Variety Unit
Encyclopedia
Variety Unit is an exhibit building at Shelburne Museum
in Shelburne, Vermont
.
that is original to the site. Built in 1835, the building was originally known as the Weed House, but was renamed Variety Unit to reflect the wide range of decorative arts exhibited there.
tradition of “continuous architecture.”
’s glass collection numbers nearly two thousand pieces dating from 1750 to 1900 and includes free-blown flasks, window glass, and mold-blown bottles and flasks; pattern glass plates, serving dishes and decorative piecesl colorful canes, rolling pins, marbles, “witch balls” and other whimseys; and miniature glass doll dishes. The Garrison collection of American pattern glass goblets includes eleven hundred patterns. In addition the collection includes a wide range of patent medicine and apothecary bottles.
's collection is in utilitarian and fine tablewares, the figural ceramics are also of interest. Staffordshire animal figures, whimsical toby jugs, and a magnificent pair of Chelsea swans can also be seen in the Variety Unit.
's Europe
an and American
dolls include bisque
, papier-maché
, Parian
, china
, wax
, wood
and cloth pieces, most of them made between 1760 and 1930. About 400 dolls are on exhibition in Variety Unit in galleries re-designed in 2004 with new lighting and exhibition labels.
Exhibited with the dolls are 19th and 20th-century dollhouses; they include an English Gothic Revival house and the idiosyncratic Ramshackle Inn, a rambling American house with an artist's studio in the attic.
Many American dolls of the 18th and 19th centuries were made at home of readily available materials, including wood, rags, clay, dried apples, corn husks, bottles and clay pipes. Until World War I
, the majority of dolls sold in America were imported from England
, France
, and Germany
. Joel Ellis of Springfield, Vermont
made some of the first commercial American dolls with wooden bodies, patented jointed limbs, and pewter hands and feet. Izannah Walker of Rhode Island
made cloth dolls with hand-painted faces and hair. Examples by both Ellis and Walker can be seen in the Variety Unit.
Not all dolls were playthings. In the late 19th century French dollmakers such as Bru, Jumeau, and Steiner, and German dollmakers such as Kestner and Simon & Halbig – all represented in Shelburne Museum
’s collection – created elegant bisque-head dolls with large wide glass eyes, thick eyebrows, long lashes, cupid’s bow lips, beautifully coifed real hair and elaborate dresses of silk and other fine fabrics.
Souvenir and keepsake dolls were popular products in many areas frequented by tourists. Dolls created entirely of different sizes and shapes of shells, for example, come from a number of French and English resort towns; a number of these fragile dolls may be seen in the Hat and Fragrance. English peddler dolls, which depict street vendors and their diverse wares, and American Indian dolls, complete with bead-decorated costumes are also represented in Shelburne’s vast collection.
’s pewter
collection offers an overview of French
, German
, Dutch
, English
, and American
styles. Settlers brought pieces of pewter with them from abroad and many American merchants sold foreign pewter in their shops. It cost less than other metals, and in Europe its styles frequently copied popular silver designs. American artisans often relied on imported English and German pewter for stylistic inspiration. In fact, long after pewter had fallen out of fashion in Europe it was still being widely produced in America.
industry dominated the world market in the nineteenth century. It peaked in 1850 when seven hundred American ships with over twenty thousand men sailed from the South Pacific
to the Arctic
in search of whales. Voyages could last up to five years because ships only returned when their holds were filled with barrels of whale oil. To pass the time, some sailors used the leftover whalebone to make homecoming gifts for their friends and loved ones. With saws and files they would first shape the whalebone. Then with needles or knives they would sketch designs into the surface. When the design was complete the sailors would ink them with lampblack or squid ink.
While the best-known form of scrimshaw
is the whale tooth decorated with engraved scenes, scrimshanders also fashioned shipboard tools, kitchen implements, domestic and needlework tools, and fashion accessories from whalebone and ivory. Tortoise shell, seashells, animal horn, pewter, silver, and exotic tropical woods gathered during the whaling journeys sometimes provided decorative accents.
Shelburne Museum
’s scrimshaw
collection offers a broad range of forms. A variety of teeth are decorated with whaling scenes, portraits, and patriotic motifs. A “Susan’s tooth,” one of a handful engraved in the 1830s by Frederick Myrick aboard the ship Susan, is among the earliest documented scrimshaw in existence.
Pieces intended as gifts to wives and sweethearts included corset busks (inserted in a slit at the front of a woman’s corset to firm the bodice), small picks (used to pierce holes in cloth or as hair decorations), pie crimpers, knitting needles, a butter print, a sewing box, and a yarn-winding swift
.
are large (sometimes three feet tall), often comical wind-up toys with accompanying music that were displayed in parlors, especially in France, in the late-19th and early 20th centuries. The Museum exhibits about 30 automata, including several particularly fine pieces by Gustave Vichy of Paris, France. The collection includes a drunken chef, a magician, a monkey drummer, a magician, an opium smoker, a woman at her toilette, and a clown walking on his hands.
