Associated Products
Horn with a Twist: New Projects and Discoveries at Winterthur Museum (Article)Title: Horn with a Twist: New Projects and Discoveries at Winterthur Museum
Author: Ann Wagner
Author: Katie Lagarde
Abstract: This article allowed us to share an overview of the project with those associated with The Honourable Company of Horners, which is an organization dedicated to the research, preservation, and education of horn work. We were also able to share a few discoveries in Winterthur's hornware collection that would be of interest as well as invite collaborative research.
Year: 2020
Access Model: Subscription only
Format: Other
Periodical Title: The Horn Book, Winter 2020
Publisher: The Honourable Company of Horners
National Endowment for the Humanities Collections and Reference Resources Grant (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: National Endowment for the Humanities Collections and Reference Resources Grant
Abstract: A brief PowerPoint presentation to around 60 Winterthur tour guides, who would encounter Katie Lagarde as she worked in the collection, giving an overview of the project, the cataloguing process, and future plans.
Author: Ann Wagner
Author: Katie Lagarde
Date: 10/14/2019
Location: Winterthur Museum
Sea Horse Teeth & Other Hidden Organic in the American Home (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: Sea Horse Teeth & Other Hidden Organic in the American Home
Author: Ann Wagner
Abstract: Implements, ornaments, and outright treasures in American homes that were sourced from once-living creatures (rather than plants) often come under the heading of hard matrix organics. Horns, hooves, shells, and teeth were beguiling elements adapted for general human domestic needs. Some organic items were imbued with meanings in religious or folklore practices, others were valued for medicinal properties, and still others for study or marvel as curiosities of nature. These materials also challenged artisans to explore their properties and push limits for their conceptualizations of beauty. With contact and colonization, exchange and appreciation led to the exploitation of some of these natural resources as well as the labor that procured them. Studies of Native American material culture as well as Atlantic World trade address organics and their exchange, particularly in instances of plenty or scarcity, but decorative arts scholarship on the subject has room to grow. This presentation will offer an overview of several organic materials with historic impact not just for their novelty or utility, but for fostering development in early American arts and habits of domestic life.
Date: 2/25/2020
Primary URL:
https://media.colonialwilliamsburg.org/media/documents/72nd_Annual_Antiques_Forum_Celebrates_The_American_Home_Feb._21-25_2020_.pdfPrimary URL Description: Promotional PDF for the conference.
Conference Name: Colonial Williamsburg Antiques Forum, Williamsburg, Virginia
Do Museums Need Objects? Session: Ivory, Horn & Tortoiseshell: Challenges and Opportunities (Conference/Institute/Seminar)Title: Do Museums Need Objects? Session: Ivory, Horn & Tortoiseshell: Challenges and Opportunities
Author: Janice Klein
Author: Ann Wagner
Author: Lara Kaplan
Author: Katie Lagarde
Abstract: This panel will explore practical and philosophical issues related to the cataloguing, care, and interpretation of objects with animal-sourced components, particularly elephant and marine ivories, tortoise shell, and horn. Historic arts incorporating these materials, as well as contemporary jewelry and craft, pose challenges for museum professionals from basic species identification to interpretive contexts. This session will focus on questions such as: What is involved in being responsible stewards of these materials? What are some risks in accepting gifts of animal organics or actively collecting them (and their modern imitations)? How do animal-sourced materials open opportunities for dialogue with audiences? Our goal is to offer a primer or framework for recognizing the under-appreciated contributions animals have made to art and historical museum collections.
Target audience: museum curators, collection managers, exhibition planners, emerging professionals
Presenters: Lara Kaplan, Katie Lagarde, and Ann Wagner
Date Range: October 2020
Location: Mid-Atlantic Museums Association Annual Meeting Conference 2020 (webinar)
Primary URL:
http://midatlanticmuseums.org/annual-meeting/maam2020/Earth Day Video (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)Title: Earth Day Video
Writer: Ann Wagner
Director: Ann Wagner
Director: Allison Dunckel
Producer: EarthDay.org
Abstract: Winterthur Museum's invited contribution the Artists for the Earth in the Restore Our Earth campaign.
