ARTISAN LECTURE SERIES Fall 2015 to Spring 2016

Marijn Manuels, Conservator, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Installation and Conservation of the Worsham-Rockefeller Dressing Room

 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12th AT THE GENERAL SOCIETY LIBRARY

 The lecture starts at 6:30p.m. – RECEPTION TO FOLLOW

 Marijn Manuels, a Metropolitan Museum of Art conservator, will discuss, during his presentation, the conservation and installation of the sumptuous Worsham-Rockefeller Dressing Room, one of the very few intact Gilded Age New York City interiors. This opulent room is the centerpiece of Artistic Furniture of the Gilded Age exhibit opening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on December 15th, 2015. The room, a complete work of art, with its elaborate woodwork and decorations, is a rare surviving commission by the New York-based cabinetmaker, George A Schastey. There will also be a special exhibition on Schastey’s work.

Mr. Manuels’ talk will provide a special sneak preview of this jewel box of a dressing room, accessioned by The Metropolitan Museum in 2009. He will discuss the history of the multidisciplinary conservation and installation effort, which started in 2013 and will culminate in the room’s public opening. He will detail the process of re-installation and the many challenges of conserving the intricate fine details of the room, originally built in 1881.

Marijn Manuels specializes in American Furniture and Interiors; he received his training in Amsterdam and joined The Metropolitan Museum in 1996. He has worked on many landmark exhibitions including Honoré Lannuier, Cabinetmaker from Paris (1998), Art and the Empire City (2000), John Townsend (2005), and Duncan Phyfe (2011) – as well as the ten-year renovation and reinstallation of the American Wing that was completed in 2012.

20 WEST 44th Street (BETWEEN 5TH AND 6th AVENUES), MANHATTAN

$15 General Admission, $10 General Society Members and Senior Citizens, $5 Students

 To register or to become a Friend of the Artisan Lecture Series ($100 contribution for free admission to the entire Lecture Series) please contact The General Society at 212 840 1840, ext. 2 or email: [email protected].

Advance registration is recommended.