Autumn 2004

New & Noteworthy	Oriental Rugs	Past Newsletters
New Interns		Collections Connection

Three New Interns at the Sharon
Historical Society

Two student interns from the Housatonic Valley Regional High School and one post-graduate from the Maplebrook School have joined the workforce at the museum.

Ned Corkery and Meaghan Smith-Hull are post-grads at HVRHS. Meaghan takes an academic load in the morning and does work-study in the afternoon. Ned enjoys history and was looking for a work-study position to foster his intest. Ned lives in Salisbury, while Meaghan is a Sharonite. Both are working on a project to catalog the museum's photograph collection. Ned, assisted by Job Coach Lisa Reel, is measuring and describing individual photographs from our collection. Meaghan, a computer whiz, is inputting the data that Ned is compiling into our Past Perfect database, scanning each photograph as part of the process.

William Pease joins us from the Maplebrook School. A well-spoken young man of twenty-one, is also working on the database portion of the project. William spends two mornings a week at the SHS, while Ned and Meaghan spend two hours each day Tuesday through Friday.

The progress that has been made on the collection is enormous. Ned has cataloged over 200 photographs in his first three weeks, while Meaghan and William have input and scanned approximately 60 images.

"I would fully expect that the majority of our photo archive will be cataloged and on the computer if my fabulous team sticks with the project through the academic year," says museum director Liz Shapiro, "I try to tell them each day what a difference they are making, and how important this project is to the work of the Historical Society." One of the neatest aspects of this system is that it gives the museum the capability to expertly cross-reference information on each photograph. For example, there are many photographs of the schoolhouses in Sharon with students standing in front. The schoolhouse photographs are currently filed under the heading of "Schools, Sharon." However, in many cases the names of students are written on or otherwise keyed to the photograph. When the record is input into the database, the schoolhouse information is included, but so are the names of the students, teachers, etc. When the project is finished, we will not only be able to search for "schoolhouses" but we will be able to search for the names of individual people. Having the photograph information on the database increases our ability to answer research questions quickly and accurately.

If you'd like to come by and see the database in action, and meet our interns, please do! Ned and Meaghan are here from noon-2, Tuesday through Friday, and Ned is here from 9 to 11, Wednesday and Friday mornings.

New and Noteworthy

A Thank you to Elizabeth Pitcher
After several months of advertising in the Sharon Archives for the donation of a copy of the prized tome, Born, Married and Died in Sharon Connecticut: A Record of Births, Marriages and Deaths in the Town of Sharon, Conn. from 1721 to 1879, by Lawrence VanAlstyne, Elizabeth Pitcher has come to the rescue! Published in 1897, one copy of this book is in the collection of the Hotchkiss Library, while another resides at the Sharon Town Hall. Very few copies exist in private collections and the Historical Society staff and volunteers are simply thrilled by the donation.

Tree Lighting and SHS Open House
Set for December 4
As many of you probably remember, 2003's SHS Holiday Open House and the Sharon Tree Lighting fell victim to what may have been the biggest snowstorm of the season. (Nothing was cancelled however, and a few stalwart individuals showed their true New England spirit!)

This year the Open House at the museum is scheduled for Saturday, December 4, from 2-4:30 pm, with the Sharon Green tree lighting at 4:45. Join us at the museum to see the completed new exhibits, browse in our gift shop, search for relatives on our new photograph database and make pomander balls. Admission is free, and refreshments will be served.

Thank You to the Clean-Up Crew!
An enormous and heartfelt thank you to those individuals who showed up on two occasions for "clean-up" days at the museum. In alphabetical order, the blessed volunteers included Lea Davies, Ann Goodbody, Libby Monaco, Larry Power,
Peter Reyelt and Stephen Szalewicz. The volunteers were ably assisted, encouraged, directed and cheered on by staff members Meg Szalewicz and Marge McAvoy.

All collections that had accumulated in the attic storage area of the Gay-Hoyt House were moved to the second floor rooms. All textile storage was moved from the second floor into the new building's climate-controlled storage and work room, and two truckloads of "excess" material (trash!) were taken to the transfer station.

