Giddy Up! - Notes on Staatsburgh's Carriage Collection

Dick Lahey amongst the 
carriages.

 In May 2023, Staatsburgh State Historic Site staff toured our off-site storage facility with local carriage collector, Dick Lahey. 

A board member of the Carriage Association of America and a former educator with decades of expertise in Hudson Valley-made vehicles, Mr. Lahey was able to share with us insights into our unique carriage collection - everything from the Mills' high-end Brewster "Brougham" carriage and farm yard "spring wagons" to elegant bob-sleds for wintertime fun - noting that all of the carriages and sleighs were in outstanding original condition. 

The notes below are taken from our conversation with Dick.

Hidden Treasures of the Collection: Vichy Water

One of the reasons that we initially created this blog was to be able to focus on items in Staatsburgh's collections that are tucked away, harder to see, or not highlighted on the standard house tour. The house has so many items in it, that it is impossible to cover it all on a tour. The "Hidden Treasures of the Collection" essay series provides a closer look at some of the lesser-known, yet interesting objects throughout the house and estate. This essay examines the high-end (non-alcoholic) beverage of choice for European elites, also found in Staatsburgh's pantry.

A 1975 photograph of the butler's pantry showing the Vichy bottle cabinet.

Hidden Treasures of the Collection: Asian Statues

One of the reasons that we initially created this blog was to have an avenue to highlight some of Staatsburgh's collections that are not always noticeable or highlighted on the tour.  The house has so many collections that it is impossible to cover it all on a tour.  Some objects or paintings are positioned in such a way that is is hard to see them from the tour path.  The "Hidden Treasures of the Collection" blog series provides a closer look at some of the interesting pieces throughout the house. This essay will examine a Chinese and a Japanese figure, which were just two of the many Asian pieces that adorned Staatsburgh.

Chinese Ming-Style figure, c. early 19th century.

Japanese Buddah statue, c.19th century.

Preventative Conservation Workshop 2019: Part III - Moving the Drawing Room Carpets

During June 2019, aspiring conservators from around the country attended a 2 week intensive preventative conservation workshop at Staatsburgh.  This was the fourth year that the workshop was held at Staatsburgh with sponsorship from The  Foundation for the Advancement of Conservation along with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  The workshop taught in-depth methods of caring for many different types of collections. Participants gained insight into artifact conservation and the conditions that cause deterioration. After the workshop, several of the participants wrote blog entries about their experience and a specific aspect of the workshop.

Independent Conservator Cathy MacKenzie organized this workshop to occur at Staatsburgh collaborating on its organization with the NYS Bureau of Historic Sites and Parks.  Several conservators participated in the workshop's instruction including Furniture Conservator David Bayne, textile conservator Kirsten Schoonmaker from Syracuse University, objects conservator Valentine Talland formerly of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, paper conservator Lyudmyla Bua of the Center for Jewish History in New York, and furniture conservator Paige Schmidt from the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, VA.

Blog Author, Josephine Ren

Blog Author, Beth Reid

Beth Reid is a museum technician at the Valentine Museum in Richmond, VA where she cleans the 1812 Wickham House and the general collections. She also interns in the conservation lab at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources treating archeological objects. Beth holds a B.F.A. in Painting and Printmaking with minors in Art History, History, Anthropology, and Italian Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University and is completing an A.S. in Chemistry at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College.  Josephine Ren is from the Greater Los Angeles Area and received a B.A. in Art Conservation with a minor in Art History from Scripps College. She has held pre-program internships at the Brooklyn Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, and in private practice. She also studied conservation during a semester abroad at Studio Arts College International, Florence, and has worked in collections at Pomona College Museum of Art and Scripps’ art gallery. Currently she works under private practices, and is interested in objects and painted surfaces.

Preventative Conservation Workshop 2019: Part II - Moving Collections in the Drawing Room

During June 2019, aspiring conservators from around the country attended a 2 week intensive preventative conservation workshop at Staatsburgh.  This was the fourth year that the workshop was held at Staatsburgh with sponsorship from The  Foundation for the Advancement of Conservation along with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  The workshop taught in-depth methods of caring for many different types of collections. Participants gained insight into artifact conservation and the conditions that cause deterioration. After the workshop, several of the participants wrote blog entries about their experience and a specific aspect of the workshop.

