Little Love for Woodchucks: the Case of the Naturalist’s Coat

By: Douglas Kendall, Curator of Collections

This morning the thermometer at my office read 15 degrees below zero Fahrenheit at 8 AM. It’s hard to remember that we observe Groundhog Day next week in the hopes that Punxsutawney Phil, Wiarton Willy or any number of other competing rodents will usher in an early spring by failing to see their shadows.

Marmota monax standing Photo: April King, used by permission under the GNU Free Documentation License.

A handful of celebrity groundhogs bask in their brief moment in the spotlight (but not the sun, the observers sincerely hope each year), but their species doesn’t generally get a lot of love from humans the rest of the year. Also known as woodchucks, the Marmota monax are found from Alabama to Alaska and are very common here in the Northeastern United States. They will eat grubs, grasshoppers and wild grasses, but in my personal experience they especially love garden vegetables.

John Burroughs at Edison’s House. Photo: Hunt, Fort Myers, Florida, 1914. This image is in the public domain.

The great American naturalist John Burroughs (1837-1921) named one of his homes Woodchuck Lodge, but it apparently wasn’t due to his fondness for the creatures. Rather, when Burroughs built a cabin on land purchased for him in Roxbury, New York by Henry Ford in 1913, he found the land already inhabited by a large population of woodchucks. Though in his 80s when he lived at Woodchuck Lodge, Burroughs was still a crack shot. One visitor wrote in his diary just a year before Burroughs passed away, “before standing for the picture, he called my attention to a fur coat made entirely of woodchuck skins. Mr. B. despite he is 84 years old, is a good marksman and said that last year he killed more than 100 woodchucks and nearly as many this season. He hastened to add that the woodchuck was the only animal he will shoot. He declared them a nuisance about the place." (see here for more on the naturalist’s thoughts on Marmota monax)

Coat. (N0200.1993) Woodchuck-fur, 1913-1920. Museum Purchase. Photo: Douglas Kendall.

Woodchuck-fur coats are not common and the one owned by John Burroughs now resides in the collections of the Fenimore Art Museum. It looks as if it would help keep one warm on cold January mornings. If we take the coat outside next Wednesday and it casts no shadow, I wonder whether spring will come sooner. We can only hope…

Bringing Home the Thaw Collection from Minneapolis

By Eva Fognell, Curator of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art

When my colleague Chris Rossi and I were at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts last October to install our traveling exhibition Art of the Native Americans: The Thaw Collection, the sun was shining and Minneapolis had a heat wave with 75 degree temperatures. But what a difference a few months makes! When I returned to Minneapolis for the dismantling of the exhibition, -2 degrees Farenheit welcomed me. And, since I had just got home from a winter vacation the cold weather was even more startling. From 90 degrees to -2 in 36 hours can shake up just about anyone; even this winter-hardy Swede.

Chris and I successfully dismantled the exhibition with much assistance from the fantastic MIA staff. However, the weather has made it impossible for the MIA to take down the teepees that have graced their front lawn, welcoming visitors and sending the message that the Native American show is here. All the snow in December and then some rain made the snow into icebergs that are not allowing the poles to be pulled up. So, they’ll stay put until spring!

The exhibition was a great success for the MIA. Nearly 28,000 people came out to see it during its run there. That is more then 7,800 over their target visitation. And that is with a few snow days when the museum was closed due to inclement weather!

I asked Joe Horse Capture, (MIA’s Native American Curator) to reflect on the experience of having this exhibit at the MIA:
Art of the Native Americans: The Thaw Collection was an opportunity for us to show our audience the highest quality of Native American art-which reinforces our mission as a museum. It is the first Native American art survey exhibition since 1972 Art of the Native American also provided us an opportunity to reach out to the Native American population in the Twin Cities. We had 45 schools with a high Native American population (which translates to about 1475 students) tour the exhibition. It was also great that the exhibition had the flexibility for us to add components that we thought would enhance the work-including the video interviews and photo blow-ups of the geographic regions. Lastly, the exhibition provided me an opportunity to show our trustees/patrons some of the best Native American art that inspires them to help the MIA acquire better works for our collection.

