The Charleston Symposium is delighted to have been able to present an exceptional roster of decorative arts scholars and new scholarship since 2012, while donating more than $420,000 to support the Preservation Society of Charleston’s advocacy, education, and preservation initiatives. It has truly been a team effort by the Symposium’s dedicated volunteer board and advisory board, our generous sponsors, loyal patrons, gracious home owners, wonderful advertisers, and the talented PSC staff.
As this review reveals, we learned to be flexible . . . trying both fall and spring dates; experiencing cancellations due to timing in the changeover of PSC Executive Directors, a hurricane, and a pandemic; and organizing a special weekend event. It has all worked! And now, in the middle of our second decade of a mutually rewarding partnership with the Preservation Society, we continue to offer acclaimed programs with nationally recognized scholars to benefit the Society’s vital work.
Robert A. Leath, Executive Director, Edenton Historical Commission, Edenton, NC, has been the Moderator and Curator-in-Residence for the CHS continuously since 2012.
KEYNOTE: Robert A. Leath, Executive Director, Edenton Historical Commission, Edenton, NC
“We Cannot Be Indifferent”: The Revolutionary Women of Eighteenth-Century Edenton
Nic Butler, Ph.D., Historian, The Charleston County Public Library; Charleston, SC
The First Revolutions in South Carolina, 1719–1729
Alexandra A. Kirtley, The Montgomery-Garvan Curator of American Decorative Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art; Philadelphia, PA
Extraordinary art / authentic narratives: Re-Presenting the American Collections at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Karen Kramer, The Stuart W. and Elizabeth F. Pratt Curator of Native American and Oceanic Art and Culture, Peabody Essex Museum; Salem, MA
On this Ground: Being and Belonging in America
Louis P. Nelson, Ph.D., Professor of Architectural History and Vice Provost for Academic Outreach, University of Virginia; Charlottesville, VA
Charles Town's African landscapes: trans-Atlantic perspectives
Margaret B. Pritchard, Deputy Chief Curator, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; Williamsburg, VA
Nature and Landscape: Shaping Early America's Identity
Brian R. Turner, President & C.E.O., Preservation Society of Charleston; Charleston, SC
Welcoming Remarks and Preservation Society Overview
KEYNOTE: Dorothy Moss, Ph.D.; Curator of Painting and Sculpture, The National Portrait Gallery;
Washington, DC
Facing History: Portraits from 1600 to the Present
Jenny Garwood, Manager of Museum Education and Adjunct Curator of Textiles,
Old Salem Museums & Gardens & The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, [MESDA];
Winston-Salem, NC
Charleston’s German School of Needlework
Harlan Greene, Scholar-in-Residence, Addlestone Library, College of Charleston;
Charleston, SC
A Portion of the People: Charleston’s Jewish History
Jessica B. Harris, Ph.D., Author, Lecturer, Consultant, Culinary Historian;
Brooklyn, NY
Charleston: The History is on the Plate
William [Bill] R. Sargent, Independent Curator; Senior Consultant in Chinese Art, Bonhams (NY);
Museum Expert Adviser (Historical Pictures) Hong Kong Museum of Art;
and former H. A. Crosby Forbes Curator of Asian Export Art at the Peabody Essex Museum; Salem, MA
From the Far East to the East Coast: Chinese Export Art for American Homes
Corbett E. Toussaint, D.P.M., Independent Researcher, Collector, Curator, Author;
Columbia, SC
Edgefield District Stoneware: A Potter’s Legacy
KEYNOTE: Stewart D. McLaurin; President, The White House Historical Association;
Washington, DC
James Hoban, Architect of the White House
Daniel K. Ackermann, Ph.D.; Chief Curator & Director of Research, Collections, and Archaeology, Old Salem Museums & Garden & The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts [MESDA]; Winston-Salem, NC
If These Walls Could Talk: Art and Abolition on the Walls of a Lowcountry Home
Elizabeth (Betsy) Kirkland Cahill, Chairman of the Board, Preservation Society of Charleston,
Charleston, SC