Independent Conservator Cathy MacKenzie organized this workshop to occur at Staatsburgh collaborating on its organization with the NYS Bureau of Historic Sites and Parks.  Several conservators participated in the workshop's instruction including Furniture Conservator David Bayne, textile conservator Kirsten Schoonmaker from Syracuse University, objects conservator Valentine Talland formerly of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, paper conservator Lyudmyla Bua of the Center for Jewish History in New York, and furniture conservator Paige Schmidt from the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, VA.

Blog Authors, Patti Maxwell and Paige Hilman

This blog post was written by workshop participants Paige Hilman and Patti Maxwell. Paige is a junior at the University of Arizona, studying art history and chemistry with the goal of becoming an art conservator. She currently works for the National Park Service as a Museum Technician at the Western Archeological and Conservation Center and interns at the Center for Creative Photography.  Patti has served for the past two years in the newly-created Head of Housekeeping position at Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Fallingwater” in Southwestern Pennsylvania. She worked many years as a hospitality Housekeeping Manager which has equipped her with a thorough knowledge of the workings of a housekeeping department. This program has furthered her ability to teach her team the importance of proper object handling and preventive conservation and to impart a deep appreciation for the need to maintain national treasures.

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Preventative Conservation Workshop 2019: Part I - Housekeeping in the Historic Library

During June 2019, aspiring conservators from around the country attended a 2 week intensive preventative conservation workshop at Staatsburgh.  This was the fourth year that the workshop was held at Staatsburgh with sponsorship from The Foundation for the Advancement of Conservation along with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  The workshop taught in-depth methods of caring for many different types of collections. Participants gained insight into artifact conservation and the conditions that cause deterioration. After the workshop, several of the participants wrote blog entries about their experience and a specific aspect of the workshop.

Independent Conservator Cathy MacKenzie organized this workshop to occur at Staatsburgh collaborating on its organization with the NYS Bureau of Historic Sites.  Several conservators participated in the workshop's instruction including NYS Bureau of Historic Sites Furniture Conservator David Bayne, textile conservator Kirsten Schoonmaker from Syracuse University, objects conservator Valentine Talland formerly of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, paper conservator Lyudmyla Bua of the Center for Jewish History in New York, NY, and furniture conservator Paige Schmidt from the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, VA.

Blog Authors, Olivia Lambert and Monica Stokes

This blog post was written by Olivia Lambert and Monica Stokes who participated in the two week  workshop at Staatsburgh.  Olivia Lambert graduated from the University of California Los Angeles, with a Bachelors of Science in Chemistry. While in Los Angeles, she worked at the Fowler Museum conserving textiles. She also worked in an art gallery in Visalia, California as a docent where she handled the objects and the display of the individual art pieces. Monica Stokes is the former Exhibit and Development Manager at the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago, Illinois. While there, she oversaw the care of the surgical instruments and a medical-focused manuscript and rare book collection. She holds a Bachelor of Visual and Critical Studies from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and currently resides in Traverse City, Michigan.

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Hidden Treasures of the Collections: Bottle Capper

The majority of collections that remain at Staatsburgh relate to life "upstairs" in the mansion.  When the family gifted the mansion to New York State in 1938, the rooms upstairs were left largely intact, while servants' spaces were not.  By 1938 several of the rooms in the basement were used as storage areas and they were no longer furnished as they would have been earlier in the family's occupancy.  In addition, many of the tools used by servants are not part of the collections.  Items that were consistently used were often discarded when they were in poor condition and no longer useful.  In addition, as the technology improved, housewares and tools were upgraded.  Taking this into consideration, we are especially excited when we have servant related collections that we can share.  Several of these artifacts were relegated to a closet in the maids quarters and they were not uncovered or accessioned until decades after the rest of the house.

One of those items is the object that we see below, the Everedy Bottle Capper, which was used to secure a cap on a bottle almost as tight as at factory.  This object was first invented and manufactured by the Everedy Company in 1923, which is the approximate date of this item.

Everedy Bottle Capper, circa 1920s

Preventative Conservation Workshop 2018: Part II - Gilded Age Fire Suppression

During June 2018, aspiring conservators from around the country attended a 2 week intensive preventative conservation workshop at Staatsburgh.  This was the third year that the workshop was held at Staatsburgh with sponsorship from The Foundation for the American Institute for Conservation along with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  The workshop taught in-depth methods of caring for many different types of collections. Participants gained insight into artifact conservation and the conditions that cause deterioration. After the workshop, several of the participants wrote blog entries about their experience and a specific aspect of the workshop.

