By Ann Wagner, Curator of Decorative Arts at Winterthur

Today, cultural institutions seek to understand the nuanced and varied impacts of the War for Independence on colonists and Indigenous Americans, especially those directly involved. In 1976, our nation’s Bicentennial, they focused on artists, including gunsmiths and hornsmiths, who were dedicated to preserving craft knowledge and recreating early arts.

In step with our collection of American black powder rifles, in 2022 Winterthur acquired a special-order Bicentennial longrifle that was designed and produced for the state of Pennsylvania in 1976 (see fig. 1). This is our first firearm by a contemporary artist, and it inspired another artist to create a powder horn to accompany it.

John F. Bivins Jr. (1941–2001), a gunsmith and scholar working primarily in North Carolina, was recognized for his publications and work with the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts at Old Salem in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and for his legacy as a teacher. In 1975 he accepted a commission from the State of Pennsylvania to create their Bicentennial Commemorative Longrifle Project. Two hundred rifles were contracted from Bivins and his collaborating artists for the project; Winterthur’s rifle is number 105. In Bivins’s description, its modestly ornamented architecture was not a reproduction of a Kentucky-style flintlock but “a contemporary statement of an ancient craft” and technically superb.

The Pennsylvania commission offered a full commemorative set including a powder horn bearing the state seal (see fig. 2). Although he is not mentioned in the promotional material, master hornsmith Roland Cadle also assisted with the project.  When I lectured at the Hornsmith Guild’s annual meeting in 2024, Roland Cadle learned of Winterthur’s newly acquired longrifle. He was moved to reprise his role from nearly fifty years ago and donate a powder horn to the museum (see fig. 3). He carved a historically accurate Lancaster-style screw-tip horn with polychrome decoration. He included the seal and colonial landmarks from Fort Pitt to the city of Philadelphia and personalized it with the rifle’s “105” and the Winterthur “W” (see fig. 4). To complete this set, he also made a fringed hunting pouch.

Like many of North America’s cultural institutions, Winterthur is exploring ways to share the nation’s 250th anniversary with visitors. Contemporary artists whose creativity is inspired by historical collections and those dedicated to preserving craft practices speak a visual language all can appreciate. Winterthur is fortunate that Roland Cadle’s deep knowledge and lifelong passion for hornsmithing embodies his conceptual connections to earlier artisans, whether they worked in 1776 or 1976. Likewise, Bivins’s Bicentennial longrifle captures a moment in time that inspired many to try their hand at gunsmithing and to appreciate the historical craft knowledge he helped preserve.

By Matthew Monk, Linda Eaton Associate Curator of Textiles at Winterthur

Each January, Martin Luther King Jr. Day invites us to pause and reflect on the unfinished civil rights work in the United States. At Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, that reflection is often shaped by objects that people made to care for one another, to create feelings of home, and to claim dignity in the face of hardship. Three objects recently added to Winterthur’s collection—a contemporary quilt and two potholders made in Gee’s Bend, Alabama—embody that legacy of resilience, creativity, continuity, and community.

Sharon Williams and her granddaughter Jamica made these quilted objects in 2023, but these objects and their makers belong to a living tradition that stretches back generations in Gee’s Bend, a small, predominantly Black community on a bend of the Alabama River. Williams describes her design style as “My Way,” marked by free-pieced quilting that relies on intuition, bold geometry, and the creative reuse of available materials. Williams learned this tradition from her mother and grandmother and passes it down to her descendants today. Her quilt at Winterthur is composed of cotton fabrics, vintage and contemporary prints pieced together into a dynamic kaleidoscope of patchwork. The quilt is machine pieced and hand quilted. The quilt is also a living lesson between grandmother and granddaughter. It is at once deeply personal and unmistakably part of a collective Gee’s Bend aesthetic.

