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Highlights
on the Collection
The objects in the McFaddin-Ward House’s diverse
collection richly describes the private lives of the residents who lived at
1906 McFaddin Avenue.
The
well-rounded historical collection, which spans a date range of more than
150 years, contains decorative arts representing 19th- and
20th-century styles of glassware, ceramics, silver, furniture, and textiles.
On display in the house, too, are various personal and functional
items.
Many
of those things are beautiful and some are even strange, but rarely are
they ordinary.
The Beaux-Arts-style house and its possessions reflect the popular trends in
architecture, interiors, and decorative arts during the first-half of the
20th century.
Visitors can see how the interests
and tastes
changed and evolved for the McFaddins and Wards.
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Art
Glass
This
jack-in-the-pulpit vase
(c. 1907-1919) which adorns the mantle in the
Music Room was manufactured at The Quezal Art Glass & Decorating Company.
According to the oral tradition, the vase was a wedding gift
to Carroll and Mamie McFaddin Ward in 1919.
The Quezal Art
Glass ranks among the very best glass producers of the 20th century and
is comparable to its contemporaries, such as Louis Comfort Tiffany’s
“Favrile” and Frederick Carder of the Steuben Glass Work’s “Aurene.” Like
most art glass of the Art Nouveau
movement, Quezal glass intertwines motifs borrowed from nature.
Quezal Art Glass is unique in its use of the luminous iridescence that is
infused on both the exterior and interior of the glass.
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Ceramic
The charming porcelain Mozart Group can be found
in the Parlor.
The Mozart
figural group features three musicians: a woman playing a harpsichord, a
man seated to her right playing the cello, and a man standing to
the right of the harpsichord playing the flute. This Mozart group was
made between 1915 and 1930 in Thuringia, Germany, by the Aelteste
Volkstedt Porzellan Fabrik, the oldest Volkstedt porcelain factory.
The McFaddin-Ward family acquired the glazed porcelain item in the
late twenties or early thirties. It was originally designed to be
mounted as an electric lamp. This object shows the McFaddin-Ward
family’s refinement of taste and enjoyment of the musical
arts. |
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Ceramic
The Dresden-style
porcelain twin candelabra (1907- 1935) were made in the Von
Schierholz’s Porcelain Manufactory in Thuringia,
Germany.
These
candelabra, now on display in the Dining Room, were characteristic of the
rococo revival work produced in the mid 19th
century. Fittingly, Ida Caldwell McFaddin and Mamie McFaddin Ward
were buying the Meissen porcelain pieces during the same period that
they were acquiring rococo revival furniture from the Robert
Mitchell Company of Cincinnati. Ida noted in her travel diary that
she purchased porcelain pieces when she visited the ‘Dresden China Salon’ in
1933. Of her experience she wrote, “Am enjoying every bit of the
trip. I’ve been in the Dresden show rooms, I almost lost my
mind.” |
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Lighting / Sculptural
The Floor Lamp (c.
1905), located on the third floor, is made of glass, copper, brass,
and bronze.
Art
Nouveau
and the Arts and Crafts styles come together with a vengeance in
this piece. Unlike the delicate beauty of the Tiffany chandelier in
the collection, the art glass of this lamp takes on a rougher,
heavier form that are reminiscent of medieval stained glass.
The jewel-like glass, the hammered copper framework, and the
triangular shape of the shade suggest the ribbed vaults and pointed
arches of Gothic architecture.
The lamp shows the
turn-of-the-century efforts of experimenting with light and color.
Using a variety of shapes and textures, the designer organized color
in a way that allows light to burst through with bold
effect.
The lamp is lit by nine light bulbs: four located under the
large domed shade; one in each of the red and green drops; and
the final one in the
base. | |