Independent Conservator Cathy MacKenzie organized this workshop to occur at Staatsburgh collaborating on its organization with NYS Bureau of Historic Sites Furniture Conservator, David Bayne.  Several conservators participated in the workshop's instruction including  Kirsten Schoonmaker from Syracuse University, Valentine Talland formerly of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Michelle Cornelison Smith, the Assistant Paper & Book Conservator at SF Art Conservation in Oakland, CA.

Part II in this series was written by Andrew Foster who is currently a Conservation Technician at Maymont Mansion in Richmond, Virginia. Andrew has a B.F.A. in Painting and Printmaking as well as a B.S. in Anthropology from the Virginia Commonweath University. He has previously worked at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

Blog Author Andrew Foster moves furniture during the workshop. 

Hidden Treasures of the Collections: Armoire

One of the reasons that we initially created this blog was to have an avenue to highlight some of Staatsburgh's collections that are not always noticeable or highlighted on the tour.  The house has so many collections that it is impossible to cover it all on a tour.  Some objects or paintings are positioned in such a way that is is hard to see them from the tour path.  The "Hidden Treasures of the Collection" blog series provides a closer look at some of the interesting pieces throughout the house. 

One of the most remarkable pieces of furniture is the 19th century oak armoire in Mrs. Mills' bedroom, which is situated just between her closets.  Even though there are two closets in Mrs. Mills' room, closets were uncommon and most homes like Staatsburgh contained armoires in every bedroom to store clothing.  Read on to learn more about the armoire and the intensive efforts that went into conserving it.

Oak Armoire from Normandy, early 19th century (ML.1974.382)

Preventative Conservation Workshop 2017: Part IV - Cleaning the Passage Room

During June 2017, aspiring conservators from around the country attended a 2 week intensive preventative conservation workshop at Staatsburgh.  This was the second year that the workshop was held at Staatsburgh with sponsorship from The Foundation for the American Institute for Conservation along with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  The workshop taught in-depth methods of caring for many different types of collections. Participants gained insight into artifact conservation and the conditions that cause deterioration. After the workshop, several of the participants wrote blog entries about their experience and a specific aspect of the workshop.

NYS Bureau of Historic Sites Furniture Conservator, David Bayne, organized this workshop to occur at Staatsburgh collaborating on its organization with Independent Conservator Cathy MacKenzie.  Several conservators participated in the workshop's instruction including  Kirsten Schoonmaker from the Shelburne Museum, Valentine Talland formerly from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Michelle Smith, most recently at the National Library of France.

Blog author Jennifer Mikes

Part III in this series was written by Jennifer Mikes and Stephanie Carrato. Jennifer Mikes is a pre-program art conservation intern.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology with a minor in studio art from Franklin & Marshall College.  She has acquired experience in textile, furniture, paintings, and objects conservation from the University of Delaware, Headley Conservation Services, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Blog author Stephanie Carrato

Stephanie Carrato is from Monroe Township, New Jersey. She has a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2009). She has worked in conservation for The Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Andrea Pitsch Conservation, and The Philadelphia Museum of Art. Stephanie is currently a conservation technician at the Penn Museum.

Preventative Conservation Workshop 2017 Part III:Clocks of Staatsburgh

During June 2017, aspiring conservators from around the country attended a 2 week intensive preventative conservation workshop at Staatsburgh.  This was the second year that the workshop was held at Staatsburgh with sponsorship from The Foundation for the American Institute for Conservation along with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  The workshop taught in-depth methods of caring for many different types of collections. Participants gained insight into artifact conservation and the conditions that cause deterioration. After the workshop, several of the participants wrote blog entries about their experience and a specific aspect of the workshop.

NYS Bureau of Historic Sites Furniture Conservator, David Bayne, organized this workshop to occur at Staatsburgh collaborating on its organization with Independent Conservator Cathy MacKenzie.  Several conservators participated in the workshop's instruction including  Kirsten Schoonmaker from the Shelburne Museum, Valentine Talland formerly from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Michelle Smith, most recently at the National Library of France.

Part III in this series was written by Aubrey Skye Quasney, an artist, historian, and aspiring conservator from Pasadena, Maryland. In 2013, she graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Art History and Painting. Since then she has interned at the Walters Art Museum assisting with the curation and conservation of Islamic Arts for the traveling exhibition, Pearls on a String. Currently, she is museum director of the System Source Computer Museum in Hunt Valley, Maryland where she oversees the curating, restoration, and collection management. As an artist, she likes to bring creativity to all that she does, from painting portraits to finding new ways to present artifacts within museum collections. She is passionate about our collective histories and preserving them for the future through restoration, photography, and writing. She continues to work towards becoming a conservator of objects, with a specific interest in clock and watch restoration.

