19th Anniversary

2019 Antiques & Fine Art 145 the island and its people from a nostalgic point of view. In The Window Toward the Sea , Coffin portrays octogenarian Phebe Folger Pitman knitting by the window of her kitchen — the very image of quaint Nantucket that was a major selling point of the island as a summer destination in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. A century and a half of promotion and development have transformed Nantucket from yesterday’s faded whaling port into today’s polished summer destination, underpinned by a multi- billion-dollar economy based on real estate, construction, and tourism. Nowadays, more than seventeen-thousand people live on island year-round — more than at the height of whaling. The Nantucket Historical Association seeks to be a voice for the island and its history, preserving and presenting the art and artifacts that illuminate this little island in the Atlantic.  Collecting Nantucket/Connecting the World: Nantucket Historical Association will be on view at the Winter Show from January 18–22, 2019, Park Avenue Armory, 67th and Park, New York City. For information, visit www.thewintershow.org or www.nha.org. Michael R. Harrison is the Obed Macy Director of Research and Collections at the Nantucket Historical Association, Nantucket, Mass . Fig. 12: Elizabeth Rebecca Coffin (1851–1930), The Window Toward the Sea , 1886. Oil on canvas; 25⅛ x 30¼ in. Nantucket Historical Association Collection; Gift of the artist (1902.2.1).

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