It was a dirty job, and we're so grateful that after so many years...mission accomplished!
Hands-On Weaving Programs Throughout the Fall at SHS
SHS is proud to present a series of hands-on weaving programs which will take place at the museum this fall. Three programs will take place, geared to participants of all ages. The first will occur on Saturday, October 16 from 3-4:30 pm and is designed for ages 8-13. The second is on Sunday, November 7, and the third on Saturday, December 11. Registration is necessary for the programs in October and November, while participants may drop in to enjoy the project at the December workshop. If all goes well, attendees may have a chance to try their hand on the big barn loom! Call or e-mail SHS to register

Antique Oriental Rugs
Texture + Color + History = Art…………..
By Kristen Jamgotchian Bedell

The Sharon Historical Society's newly adopted long-range plan calls for the museum to reach out to members by exploring new and different topics of interest. In this issue of the Sharon Archives, we focus on the incredible history and design of one of America's most popular collectibles-the Oriental Rug.

Kristen Bedell is the owner of Jamgotchian Oriental Rugs, a Manhattan-based company that assists clients with the selection and purchase of antique oriental rugs. Ms. Bedell's early interest in oriental rugs was fostered by her grandfather, Archie M.
Jamgotchian, who operated a rug gallery at his Cornwall home for many years. His wisdom and love of the craft sparked the
enthusiasm that inspired Ms. Bedell to carry on the family rug tradition into the fifth generation. Ms. Bedell holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from Wellesley College.

Ms. Bedell will be giving a lecture on Oriental rugs at the SHS on Saturday, October 23 from 4-5:30. For more information and to register, call us at (860)364-5688 or send an e-mail to: director@sharonhist.org

The Oriental Carpet…few other textiles conjure up such rich imagery as that of a sumptuous rug. For 17th century Safavid monarchs, rugs were elaborate coverings for palace floors whose exquisite workmanship required months of weaving by dedicated court artisans. For European kings and queens, rugs were highly prized gifts and symbols of status. For adventurous travelers of the 19th century, rugs were reminders of bazaars and merchants, treasures brought home to Western countries. For Orientalist School painters, rugs were a source of inspiration and studio props for genre paintings. Today, oriental rugs, resplendent in their history, are reincarnated yet again, gracing our homes and adding intrigue and interest to our interiors.

Far from being the strictly functional items implied by the term 'rug', antique oriental rugs transcend their useful nature into the realm of art. In contrast to paintings and other familiar two-dimensional art forms, rugs are highly dynamic objects. On one level this liveliness can be attributed to the weaving process. However, unlike most woven textiles which have a relatively smooth surface, an oriental rug is made up of thousands of wool or silk knots that are tied around foundation threads. The ends of the knots protrude upward to create the pile surface that we see. The rough texture of the pile reflects light in many directions and enhances the colors of the rug.

Often our first impulse on encountering a rug is to touch it. Running your hands up and down the surface, you'll notice a difference in the way the pile responds. It is smooth on the way 'down' across the top of the pile and rough on the way 'up' as the pile is pushed upward against the grain. For this reason, the colors in a rug will look different depending on the angle from which it is viewed. More light is reflected from the smoother top of the pile which creates a lighter impression of color. The rougher bottom surface of the rug absorbs more light, creating a darker impression of color.

However, irregular texture is not the only quality that makes a rug sparkle with energy. Equally important is the nearly limitless spectrum of colors to be found in antique rugs.

Rugs owe their special color aesthetic to two primary factors. The first is the numerous methods for dying wool-methods as diverse as the many rug weaving towns and villages. There isn't just one 'oriental rug red' - there is red dye created from the ground roots of the madder plant and red dye created from the crushed shells of the cochineal insect, to name just a few. The second contributing factor is, quite simply, the passage of time. Dyes were administered in small batches by hand, with human error inevitably factoring into the process. As the wool aged, the colors from each batch softened and blended at different rates as a result of fluctuations in the dyeing process. Very often these subtle variations in shade are evident within one rug, producing an effect called Abrash. The end result is a spectrum of colors that reaches far beyond the intent of the weavers, with the limitless range of hues working together to form the designs that we see.

And so many designs! The range of motifs is nearly as limitless as the range of colors and the number of weavers who made them, yet all antique rugs have a heritage that reflects the time frame when they were created and the history of the weavers who brought them to life.

For the nomads, self sufficient tribes who migrated through the seasons in search of suitable pasture for their livestock, a rug was a multi-functional item that could serve as a door to a tent, a floor covering, a blanket or a saddle cloth. Rugs were unbreakable, durable, easily transported, and always available for trade or barter, should the need arise. Weaving was a source of pride; young girls learned the craft from their mothers and made exquisite creations for their dowries.

