Fashion and Philanthropy

By Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

One of the highlights of our Empire Waists, Bustles and Lace: A Century of New York Fashion exhibition here at the Fenimore Art Museum is the pale green damask Worth gown owned by Miss Angelica Livingston Gerry. Mr. Worth, of Paris, was the “designer to the stars” of his day, with his dresses expertly pieced and fitted in sumptuous fabrics. His clothing was a “must have” for the rich and famous of the 1890s.

Angelica's Worth gown, photo by Richard Walker

Miss Angelica certainly was part of that crowd. Descended from New York’s and New England’s finest, the Gerry line went back to a signer of the Declaration of Independence, whose name is now infamously linked to the term gerrymandering. Her mother’s Livingston family was one of the best known and affluent in New York.

Angelica’s father, Elbridge T. Gerry, was a successful New York lawyer and active philanthropist. The president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), Mr. Gerry expanded his legal attention from protecting animals to protecting children. In 1877 he intervened in the landmark case of abused child “Mary Ellen.” The incident inspired the creation of the United States’ first child welfare group - The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, of which he was president.

Elbridge T. Gerry, photo courtesy of New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children

Her father’s good works must have inspired Angelica. Much of the family’s time was spent on their large estate on Lake Delaware near Delhi, New York. Angelica did not marry, but instead mentored and encouraged the youth of the area. In 1963, SUNY Delhi honored Miss Gerry by naming a dormitory in her honor for her help “to many young men and women in attending the agricultural and home economics studies in the early years of Delhi.”

Gerry Hall at SUNY Delhi

Bird's Eye View

By: Stephen Loughman, Preparator

While working on the lighting for the new exhibit, Empire Waists, Bustles and Lace: A Century of New York Fashion, I took the opportunity to snap a few “eye in the sky” photos. Lighting an exhibition is one of the very last steps before an opening, and can be a bit nerve wracking. Because of the height of the ceiling in the Great Hall here at the Fenimore, the only real way to access the lights is by using a Genie lift. Even though it can be a bit scary at times, it is a crucial step in mounting exhibitions, and a lot of fun, too.

Trim, Stuff, Wrap, Steam

By: Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

I'm not sure what it is like in other work places, but I am always amazed at the number of hidden talents my coworkers seem to possess. Empire Waists, Bustles and Lace: A Century of New York Fashion, our soon-to-open fashion exhibition, has brought to the surface the previously untapped skills of my colleagues

I wasn't too surprised when Michelle Murdock, Curator of Exhibitions, revealed herself to be adept at fashioning petticoats out of tulle and wire. And I was pleased when Steve Loughman, our new Preparator didn't even bat an eye at my request for him to trim the base of one of our manikins and then give it hips and a bigger bottom.

What did take me by surprise was the ability of Ginny Reynolds and Brooke Steinhauser, our Cooperstown Graduate Program volunteers, to adeptly stuff 3 corsets into just the right shapes. Now we have 3 curvaceous corsets to demonstrate the different female silhouettes of the 19th century. I am sure this skill can be worked into their resumes ... somehow.
That should have prepared me for John Hart, our Assistant Curator of Collections, demonstrating that he knew exactly how to wrap our civil war general's sash and sword to military perfection. Where did he learn to do that?!
To top it all off Curator Erin Crissman from our sister museum, The Farmers' Museum just happened to mention that she had, once upon a time, spent a long summer vacuuming and steaming costumes. A week later she was hard at it in the gallery, giving tutorials on how to vacuum a costume without sucking up buttons and lace. Then it was on to steaming out the wrinkles from dresses that had spent the last 100 years in someone’s attic and then neatly tucked away in our storage facility.
The results of this sudden revelation of amazing and somewhat obscure talents-a delightful exhibit well trimmed, stuffed, wrapped and steamed-ready for our April 1 opening date. My thanks to my talented colleagues for making it happen!

