The Bayou Bend collection traces the evolution of design and technology from colonial times to the Victorian era and illustrates the development of domestic rituals and social customs.
Paintings in the collection present a remarkably comprehensive survey of major American artists between 1700 and 1860. The paintings document the genesis and development of the fine arts in America with the fusion and modification of imported artistic traditions into the national aesthetic. The collection includes such American masters of the genre as John Smibert, John Singleton Copley, Gilbert Stuart, and several members of the Peale family.
Furniture, approximately 400 objects, is the collection s greatest strength, comprising the full range of forms and styles from the early colonial period until the Civil War. Much of the furniture represents the workmanship of such master craftsmen as John Townsend, Duncan Phyfe, and John Henry Belter.
Textiles comprise approximately 250 examples, primarily of American origin between 1650 and 1900, and include carpets, upholstery, bed coverings, and bed and window hangings, in addition to items of clothing and needlework.
Metals include gold, silver, brass, pewter, and iron, providing vivid depiction of the wide-ranging functions of objects within American culture. American silver is well represented with examples by most of the important shops and documents a full range of both functional forms and regional treatments of those forms.
The ceramics and glass collection is particularly strong in the area of English ceramics, which comprised the bulk of tablewares in American households throughout the colonial period. The colonial period is represented through tin-glazed earthenwares, salt-glazed stonewares, and various lead-glazed pieces, including agatewares, Whieldon-type