AIC Workshop Participant and Blog Author Aubrey Quasney

Preventative Conservation Workshop 2017 Part II: Exploring the Library

During June 2017, aspiring conservators from around the country attended a 2 week intensive preventative conservation workshop at Staatsburgh.  This was the second year that the workshop was held at Staatsburgh with sponsorship from The Foundation for the American Institute for Conservation along with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  The workshop taught in-depth methods of caring for many different types of collections. Participants gained insight into artifact conservation and the conditions that cause deterioration. After the workshop, several of the participants wrote blog entries about their experience and a specific aspect of the workshop.

NYS Bureau of Historic Sites Furniture Conservator, David Bayne, organized this workshop to occur at Staatsburgh collaborating on its organization with Independent Conservator Cathy MacKenzie.  Several conservators participated in the workshop's instruction including  Kirsten Schoonmaker from the Shelburne Museum, Valentine Talland formerly from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Michelle Smith who is currently spending the summer at the National Library of France.

Part II of the series was written by NYU graduate Natasha Kung.  Natasha was born and raised in New York and graduated from New York University in 2016 with degrees in Art History and Chemistry. She has gained pre-program conservation experience at the Museum of Modern Art, with Central Park Conservancy, and with several private conservators. She is currently interning in the Department of Photograph Conservation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and in the Conservation Department at the Brooklyn Museum. She expresses interest in specializing in objects, but is also fascinated by photo chemistry and materials science.

AIC Workshop participant and blog author Natasha Kung

Preventative Conservation Workshop 2017 Part I: Outdoor Marble Sculpture

During June 2017, aspiring conservators from around the country attended a 2 week intensive preventative conservation workshop at Staatsburgh.  This was the second year that the workshop was held at Staatsburgh with sponsorship from The Foundation for the American Institute for Conservation along with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  The workshop taught in-depth methods of caring for many different types of collections. Participants gained insight into artifact conservation and the conditions that cause deterioration. After the workshop, several of the participants wrote blog entries about their experience and a specific aspect of the workshop.

NYS Bureau of Historic Sites Furniture Conservator, David Bayne, organized this workshop to occur at Staatsburgh collaborating on its organization with Independent Conservator Cathy MacKenzie.  Several conservators participated in the workshop's instruction including  Kirsten Schoonmaker from the Shelburne Museum, Valentine Talland formerly from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Michelle Smith currently spending the summer at the National Library of France.

Part I in this series of blogs is by Ruthie Rolfsmeyer.  Ruthie is a conservation technician who has been contracted to work with concrete and wooden sculpture folk art environments in Maine, Georgia, and Wisconsin. She has also done conservation work on indoor murals in Idaho and Minnesota. Her degree is in Fine Art and Graphic Design with a minor in Art History, and she is continuing her education through courses in chemistry and Italian.

Workshop participant and blog author, Ruthie Rolfsmeyer

The Artist that Didn't Exist: François Glamony and the Portrait of Ruth Livingston Mills

One of the most exciting things about studying history is the fact that the past is not static.  Things change and new discoveries are made on a regular basis.  New evidence can be uncovered that disproves the validity of facts that have been taken for granted for years.  It is imperative that historians never stop asking questions.  But how does that relate to Staatsburgh?  Keep reading to learn about our new discovery!

Collections Care Workshop Part III Where Housekeeping Ends and Conservation Begins

During June 2016, aspiring conservators from around the country attended a 2 week intensive workshop at Staatsburgh.  "Housekeeping for Conservators", sponsored by The Foundation for the American Institute for Conservation, along with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, taught in-depth methods of caring for many different types of collections. Participants gained insight into artifact conservation and the conditions that cause deterioration. After the workshop, several of the participants wrote blog entries about their experience and a specific aspect of the workshop.

NYS Bureau of Historic Sites Furniture Conservator, David Bayne, organized this workshop to occur at Staatsburgh collaborating on its organization with Independent Conservator Cathy MacKenzie and textile conservator Kirsten Schoonmaker from the Shelburne Museum.  Several conservation experts also participated in the workshop's instruction including John Childs from the Peabody Essex Museum, Genevieve Bieniosek from Biltmore, and Catherine Coueignoux London of Oak Street Conservation.

The author of our third post, Stephanie Hufford, is an aspiring conservator and artist. She received a BA in Studio Art with a minor in Art History from Rowan University, where she focused on printmaking. She also has an AS in Chemistry from Middlesex County College. She has completed internships in conservation at Quarto Conservation of Books and Paper, the National Museum of American History, the New-York Historical Society, and the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. She will be starting as a technician at Rieger Art Conservation in the fall. Her background in printmaking has led her to focus on book and paper conservation.

