Washington Winter Show 2020

53 may date from 1792 to 1796, when the Union included fifteen states. The term rummer for large-capacity glasses like these is misleading, as evidence suggests they were used for various alcoholic beverages, sometimes mixed with water. Great Seal designs also were created for marketing purposes. An American eagle and shield is prominently placed on a printed handkerchief (fig. 13), one of several textiles celebrating the 1876 Centennial International Exhibition at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. The central building on the handkerchief is identified as “Memorial Hall / Art Gallery.” That structure currently houses the Please Touch Museum for children and is the only one of the illustrated buildings to survive. Twentieth- and twenty-first century makers have continued to feature the Great Seal and other patriotic symbols on objects available to a broad range of consumers. Elegantly crafted eagle-and-shield motifs that appear on important government buildings and diplomatic gifts are reproduced more cheaply on keychains and within snow- globes. And what tourist hasn’t taken home a souvenir of their visit to Niagara Falls or to one of the private or public spaces associated with George Washington? Simply put, then, now, and far into the future, all these symbols will remain icons of America.  ■ Founded by collector, horticulturalist, and gentleman farmer Henry Francis du Pont and located in his former home, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library is the premier museum of American decorative arts. Its unparalleled collection of more than 90,000 objects made or used in America primarily between about 1640 and 1860 includes 71 pieces of George Washington’s personal dinner service, notable silver by Paul Revere, and other treasures, all displayed in a magnificent 175-room house and exhibition galleries. A mere two hours from Washington, D.C., Winterthur is set on a 1,000-acre estate of rolling meadows and woodlands outside Wilmington, Delaware, in the beautiful Brandywine Valley. Designed by du Pont, its 60-acre naturalistic garden is among America’s best. Graduate programs, a preeminent research library, and state-of-the-art conservation laboratories make Winterthur an important center for the study of American art, design, and culture. Learn more at www.winterthur.org Leslie B. Grigsby is Senior Curator of Ceramics and Glass at Winterthur All images courtesy of Winterthur Museum. left – Fig. 12: Drinking glass with Great Seal of the United States. Bohemia, 1785–1805. Glass (nonlead). Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont 1959.3065. right – Fig. 13: Handkerchief commemorating the Centennial International Exhibition, United States, 1876. Cotton. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David H. Stockwell 1966.014.1.