THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 23, 1996 TAG: 9609210042
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 93 lines
A MOVING TRUCK rolled around Portsmouth on Wednesday, stopping at about 10 different homes to pick up antiques ranging from a box spinet piano to a four-poster canopied bed.
By early evening, a steady parade of items with which people furnished their homes 150 years ago had been hauled up the 20 granite steps of the 1846 Courthouse to the main gallery.
Those furnishings, along with everything from family portraits and jewelry to decorative pieces, will be part of an exhibit illustrating life in Portsmouth during the time the Courthouse was built.
The exhibit is just one element in a pull-out-all-the-stops celebration of the 150th anniversary of the 1846 Courthouse - a Virginia Historic Landmark that serves as Portsmouth's fine arts center.
The celebration will kick off Sept. 28 and 29 with a Courthouse Cotillion and a home tour emphasizing Greek Revival architecture in Portsmouth.
The 1846 Committee, headed by William S. Hargroves, has worked months pulling together the anniversary celebration as a fund-raiser for the museums.
``I just think the overall concept is going to be fun, and this is the first time we've tried pulling together a collection like this from many different sources,'' Hargroves said.
Hargroves and two museum staff members went along with movers Wednesday, picking up about 20 of the larger items that Portsmouth families and collectors have loaned to the exhibit.
The committee had put out a newspaper appeal weeks ago for furniture and pieces from the period between 1820 and the time the Courthouse was built. Committee members also called on their memory of what antiques they had seen in Portsmouth homes.
``Many people don't even realize that they have a piece that we'd be interested in,'' Hargroves said. ``The typical reaction is, `That old thing?' ''
But for the next few weeks, those ``old things'' will come together to paint a picture of the glory days of Portsmouth's antebellum past.
Sponsored by the Portsmouth Museums and the Museum and Fine Arts Commission, the celebration will begin Sept. 28 at a Courthouse Cotillion to be held under a canopy in the courtyard.
The cotillion will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. and will feature a buffet supper and dance music by Walter Noona.
A concert of classical music in the main gallery will be presented by harpsichordist Edith Gamard and flutist Brenda Dennicci.
Dress is optional black tie or period dress and tickets are $50 per person, which includes the first look at the 1846 exhibit. Tickets are available at the Courthouse and must be purchased by Sept. 24.
Cotillion guests will also be able to see a second exhibit from the Smithsonian, which also is celebrating its 150th anniversary.
The exhibit on American Greek Revival Architecture opens Sept. 26. It was organized by the National Museum of American History and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services and includes 56 photographs and two-dimensional cutouts illustrating interior and exterior examples of Greek Revival structures.
On Sept. 29, the Courthouse celebration will revolve around a home tour that includes the 1846 Courthouse, the commander's home of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, the original Naval Hospital, and two churches and five homes in Olde Towne.
Two trolleys will run in a circular route at about 15-minute intervals so that tour-goers can spend as much or as little time as they wish at each stop.
Unlike many home tours, only certain areas of the homes such as entrances, foyers, parlors and dining rooms will be open, and the focus will be on architecture and ornamental detail rather than gardens and antiques.
During the trolley tours, craftsmen will give demonstrations of antebellum workmanship in the courtyard.
The craftsmen include Lew LeCompte, a 30-year journeyman cooper from Colonial Williamsburg, and Joseph MacPhail, a Portsmouth cabinet maker who will demonstrate his craft, using tools of the period.
Committee members also plan to have a blacksmith from Colonial Williamsburg for the demonstrations.
Refreshments will be provided, and a concert will be presented by the Tidewater Metro Band.
The cost of the tour is $12 per person, which includes admission to the Courthouse exhibits. Tickets are available at the Courthouse or can be purchased the day of the tour in the courtyard or on the trolleys. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARK MITCHELL, The Virginian-Pilot
The Watts House, owned by Bobby Dolsey, will be part of the 1846
Courthouse Tour in Portsmouth.
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WANT TO GO?
The Greek Revival Architecture exhibit will be on display from
Sept. 26 through Nov. 10 and the local exhibit, ``1846: A 150th
Year Anniversary,'' will be on display from Sept. 28 through Nov.
24.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 1 to 5
p.m. Sundays. Cost is $1 for the arts center or $5 for all four of
the city's museums, including the Children's Museum.
For information, call 393-8983. by CNB