Year: 2021
Primary URL:
http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2021-museum-gallery/Format: Digital File
Wish You Were Hair: A Closer Look at Historic Haircombs (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: Wish You Were Hair: A Closer Look at Historic Haircombs
Abstract: An "Objects Up Close" presentation shared first with membership, then on Instagram.
Author: Ann Wagner
Date: 07/28/2020
Location: Winterthur Museum, Delaware
Primary URL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb1Uu5YFtwYResponsibly Cataloguing Overlooked Animal Organics (Ivory, Bone, Skin and Horn) in Winterthur's Decorative Arts Collections (Conference/Institute/Seminar)Title: Responsibly Cataloguing Overlooked Animal Organics (Ivory, Bone, Skin and Horn) in Winterthur's Decorative Arts Collections
Author: Catherine Matsen
Author: Ann Wagner
Author: Rosie Grayburn
Author: Lara Kaplan
Author: Katie Lagarde
Abstract: In 2018 Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library was awarded an NEH grant to catalogue “overlooked organic” objects in the collection through physical identification and analytical research. This project focuses on cataloguing a group of objects with a high standard of accuracy, acquiring information through visual and scientific analysis, research, and expert consultation. The work is a collaboration between curatorial, conservation, and scientific staff to understand findings within the craft context for each object.
Date Range: 2021
Location: Delaware
Primary URL:
http://youtube/4B91v68UI9EPrimary URL Description: Winterthur staff sharing a project made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities at the Art Bio Matters Conference, September 2021.
Secondary URL:
http://artbiomatters.org/program-2021Secondary URL Description: Art Bio Matters virtual conference held in September 2021 hosted by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York University, and the Richard Lounsbery Foundation.
Timeless Tortoiseshell: Considering Animals in the Arts (Article)Title: Timeless Tortoiseshell: Considering Animals in the Arts
Author: Ann Wagner
Abstract: Winterthur Primer article focused on the enduring taste for the colors and patterns found in marine turtle shell in the decorative arts.
The Winterthur Primer article in the 22nd anniversary issue of Antiques & Fine Art (January 2022).
Year: 2022
Primary URL:
http://www.incollect.com/articles/winterthur-primer-timeless-tortoiseshellSecondary URL:
http://www.afamag.comSecondary URL Description: Antiques & Fine Art Magazine
Access Model: Open access: www.afamag.com Print and open access via www.incollect.com
Format: Magazine
Periodical Title: Antiques & Fine Art, Winter 2022
Publisher: Pure Imaging Inc., Woburn, Massachusetts, USA
Scrimshaw Seminar for Cultural Heritage Professionals (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: Scrimshaw Seminar for Cultural Heritage Professionals
Abstract: Dr. Frank consulted with Winterthur for a week to research and catalogue the scrimshaw collection (nautical arts related to whaling). For the seminar program he delivered a 2-hour lecture about scrimshaw's history, practice and materials. Following the lecture, museum objects and conservation study collection materials were explored with hands-on opportunities for participants.
Author: Dr. Stuart Frank
Date: 6/6/2022
Location: Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library
Curator's Gallery Walk: Outside In exhibition (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: Curator's Gallery Walk: Outside In exhibition
Abstract: Ann Wagner, curator of decorative arts and grant project manager, led a public tour of the special exhibition, Outside In.
Author: Ann Wagner
Date: 12/07/2021
Location: Winterthu r Museum, Garden & Library
Primary URL:
http://www.winterthur.org/calendar/curators-gallery-walks/2021-12-07/Primary URL Description: Curator's Gallery Walks:
https://www.winterthur.org/calendar/curators-gallery-walks/2021-12-07/
Curator's Gallery Walk: Outside In exhibition (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: Curator's Gallery Walk: Outside In exhibition
Abstract: Ann Wagner, curator of decorative arts and grant project manager, led a public tour of the special exhibition, Outside In.