Preservation Society Overview
Nonie Gadsden; Katharine Lane Weems Senior Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Museum of Fine Arts; Boston, MA
Tiffany’s Parakeets: The Biography of a Window
Carter C. Hudgins, Ph.D.; President & CEO, Drayton Hall Preservation Trust; Charleston, SC The Draytons vs. The Griswalds – an 1806 Vacation Adventure
Emilie Johnson, Ph.D.; Associate Curator, Thomas Jefferson Foundation; Monticello, VA Discovering Robert Mills, American Cultural Influencer
J. Thomas Savage; Director of Educational Travel and Conferences,
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; Williamsburg, VA
Imported British Furniture for the South
KEYNOTE: Sylvia Yount; Director, American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art;
New York, NY
Southern Passages: Charleston Renaissance Artists and Issues in a National Context
Lauren Brunk; Vice President, Brunk Auctions; Asheville, NC
The Commerce of Authenticity
Harlan Greene; Scholar-in-Residence, Addlestone Library at the College of Charleston;
Charleston, SC
The Past and Its Presence: Charleston and Its Renaissance
Ralph Harvard III; Ralph Harvard, Inc.; New York, NY
The 1927-1928 “Renascence” of Carter’s Grove
Kristopher B. King; Executive Director, Preservation Society of Charleston; Charleston, SC “Now is the time......tomorrow will be too late”
Robert A. Leath; Chief Curator and Vice President of Collections and Research, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts at Old Salem; Winston-Salem, NC
The 9 Lives of Robert Deans
KEYNOTE: Becky MacGuire; Senior Vice President, Senior Specialist Chinese Export Art, and Director The Exceptional Sale; Christie’s, New York, NY
The China Trade: Power, Profit, Paintings, and Porcelain
Adam Bowett; Independent Furniture Historian; North Yorkshire, UK
The British and American Mahogany Trades in the Colonial Era
Dennis Carr; Carolyn and Peter Lynch Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Boston, MA
The Four Corners of the World: How Transoceanic Trade Shaped the Colonial Americas
Linda Eaton; John L. & Marjorie P. McGraw Director of Collections and Senior Curator of Textiles, Winterthur Museum; Winterthur, DE
Patterns of Fashion: The Transatlantic Textile Trade
Daniel Finamore; The Russell W. Knight Curator of Maritime Art and History, Peabody Essex Museum; Salem, MA
A Voyage of the General Wolfe: Exporting Furniture from Colonial Massachusetts
Sumpter Priddy, III; Museum and Historic Furniture Consultant, Sumpter Priddy III, Inc.; Alexandria, VA
Decoding the Furniture of Norfolk, Virginia and the Lower Chesapeake Region: 1680-1775
KEYNOTE: Marcee F. Craighill; Director and Curator, Diplomatic Reception Rooms, U.S. State Department; Washington, D.C.
Designed for Diplomacy: The Diplomatic Reception Rooms, U. S. Department of State
Carol Borchert Cadou; SVP Historic Preservation and Collections, George Washington’s Mount Vernon; Mount Vernon, VA
Huzzah to the General and President: Dining with George Washington
Harlan M. Greene; Director of Archival and Reference Services, College of Charleston; Charleston, SC
Saints and Sinners and Three O'Clock Dinners: Some Episodes in Charleston's Entertainment History
John Stuart Gordon; Benjamin Attmore Hewitt Associate Curator of American Decorative Arts, Yale University Art Gallery; New Haven, CT
The Design of Drinking, From the Jazz Age to the Space Age
William Hosley; Cultural Resource Marketing & Development Consultant, Terra Firma Northeast; Enfield, CT
It’s All Greek to Me: An Entertaining Look at Greek Revival Architecture
Philip Zea; President, Historic Deerfield; Deerfield, MA
Asleep at The Switch: Repose and Room Use in Early America
Following the cancellation of the 2016 program where he was to be the Keynote Speaker, Peregrine Cavendish, the Duke of Devonshire, graciously offered to come to Charleston the following fall. In November, the Symposium sponsored a special weekend with an evening reception for the Duke at the Miles Brewton House, followed by his lecture the following day on Chatsworth House, family seat of the Cavendish family for 16 generations.