Scandal Behind the Image

By: Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

Many older pieces of folk art are created on material that might not normally be called “archivally approved”. Some of these same materials are used to back works of art as well. So it shouldn’t have been surprising to find that our lovely needlework picture created by Sally S. Washburn in January of 1808 was backed and sewn to an 1807 edition of the Otsego Herald.

What did come as a revelation were two little advertisements listed in that paper. I have this crazy idea that bad public behavior is a phenomenon of the modern age. I stand corrected. What we have in the 1807 Otsego Herald, from Oxford New York is the public airing of a private spat. Move over Tiger and Elin, Jenny and Mark Sanford, the Sills are hard at it in the press.

The October 30 advertisement, posted by Mr. Andrew Sills warns neighbors against harboring or trusting his wife, as he “shall pay no debts of her contracting.” Mrs. Parnell Sills takes it one step further in her advertisement. There she warns the public, more particularly all females “….against trusting him in any respect, for fear he will deceive and abase them, as he has the subscriber.” This after a preamble where in she gives hints at the numerous imprudences of her husband, including some that seem rather risqué for print in a public paper of the period. What happened with the Sills?! The advertisements leave one speculating on what went so terribly wrong that it would lead to dueling personal ads in an 1807 local newspaper. Then in contrast we have the needlework picture–a lovely depiction of domestic bliss with lovers courting against the backdrop of a charmingly rendered house and gardens. Who would ever imagine the intrigue and scandal that lurks hidden on the flip side of that innocent image.


Above: Needlework Picture by Sally S. Washburn, 1808, Fenimore Art Museum Collection along with Otsego Herald backing and close-up of articles.

Making the Cut

By: Virginia Reynolds, CGP class of 2011

In the last ten years, reality TV has taken thousands of Americans behind the scenes. Whether it’s a jar of peanut butter or an evening gown, shows like How It’s Made and Project Runway show how much goes into a final product. Creating a museum exhibition is no different. Along with two other students from the Cooperstown Graduate Program (CGP), I have been working on the Fenimore’s upcoming exhibit, Empire Waists, Bustles & Lace: A Century of New York Fashion, which will open April 1, 2010.
My first official project was to locate prints in Godey’s Lady’s Book and Peterson’s Magazine, two nineteenth-century fashion magazines, to show changes in style over time. With over a hundred beautifully hand-colored images to choose from, selecting a few to accompany the exhibit’s labels was challenging. Next, I picked accessories for an 1830s dress and a men’s velvet suit from 1800. Even with a list of bonnets from the 1830s, it’s hard to not get distracted. Remember, the dress only needs one bonnet. The bonnets are stored in different boxes. Looking through and carefully unwrapping the acid-free tissue paper from the headwear feels like Christmas every time. While in storage or doing research, I am always surprised by what I discover.
Brooke Steinhauser and Jennie Davy also researched and recommended pieces for the exhibit. Brooke focused on undergarments – corsets, crinolines and bustle pads – all essential for creating iconic, nineteenth-century silhouettes. To put the dresses and people who wore them better into context, the some of the clothing will be displayed on antique furniture. Applying the information from her American Material Culture course, Jennie Davy selected a variety of furniture including chairs, mirrors, a sewing machine and reed organ.

From the time a museum picks an exhibit topic or theme, creating it takes hours of imaginative thinking, innovative research, careful selection, and meticulous design. Selecting what gets exhibited is only a small part of the process. Deciding what makes the cut is always difficult, but not everything can be displayed at once. Nevertheless, the design, materials, and intricate details of the items, which will be exhibited beginning in April, make the pieces absolutely incredible.

top: Godey's Plate, Fenimore Art Museum Collection.

bottom: 1890s hat worn by Catherine Odessa Sands Packard, Fenimore Art Museum Collection.

All in the Family and soon to be All in the Exhibit

By: Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

One of the best parts of doing an exhibit based on our own collections is the possibility of discovering or rediscovering something wonderful. I knew we had a fabulous clothing collection but was not aware how many family stories were woven throughout it.

