Philadelphia Antiques Show 2018

Diana Bittel: You both serve as curators in the PMA’s American Art department and, specifically, over see collections of American decorative arts. What are your areas of interest and how do you decide that? Alexandra Kirtley: The PMA’s department of American Art in- cludes American paintings and sculpture up until about 1950 and American decorative arts to the present, and we also work with Justina Barrett in our Educa- tion Department to oversee Cedar Grove and Mount Pleasant, two historic houses in Fairmount Park. The division of who oversees what areas is fairly organic. It relies on— and benefits from—good commu- nication and respect. My back- ground is in historic art—generally, art made before the 1876 Centen- nial. Since I arrived in 2001, I have mainly focused on the early Amer- ican ceramics and furniture collec- tions as well as the historic hous- es. Edwin AtLee Barber and other former curators built an incredible collection. I have worked to refine it through research and exhibitions such as the 2008 loan exhibition on Philadelphia’s American China Manufactory (also known as Bon- nin and Morris) and with acquisi- tions like a B&M pickle stand and a tea bowl made at John Bartlam’s pottery in Cain Hoy, outside of Charleston, South Carolina. Likewise, I arrived in the PMA’s 125th anniversary year: collectors and curators had built an outstanding furniture collection and I have worked to make strategic additions, such as the dressing table carved with Aesop’s fable, “The Fox and the Grapes,” made en suite with our high chest , as well as works purchased from the PAAS—such as the 1812 Bishop’s Chair from Saint James Episcopal Church in Philadelphia and a circa 1834 Reed Organ, made by E.N. Scherr of Philadelphia, with writing, dressing, and sewing tables concealed in the top of the case. I worked for many years researching furniture made in Philadelphia in the 1790 to 1820 period, which culminated in the 2016 exhibition “Classical Splendor: Painted Furniture for a Grand Philadelphia House.” That exhibition showcased the newly conserved and researched painted and gilded furniture designed by architect Henry Latrobe, made by John Aitken, upholstered by John Rea, and decorated by George Bridport for William and Mary Waln. Now, I am working full force on the first-ever catalogue of the PMA’s American Furniture collection— so I am knee-deep in furniture research and writing. Before the arrival of our fellow curator David Barquist (who started in 2005) or Elisabeth (who started in 2006), I oversaw silver, which is an expertise of David’s and the focus of his current work, and early modern decorative arts. For example, I worked with several Museum staff Curatorially Speaking: Diana Bittel Speaks with PMA curators Alexandra Kirtley and Elisabeth Agro American China Manufactory (Bonnin and Morris), Pickle Stand Philadelphia, 1770 – 1772, Soft-paste porcelain with underglaze blue decoration, Gift of a 7th-generation Philadelphian, 2014 W 108 W