Have you met some of our favorite furry friends?
Potter Samuel Bell (1811-1891) of Winchester made this pair of molded whippet figurines in 1841. Whippets are an English sighthound breed descended from greyhounds. The Bell family of potters made numerous whippets as decorative pieces for Valley homes, some of which retain their original paint decoration.
Raise a glass to celebrate National Beer Day with this beer stein in the MSV Collection! National Beer Day began right here in the Old Dominion in 2009, but Virginians have enjoyed “cold ones” for centuries.
It was around this time last year the MSV exchanged the original windows on the building for newer, more environmentally conscious ones. Since the old windows were not of use to anyone else, and probably would have been left to languish in a landfill otherwise, the Gardens and Grounds Department quietly laid claim and spirited them away to our workshop. To be honest, I’ve never been more pleased to be in possession of a pile of debris in my life. Old windows, especially the large, sturdy ones, do not run cheap. They are also hard to find in any real quantity, especially if you are looking for a uniform size. Until this happy little windfall, the Museum was unable to offer the workshop I’ve wanted to run for years: Building a Cold Frame.
A one-of-a-kind piece of Valley folk art from the MSV Collection is an honoree in Virginia’s Top 10 Endangered Artifacts Competition. Online voting for the competition is taking place through midnight on January 31. Learn the about artist Robert Cross and vote for the MSV!
It’s cold and flu season, which means people turn to their preferred doctor to alleviate coughing, sore throats, runny noses, and worse. In late 1800s and early 1900s Winchester, one of the men who filled that role was Dr. William Joseph Whitlock (1849-1921). An herbal physician and his own best salesman, Whitlock left behind several small medicine cabinets that advertised his “Whitlocks’ Renowned Remedies,” including one in the MSV Collection.
by MSV Director of Gardens Perry Mathewes
The annual MSV Heritage Plant Sale is just around the corner (May 18–19) and we are busy getting ready. Here are few of my favorites that will be available for purchase at the sale—all fantastic plants well suited for northern Shenandoah Valley landscapes.
Carvings by folk artist John L. Heatwole (1948-2006).
In celebration of Women's History Month the MSV spotlights Native American artist Wendy Star whose works are featured in the exhibition Hear My Voice: Native American Art of the Past and Present. Guest blogger and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Curator of Native American Art Johanna Minich, PhD, shares with us some insight into the artist's work:
For the past three years, the MSV has participated in the Virginia Association of Museums’ Top 10 Endangered Artifacts program. This year, the MSV is nominating a copper still pot, cap, and coils used in the late 1800s by the James C. Foltz Distillery in Edinburg, Virginia until state officials enacted Prohibition in 1916.