Household utensils, known as treen, comprised some of the most basic and common wooden objects. One of the most popular materials used to create treen were burls, which are dense, hard growths that form on tree trunks. The semi-circular burls typically required little shaping to form bowls and in addition to their strength, they often possessed highly patterned and attractive grains. Craftsmen would scoop out the interior of a burl by hand or, in later years with a lathe, to create a hollowed bowl.
During the 19th century food molds became popular as a vehicle for both identification and decoration. Confectioners would use intricately carved wooden molds to form and decorate pastries and marzipan candies while bakers would pour their cake batters into carved molds such as the Museum’s George Washington cake mold made by John Conger, a renowned New York carver. Dairy farmers would likewise use ornamental, circular stamps to mark their butter with their brand.
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
in Shelburne, Vermont
Shelburne, Vermont
Shelburne is a town in southwestern Chittenden County, Vermont, United States, along the shores of Lake Champlain. The population was 7,144 at the 2010 census.-History:...
.
History
Variety Unit is the only structure at Shelburne MuseumShelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
that is original to the site. Built in 1835, the building was originally known as the Weed House, but was renamed Variety Unit to reflect the wide range of decorative arts exhibited there.
Architecture
The original brick structure, with its front-gable orientation and fully articulated pediment, reflects the style of Greek Revival architecture popular in the mid-19th century. However, the complex rambling interior composed of a series of one and two-room additions, constructed over time as the occupants required more space, embodies the New EnglandNew England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
tradition of “continuous architecture.”
Glass
Shelburne MuseumShelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
’s glass collection numbers nearly two thousand pieces dating from 1750 to 1900 and includes free-blown flasks, window glass, and mold-blown bottles and flasks; pattern glass plates, serving dishes and decorative piecesl colorful canes, rolling pins, marbles, “witch balls” and other whimseys; and miniature glass doll dishes. The Garrison collection of American pattern glass goblets includes eleven hundred patterns. In addition the collection includes a wide range of patent medicine and apothecary bottles.
Ceramics
The finest ceramics in the Museum's collection include over 200 pieces of 19th-century English mochaware, several of which are recent acquisitions. While the strength of the Shelburne MuseumShelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
's collection is in utilitarian and fine tablewares, the figural ceramics are also of interest. Staffordshire animal figures, whimsical toby jugs, and a magnificent pair of Chelsea swans can also be seen in the Variety Unit.
Dolls and Dollhouses
Shelburne MuseumShelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
's Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
dolls include bisque
Bisque
Bisque may refer to:* Bisque , a piece of unglazed pottery* Bisque , a thick, creamy soup made from puréed seafood or vegetables* Bisque, a free turn in a handicap croquet match* Bisque, a free point in a handicap real tennis match...
, papier-maché
Papier-mâché
Papier-mâché , alternatively, paper-mache, is a composite material consisting of paper pieces or pulp, sometimes reinforced with textiles, bound with an adhesive, such as glue, starch, or wallpaper paste....
, Parian
Parian
Parian may mean*Pertaining to Paros, the Greek island* Parian marble, used for sculpture*Parian Ware, an inexpensive substitute for marble and fashionable in Victorian England...
, china
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, wax
Wax
thumb|right|[[Cetyl palmitate]], a typical wax ester.Wax refers to a class of chemical compounds that are plastic near ambient temperatures. Characteristically, they melt above 45 °C to give a low viscosity liquid. Waxes are insoluble in water but soluble in organic, nonpolar solvents...
, wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
and cloth pieces, most of them made between 1760 and 1930. About 400 dolls are on exhibition in Variety Unit in galleries re-designed in 2004 with new lighting and exhibition labels.
Exhibited with the dolls are 19th and 20th-century dollhouses; they include an English Gothic Revival house and the idiosyncratic Ramshackle Inn, a rambling American house with an artist's studio in the attic.
Many American dolls of the 18th and 19th centuries were made at home of readily available materials, including wood, rags, clay, dried apples, corn husks, bottles and clay pipes. Until World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the majority of dolls sold in America were imported from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Joel Ellis of Springfield, Vermont
Springfield, Vermont
Springfield is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 9,373 at the 2010 census.-History:One of the New Hampshire grants, the township was chartered on August 20, 1761 by Governor Benning Wentworth and awarded to Gideon Lyman and 61 others...
made some of the first commercial American dolls with wooden bodies, patented jointed limbs, and pewter hands and feet. Izannah Walker of Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
made cloth dolls with hand-painted faces and hair. Examples by both Ellis and Walker can be seen in the Variety Unit.
Not all dolls were playthings. In the late 19th century French dollmakers such as Bru, Jumeau, and Steiner, and German dollmakers such as Kestner and Simon & Halbig – all represented in Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
’s collection – created elegant bisque-head dolls with large wide glass eyes, thick eyebrows, long lashes, cupid’s bow lips, beautifully coifed real hair and elaborate dresses of silk and other fine fabrics.
