Upcoming Exhibits
In the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Hall of Special Exhibitions, the Museum presents exhibitions that explore historical subjects in depth — from Texas music and sports to archaeology and space exploration. The Museum recently converted the 3rd Floor Rotunda Gallery into a space dedicated to the important but little-seen collections and archives of public agencies and institutions across the state. Explore each section below to see what’s on exhibit now and what’s coming soon.
Texas Furniture from Ima Hogg's Winedale Collection - July 13 - October 6, 2013
Texas Furniture from Ima Hogg's Winedale Collection
July 13 - October 6, 2013
Before the rise of imported factory-made furniture in the 1880s, most Texans bought home furnishings from their local cabinetmaker. Texas furniture in the 19th century reflects the history and culture of those times, the isolation of the state, and the changes wrought by the coming of the railroads. Enter this bygone era through the stories that every handmade table, chair, and bed have to share in a new exhibition, Texas Furniture from Ima Hogg's Winedale Collection at the Bullock Texas State History Museum. The Winedale Collection is part of the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, at the University of Texas at Austin. The exhibition will run July to October 2013, at the Bullock Museum.
The Briscoe Center's Winedale Collection owes its name to Houston philanthropist Ima Hogg (1882-1975), who bought and restored the 19th century farmstead at Winedale, near Round Top, Texas, to house her vast collections. The only daughter of Texas governor James Stephen Hogg, she was a pioneer collector of American furniture and a long-time supporter of historic preservation. The Winedale Collection is recognized as the most significant collection of Texas furniture in the United States.
The Collection includes locally made furniture, much of it produced by German immigrant craftsmen, domestic textiles such as quilts and coverlets, folk toys, paintings, china, kitchen utensils, agricultural implements, and cabinet-making tools.
The exhibition speaks of Texas's immigrant European and native-born cabinetmakers; of their craftsmanship and woodworking techniques; of competing ideas about style, comfort, and gentility; and about what it meant to be a Texan in the 19th century.
Approximately forty pieces of furniture, as well as other highlights from the collection, will be on exhibit in Texas Furniture from Ima Hogg's Winedale Collection at the Bullock Museum. The exhibit is guest-curated by Lonn Taylor, co-author of the recently updated and expanded two-volume edition, Texas Furniture (University of Texas Press). Mr. Taylor is an authority on the architecture, furniture, and decorative arts of the American Southwest and the former director of Winedale. He is also a former curator at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.
Texas Furniture from Ima Hogg's Winedale Collection is a collaboration between The Bullock Texas State History Museum and the Briscoe Center for American History. The exhibit will be on view in the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Hall of Special Exhibitions at the Bullock Museum July 13 - October 6, 2013.
Photo Credits
- Sofa by Carl Steinhagen, ca. 1860, Courtesy Winedale Collection, The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin
- Pie Safe, ca. 1860-1870, Courtesy Winedale Collection, The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin
- Bed by Johann Umland, ca. 1860, Courtesy Winedale Collection, The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin
La Belle: The Ship That Changed History - Fall 2014
La Belle: The Ship That Changed History
Coming in Fall 2014
Called "one of the most important shipwreck discoveries in North America" by Smithsonian Magazine, the 17th century ship La Belle was discovered in the late 1990's off the coast of Texas. The Bullock Museum, the Texas Historical Commission, and Texas A&M University have each had a hand in the more than 20-year-long project to find, excavate, preserve, and exhibit the famed and ill-fated shipwreck and its contents. The Belle's arrival and permanent installation at the Bullock Museum in Fall 2014 will allow museum visitors an exciting glimpse into a dramatic and violent chapter in the region's history.
The Belle was the last remaining vessel in an 1686 expedition by the legendary French explorer Robert La Salle. Intended to help establish the French on the Gulf of Mexico, the Belle's disastrous end spelled doom for their fledgling colony, thus paving the way for Spain's uninterrupted colonial influence on Texas and the American Southwest. The discovery of the shipwreck La Belle is a complete "time capsule" of European colonization efforts and is an ongoing case study in how archaeologists and historians preserve and understand the material evidence of the past; the breadth and scope of the Belle project leads to multiple educational opportunities in history, the humanities, sciences, arts, and more.
La Belle: The Ship That Changed History — a temporary special exhibition which will focus on select themes from the discovery, excavation, and re-interpretation of the ship —will be on exhibit in the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Hall of Special Exhibitions at the Bullock Museum in the winter of 2014 and will travel internationally to Canada and France in 2015 and beyond. The exhibit is guest-curated by Dr. James E. Bruseth, the former Director of the Archeology Division at the Texas Historical Commission, which sponsored the excavation of the shipwreck. Dr. Bruseth served as the Project Director for the excavation and recovery of La Belle and also directed the excavation of La Salle's Texas colony, Fort St. Louis.