We are fortunate in having Sue Friedlander working with us on the Empire Waists, Bustles and Lace exhibit for Fenimore Art Museum in 2010. Sue, a historian/museum consultant, knows the collections well so I should not have been surprised when she started linking objects and revealing a wonderful family story that goes back to a needlepoint, a wedding dress, a quilt, and a travel dress.

Our story begins with Sally Washburn, a resident of Oxford, NY, who, in 1808, stitches a lovely needlepoint of a country scene. A year later Sally marries Henry Mygatt and soon after gives birth to Sarah Eliza Mygatt.

Sarah grows-up and marries William G. Sands in 1837. For her wedding she wears a dress that becomes one of the stars of our collection. The Sands wedding dress is exquisite – white floral satin with numerous hand-stitched tucks and pleats. In addition to being in great shape and drop-dead gorgeous it is the earliest known example of a dress with a label in it (and we have it here in the NYSHA collection!).
The saga continues. In 1884 Catherine Odessa Sands Packard, daughter of William and Sarah makes a crazy quilt. In the quilt is a patch of fabric contributed by Catherine’s mother Sarah, and stitched with the dates 1837 and 1882. The fabric is from our very own Sands wedding dress (Sarah’s) and the dates commemorate Sarah and William’s 45th wedding anniversary (1837) and the 1882 wedding of their daughter Catherine.

One more piece from the family puzzle – a beautiful travel dress and jacket that was likely part of Catherine’s wardrobe. The burgundy velvet dress and matching jacket have molded glass buttons and are in stellar condition. The color and fabric resemble other patches on the quilt. Did Catherine work it in, as she had done with a patch from her mother’s wedding dress? It is hard for us to be certain. You will have an opportunity to decide for yourself when all 4 items go on display for the first time in 2010 as part of Empire Waists, Bustles & Lace.

Top: Needlework picture by Sally Washburn, 1808. Fenimore Art Museum Collection, Museum Purchase, N0161.1955

Center: Dress made by Warncock Fashionable Milliner, ca 1837. Silk, Fenimore Art Museum Collection, Gift of Mrs. Ruben Crispell, N0023.1962(01).

Bottom: Quilt by Catherine Odessa Sands Packard, ca 1882. Fenimore Art Museum Collection, Gift of Mrs. Ruben Crispell, N0022.1962.

Straight from the Heart of Hubbardsville

By: Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

My friend lives in a 19th century farmhouse in the same lovely valley that my house inhabits. These grand old homes are left from the days when “Hops were King” and some farmers in Hubbardsville had the wealth to live like a central New York version of a minor monarch. The hops have come and gone and most of us live a much more modest lifestyle than the hop farmers before us. Many of the old farmhouses are now homes for those who work at schools, hospitals, and local businesses. And, as with my friend, the costume of choice for fall leisure time activity in Hubbardsville, is usually camo or Carharts rather than a fancy gown for a hop-pickers ball.

So, after catching her all tricked out for goose hunting – complete with pink/camo knitted gun cover - it was with some delight that I was able to send her images of our latest find for our upcoming fashion exhibit (Empire Waists, Bustles and Lace). The dresses, which were given to NYSHA by former Hubbardsvillians, the Green family, are opulent 19th century high fashion. It’s hard to reckon anyone in my town being able to wear dresses of this caliber anywhere ever! So it took a step back in time and a little research to see a different picture of sleepy little Hubbardsville that included the possibility of high fashion in the heart of rural New York.

In the mid-19th century Hubbardsville could boast a grist mill, saw mill, and cider mill, two stores, a meat market, a hotel, a wagon shop, two blacksmith’s shops, a cooper shop, and a shoe shop, as well as a boys academy and an opera house. Green Road, the big road in town, is named for Charles Green, a wealthy hops merchant and farmer, who built his large house on that road. It is this large Italianate house that we believe the dresses derive from. The women of the house attended fancy dress parties, including, it is rumored, the Astor Ball in New York City. Apparently hops money could even support buying gowns from Paris, as the label in one of the dresses attests. The hops money is gone and the little hamlet is living a more sedate lifestyle. The population numbered 123 in 1880. Today the population is about double but public buildings have been greatly reduced to a fire hall, old age home and a combo gas station/general store/post office fondly referred to as the Mall. The Hubbardsville Manor, our old folks home, is what was once the stately Green mansion. The view from my porch, however, remains essentially the same as it did in 1880. Looking down the valley I can make out the goose hunters waiting in the corn, and ahead, I can imagine the shadow of one of the Green girls in her velvet riding habit making her way before them through the autumn light.

