Documenting Objects in the Digital Age:
The Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database

The Finest in the Western Country: Wisconsin Decorative Arts 1820-1900 grew out of an unprecedented collaborative effort to document the early material culture of Wisconsin. In 2006 the Chipstone Foundation, the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Material Culture Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison initiated an innovative project to find and document decorative arts produced by Wisconsin craftspeople in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The result is the Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database, a publicly accessible online archive of hundreds of Wisconsin artifacts, including furniture, ceramics, textiles, and metalwork from the collections of historical societies and museums throughout the state. The database is an essential starting point for the study of Wisconsin’s rich material heritage. It will continue to grow as new entries are added from contributors statewide.

Click here to explore the Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database. Visit the project blog to read about recent fieldwork and the latest additions to the database.

The database and the exhibition would not have been possible without the extensive material legacy that has been collected, preserved and studied by Wisconsin institutions and individuals. Many thanks to the museum and historic site staff members and private individuals who so generously shared their collections and their expertise.

Many thanks to the lenders to the exhibition
Anonymous
Chippewa Valley Museum, Eau Claire http://www.cvmuseum.com/
Douglas County Historical Society, Superior http://www.douglashistory.org/
Elmbrook Historical Society/Dousman Stagecoach Inn Museum, Brookfield
http://www.elmbrookhistoricalsociety.org/
Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York
Kenosha Public Museum http://www.kenosha.org/museum/
Peter Maas
Bob and Debbie Markiewicz
Mericle Family Collection
Milwaukee County Historical Society http://www.milwaukeecountyhistsoc.org/
Milwaukee Public Museum http://www.mpm.edu
Mineral Point Historical Society http://www.mineralpointhistory.org/
Minneapolis Institute of Arts http://www.artsmia.org/
Neville Public Museum of Brown County, Green Bay http://www.nevillepublicmuseum.org/
Paul and Ori-Anne Pagel
Pendarvis Historic Site, Mineral Point http://pendarvis.wisconsinhistory.org/
Franklin Stoneburner
Ann Viel and the late Reverend Lyndon Viel
Villa Louis Historic Site, Prairie du Chien http://villalouis.wisconsinhistory.org/
Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, Milwaukee http://www.cavtmuseums.org/
Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison http://wisconsinhistory.org

Acknowledgements

Bibliography