Here are a few words from a visitor’s email to the MIA:
American Indian Art is diverse and complicated, often times not lending itself to the typical academic theories about art for arts sake. However, if there are little to no opportunities to view American Indian Art in museums, the American public has no real place to cultivate an interest in it, and if the public has no interest, museums have little incentive to curate such exhibits. … Thanks to MIA for giving us the rare opportunity to experience this art form up close.

The picture below shows poignant evidence of a visitors emotional and appreciative response towards the exhibition and the objects: look carefully at the lower end of the photo with the shield. Someone gave an offering to the shield. The birch bark container contains tobacco - a sacred offering that feeds the shield.

All the World's a Stage

By Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

After digging out from the 3 days of solid lake effect snow my daughter and I were finally able to head south to see old friends in the city and take in a lovely exhibit at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut. The Bruce displays a wonderful mix of art and science. But it wasn’t the Earth’s Minerals or Life Between the Tides exhibits we were off to see. We were after A Child’s View: 19th-Century Paper Theaters, on display until January 30 because Fenimore Art Museum is considering an exhibition of paper theaters for the future.

Cover Page from the Bruce Museum’s catalog showing a paper theater in use.

Before TV, PlayStation, and the Internet kids actually entertained themselves for hours on end by assembling things and playing with them. In the early 19th century tabletop sized paper theaters that had to be cut out and assembled were a favorite source of entertainment. The theaters came with little paper actors and scripts. Children, most likely with some adult help, would construct the theaters and put on the plays. I have no doubt that even 19th century children did a fair amount of goofing around and improvising with all of this, which must have been great fun. The paper theaters encouraged creativity and imagination and could be used again and again.

The Bruce has assembled over 40 theaters from the collection of Eric G. Bernard. The theaters are little masterpieces with intricately drawn sets, actors, and in some cases, musicians. The paper theater tradition was popular in England, Austria, France, Spain, Denmark and the USA. Sets usually depicted a popular play, fairy tale or opera. Productions ranged from Mozart’s the Magic Flute to Hamlet and Hansel and Gretel. The figures were drawn after popular actors of the day.

A French paper theater on display at the Bruce Museum and from the collection of Eric G. Bernard.

The paper theater production faded with the beginning of the 20th century. I imagine mass manufactured toys became more popular as the century progressed and made the paper theaters seem old fashioned and outdated. That said, there are folks out there today keeping the tradition alive. A brief search online will bring you to a myriad blogs about Toy or Paper Theater and its 21st century resurgence – a nice merging of the old tradition and new technology.

A Splash of Color for the New Year

By Stephen Loughman, Preparator

With the New Year comes a lot of change here at Fenimore Art Museum, one of which is fresh new paint for all the new shows happening this year. Unlike painting a room in your home we need BIG color samples. This helps us get an idea of how various colors will look under our gallery lighting. It is a lot of fun looking at how different colors work in different spaces, and maybe even getting a few color ideas for our own homes!

Hmmm, these seem too small for us.

Lots of new colors for the new year.

Yes, these will do just fine.

History in Glass: the USS Olympia commemorative pitcher

Douglas Kendall, Curator of Collections

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my visit to Philadelphia for the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums annual meeting. Moored near the conference hotel is one of America’s most famous naval vessels, USS Olympia, a National Historic Landmark and Admiral George Dewey’s flagship during the Spanish-American War. At least $10 million is now needed to prevent Olympia from sinking into Philadelphia harbor.

If such a fate seems unfortunate today, it would have been unthinkable in the aftermath of Dewey’s stunning victory at the Battle of Manila Bay. Admiral Dewey, Captain Charles Vernon Gridley and Olympia herself were amongst the best-known heroes of the Spanish American War, which established the United States as a world power.

Americans love to commemorate heroes and manufacturers love to fill the need for commemorative items. We have an Olympia commemorative pitcher in the Fenimore Art Museum collection that was made soon after the Battle of Manila Bay by the Beatty-Brady Glass Company of Dunkirk, Indiana. The pressed glass pitcher is illustrated with a bust of Dewey, the famous words with which he began the battle (“Gridley, you may fire when ready.”), and a list of the ships in Dewey’s fleet.

