Areas of Expertise
The relationship between craft, design, and American culture is my central interest, especially as expressed in jewelry, metalwork, and ceramics. Thanks to my long experience with the encyclopedic collection of American art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and through independent projects for other museums, I conduct research and direct projects on topics dating from the colonial era to the present.
Jewelry
Jewelry is a major area of expertise – whether in the form of curatorial acquisitions, consultations, or exhibitions. I led an active acquisition agenda for American jewelry at the MFA, Boston, and have written on contemporary artists including Mary Lee Hu and Miye Matsukata, chronicled the achievements of Tiffany & Company (American Luxury: Jewels from the House of Tiffany, co-editor, 2008), and have curated several jewelry-based exhibitions including The Circle and The Line: The Jewelry of Betty Cooke (Walters Art Museum, 2020/21) and Gilded New York (Museum of the City of New York, 2013).
Betty Cooke, Pin, c. 1951-53; silver and Plexiglas; 3 ¹⁄₄ × 1 ⁵⁄₈ in. (8.26 × 4.13 cm). Courtesy of Auerbach and Maffia, Photography courtesy the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore © Betty Cook.
Ceramics
Ceramics have been a strong focus due to years of acquisitions for MFA, Boston, and the courses I teach on the history of American ceramics for RISD and Parsons, The New School. I stay connected to my students and follow their careers, as in the case of RISD graduate Ling Chun, whose work is seen here. My course includes discussion on contributions by people of color and members of the LGBTQ community, growing areas of scholarly interest.
Ling Chun, Mistakes, 2017; glazed ceramic and synthetic hair; H. 12; w. 12; d. 4 in. Courtesy of the artist.
Metalwork
I have extensive knowledge of American silver and base metals through an acquisitions agenda at the MFA, Boston, as well as through writing and editing publications such as Colonial Silver and Silversmithing in New England (Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 2001), Silver in the Americas, 1600-2000 (MFA, Boston, 2008) and Women Designers in the USA, 1900-2000 (Bard, 2000) for which I contributed an essay on women metalsmiths. Recent exhibitions include New York Silver: Then and Now (Museum of the City of New York, 2017) for which I brought together 25 of the top contemporary New York-based metalsmiths, artists, and designers to create works of art inspired by masterpieces of historic silver in the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.
Benjamin Burt (1729–1805) silversmith; Nathaniel Hurd (American, 1729 or 1730–1777), engraver; Teapot, 1762, silver, wood. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Arts & Crafts Movement
My work at the MFA, Boston, included significant engagement with and acquisitions of arts & crafts objects in all media and I maintain a strong connection to and affection for this subject. Through writing for such publications as Inspiring Reform: Boston’s Arts and Crafts Movement (Davis Museum and Cultural Center, 1997), and as a board member of the Society of Arts and Crafts, the country’s oldest craft organization, Boston has been my primary focus.
Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue (1869-1924), cover design. First Exhibition of the Arts & Crafts, Copley Hall, Boston, April 5-17, MDCCCXCVII; representing the application of art to industry and comprising manufactured articles and original designs for the same. Boston: Thomas P. Smith Printing Company, 1897 .
Gilded Age & Historic Preservation
Explorations of America’s Gilded Age are central to my work, interrogating the consumption of material goods to better understand the desires, aspirations, and anxieties of society. My publications explore how the aspirations of America’s wealthiest families were made manifest in their fashionable costumes, jewelry, and accessories, as well as the extravagant mansions designed by Beaux Arts architects that confirmed their place in high society. My exhibitions on this subject include Gilded New York: Design, Fashion, and Society (Museum of the City of New York, 2013) and Gilded Chicago (Driehaus Museum, 2018). My book, The Newport Experience (Scala, 2020) explores the importance of stewardship and historic preservation of Gilded Age masterworks of architecture and design such as The Breakers and Marble House.
Joseph Ferdinand Keppler (1838-1894), “The Great Advertising Ball of the Season,” Puck, v. 13, no. 317, (April 4, 1883), centerfold. Library of Congress.
American Craft & Design
American craft has captured my imagination ever since I mounted The Eloquent Object, a traveling exhibition from the Philbrook Museum, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, early in my career. Organizing the critically-acclaimed exhibition Crafting Modernism for the Museum of Arts and Design deepened my knowledge while expanding my circle of makers. My expertise has been further developed through writing on contemporary artists, conducting interviews for the Archives of American Art with Wendell Castle and others, and consulting for the website and exhibition Designed by Women at the Stewart Program for Modern Design. I have been teaching the history of American ceramics, American Craft, and jewelry at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and Parsons, The New School.
Kay Sekimachi, 1950. Bob Stocksdale and Kay Sekimachi papers, circa 1900-2015. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.