should hardly be conscious that it has been accomplished.” He took inspiration from the landscape he grew up in. The Winterthur Garden is built out of the fields, streams, hills, and woodlands of the beautiful Brandywine Valley.

After gardening at Winterthur for almost 70 years, du Pont was awarded with Garden Club of America Medal of Honor in 1956. The club proclaimed him “one of the best, even the best, gardener this country has ever produced.” The award noted the garden’s woodland layers, which du Pont had opened to create beautiful vistas.

“The woodland trees under planted with a profusion of native wildflowers and rhododendron, acre upon acre of dogwood, great banks of azaleas, lilies and peonies, iris and other rare specimens from many lands, each planted with taste and discrimination, each known, loved and watched, looking as though placed there by nature, forms one of the great gardens.”

Most early 20th century Wild Gardens have since yielded to land development and natural disasters. Winterthur is one of the last. It is surrounded by nearly 1,000 acres of farmland, all of it protected under a conservation easement so the property can never be commercially developed. We manage the garden today as though H. F. du Pont were alive, and his vision still informs our every decision. We hope you enjoy it.

Become a Delaware Master Naturalist

Winterthur is a Local Organizing Partner (LOP) for the Delaware Master Naturalist program, offered by the University of Delaware. Zoom class sessions run from January through March. Registration for the 2024 class in now closed. If you are interested in applying for the 2025 class beginning January 2025, please check back later in the year. You can also fill out an online volunteer application form and note your interest in participating in next year’s class.

As part of the program, candidates must serve 40 volunteer hours over the course of the calendar year at their LOP. If you are interested in the program and serving your volunteer hours at Winterthur, please contact Nicole Schmid at nschmi@winterthur.org. Candidates should be comfortable being outdoors for extended periods and actively participating in garden projects, such as invasive plant removal.

To learn more about the program, visit Delaware Master Naturalist website at http://www.udel.edu/master-naturalist.