The Decorative Arts Society, joined by the New York Silver Society,
Invites You to a Weekend of Special Tours and Collection Visits in the
Providence, Rhode Island Region
Friday, June 21st – Sunday, June 23rd, 2019
Pre-Registration is required; please download registration brochure for
itinerary details as well as travel and accommodation information.
---------Friday, June 21st----------
Providence Art Club for Tour and Lunch
We have a special opportunity to lunch in the ca. 1790 Club House of the second-oldest art club in the country. Its 1885 Fleur-de-Lys Studio nearby, a National Historic Landmark, is an outstanding example of the Arts and Crafts style. Our host and tour guide will be Robert Emlen, University Curator and Senior Lecturer in American Studies, Brown University. This is a private club with a dress code and no jeans are allowed.
Private Viewing of Gorham Company Archive, John Hay Library, Brown University
We will view highlights from the Gorham Company Archive. The collection features many thousands of drawings and photographs of Gorham products, reflecting American taste from Victorian times to the present.
Rhode Island School of Design Museum
Elizabeth Williams, David & Peggy Rockefeller Curator of Decorative Arts and Design, will guide us through the comprehensive exhibition Gorham Silver: Designing Brilliance, 1850–1970.
Dinner at The Dorrance
This elegant restaurant is housed in the Union Trust Building, built in 1901, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.
----------Saturday, June 22nd----------
Tour of John Brown House
The John Brown House, a National Historic Landmark, was built in 1788 by merchant, patriot, politician, and university benefactor John Brown. This grand three-story Georgian mansion on College Hill is operated by the Rhode Island Historical Society.
Lunch and Tour at Clouds Hill
The house at Clouds Hill was built as a wedding gift for Elizabeth Ives Slater on her marriage to Alfred Augustus Reed, Jr. in the 1870s. A private tour, with behind-the-scenes access, of this Gothic Revival house on the National Register of Historic Places will offer an opportunity to experience late nineteenth-century life in a home that has never passed out of the original family's stewardship. An Egyptian-themed room is among its treasures.
Tour of Warren Chair Works and O&G
Designer Jonathan Glatt will guide us on a tour of Warren Chairworks, a Windsor chair manufacturer carrying on the region’s handcrafted tradition, as well as his furniture studio, O&G, that provides a contemporary interpretation of the style.
Dinner and Drinks at bywater
Run by two Rhode Island restaurant veterans, bywater features a New England sourced menu. Seasonal appetizers, a glass of wine, beer, or a signature cocktail and custom menu with choices
---------Sunday, June 23rd----------
10:30 a.m. – Meet at Gov. Henry Lippitt House Museum for Tour
Carrie Taylor, Director, will guide us through this National Historic Landmark, a 30-room Italianate mansion with Renaissance Revival interiors, one of the best-preserved examples of a Victorian-era home in the U.S.
Visit to the Stanley Weiss Collection
We have been invited to visit the Stanley Weiss collection and view hundreds of examples of primarily American and English decorative arts of the 18th and 19th centuries.
