Collection CornerSummer Brown-bag Lunch Lecture Series with Sandra Rux

The three groups cooperating in the Synergy project– the Warner House, John Paul Jones House and the Wentworth-Gardner and Tobias Lear Houses, will offer a brown-bag lunch lecture series entitled “Collection Corner” on Wednesdays beginning June 21 and running through September 6. The talks will be given by our staff and volunteers, and will highlight items from the collections, and features of the houses and landscape. Bring your own lunch; we will provide iced tea, lemonade and cookies. Programs will begin at noon, with the talks lasting for approximately 30 minutes. A tour of each house is included. Each lecture is $5, $4 for members of any of the three organizations. Subscription rate for the series is $50, $40 for members.

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June 21   John Paul Jones House
Objects in the collection on loan from the North Church, including a chair made in England and modified at least twice in Portsmouth. The latest modification is a seat cover added in 1877 to commemorate the ministers who had served the North Church. Other objects include a portable desk made from the original pulpit and Rev. Buckminster’s favorite rocking chair. Sandra Rux, House Manager

June 28   Warner House
The Warner House possesses both Dutch and English fireplace tiles. Which ones were there originally? When were the others added? How have the fireplaces and tiles been modified and rearranged over the centuries? Sandra Rux, House Manager

July 5   Wentworth-Gardner House
Fireplace tiles at the Wentworth-Gardner House. Are these Dutch or Bristol? Were they there originally? Were these rearranged or supplemented by Wallace Nutting? How were these tiles made and why is it difficult to tell English from Dutch? Sandra Rux, House Manager

July 12   John Paul Jones House
Biblical fireplace tiles in the small parlor. Why is this the only house in Portsmouth to have tiles with Biblical scenes? Are these Dutch or English? Are they original to the house? If not, who might have added them? Sandra Rux, House Manager

July 19   Warner House
The story behind the newly reproduced green damask bed hangings in Jonathan Warner’s bedchamber. How were patterns chosen for the cloth and the style of the hangings? How did we find craftspeople capable of doing this work today and volunteers to construct them? Joyce Volk, Curator, Warner House

July 26   Wentworth-Gardner House
A discussion of the historic landscape at the Wentworth Gardner house as represented by the 1803 survey done for William Gardner . Explore how and why succeeding generations have made changes. Ann Duncan, President Wentworth-Gardner and Tobias Lear Houses Association

August 2   John Paul Jones House
Objects associated with Edmund Roberts, merchant and special trade envoy for the United States in the early 19th century. This will include information on the Roberts connection to the John Paul Jones House. Ursula Wright, Curator of the Portsmouth Historical Society

August 9   Warner House
Explore the “setting room” of the Warner House. In one room we have marbleized walls, furniture made by Robert Harrold, the best known of high-end 18th century furniture makers in Portsmouth, Hogarth prints and Polly Warner’s library. Learn how each of these is important to the story of the Macphaedris and Warner families. Joyce Volk, Curator Warner House

August 16   Wentworth-Gardner House
Explore the story of the desk purported to have belonged to Major Samuel Hale, Master of the Portsmouth Grammar School from 1748 to about 1790. It was purchased from a family member in 1948 by Charles Dale, but did it really belong to Major Hale? A desk said to have belonged to him was sold as an antique in 1908. Could this be the same one? And then we have to consider the fire of 1813 that burned most of Major Hale’s furniture and papers. Sandra Rux, House Manager

August 23   John Paul Jones House
Mid-twentieth methods of costume display at the John Paul Jones House (or why our costume collection is now in storage). Jan Harney, Lead Guide, Ursula Wright, Curator Portsmouth Historical Society, Sandra Rux, House Manager.
August 30 Warner House Eighteenth century cutlery in the Warner House collection. How does the collection of whole objects compare to the fragments found in the ground? What do these tell about how the family ate? Louise Richardson, Warner House Board Member

September 6   Wentworth-Gardner House
Comparing paint studies of paint in the Wentworth-Gardner rooms from 1995 and 1940. We will have painted samples of 1995 color schemes to compare to the strips of paint layers prepared in 1940. What did those early colors really look like? Sandra Rux, House Manager and Ron Tuveson Wentworth-Gardner and Tobias Lear Board Member.

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             June and July         August and September