Author: Ann Wagner
Date: 05/03/2022
Location: Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library
Primary URL Description: Alas, this did not make it on the institution's digital calendar, but 5 people attended on the day.
Organic Jewelry Session for Winterthur Connoisseurship course (Course or Curricular Material)Title: Organic Jewelry Session for Winterthur Connoisseurship course
Author: Christine Griffiths
Abstract: On April 28, 2022 Christine Griffiths, cataloguer, prepared and offered a one-hour seminar focused upon organic materials in Winterthur's jewelry collections. The objects were contextualized in global historic practices for working human hair and in organics materials trade. This was foregrounded by a session covering animal organic materials in the previous week offered by conservator Lara Kaplan.
Year: 2022
Audience: Graduate
Outside In: Nature Inspired Design at Winterthur (Exhibition)Title: Outside In: Nature Inspired Design at Winterthur
Curator: Ann Wagner
Abstract: In partnership with the Delaware Museum of Natural History, this exhibition brings selections from their collection of natural specimens together with collections drawn from Winterthur’s museum and library holdings, demonstrating the powerful connection between nature and the decorative arts.
Outside In considers how H.F. du Pont’s interiors looked to the outside and brought it inside in an aesthetic that has inspired designers ever since. The enduring theme of nature in design is captured through objects featuring naturalistic elements and, in some instances, objects such as shells and feathers found in nature. Organic objects such as ladles made from coconut shells and busks made from whale bone are included in the exhibition, inspiring visitors to consider current discussions about preservation and conservation of the natural world. This visually eclectic and immersive installation will capture the imagination of visitors of all ages with objects ranging from a hornet’s nest to shells, minerals, and fossils to exquisite inlaid cabinetry and shellwork grottos.
Year: 2021
Primary URL:
https://www.winterthur.org/outside-in-nature-inspired-design-at-winterthur/Primary URL Description: Exhibition home page
Terrific Tuesday (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: Terrific Tuesday
Abstract: This session exploring marine shells used in decorative arts was created as a hands-on experience for all ages, but focused on children as part of Winterthur's summer camp programs. Curator Ann Wagner and cataloguing assistant Katie Lagarde prepared an Ipad slide show, selected shell specimens from the conservation study collection to fill the table, and created coloring sheets to explore color, line and design, and textures in natural materials. Several hundred children participated in the event.
Author: Katie Lagarde
Author: Ann Wagner
Date: 07/20/2021
Location: Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library
Responsibly Cataloguing Overlooked Animal Organics in Winterthur's Decorative Arts Collections (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: Responsibly Cataloguing Overlooked Animal Organics in Winterthur's Decorative Arts Collections
Author: Katie Lagarde
Author: Ann Wagner
Author: Rosie Grayburn
Author: Lara Kaplan
Author: Catherine Matsen
Abstract: Overlooked Organics in Decorative Arts: Cataloguing Winterthur’s Hard Matrices and Collagen-Based Organics
In 2018 Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library was awarded an NEH grant to catalogue “overlooked organic” objects in the collection through physical identification and analytical research. Before scarcity and synthetic materials supplanted them, natural components sourced from the animal kingdom were plentiful in the decorative arts. These objects, created from hard matrices and collagen-based organics by artists whose craft traditions are scarcely practiced today, are culturally, historically, and artistically important. This project focuses on cataloguing a group of objects with a high standard of accuracy, acquiring information through visual and scientific analysis, research, and expert consultation. The work is a collaboration between curatorial, conservation, and scientific staff to understand findings within the craft context for each object.
The project’s main objective is to make the animal organics more accessible through accurate and full catalogue records including creation context, photography, condition information, materials identification, and web descriptions. Where visual identification is inconclusive, peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) is providing a species identification, to varying degrees of certainty, based upon existing reference data. This technique, which involves MALDI-ToF analysis of enzyme-digested microsamples, required a new set of skills and knowledge from the two Winterthur scientists. An introduction to and continued guidance of the PMF technique and interpretation has been provided by Dr. Dan Kirby, an independent conservation research scientist affiliated with MFA Boston. MALDI-ToF instrumentation is accessed at the University of Delaware’s mass spectrometry facility.
