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American Furniture / Googled

July 9–October 11, 2009
Decorative Arts Gallery

In this experimental installation on view in the Decorative Arts Gallery, traditional object labels are replaced by digital screens that capture what an array of institutions and individuals have to say about eleven examples of Victorian-era furniture.

The unconventional labels share resource materials from the Internet, including in-depth information on similar furniture and relevant design histories from other museums, libraries, and blogs; market values at an auction house; and entertaining snapshots made available on a photo-sharing website.

American Furniture / Googled explores a range of nineteenth-century furniture styles from neoclassicism, through opulent revival styles, to early Modernism. On view will be chairs by George Hunzinger, L. & J. G. Stickley, Samuel Gragg, and the Herter Brothers, along with a wildly ornamented Kimbel & Cabus Desk, a restrained Shaker Sewing Desk, a gilt and stenciled neoclassical-style Pier Table, and George Niedecken's Dresser for the Demmer House.

Gallery Talks:

Tuesday, August 25, 2009, 1:30 p.m.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009, 1:30 p.m.

Decorative Arts Gallery, free with Museum admission
What can we learn of Victorian furniture from the Internet? Explore this exhibition and learn more with curator Mel Buchanan.

American Furniture / Googled is sponsored by the Chipstone Foundation. The exhibition is organized by Mel Buchanan, Mae E. Demmer assistant curator of 20th-century design.
Image:
  • A. Kimbel & J. Cabus, Desk, ca. 1876. Walnut, nickel-silver, printed paper, 73 x 39¼ x 19 in. Purchase, by exchange. Photo by Larry Sanders.