HOME FALL 2007

Love and Special Saucer: nineteenth-century artisans took great care in crafting this teacup, one of many home artifacts on display at the Rosenbach.

Antique Up

A new Rosenbach exhibit proves sometimes the coolest home furnishings are the oldest.

by Erica Palan

It's finally okay to admit it. For the first time since your Sesame Street days, you can 'fess up to totally digging the programming on PBS. You love Antiques Roadshow, and given the constant weekend airings, numerous sitcom spoofs and multiple spin-offs, it's safe to assume you're not the only one.

But who among us besides the occasional pack-rat grandma has legit home antiques in the commercialized age of Ikea and Pottery Barn?

For a quick fix of the old stuff, the current exhibit at the Rosenbach Museum & Library should do just the trick.

The Rosenbach, a quirky little spot on Delancey Place, has everything from first-edition literature (bibliophiles can drool over manuscripts of James Joyce's Ulysses and Charles Dickens' Pickwick Papers) to the world's largest collection of oil-on-metal miniature portraits. Originally the home of the famed Rosenbach brothers, best known for their vast collections of fine arts and rare books and manuscripts, the museum has a diverse array of antique furniture and other decorative arts.

The Rosenbach's latest programming experiment, the brainchild of curatorial assistant Katharine Haas, is a run of $12 tours with a special twist. Haas leads six guests at a time through the 19th-century townhouse and allows visitors to get up close and personal with some of the antique furniture and silver on display. The tour focuses entirely on pieces made in Philadelphia between 1750 and 1850. Haas even passes around selected items. By holding and touching the various antiques, visitors are given a tangible connection to the history of each piece.

'We're looking for new ways to get the collections utilized and to make the antiques accessible to the public,' says Haas. 'One of the strengths we have as a small institution is that we can offer such an intimate tour.'

One tour highlight is a trip to the shockingly bright Rosenbach dining room, where Haas passes out white gloves to let visitors handle various decorative art pieces including a neoclassical mustard pot made by Taylor Laurien Wood, and a tea cup and saucer by Meadows & Co. both made in Center City made in the mid-1800s. One of the most fascinating pieces included is a McMullin & Black tankard from 1813 given to Benjamin Gratz of Philly's famed Gratz family. As Haas explains, what makes this particular piece interesting is not the tankard itself, but the history behind it.

Based on engravings and initials, the smart guys at the Rosenbach were able to trace the ownership of this tankard basically a glorified mug with a hinged lid through three different Philadelphians, including Aaronsburg, Pa., founder Aaron Levy. Another cool fact: Just by looking at and handling the nearly 200-year-old piece, Rosenbach officials were able to determine that the tankard was made by rolling a flat piece of metal into a cylinder and the attaching separate top and bottom pieces.

Other stops on the tour include the parlor, which houses a beautifully handcrafted mahogany chair with red upholstery and a gorgeous writing desk and bookcase that once belonged to Rebecca Gratz Moses. According to Haas, "What makes the desk so interesting is not flat, geometric designs, but the fact that it belonged to a woman signifies that she was interested in education and self-improvement. That's not something you see a lot of in the early 1800s."

The "Made in Philadelphia" hands-on tours are expected to be the first of many intimate exhibits and tours at the Rosenbach. "Hopefully this will work and be popular, and we'll organize more themes for people to actually get hands-on experience with the collections," says Haas.

Don't lie. Your inner geek desperately wants to swipe something, have it assessed on Antiques Roadshow and then put it in a place of honor on your $15 Ikea bookcase. Trust us, though. We've taken the tour, and antiques are too heavy.

"Made in Philadelphia"
Rosenbach Museum & Library, 2008 Delancy Pl. 215.732.1600
www.rosenbach.org