Elvehjem displays Chipstone furniture examples

The Chipstone Foundation has loaned 17 choice pieces of early American furniture for display on the Elvehjem Museum of Art mezzanine through August.

Included are desks, clocks, chairs, chests, tables and cupboards made by New England cabinetmakers.

The oldest work on view is a Boston court cupboard, circa 1670, and the most recent is a Philadelphia side chair, circa 1800. Each piece of furniture represents an exquisite bit of handmade American history.

The Chipstone Foundation was organized in 1965 by Stanley Stone and Polly Mariner Stone of Fox Point, Wis.

To represent the culmination of their shared experiences in collecting American furniture, American historical prints and early English pottery, they created the foundation with the purpose of preserving, interpreting and enlarging their collection, while stimulating research and education in the decorative arts.

The Stones began collecting American decorative arts in 1946, and by 1964 they decided that their collection should be published and exhibited. To that end, the foundation publishes two annual journals (American Furniture and Ceramics in America) and has many objects on display at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

With this display, the foundation continues an ongoing relationship with the Elvehjem Museum of Art that began with the 1999 exhibition “Makers and Users: American Decorative Arts, 1630-1820 from the Chipstone Collection.”

The Elvehjem will provide sign language interpreters for associated programs with a three-week advance request to Anne Lambert, curator of education, weekdays, 263-4421.