Furniture Study Day: The Federal Period in Connecticut River Valley Furniture

Join experts Christine Ritok (Associate Curator, Historic Deerfield), and Kevin G. Ferrigno (Chairman, CMCH Collections Steering Committee) for a Furniture Study Day highlighting their research on the central Connecticut River Valley cabinetmakers working during the Federal period. The CMCH’s collection of early Connecticut furniture is unparalleled in its scope and depth, and this program will provide an extraordinary opportunity to learn about these important objects through up-close examination.  Limited enrollment and an open format will allow each individual maximum access and participation.

THE PROGRAM LEADERS

Christine Ritok is an Associate Curator at Historic Deerfield.  She holds a BA in history and art history from Kalamazoo College, and an MA from the Parsons School of Design/Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Institution in the History of Decorative Arts & Design.  Before joining Historic Deerfield’s staff in 2015 she was Associate Curator for Sculpture & Decorative Arts at the Museum of the City of New York, held curatorial positions at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum and the Detroit Institute of Arts, and was a part-time faculty member of Parsons School of Design. Her research interests include 18th and 19th-century American furniture craftsmanship, ornament, and upholstery, European and American sculpture and decorative arts, and the history of collecting. As a curator, her main project is cataloguing Historic Deerfield’s permanent collection of furniture, incorporating recent scholarship and close object study. Working on the first catalogue of the museum’s furniture collection since 1976, her first volume will be devoted to Classical furniture from the collection of George A. Cluett.

Kevin G. Ferrigno is Vice President and General Counsel of DATTCO, Inc., a diversified regional transportation company. Among other affiliations, Kevin is a former CMCH trustee and currently chairs the CMCH Collections Steering Committee. Together with former Windsor Historical Society curator Christina K. Vida, he recently completed a four and one-half year study of Windsor cabinetmaker George Belden, and is working with Christine Ritok on a long-term study of central Connecticut River Valley cabinetmakers working during the Federal period.

REGISTRATION FEE

The cost for the program is $75 for CMCH members and $90 for non-members and includes lunch.  Enrollment is limited and is first-come first-served.  This program will fill up quickly, so please do not delay.  To register, contact Jenny Steadman at (860) 236-5621 x 289 or jennifer_steadman@chs.org.

Free for Decorative Arts Council members. 

$75 CMCH members, $90 non-members. Lunch is included.

Space is limited. Pre-registration is required. To register, please call Adult Programs Manager Jenny Steadman at (860) 236-5621 x289.