KEYNOTE: John A. Hays; Deputy Chairman, Christie’s Americas; New York, NY
Lost and Found: American Art Rediscovered
Susan L. Buck, Ph.D.; Conservator and Paint Analyst Lecturer, Winterthur/University of Delaware Graduate Program in Art Conservation; Winterthur, DE
Under the Microscope: Discovering Hidden Paint and Wallpaper Treasures in Charleston Buildings
Dana E. Byrd, Ph.D.; Assistant Professor of Art History, Bowdoin College; Brunswick, ME Striking a Chord: Looting of the Civil War Plantation
Brandy S. Culp; Richard Koopman Curator of American Decorative Arts, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art; Hartford, CT
Interwoven Connections – Charleston, Newport, and the West Indies
George H. McNeely; Architectural Historian; New York, NY
Reimagining a Lost Collection: The Middleton Family’s Collections Lost and Found
Louis P. Nelson, Ph.D.; Professor Architectural History, University of Virginia; Charlottesville, VA
The Charleston Single House in Atlantic Context
Ramsay H. Slugg; Managing Director, US Trust; Dallas, TX
Coloring Outside the Lines: Planning with Art & Collectibles
KEYNOTE: Dr. Tessa Murdoch, FSA; Deputy Keeper, Department of Sculpture, Metalwork, Ceramics and Glass, Victoria and Albert Museum; London, England
Huguenot Artists, Designers and Craftsmen in Great Britain and Ireland 1680-1780
KEYNOTE : William G. Allman; Curator, The White House; Washington, D.C.
Something of Splendor: Decorative Arts from the White House
Daniel K. Ackermann, Ph.D.; Associate Curator, the MESDA Collection, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts at Old Salem; Winston-Salem, NC
A House of God in the Holy City: Architecture and Identity of Charleston’s Early Jewish Community
Gary J. Albert; Editorial Director and Adjunct Curator of Silver and Metals, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts at Old Salem; Winston-Salem, NC
Probability & Provenance: Jacob Sass and Charleston’s Post-Revolution German School of Cabinetmakers
Ralph Harvard III; Ralph Harvard, Inc.; New York, NY
Lowcountry Baroque
Maurie D. McInnis, Ph.D.; Vice-Provost for Academic Affairs University of Virginia; Charlottesville, VA
“Black and White all Mix’d Together”: African American Artists in the South
KEYNOTE: Sir Simon Jenkins, FRSL; Chairman of the National Trust for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, Journalist and Author; London, England
Bringing 18th Century Houses to Life for the 21st Century
Jonathan P. Clancy; Director, American Fine and Decorative Arts Program, Sotheby’s Institute of Art; New York, NY
“The City Fairly Swarms with Painters”: A New Look at Painting in 18th Century Charleston
Wendy A. Cooper; Curator Emerita of Furniture, Winterthur Museum and Country Estate; Winterthur, DE
The Kaufman Collection: The Pursuit of Excellence and A Gift to the Nation
Robert Hunter; Editor, Ceramics in America; Yorktown, VA
18th Century Tea and Punch Rituals: Examples from Charleston
Ronald L. Hurst; Vice President for Collections, Conservation and Museums; Carlisle H. Humelsine Chief Curator, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; Williamsburg, VA
Southern Furniture Studies: Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going
KEYNOTE: The Hon. Simon Howard; Castle Howard (1701-1811);Yorkshire, England
Castle Howard: The Ups and Downs of a Family Home Over 300 Years
Andrew Brunk; Senior Specialist and Partner, Brunk Auctions; Asheville, NC
“Going, Going, Gone!”: Opportunities in the Marketplace
Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser; Curator of the American Wing, The Metropolitan Museum Art; New York, NY
Framing the Young Republic: The Making of American Art
J. Thomas Savage; Director of Museum Affairs, Winterthur Museum and Country Estate; Winterthur, DE
Neoclassicism in Charleston
John Martin Taylor; Food Historian and Author; Savanah, GA
Charleston's Culinary Heritage