Architectural Clues to 18th-Century Williamsburg

How were buildings constructed in the 18th- and early 19th-centuries in Virginia? What did the builders use? What can the collecting habits of 85 generations of rats reveal? Valuable clues and answers can be found in the architectural objects and fragments from both surviving and demolished buildings and will be revealed in Architectural Clues to 18th-Century Williamsburg, which opens on May 28, 2016, and will remain on view indefinitely at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, one of the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg.

The exhibition will explore objects in the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s architectural collection illuminating seldom-seen details and information used to inform work in the Historic Area from the 1930s to present day. Fascinating in its scope, Architectural Clues not only will enhance visitors of all ages’ exploration of Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area but also architecture aficionados’ understanding of period construction outside the area. These fragments can inform how architectural preservationists know what they know and how to do what they do.

“Like antiques and works of art, early buildings retain abundant information about past cultures,” said Ronald L. Hurst, the Foundation’s chief curator and vice president for collections, conservation, and museums. “When properly studied, they speak to us about everything from historic trade practices to social hierarchies. As the steward for scores of historic structures and thousands of architectural fragments, Colonial Williamsburg is an excellent laboratory for such inquiries. At the same time, regular advances in methods of scientific inquiry now allow us to learn from these materials is ways that were unimagined even ten years ago. This exhibition will provide a window into this fascinating subject.”

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Cite: "Architectural Clues to 18th-Century Williamsburg" 01 May 2016. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/786480/architectural-clues-to-18th-century-williamsburg> ISSN 0719-8884

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