Gee’s Bend quilts are widely celebrated today, but they were born from necessity. For much of the 20th century, families in Gee’s Bend lived in relative isolation, many as descendants of people once enslaved on nearby cotton plantations. Women used worn clothing, flour sacks, and other textiles at hand to create quilts that provided warmth and protection in drafty homes. In doing so, they developed a distinctive visual language, one that later came to be recognized as one of the most important artistic traditions in American quilting.

The two potholders Winterthur acquired alongside the quilt may be small, but they carry the same powerful story. Also made by Sharon and Jamica Williams in 2023, they use the same free-pieced “My Way” approach, translated into everyday kitchen textiles. Their bold blocks of color and asymmetrical patterns echo the quilt’s design, reminding us that art and daily life are not separate in Gee’s Bend; they are stitched together.

Honoring these objects on Martin Luther King Jr. Day is especially meaningful. Dr. King fought for civil rights, not only in speeches and marches, but in the affirmation of Black dignity, creativity, and self-determination. Gee’s Bend quilts are part of that same story. They are material expressions of endurance in the face of segregation, poverty, and exclusion. They are also material reminders of the power of community to sustain itself through making.

At Winterthur, these works also expand the museum’s narrative of American design, linking the contemporary and modern to the historical. For the first time, our collection includes a contemporary Gee’s Bend quilt and potholders by a named maker, recognizing Sharon Williams not only as part of a tradition, but as an artist in her own right. Her work connects the past to the present, showing that the history of Gee’s Bend, while rooted in a difficult past, is not frozen in time and continues to grow, adapt, and inspire.

As we commemorate Dr. King’s legacy, these three textiles invite us to consider how everyday acts of making can be acts of freedom and expressions of choice. They remind us that the struggle for justice is woven not only through laws and movements, but through the hands of people who, against all odds, kept creating beauty for themselves and their communities in their own ways.

We hope you enjoy all the special touches in this year’s Yuletide Tour. In addition to all the stunning trees and beautifully decorated rooms, numerous delightful or unexpected details are artfully tucked into our literature-themed displays. See how many you find!

1. “Tri-Sarah-Tops” dinosaur figurine named by one of our staff members. Yes, she’s hard to spot!

2. A tiny yeti  (Hint: it’s hidden inside a wooden log)

3. Two vases with illustrations from the book Les Fleurs Animées, on loan from a private collector

4. A Cheshire Cat tree inspired by the mysterious grinning feline in Alice in Wonderland

5. A baby doll in a handbag representing Jack, a major character from Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People. Jack was found in a handbag at a train station, an incident that may affect his marital prospects. 

6. A sailboat on a tree, inspired by the ships in Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick

7. The 11th edition of A Christmas Carol. Released in 1843, Dickens’s classic tale was such a bestseller that by 1846 publishers had to release an 11th edition.

8. The Tardis from the popular television series Doctor Who. Hint: it’s on a tree

9. The Grinch from How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

10. Winterthur Farms milk bottles and a canister, a tribute to our historic dairy farm

11. The Winterthur guest book signed by H. F. du Pont’s guests, highlighting the social life at Winterthur

Answers

By room name and theme.

1. Montmorenci Stair Hall — The one with the grand staircase where you start your tour

2. Marlboro Room — The one about MacBeth

3. Empire Parlor — The one with Flowery mannequin

4. The fifth floor to sixth floor staircase — The one about Alice in Wonderland 

5. Baltimore Drawing Room — The one . . . with the babydoll in a handbag!

6. Chestertown Room — The one about Moby Dick

7. Du Pont Dining Room — The one about Fezziwig’s Christmas party in A Christmas Carol

8. Georgia Dining Room — The one about “A Visit from St. Nicholas”

9. Latimeria Room — The one about Humpty Dumpty and Through the Looking Glass

10. Port Royal Entrance — The one with the purple cow

11. Port Royal Parlor — The one about The Great Gatsby

Experience the Yuletide Tour

Our self-paced Yuletide house tour is offered Tuesdays–Sundays, 10:00 am–5:00 pm (last tour at 4:15 pm). Plus, on select Friday and Saturday nights we’re open until 8:00 pm (last tour at 7:15 pm) through January 4.