Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 26, 2001

Volume 30, Number 8

Symposium to explore 'material
culture' of Colonial New York

"The Material Culture of Colonial and Early Federal New York" is the title of a three-day symposium being held at the Yale University Art Gallery in conjunction with its current exhibition "Myer Myers: Jewish Silversmith in Colonial New York."

Cosponsored by the gallery and the Decorative Arts Society, the symposium will take place Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 1-3, at the gallery. It will explore such topics as the colonial and early federal period's ceramics and glass trade, furniture, commerce in neighboring cities and the work of other noted craftsmen.

"Myer Myers: Jewish Silversmith in Colonial New York" explores the work of a master silversmith working in pre-industrial America. The economic and social climate of New York in his day embraced trade and supported commissions for quality craftsmanship, leading to the region's strong material culture. Myers exemplifies this new commercial environment as the most productive silversmith working in New York during the late-Colonial period and as the dominant figure in a large, well-established community of silversmiths that included native craftsmen of Dutch, Huguenot and English ancestry, as well as other immigrants from Europe.

David Barquist, curator of the exhibition on Myers, will give the symposium's opening lecture on the topic "'That Noted and Proficient Mechanic': The Life and Career of Myer Myers," which is free and open to the public.

Registration is required for the following two days' programs, which include three sessions: "Colonial New Yorkers and Their World," which begins at 10 a.m. on Friday, followed by "New Yorkers' Material Goods" at 2:15 p.m.; and "The Federal Period" which begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday. These sessions encompass talks by noted curators, directors, professors and specialists from institutions including George Washington's Mount Vernon, the Museum of the City of New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Christie's New York and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

For more information about registration, contact Joanne Thompson at (203) 432-0632 or send e-mail to joanne.thompson@yale.edu.

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