Pitcher, Bust of Admiral Dewey

Pitcher, front view

Pitcher, list of ships in fleet

Pressed glass, Beatty-Brady Glass Company, Dunkirk, IN, ca. 1898-1900. Gift of Preston Bassett, N0098.1976

Pressed glass technology allowed mass production of elaborately decorated glassware and this pitcher is a fine example of that technique. Around the base of the pitcher, the glassmakers employed a motif of minie balls or artillery shells. An eagle sits atop the United State shield above the Dewey quotation. A marine holds the American flag. Sunbursts and other small decorative elements complete the ornamentation of the pitcher.

You can still buy Olympia commemoratives at the Independence Seaport Museum shop, but none so elaborate as the Beatty-Brady pitcher. One hopes that the commemoratives don’t outlast that which they celebrate.

REMINDER! Here is the list of the candidates for the exhibition voting. The poll appears on the right. Cast your vote!

What Lies Below the Surface, July 21, 2009. Featured Major General Baron von Steuben by Ralph Earl.

Musical Craftsmanship, July 28, 2009. Featured a Melodeon.

A Chair Fit for a Pot, October 20, 2009. Featured a corner chair.

What did you do on your summer vacation?, November 17, 2009. Featured photos of Otsego Lake.

The Campbell Family's Service, November 26, 2009. Featured a powderhorn and swords.

Planes, Trains and...nope, Just a Train, December 15, 2009. Featured a model train engine.

A Statue with a Split Personality, June 10, 2010. Featured a statue titled "The Last of the Mohicans."

Birth of the United States Navy, October 15, 2010. Featured a litho of the Kearsarge and the Constitution.

View of Cold Spring and Mount Taurus, December 2, 2008. Featured a painting of the same name by Thomas Chambers.

Floral Quilts and Children's Folk Portraits, February 24, 2009. Featured Eliza Smith by an unidentified artist.

Eunice Pinney Mourning Pictures, April 23, 2009. Featured mourning pictures by Eunice Pinney.

Early Photography Meets 20th Century Sleuthing, July 9, 2009. Featured an extending box camera.

Kopp Collection, July 14, 2009. Featured advertising materials with images of American Indians.

Pick Your Favorites for an Upcoming Exhibition

Thanks to everyone who helped test the poll last week. Now, this is it! For real this time. Let the voting begin! Remember, this is your exhibition, so have fun!

For those that missed the test last week, here’s a reminder of what we’re doing:

Fenimore Art Museum is organizing its second blog-curated exhibition scheduled to open in the Spring of 2011. The content of this exhibition will be determined by you, our readers. You have the opportunity to vote for your favorite post, and the posts that get the most votes will be included in the exhibition along with the object most closely representing the content and, of course, the wording from the actual post as it appears in this blog.

Please note that we have included the dates of these posts so you can go back and reread them. Voting will end on Friday January 14th.

Thanks again!

UPDATED! By popular demand, here is a list of the candidates with links since the polling gadget wont allow hyperlinks. Hope this helps! Leave us a comment if you have questions.

What Lies Below the Surface, July 21, 2009. Featured Major General Baron von Steuben by Ralph Earl.

Musical Craftsmanship, July 28, 2009. Featured a Melodeon.

A Chair Fit for a Pot, October 20, 2009. Featured a corner chair.

What did you do on your summer vacation?, November 17, 2009. Featured photos of Otsego Lake.

The Campbell Family's Service, November 26, 2009. Featured a powderhorn and swords.

Planes, Trains and...nope, Just a Train, December 15, 2009. Featured a model train engine.

A Statue with a Split Personality, June 10, 2010. Featured a statue titled "The Last of the Mohicans."

Birth of the United States Navy, October 15, 2010. Featured a litho of the Kearsarge and the Constitution.

View of Cold Spring and Mount Taurus, December 2, 2008. Featured a painting of the same name by Thomas Chambers.

Floral Quilts and Children's Folk Portraits, February 24, 2009. Featured Eliza Smith by an unidentified artist.

Eunice Pinney Mourning Pictures, April 23, 2009. Featured mourning pictures by Eunice Pinney.

Early Photography Meets 20th Century Sleuthing, July 9, 2009. Featured an extending box camera.

Kopp Collection, July 14, 2009. Featured advertising materials with images of American Indians.