City rugs were less personal creations-workshops were devoted to satisfying the many commissions from wealthy Persians and Europeans who could afford wonderful treasures with knots of merino wool and silk, often exceeding 300 knots per square inch. The formality and precision of these pieces reflect the pride that artisans took in their craft-master designers who planned each color in perfect harmony and watched carefully to ensure the weavers executed their specific commands.

Finally the village rugs, a happy mixture of nomadic and workshop tendencies. Designs range from the faithful execution of traditional motifs to rough attempts to emulate the curvilinear designs of the more finely woven workshop pieces. Some rugs were woven for personal use, some for sale in the bazaars; regardless women created rugs on home looms as they wove from memory and whimsically inserted their own personal touches to ensure that no two rugs would ever be exactly the same.

In our modern lifestyle, perhaps what matters most is that we love the rugs and that they enhance our surroundings. Rugs function in our homes in so many ways: as the visual glue that pulls patterns and hues together, binding a room and providing warmth; as the single injection of color, standing on its own as a solo piece in a minimalist interior; or as a true object of art, mounted on the wall.

How does one make sense of the magic and mystery? And, most importantly, select a rug that will function beautifully in your home (or make the most of a rug you already have). Please join us on October 23rd to learn more about antique oriental rugs. Topics will include identifying characteristics of major rug types, the strategic use of rugs in home decoration, and a more in depth look at the factors that make antique rugs special.

In many perennial gardens in this area, there may be found a plant with delicate pale blue flowers, floating in the breeze atop fine wispy stems. It is called "flax." The Latin name is linum, and it is from a linum relative that the fiber for linen is harvested. Flax at one point was a very important crop in these hills. The seed of linum usitatissimum is the source of linseed oil, while the stalks produce strong, flexible fibers that can be processed into linen thread. That process is complicated, involving many stages, and just as many pieces of equipment. In our fast-paced lives, when we barely have time to shop for our wardrobe, it is sobering to think about the time and effort it once took to make a simple linen garment.

 

Collections Connection by Marge McAvoy

The Sharon Historical Society is putting together an exhibit about spinning and weaving, gathered around the old Gay family loom, now set up in our front foyer. While rummaging around in our collection for items associated with spinning, we came across a few flax tools. Wanting to make sure that we have them properly labeled, I decided to do a little research. It turns out that the language used in the flax industry is just as strange as the tools themselves.

When the flax is harvested, it is gathered in bundles called beets. The stalks are laid on the ground to decompose in a process called dew-retting. The beets must be broken and then scutched or swingled, to remove the broken straw, known as boon or shoves. Once the beets are scutched, the flax must be hackled, to remove the short fiber (tow) and to align the long fibers (line). The line is then made into bundles called stricks. The stricks of line are used to make fine yarn, while the tow makes a coarser yarn.

We have a flax hackle in our collection - a simple but lethal looking gadget, consisting of a thick board about 18" long and 5" wide, and a 5" square area in the middle studded with densely packed, very sharp nails sticking up hair brush style, or reminiscent of an irritated porcupine. We handle it carefully!

Looking at this menacing tool, I suddenly saw the connection to the old phrase "raise your hackles." A trip to the dictionary proved my hunch to be right. Descended from the Middle English hakell and the Old High German hako ("hook"), hackle refers not only to the above-mentioned nail studded board, but also to the sharp feathers on the neck of a rooster and the hair on the back of an angry dog. Definition 3(b) is "Temper, dander," as in "get you dander up." The connection between dog hair and dander tempted me to indulge in one of my school-teacher father's favorite hobbies - dictionary surfing - but time at the busy SHS does not allow it. Still, it is fun to ponder the obscurity of the origins of some of our everyday phrases. Whoever would think to link a temper tantrum to the soothing feel of fine linen? Next time you start to get your hackles up, imagine your favorite linen shirt instead……it might just calm you down!

Wanted!!!
Flax Breaks are Great
The SHS is searching for a flax break or a flax breaker to add to our exhibit on spinning and weaving. If you have one you would like to donate or loan, we'd love to hear from you!

Sharon in the Movies
Remember the era of silent films? The Historical Society is trying to locate film footage of Sharon from the 1920s to the 1950s. Right now we're collecting information only. If you have, or know of someone who has, home movies or other moving pictures of Sharon, please let us know.