Silver and Furniture: Aesthetics and Value  from the Middle Ages to Now

The Furniture History Society (FHS) was founded to study furniture of all periods, places and kinds, to increase knowledge and appreciation of it, and to assist in the preservation of furniture and its records.

Furniture History Society

A joint symposium with The Furniture History Society and The Silver Society

The Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre, Victoria and Albert Museum

Live and live-streamed via Zoom. The Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecure Theatre, V&amp;AThis one day collaborative symposium explores the relationship between furniture and silver in terms of valuing, owning, describing and making. Furniture displays and stores silver; how did the two combine in princely, ecclesiastical, domestic and retail settings, and how did viewers react? Do collectors prize silver in its native or worked state, in terms of its place of origin, as they might a rare wood? What prominence do artists give furniture and silver in paintings, and how does furniture frame depictions of metalwork? How do inventories and chronicles describe silver and associated furnishings? Did designers and manufacturers of silver and furniture work collaboratively, or mutually influence each other? Did all societies across the globe value these materials equally, and has their relative importance and material worth fluctuated over the centuries?PROGRAMME10:00 – 10:30 am Registration10:30 – 10:35 am Welcome by Sir Jonathan Marsden, Chairman, Furniture History Society and Dr Kirstin Kennedy, Chairman, The Silver SocietySession OneModerated by Dr Kirstin Kennedy10:35 – 11:05 am KEYNOTE: Deep Storage: Securing German Silver, c. 1630–1648Dr Allison Stielau, Lecturer in Early Modern Art, University College London11:05 – 11:25 am Looking at Silver in Pieter Gerritsz Roestraeten’s (ca.1630-1700) ‘Tea Still Lifes’Evelyn Earl, Wolfson Scholar and PhD candidate in History of Art, University College London11:25 – 11:45 am Q &amp; A11:45-11:55 am SHORT BREAK Session TwoModerated by Gareth Harris, President, The Silver Society11:55 am – 12:15 pm Eighteenth-Century Panelling: A Material and Contextual Approach to Argentures (Silver Leaf)Eva Robert Szewczyk, PhD candidate in Art History, École du Louvre and Aix Marseille UniversityStéphanie Courtier, Head of Gilded Wood Restoration, Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France12:15 – 12:35 pm Silver and the Moon: Kingship, Love and Illusion in the Courtly Interior in South AsiaDr Esther Schmidt, Founding Director of the Centre for Historic Houses of India and Associate Professor of Architectural History, Global Design History and Heritage Studies at OP Jindal Global University12:35 – 12:55 pm The Baroque Silver Furniture Pieces of Prince Paul I Esterházy (1635–1713): Lost and Found Over the CenturiesDr Florian Bayer, Director, Esterházy Foundation, Austria12:55 – 1:10 pm Q &amp; A 1:10 – 2:10 LUNCH BREAK (lunch not included) 2:10 - 2:15 pm Welcome back and introductionSession ThreeModerated by Dr Amy Lim, Co-Chair, Events Committee, Furniture History Society2:15 – 2:45 pm KEYNOTE Gleaming Gold: The Integral Role of the Gold and Silver Laceman in Furnishing DecorationAnnabel Westman, Textile historian and consultant2:45 – 3:05 pm Craftsmanship and Collaboration at the Court of Dresden: An Overview of the Evidence Embedded in Crown Princess and Queen Maria Josepha’s Privy Purse, 1719-57Maureen Cassidy-Geiger, Independent scholar, Curator and Educator3:05 – 3:25 pm ‘When ‘tis unfit for the King’s use’: Royal Perquisites and their Visibility in the Devonshire CollectionKatherine Hardwick-Kulpa, Assistant Curator of the Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth3:25 – 3:40 pm Q &amp; A 3:40 – 4:10 BREAK FOR TEA Session FourModerated by Dr Tessa Murdoch FSA, Independent Curatorial and Editorial Consultant and Chair of Trustees, Huguenot Museum4:10 – 4:30 pm Silver dressing table sets from the collection of Marjorie Merriweather Post and their relationship to furniture in the collection of Hillwood, Washington D.C.Dr Wilfried Zeisler, Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Hillwood Estate, Museum &amp; Gardens4:30 – 4:50 pm Valadier’s Pietà: A monumental silver relief between fixture and furnitureDr Heike Zech, Deputy Director, Curator of Decorative Arts before 1800 and the History of Crafts at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum4:50 – 5:10 pm Q &amp; A and closing remarks Picture credit:Queen Charlotte with her Two Eldest Sons1764 by Johan Joseph Zoffany (Frankfurt 1733-London 1810), oil on canvas. The Royal Collection Trust.

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Silver and Furniture: Aesthetics and Value from the Middle Ages to Now

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