Souvenir and keepsake dolls were popular products in many areas frequented by tourists. Dolls created entirely of different sizes and shapes of shells, for example, come from a number of French and English resort towns; a number of these fragile dolls may be seen in the Hat and Fragrance. English peddler dolls, which depict street vendors and their diverse wares, and American Indian dolls, complete with bead-decorated costumes are also represented in Shelburne’s vast collection.
Pewter
Shelburne MuseumShelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
’s pewter
Pewter
Pewter is a malleable metal alloy, traditionally 85–99% tin, with the remainder consisting of copper, antimony, bismuth and lead. Copper and antimony act as hardeners while lead is common in the lower grades of pewter, which have a bluish tint. It has a low melting point, around 170–230 °C ,...
collection offers an overview of French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
styles. Settlers brought pieces of pewter with them from abroad and many American merchants sold foreign pewter in their shops. It cost less than other metals, and in Europe its styles frequently copied popular silver designs. American artisans often relied on imported English and German pewter for stylistic inspiration. In fact, long after pewter had fallen out of fashion in Europe it was still being widely produced in America.
Scrimshaw
The American whalingWhaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
industry dominated the world market in the nineteenth century. It peaked in 1850 when seven hundred American ships with over twenty thousand men sailed from the South Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
to the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
in search of whales. Voyages could last up to five years because ships only returned when their holds were filled with barrels of whale oil. To pass the time, some sailors used the leftover whalebone to make homecoming gifts for their friends and loved ones. With saws and files they would first shape the whalebone. Then with needles or knives they would sketch designs into the surface. When the design was complete the sailors would ink them with lampblack or squid ink.
While the best-known form of scrimshaw
Scrimshaw
Scrimshaw is the name given to handiwork created by whalers made from the byproducts of harvesting marine mammals. It is most commonly made out of the bones and teeth of sperm whales, the baleen of other whales, and the tusks of walruses...
is the whale tooth decorated with engraved scenes, scrimshanders also fashioned shipboard tools, kitchen implements, domestic and needlework tools, and fashion accessories from whalebone and ivory. Tortoise shell, seashells, animal horn, pewter, silver, and exotic tropical woods gathered during the whaling journeys sometimes provided decorative accents.
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
’s scrimshaw
Scrimshaw
Scrimshaw is the name given to handiwork created by whalers made from the byproducts of harvesting marine mammals. It is most commonly made out of the bones and teeth of sperm whales, the baleen of other whales, and the tusks of walruses...
collection offers a broad range of forms. A variety of teeth are decorated with whaling scenes, portraits, and patriotic motifs. A “Susan’s tooth,” one of a handful engraved in the 1830s by Frederick Myrick aboard the ship Susan, is among the earliest documented scrimshaw in existence.
Pieces intended as gifts to wives and sweethearts included corset busks (inserted in a slit at the front of a woman’s corset to firm the bodice), small picks (used to pierce holes in cloth or as hair decorations), pie crimpers, knitting needles, a butter print, a sewing box, and a yarn-winding swift
Swift
The swifts are a family, Apodidae, of highly aerial birds. They are superficially similar to swallows, but are actually not closely related to passerine species at all; swifts are in the separate order Apodiformes, which they share with hummingbirds...
.
Automata
AutomataAutomata
Automata is the plural form of automaton, a self-operating machine. It may also refer to:* "Automata", a short story by E. T. A. Hoffmann* "Automata", a hardboiled science fiction crime series by Penny Arcade...
are large (sometimes three feet tall), often comical wind-up toys with accompanying music that were displayed in parlors, especially in France, in the late-19th and early 20th centuries. The Museum exhibits about 30 automata, including several particularly fine pieces by Gustave Vichy of Paris, France. The collection includes a drunken chef, a magician, a monkey drummer, a magician, an opium smoker, a woman at her toilette, and a clown walking on his hands.
Woodenare and Foodmolds
North America’s abundant forests supplied the raw materials that settlers used to create buildings and objects that ranged from baskets, barrels, and bowls, to carriages and boats.Household utensils, known as treen, comprised some of the most basic and common wooden objects. One of the most popular materials used to create treen were burls, which are dense, hard growths that form on tree trunks. The semi-circular burls typically required little shaping to form bowls and in addition to their strength, they often possessed highly patterned and attractive grains. Craftsmen would scoop out the interior of a burl by hand or, in later years with a lathe, to create a hollowed bowl.
During the 19th century food molds became popular as a vehicle for both identification and decoration. Confectioners would use intricately carved wooden molds to form and decorate pastries and marzipan candies while bakers would pour their cake batters into carved molds such as the Museum’s George Washington cake mold made by John Conger, a renowned New York carver. Dairy farmers would likewise use ornamental, circular stamps to mark their butter with their brand.