The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg are offering you the chance to be a forensic detective—of furniture.
The exhibition, titled Upholstery CSI: Reading the Evidence, will offer insight into investigative tactics used in Colonial Williamsburg’s furniture-conservation labs, including how furniture was upholstered and designed, according to a press release from Colonial Williamsburg.
“Colonial Williamsburg’s extensive collection of furniture items reveals not only how early Americans lived but also—with painstaking accuracy—how the craftsmanship behind the objects evolved,” said Mitchell B. Reiss, president and CEO of Colonial Williamsburg.
This chance to look behind the scenes at historical accuracy will be offered at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum through December 2020.
The exhibit will feature a series of 14 sofas, side chairs, arm chairs and other furniture to teach museum guests about historic detective work, such as looking at tacking patterns of early nails.
There will also be items that demonstrate complex patterns, as well as how the smallest bit of textile fluff might give a clue to a fabric’s original color or weave. Visitors will also be able to sit in reproduction chairs and touch examples of upholstery, to get a feel for the clues and techniques used to create original upholstery.
“The discoveries made by our curators and conservators in their study of these objects further the Foundation’s educational mission of sharing America’s enduring story,” Reiss said.
In addition, there will be special programs, including a discussion of 18th-century upholstery at 5:30 p.m. on June 26. The talk will be by Leroy Graves, an award-winning senior-upholstery conservator at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and Tara Chicirda, Colonial Williamsburg’s curator of furniture.
Tours every Tuesday and Thursday at 2:15 and 3:30 p.m. will offer visitors a look at the museum’s 18th-century furniture galleries. These tours are also included in admission to Colonial Williamsburg or the art museums.
