Decorative Arts Collection

Macculloch Hall Historical Museum’s founder W. Parsons Todd (1877-1976) avidly collected porcelain, eighteenth and nineteenth-century American and European furniture, silver, glass, and American textiles like coverlets and quilts. Todd acquired more than 450 examples of French, German, English, and Chinese export porcelain, creating a collection that reflects the major European and Asian china manufacturers from 1750 to 1850.

Highlights from the silver collection include the Thomas Nast Presentation Canteen made Eugene Soligny for Tiffany & Co. in 1879; a toast rack made by New York-New Jersey silversmith Cary Dunn (active 1765-1796); and a set of wine coasters, a wine beaker and creamer used in the Madison White House. Todd’s taste in furniture ran from everyday examples used by the Macculloch family at the beginning of the nineteenth century and school desks used by students in George Macculloch’s Latin School for Boys from 1814-1829, to fine examples of Philadelphia-made furniture like the settee made by Benjamin Randolph circa 1765 and a set of side tables from the house of the Earl of Essex made between 1765-1795.