John Watson, Curator of Musical Instruments and Conservator of Instruments, discusses the Foundation’s organized piano, which first belonged to the St. George Tucker family.
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The Organized Piano
George Washington’s Wallet
What was in George Washington’s wallet? Long before the establishment of a standard American currency, there was trade, barter and credit. How were these financial activities handled with the myriad coins and metals in circulation?
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Stories in Silver
Rare and beautiful silver forms share the social history of their users and their makers. Visit “A Handsome Cupboard of Plate,” an exhibit open now at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg.
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An Organized Piano Restored
A new blog launching March 3 follows the restorative conservation of a rare survival: an organized piano. A piano combined with a pipe organ, this unique instrument towered at nine feet tall and seven feet wide.
Its restoration raises questions at every step. Repairing a broken element could mean erasing a piece of the object’s history. Conservator John Watson prepares to meet the challenges publicly in the Organized Piano blog, where he’ll search for the best balance of repair and conservation.
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Threads of Feeling
London’s foundling children were orphans in the midst of a crowded city. The exhibit Threads of Feeling tells their stories, as well as those of their mothers.
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Painters and Paintings of the Early American South
Painters and Paintings of the Early American South is a new exhibit focusing on the interrelatedness of Southern artists and subjects. See it at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg.
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