Nationally Recognized Painting Experts Survey NLCHS Collection

Nationally Recognized Painting Experts Survey NLCHS Collection

Posted on by stevemanuel

The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded a “We the People” grant to the New London County Historical Society to fund the creation of a preservation plan for the 55 oil paintings in its collection. Nationally recognized painting experts, Lance Mayer and Gay Myers, independent conservators associated with the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, are conducting an intensive survey of the collection in order to create the plan.lance_&_gay

James Leach, Chairman of the NEH writes, “The goal of the ‘We the People’ initiative is to support projects that explore significant events and themes in our nation’s history.” The society’s collection has a number of outstanding components with six Ralph Earl portraits commissioned for the Shaw family in 1792, and a large number of ships’ portraits and ships’ captains’ portraits associated with New London’s whaling years. In the Thomas Shaw portrait, Earl included a view in the background of Fort Trumbull with a large American flag flying over it. This alone makes this painting an important document of our nation as there are fewer than 100 images of the American flag that have been identified as being created prior to 1800.

Meyer and Myers clients have ranged from the Guggenheim Museum to the Art Institute of Chicago, and more locally, the Yale Center for British Art and the Wadsworth Atheneum. In 2009 they treated “Washington Crossing the Delaware” for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Their scholarly work on 18th and 19th century painting techniques has been shared in numerous articles and conference presentations.

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CT Commission on Culture and Tourism Features Shaw Mansion

Posted on by stevemanuel

“From Stone House to Glass House,” an exhibit on the historic preservation movement in Connecticut, opens 1 April in the CCT Gallery, in the offices of the state’s Commission on Culture and Tourism. The Shaw Mansion and its preservation by the New London County Historical Society is featured as one of the earliest examples of historic house preservation in the state.

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March … brot home the mare & colt

March … brot home the mare & colt

Posted on by NLCHS

FOAL[1]Tuesd Mar .1. . . .wee got home [from his farm in Stonington] Sun about an hour high and wee buried the Child at Sun down. . . . Saturd 5. . . I was at home al Day. Josh brot home the mare & Colt & left the young Horses. . . Mond .7. fair & Cold & windy.  I went to Groton to John Averys to Assist in an arbitration . . . Tuesd 15 it Snowed & Rained most of the Day.  I was at home foren. afternoon helping measure 100 Rod of Land for Dea. fosdick Hills Lot Next Jno Plumb taken by Execution for Charlots Debt.  Wednsd 16 fair & warm.  I was at home al day. foren helping Adm draw S[t]ones. aftern pruning Appletrees.  Thursd 24. . . I was Laying out Commons . . . I am to Receive 7s 4d of Dea Fox.  the Rest are pd & I Recd 2s 6d for Abel Moors part of Dea Fosdick.

Something that fascinates a good many people about Joshua Hempstead’s life is its variety.  One day he’s at court acting as someone’s lawyer, the next he may be surveying or working on the highways.  It’s very different from today’s specialization.

The month of March, 1736/7, gives a representative sample of this range of activities.  In that month, Hempstead:

  •  attended two funerals, one for an infant grandchild
  • worked for Madam Winthrop by making up accounts with a tenant and renewing that lease, and assisting in an arbitration involving tenants
  • spent three days in Norwich at a court
  • performed a marriage
  • spent several days surveying commons and land taken for execution of a debt
  • spent another several days engaged in agricultural work such as pruning apple trees, breaking dung, toppoling a fence, and gathering stones and making part of a wall
  • paid the minister’s “rate,” or tax, for two towns where he owned property
  • held a court of probates one day
  • sold some land and wrote the deed of sale; purchased bass and sent money to Guilford to purchase flax
  • shipped two horses to Long Island
  • received news from London
  • attended meeting every Sunday and recorded the publishments (announcements of marriage intentions)
  • spent several days “at home,” with no further explanation.

What didn’t Hempstead do that month?  Well, he didn’t letter any gravestones, an activity that provided income now and then throughout his adult life.  He didn’t write a will for anyone.  He didn’t hold any justice of the peace courts at his house, although he did perform that marriage, also a justice function.  But overall this month gives a very good picture of the scope and variety of Hempstead’s life.