Introduction to Material Life Papers

Winterthur Fellows in the Class of 2020 produced these papers in the fall of 2018 during the Introduction to Material Life class taught by Dr. J. Ritchie Garrison. The papers build on work the students began in August during Introduction to the Decorative Arts taught by Dr. Thomas Guiler. The papers went through three iterations in the following semester as each student focused on refining the analysis of their object through the perspectives of domestic, national, and international contexts. The final draft submitted before the December holidays had to incorporate images and clearly-written text in a consistent format the class designed as a group.

In addition to this research and writing project, the students read extensively in the scholarship on decorative arts and material culture and received training in digital image processing. We hope readers will enjoy learning about a range of objects in the Winterthur collections via these interdisciplinary papers shared on the fellows’ Material Matters website.

Curtain Call: Drapery and Hardware of the Late Nineteenth Century

By Erin Anderson

A Dentist’s Chair as a Professional Claim

By Olivia Armandroff

A Doorway to Masonic Symbolism: A Pair of Door Knockers from the Winterthur Collection

By James Kelleher

Ostensibly Mass Produced: The Friendship Brooch

By Anastasia Kinigopoulo

Printed Arguments: The Winterthur Mezzotint of Charles Lennox, Duke of Richmond

By Joseph Litts

“Seduced by the Charms of a Fashionable Box”: Addiction and the Snuff Box in Early America”

By Bethany McGlyn