Gallery

Phoebe Arnold Belcher Cemetery Stone

One of the oldest known tombstones by Newport sculptor and stone carver John Steven. Phoebe Arnold Belcher (1682-1713) was the granddaughter of Governor Arnold and Damaris Westcott. The John Steven's Shop of Newport, R.I. still exists to this day and operates under the same family, being passed down over generations.

Silver porringer

Samuel Vernon, an accomplished silversmith in 18th century Newport, produced this porringer, circa 1710.

Governor Arnold Chair

This chair is made from English Oak with a Norway pine seat, and served as the favorite chair of Governor Benedict Arnold (not to be confused with his son, the notorious traitor General Benedict Arnold). According to documentation that accompanied the chair, Governor Arnold was sitting in this chair when he received the Charter for the Colony of Rhode Island in 1663. This chair was also where Governor Samuel Ward King sat when the United States Constitution superseded the English Charter.

Claggett Clock

This clock was built in 1728 for Captain John Stanton. It features a japanned case, Roman and Arabic numerals, day calendar and night chiming feature. It is rumored to be the only one like it since it was a custom order for Captain Stanton.

Painting by Rita Rogers, contemporary Newport artist

During the 1950s Rogers began studying at the Art Students League and Yale Norfolk Art School. She has been the recipient of grants from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and has exhibited extensively in Rhode Island, as well as in Massachusetts and Connecticut. She is also an established painting restorer; many of her treated paintings hang in the buildings of local institutions. Rita Rogers has resided in The Point section of Newport since 1986.

Corner Chair [roundabout chair]

This Chippendale style, carved mahogany chair was produced by the Goddard School of Newport, circa 1770. It was the gift of Bishop Samuel G. Babcock in 1948.

John N.A. Griswold House

Home to the Museum since 1916, the John N.A. Griswold House is a National Historic Landmark and an Official Project of Save America’s Treasures. Designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt, it was completed in 1864 for John N.A. Griswold and his wife Jane Emmet Griswold. The Griswold House was Hunt’s first major commission in Newport and is the premier example of Modern Gothic or American “Stick-Style” architecture.

Newport Meets Paris in Narragansett (Tea table)

The rails and overall proportion of this piece are descended from a small group of tea tables made by John Goddard in the 1760s.The wood, Cuban or Santo Dominican mahogany (Swietenia Mahogani), is the same as that used in the best of 18th c. furniture, be it Newport, New York, Philadelphia or London.

John Townsend Newport Half-Round Mahogany Table

Newport cabinetmaker John Townsend (1733–1809), one of the greatest of all eighteenth-century American craftsmen, was born in Newport, Rhode Island, into a family of Quaker cabinetmakers. The seaport, second only to Boston among New England cities, was the center of a thriving furniture industry dominated by two intermarried Quaker families, the Townsends and the Goddards.

Four-drawer desk

This 18th century four-drawer desk of white pine, red cedar, and chestnut, is attributed to John Goddard. It belonged to William Ellery, his granddaughter, Miss Henrietta Ellery, and her niece, Mrs. Hammett.

An American Queen Anne mahogany side chair

During the second quarter of the eighteenth century, bold turnings, attenuated proportions, and dynamic surfaces of the Early Baroque style were subdued in favor of gracefully curved outlines, classical proportions, and restrained surface ornamentation. This new style, called late Baroque, early Georgian, or Queen Anne, was a blend of several influences, including Baroque, classical, and Asian. In Newport, Rhode Island, craftsmen integrated distinctive scrolls and scalloped shells into their furniture.

Dining table by John Townsend

The Townsend and Goddard families are perhaps the most well-known cabinetmakers from Newport, with their shops creating furniture with the distinct Newport style of ball-and-claw feet and carved shells, all in rich mahogany. This dining table by John Townsend was made in 1793 and still retains its original maker’s label

Seventh Day Baptist Meeting House wall clock

William Claggett, a renowned colonial clockmaker in Newport, made this wall clock in 1732 for the Seventh Day Baptist Meeting House.