While some objects are easily sampled and produce good data to be interpreted by the non-expert user, others are more challenging. Shagreen objects are provin
Date: 09/22/2021
Primary URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B91v68UI9EPrimary URL Description: Recording of a 36-minute video presentation created for the Art Bio Matters 2021 virtual conference giving an overview of the activities undertaken by Winterthur Museum with support from the NEH.
Secondary URL:
https://artbiomatters.orgSecondary URL Description: Website hub for an international online community of conservators, curators, and cultural heritage professionals involved in the investigation of biological materials.
Conference Name: Art Bio Matters 2021 Virtual Conference
Technical Analysis and Treatment of a Siberian Reindeer-Fur Overcoat (Article)Title: Technical Analysis and Treatment of a Siberian Reindeer-Fur Overcoat
Author: Annabelle Camp
Abstract: This paper presents the treatment and technical analysis of a child’s overcoat from the Dolgan (tiajono) peoples of Siberia and contributes to a very limited corpus of English-language scholarship on this group and their material culture. The coat, which is in the collection of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, is composed primarily of reindeer skin, fur intact, with fulled wool and beadwork. In addition to historical research and visual examination, technical analysis, done in conjunction with the object’s treatment as part of second-year coursework in the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, provided further information about the object’s context, composition, and condition. Analysis included X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to detect pesticide residues and mordants in the wool components, pH testing of the beads, collagen shrinkage temperature testing, Fourier transform infrared-spectroscopy of residues and stains, and peptide-mass fingerprinting using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry for species identification of the skin components. The findings of each analysis and their implications for the coat’s context and treatment will be given and the treatment briefly summarized.
Year: 2022
Primary URL:
https://issue-2.materiajournal.com/camp/Primary URL Description: Website for Materia: Journal of Technical Art History, issue 2
Secondary URL:
https://materiajournal.com/Secondary URL Description: Primary website for digital journal
Access Model: open access
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Materia: Journal of Technical Art History
Publisher: Materia Team
Scrimshaw Seminar for Cultural Heritage Professionals (Conference/Institute/Seminar)Title: Scrimshaw Seminar for Cultural Heritage Professionals
Author: Christine Griffiths
Author: Dr. Stuart Frank
Author: Ann Wagner
Author: Lara Kaplan
Abstract: Scrimshaw is broadly understood as the art and craft of decorative and practical objects, created by whalemen and sailors using the material byproducts of the whale hunt, including sperm whale teeth, walrus tusks, skeletal bone, and baleen. This workshop, designed especially for cultural heritage professionals, will also provide a rare, hands-on introduction to the practice and materials of scrimshaw. As part of our NEH grant to catalog "overlooked organics," Dr. Frank will analyze the Winterthur collection of scrimshaw. For our seminar program, he will deliver a lecture about scrimshaw, delving into its history, practice, and materials. Following the lecture, our curatorial and conservation staff will present museum objects alongside materials from the conservation study collection.
Date Range: June 6, 2022
Location: Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Delaware
Primary URL:
http://www.winterthur.orgPrimary URL Description: The primary website for Winterthur Museum.
Introduction to Organic Jewelry Materials and Ornamental Hairwork (Course or Curricular Material)Title: Introduction to Organic Jewelry Materials and Ornamental Hairwork
Author: Christine Griffiths
Abstract: A one-hour hands-on seminar focused on the materials, techniques, and design of hairwork jewelry in the Winterthur Museum collection.
Year: 2022
Primary URL:
https://www.winterthurprogram.udel.edu/Primary URL Description: The primary website for the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture, a graduate degree offered jointly by Winterthur and the University of Delaware.
