Winterthur Museum Galleries (11/24/2023)

Friday, November 24, 2023

An evergreen arch over the path to the Visitor Center at
Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library in Wilmington, DE

Tickets were checked, and we boarded a shuttle bus to its first stop at the Galleries (1992), with its special and permanent exhibits.

Garden en Vogue Flower Dress (2023, by
Katya Roelse) was inspired by the sculpture
Winged Victory of Samothrace and also by the
designer Ann Lowe and the Winterthur Garden

The Gingerbread Garden was made for fairies

Impressive flower arrangement

Flutter By, Butterfly Tree is a nod to Ann Lowe
who did not always have a label for the dresses
she designed, but she would sew a cut-work
butterfly appliqué on a hem or train

The dollhouse (created by Nancy McDaniel and
donated to Winterthur in 2015) has 18 rooms
filled with intricate miniature objects

Dollhouse kitchen with a vacuum cleaner

Dollhouse bedroom

Gardens and Gowns (by the Winterthur Floral
Team) was inspired by the use of handmade
floral embellishments by Ann Lowe

Bearing Witness Exhibit: Kendi/a pouring vessel
with a spout but no handle, instead the pot
is held around the elongated neck, from Delft,
the Netherlands is the closest to us,
the others are from China (all are 17-18C)

Conversations with the Collection Exhibit:
Chair (1984, by Robert Venturi and
Denise Scott Brown)

Chocolate set for "Anoakia" (1915, by Gorham
Manufacturing in Providence, RI)

Tureen and sauce tureens (1760-1770, from China) (KSS)

Staffordshire ceramic figures by theme; these
purely decorative items could be afforded by the
growing middle class in England in the late 1700s

Outside In Exhibit: The museum was started with
the collections of Henry Francis du Pont, who began
collecting in childhood: raven's nest and eggs

Sailor's Valentine, a shellwork picture (1814) (KSS)

Tree of Life Quilt (1800-1825) was made from
fabric printed by John Hewson in Philadelphia

Special Exhibit: Ann Lowe: American Couturier

Ann Lowe was a Black seamstress "discovered" in Montgomery, AL and taken to Tampa, FL. She went on to design for high society in New York City, as well as for First Ladies in the White House.

Countess Gown (1961) was worn by
Lynn Neville Robertson for her role in the
Ak-Sar-Ben coronation ball in Omaha, NE

On left: Gasparilla Court Gown (1926) was worn by
Katherine Broaddus in the Tampa, FL pirate-themed ball;
on right: another Ak-Sar-Ben Countress Dress (1961)
worn by Ann Lallman Jessop

A replica (2023, by Katya Roelse) of the
wedding dress of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy;
the original dress (1953, considered too fragile to
display belongs to the John F Kennedy Presidential
Library and Museum in Boston, MA

Debutante dress (1966-1967) was worn by
Barbara Baldwin Dowd

Dress and belt (1930-1934)

Next the exhibit displayed dresses made by Black designers of today, who were inspired by Ann Lowe.

Dress bearing names of Black fashion
designers (2021, by B Michael) worn by
Dawn Davis at a Metropolitan Museum
of Art's Costume Institute Gala

Green halter-dress with lace appliqués
(2021, by Tracy Reese, who has designed
for First Lady Michelle Obama)

Flower Shoes (2023, by Lenny Wilson), note the use of
Southern Magnolia cones for the heels

Next: Winterthur Yuletide at the Mansion.