This elegant late Classical
sofa, attributed to the District of Columbia shop of William
King, Jr, is one of the examples that can be view in the
electronic exhibition.
WILLIAMSBURG, VA. - The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and the
Chipstone Foundation of Milwaukee have partnered to publish
Furniture of the American South: 1680-1830, The Colonial
Williamsburg Collection online. "Furniture of the American
South," which is a traveling exhibition making stops in Raleigh,
N.C., and Nashville, Tenn., features the finest examples of
furniture from three regions: the Chesapeake, the Low Country and
the Back Country. The electronic exhibition can be found at
www.chipstone.org/frameset specialprojects.html.
The exhibition is based on Southern Furniture 1680-1830, The
Colonial Williamsburg Collection, co-authored by Ronald L.
Hurst, vice president of collections and museums for Colonial
Williamsburg and chief curator, and Jonathan Prown, executive
director and chief curator of the Chipstone Foundation.
This is the first museum exhibition that Colonial Williamsburg
has featured online. "We are delighted to see this mixture of
high tech and decorative arts," said Hurst. "Thanks to the
Chipstone Foundation, this new 'virtual exhibition' will bring a
piece of Colonial Williamsburg to people who can't come see our
collection here in Williamsburg."
The electronic exhibition gives extended life and additional
value to the exhibition. "One of the depressing aspects of being
a curator is you work for three to five years on installing an
exhibition that is up three to six months and, poof, it's gone,"
said Prown.
Furniture in the online exhibition is displayed by region and
information contained in the original museum label accompanies
each image. In addition, a user browsing through the online
exhibition can run the cursor over an image for more detail about
a specific object or click on the image for a closer look at a
studio shot of the artifact.
The Chipstone Foundation was established in 1987 to promote
American decorative arts scholarship through the study of the
Stanley and Polly Stone collection, as well as support decorative
arts projects and books at other institutions.
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is a not-for-profit
educational institution that operates the restored Eighteenth
Century capital of Virginia. For information, 1-800-HISTORY or
visit www.colonialwilliamsburg.org
