The Decorative Arts Department of the New Orleans Museum of Art is the largest division of the permanent collection, with more than 15,000 works of art. The collection ranges from antiquity to the present and from a myriad of cultures and continents.
Glass
The single greatest departmental strength is that of glass. The glass collection is ranked among the top five in The United States and covers the history of the glassmaker’s art from its ancient Egyptian origins through contemporary studio glass. The NOMA glass collection presently numbers about 12,000 objects.
American Art Pottery
The second greatest area of concentration is American art pottery from circa 1880 to 1960, with notable strengths in the areas of Newcomb, Rookwood and Fulper Pottery. The collection numbers about 800 examples representing the production of American art pottery from coast to coast.
French Ceramics
French ceramics is another pillar of NOMA’s collection, with a major emphasis on the porcelains of Paris from circa 1770 to circa 1870. The Paris porcelain collection at NOMA is the only one in the United States to survey the entire century-long history of these distinguished wares. Three areas of secondary concentration within the category of French ceramics are the Brooke Hayward Duchin Collection of nineteenth-century Palissy wares, Sévres porcelain of the eighteenth through the early twentieth century, and the Stern Collection of porcelain veilleuses which is focused upon the nineteenth century.
Portrait-Miniatures
Another important area is English and Continental portrait-miniatures. The bulk of that collection consists of the notable group in the Latter-Schlesinger Collection of over two hundred examples, dating from the sixteenth to the late nineteenth century.
Fabergé
One of the most popular areas of NOMA’s collection, the Fabergé installation includes, but is not limited to, Fabergé Easter Eggs, a box in the form of an Easter egg, a pink clock set with peals that was owned by the last Tsarina of Russia, a Bismark Box laden with 90 carats of diamonds, an Imperial Horse Guard helmet, cigarette and card cases, clocks, inkwells, letter knives, glue pots, photograph frames and stamp viewers.
Furniture and More
Other facets of the Decorative Arts at the New Orleans Museum of Art include 18th century and 19th century American furniture; English ceramics, including the distinguished Irving Gerson Collection of Wedgwood, and the Geraldine Colby Zeiler Collection of Belleek porcelain; the H. Lloyd Hawkins, Jr. Collection of Meissen porcelain figures, the Elinor Bright Richardson collection of English silver, which features works by the great Paul Storr; and the Gross Collection of English silver covering works from the seventeenth through the nineteenth century. Museum publications are available through the Museum Shop on the Latter-Schlesinger Collection of portrait-miniatures, American art pottery, Paris porcelains, the Hayward Duchin Collection of Palissy wares, the Gerson Collection of Wedgwood, the Bright Richardson Collection of silver and Fabergé masterworks from the Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation Collection.
- Glass
- Silver
- Portrait Miniatures
- Meissen Porcelain
- Master Works of Fabergé from Southern Collections
- French Ceramics
- Furnitures
- American Art Pottery
A magnificent and comprehensive collection of glass objects is the single greatest strength of the New Orleans Museum of Art’s Decorative Arts Department. The glass collection is ranked among the top five in the United States and covers the history of the glassmaker’s art from its ancient Egyptian origins through contemporary studio glass. The NOMA glass collection presently numbers more than 12,000 objects.
The Decorative Arts Department of the New Orleans Museum of Art has magnificent examples of silver artistry. Among these are the Elinor Bright Richardson collection of English silver, which features works by the great Paul Storr, the Gross Collection of English silver covering works from the 17th Century through the 19th Century, and the Jolie and Robert Shelton Collection of Martelé American Art Nouveau Silver.
A Portrait Miniature is a small, portable painting designed as a memento of a beloved or admired person. The history of this art form began in 16th Century England and continued to be fashionable both in England and on the Continent throughout the next three centuries. In the mid-19th Century, the 400-year tradition of portrait miniatures fell into decline with the invention of photography. The majority of NOMA’s Portrait Miniature collection is from the notable Latter-Schlesinger Collection. Visitors can see more than 200 examples on Portrait Miniatures on NOMA’s second floor.
In 1997, the New Orleans Museum of Art received one of the most significant gifts to the Decorative Arts collection in NOMA’s history: the H. Lloyd Hawkins, Jr. Collection of nearly 350 works by the renowned Meissen Porcelain Manufactory of Saxony, Germany.
Mrs. Lois C. Hawkins honored NOMA with the donation of funds to construct a special gallery dedicated to the exhibition of her late husband’s collection. The gallery, a lovely 1,100 square-foot area on NOMA’s second floor, has been specifically designed as an intimate viewing space for these exquisitely crafted works in porcelain, so that a significant portion of the collection can be shown at a given time. NOMA rotates the Meissen pieces on exhibition to demonstrate the breadth and depth of the Hawkins Collection.
Contemporary audiences may not comprehend the mania for porcelain set off by the development of the formula for true or hard-paste porcelain at Meissen in late 1709. Among royalty and aristocrats, the possession of porcelain immediately became one of the major status symbols of the 18th Century, second only to owning an appropriate palace as a mark of rank and privilege.
Mr. Hawkins’ fascination for Meissen figures was certainly akin to that of the 18th Century collectors. He was presented the important Meissen allegorical set of The Four Elements as a gift in 1954. Over the next several decades, Mr. Hawkins acquired nearly 450 figures and groups. He was entranced by the virtuosity of the work and intrigued that the Meissen factory created an entirely new European art form when it introduced its now-celebrated figures.
The Fabergé Gallery is temporarily closed for a new installation. Please check back for an updated installation of Russian Imperial decorative arts in the 2nd Floor Elevator Lobby later this Spring.
French ceramics is another strength of NOMA’s collection, with a major emphasis on the porcelains of Paris from circa 1770 to circa 1870. The Paris porcelain collection at NOMA is the only one in the United States to survey the entire century-long history of these distinguished wares. Three areas of secondary concentration within the category of French ceramics are the Brooke Hayward Duchin Collection of nineteenth-century Palissy wares, Sévres porcelain of the eighteenth through the early twentieth century, and the Stern Collection of porcelain veilleuses which is focused upon the nineteenth century.
NOMA’s furniture collection includes important examples of 18th and 19th century American furniture and a small group of exquisite 18th century French pieces.
Highlights include The Rosemonde E. and Emile Kuntz Rooms, exhibiting choice examples of America’s fine and decorative arts heritage in New Orleans. The rooms were first conceived by Felix H. Kuntz [1890-1971], the Dean of Americana. His brother Emile N. Kuntz was charged with constructing and furnishing the rooms as a memorial to their parents. The rooms were completed by Mr. Kuntz’s widow, Karolyn K. Westervelt, and daughter, Rosemonde K. Capomazza de Campolattaro.
The Louisiana Federal Bedchamber, pictured, shows how a room of this type might have looked in a fine New Orleans townhouse or great south Louisiana plantation house during the first quarter of the 19th Century.
The Museum also exhibits a fascinating small collection of American chairs. The chair is the one furniture form that most rapidly reflects changes in the designs and fashions of the time, and NOMA’s collection ranges in style and period from Renaissance Revival to Napoleon XVI to Art Nouveau.
The second greatest area of concentration in NOMA’s Decorative Arts collection is American art pottery from circa 1880 to 1960, with notable strengths in the areas of Newcomb, Rookwood and Fulper Pottery. The collection numbers about 800 examples representing the production of American art pottery from coast to coast.