Workshop participant and blog author, Stephanie Hufford

Collections Care Workshop Part I Visitor Perception of Age in Historic Sites: In Defense of the Wrinkles and Face-lifts Alike

During June 2016, aspiring conservators from around the country attended a 2 week intensive workshop at Staatsburgh.  "Housekeeping for Conservators", sponsored by The Foundation for the American Institute for Conservation along with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities taught in-depth methods of caring for many different types of collections. Participants gained insight into artifact conservation and the conditions that cause deterioration. After the workshop, several of the participants wrote blog entries about their experience and a specific aspect of the workshop.

NYS Bureau of Historic Sites Furniture Conservator, David Bayne, organized this workshop to occur at Staatsburgh collaborating on its organization with Independent Conservator Cathy MacKenzie and Kirsten Schoonmaker from the Shelburne Museum.  Several conservation experts also participated in the workshop's instruction including John Childs from the Peabody Essex Museum, Genevieve Bieniosek from the Biltmore, and Catherine Coueignoux London of Oak Street Conservation.

The author of our first post, Courtney Books, is an artist and art historian with experience in historic preservation.  She received a B.S. in Fine Arts and Spanish from the University of Wisconsin and a Master's in Art History from McGill University.  She is currently an assistant at Parma Conservation in Chicago.  Her love of painting, architecture, and travel drive her aspirations to specialize in mural conservation.

Workshop participant and blog author Courtney Books

Behind the Scenes at Staatsburgh:Reproducing Maids' Uniforms

Interpreters at Staatsburgh often dress in period clothing while giving tours in order to best represent the period.  Guests often wonder where we get the clothing and what makes it authentic.  While there are several excellent retailers who sell reproduction clothing, the NYS Bureau of Historic Sites also has wonderful seamstresses who sew period clothing.  This blog, authored by Amanda Massie, Associate Curator at the NYS Bureau of Historic Sites, examines the research that went into maids' clothing sewn for Staatsburgh.  

Behind the Scenes at Staatsburgh: Saving Historic Mattresses

Last fall we posted a blog about historic mattresses and another blog about the hair picker used to fluff the horsehair used in mattresses.  We now follow up with this blog about the historic mattresses in Staatsburgh's collections.  Thank you to our summer intern, Bethany Zulick from Bard College, for researching and writing about mattresses!

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Back in the 1980’s the staff at Staatsburgh encountered a problem with the collection: mattresses. With over forty bedrooms, the historic mansion was left with quite a few historic specimens in storage. But they posed quite a fire hazard, being that they were stuffed with flammable materials like horsehair. Also, the stuffing of the mattresses drew carpet beetles and other pests like nobody’s business, making them unsanitary and creating a poor environment for storing historic collections...

What could be done? After all, these mattresses were historic artifacts and couldn’t be simply tossed out. When Gladys Mills-Phipps donated Staatsburgh to the State of New York in 1938 she included the contents of the home, allowing visitors to appreciate the mansion as it would have been when her family occupied it. So, although unhygienic and hazardous, the mattresses were still precious in some respect. The solution to this conundrum was to take a sample from each mattress to preserve while discarding the remainder. Our own Marilyn Holst, who has worked dutifully at Staatsburgh for nearly thirty years, was a part of this operation. In fact, it was her very first day on the job.

The Champion Hair Picker in Action!

Continuing the theme of historic mattresses (see previous blog), I recently took a field trip to see a historic piece of equipment called "The Champion Hair Picker" that was essential to the upkeep of historic mattresses.

You may be wondering what a hair picker does and why it is an important tool for mattresses.  How does it operate and what is its purpose?  Does the image below give you any clue?

Keep reading to find out...

Hidden Treasures of the Collections:Footman's Table

One of the reasons we wanted to start a blog was to be able to highlight some of Staatsburgh's collections that are not always noticeable or highlighted on the tour. The house has so many collections items that it is impossible to include everything on a one hour tour! This is the first entry in a series that will explore many of the fascinating pieces in the house.

The upstairs furniture at Staatsburgh often receives the most attention, but the pieces furnishing the servants quarters also have stories to tell. All of the bedrooms in the basement and attic were furnished with tables, chairs, beds, and dressers that were very different from the pieces used by the Mills family and their guests. Where did this furniture originate and what style did the Mills select to furnish their servants quarters?