Audience: Graduate
Wild Kingdom: An Excel-based Tool for Species Identification Using MALDI-ToF data (Course or Curricular Material)Title: Wild Kingdom: An Excel-based Tool for Species Identification Using MALDI-ToF data
Author: Mike Szelewski
Author: Rosie Grayburn
Author: Catherine Matsen
Abstract: In 2018 Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library was awarded an NEH grant to catalog “overlooked organic” objects in the collection through physical identification and analytical
research. This project focused on cataloging a group of objects with a high standard ofaccuracy, acquiring information through visual and scientific analysis, research, and expert
consultation. Where visual identification was inconclusive, peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) provided a species identification, to varying degrees of certainty, based upon existing reference tables. The grant allowed the museum to invest in the equipment required to prepare samples
for PMF, while MALDI-ToF analysis is conducted at the University of Delaware’s Mass Spectrometry Facility. While working on PMF analysis with infrequent or one-off users of the technique (art conservation students, material culture students, museum cataloguers), Winterthur scientists started looking into more user-friendly ways to cross-reference MALDI-ToF data of collagen markers to known, open-source collagen marker reference lists. The tool known as the “Wild Kingdom Helper” was developed to suggest possible species identifications with a certainty factor, drawing from known collagen markers for a range of species.Users input calibrated MALDI-ToF data (m/z and intensity) into the Excel-based tool. Wild Kingdom Helper then finds collagen and keratin markers from the list and determines whether the sample is deamidated or not. The input data is compared to all m/z values in a table of species. The closest match, high or low, for each m/z is reported. Acceptance of these is based on a user defined tolerance. A list of possible species (listed from best to worst match) is then outputted, alongside the certainty factor: percentage of total markers found. The table of species is open ended for additional entries. The tool is currently still in development but has been used successfully to corroborate results from manual cross-referencing of
Year: 2022
Primary URL Description: Mass Spectrometry and Chromatography User’s Group
Audience: Graduate
My Perfect Day (Blog Post)Title: My Perfect Day
Author: Mark Nardone
Author: Ann Wagner
Abstract: A curator's descriptive account of an imaginary visit to Winterthur that includes all of her favorite activities.
Date: 04/10/2022
Primary URL:
https://www.winterthur.org/my-perfect-day/Primary URL Description: Link to the Winterthur website blog post.
Blog Title: My Perfect Day
Junior Researcher (Course or Curricular Material)Title: Junior Researcher
Author: Dr. Rosie Grayburn
Abstract: The Scientific Research & Analysis Laboratory (SRAL) hosted a full day internship for a student from the Charter School of Wilmington. The day focused on Peptide Mass Fingerprinting analysis used in support of this grant project's work.
Year: 2022
Primary URL:
https://charterschool.org/junior-research/Primary URL Description: The website for the Charter School of Wilmington, Delaware.
Audience: K - 12
Evolving Approaches: The Organic Materials Study Collection at the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: Evolving Approaches: The Organic Materials Study Collection at the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation
Author: Lara Kaplan
Abstract: For decades, the organic materials study collection at the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (WUDPAC) has played a pivotal role in teaching. It has grown over time to include numerous examples of plant- and animal-based materials in their raw and worked states, along with an array of rubbers and plastics. For students, being able to examine and physically handle these materials enhances learning, often in profound ways. This talk will further explore how the study collection has impacted education and outreach, both within and beyond WUDPAC, and discuss the ways in which our approaches to using, organizing, and adding to it have evolved throughout the history of the program. It will also consider the importance of such study collections not only for teaching about material properties and traditions of use but in fostering a greater sense of connection to the natural world and raising awareness of critical environmental issues.
Date: 11/14/22
Conference Name: "Our Planet, Our Collections" Virtual Conference, Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts
Natural Components in Decorative Arts: Cataloguing Winterthur's Hard Matrices and Collagen-based Organics (2019-2022) (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: Natural Components in Decorative Arts: Cataloguing Winterthur's Hard Matrices and Collagen-based Organics (2019-2022)
Abstract: Grant project summary presented to the Winterthur Board of Trustees Collections Committee on 9/19/22. The presentation outlines what was accomplished with the grant funding, new tools used, findings, products, conferences, and future related activities.
Author: Ann Wagner
Date: 9/19/22
Location: Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library