What's in a name?

By: Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

What’s in a name? Well, if you are titling an exhibit, there is a lot that goes in to finding just the right words. A couple of blogs ago we were talking about the upcoming fashion exhibit here at Fenimore Art Museum. We are featuring 19th century dress ranging from silk-shot empire waist gowns to the silky confections sported by women in John Singer Sargent portraits. The theme of the exhibit goes beyond the beauty of the clothes and talks about what was happening in New York State and our emerging American republic, and how all that influenced fashion in the 19th century.

A 3-D draft layout of the exhibition

So, how to convey some of that heavy stuff and still entice visitors in the front door and downstairs to the gallery? We started out with some very scholarly titles and quickly morphed into something a bit more playful.

From our first round we had - Connecting Threads: A Century of New York State Fashion – but there are ton of exhibits and publications using these words for textile shows, so we needed to dig a bit more.

And with a little help from other members of the curatorial team we got to - The Empire State’s New Clothes: 19th Century Upstate Fashion – which is nice but doesn’t roll off your tongue in quite the right way.

So, through our blog and Facebook post, we put it out to you, gentle readers, and we got some great responses. These included - New York State all Buttoned Up and Empire Waists in the Empire State – nice and catchy but its not all empire style clothing nor are we buttons only.
Close, very close, but with a little more work and this time help from our friends in our Marketing department we tweaked the empire waists and just starting rattling off clothing terms. Like Eliza Doolittle singing about that “Rain in Spain” we kept rolling words off our tongues, and “By George we got it”- Empire Waists, Bustles and Lace: A Century of New York Fashion. Yes, a bit light and playful, but we also hope memorable and enticing. Come to the Great Hall in Fenimore Art Museum next April and see what is really behind all that lace and finery. You may be surprised at what you learn and still have fun doing it!

Variations in the graphic treatments for the new title.

Sorting out the Closet

By: Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Collections

What is in your closet? At home I have the usual work and casual items as well as a few old items that perhaps, someday, I will wear again. I have been trying to keep to a 5-year plan, meaning if I don’t wear it at least once in five years off to the Goodwill box it goes.

In our closet, ours being the Fenimore Art Museum, we have articles of clothing that have not been worn in 200 years. My 5-year “use it-or-lose-it” rule does not apply. Here, age and infrequent use are assets and are criteria for keeping. The fun part is when the keeping/collecting becomes an opportunity for displaying.

My colleagues and I are enjoying the pleasure of sifting through the thousands of dresses, skirts, shirts, pants and undies that make up our clothing collection. The goal is to select great examples of 19th century upstate New York fashion for our 2010 exhibit season. Yes, we did have fashion up here in the 19th-century New York “wilderness”, and still do today! So far we have empire waist dresses sewn with silver thread, wedding dresses (not in white), civil war-inspired military-themed day dresses, as well as stunning silk ball gowns. And, there will be kids clothing and some men’s wear and most certainly corsets. (Then, as now, it’s often all about the undergarment!)The question is, what to title the exhibit? The theme is the influence of state and national events on 19th century New York State fashion.
Suggestions so far are:

Connecting Threads: A Century of New York State Fashion

The Empire State’s New Clothes: 19th Century Upstate Fashion

We would love your help. Do you have an idea for a title? If so, send it along as a comment on this blog. Thanks!

Photos above: Consultant Janet Rigby (blue shirt) and Associate Curator of Exhibitions, Chris Rossi (orange shirt) prepare dresses for photography