Transferware Worldwide Lecture Series - From Trowel to Table: Ceramic Sherds Inform History Detectives at James Madison’s Montpelier

Title: From Trowel to Table: Ceramic Sherds Inform History Detectives at James Madison’s Montpelier 

Lecturer: Leslie Lambour Bouterie, Visiting Curator of Ceramics at James Madison’s Montpelier and Visiting Scholar for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

(Members, please check your email in early February for the Zoom link to this lecture. Non-members are also welcome to view future Transferware Worldwide lectures: simply provide your email address to receive the Zoom links and news and information about future TCC programming.)

Description: The interpretation of a historic property relies on a highly collaborative team of “history detectives” to bring both the site and the personal stories of its residents to life. Archaeologists, curators, historians, preservationists, and educators tirelessly mine every clue to ensure historical accuracy. In this presentation, we will view the fruits of this collaboration during an armchair tour of Montpelier, with a focus on the impressive collection of ceramics which includes a wide variety of wares and many British transfer-printed patterns.

Montpelier, a property of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is located in central Virginia. It was home to James Madison, fourth president of the United States and his devoted wife Dolley, and also to a large enslaved community. The presidential home which has been meticulously restored and furnished, and the slave dwellings and outbuildings which have been carefully reconstructed and sensitively appointed after comprehensive research, skillfully illuminate the lives of those who lived and worked on the plantation.

Speaker Bio:  Leslie Lambour Bouterie serves as the Visiting Curator of Ceramics at James Madison’s Montpelier and as a Visiting Scholar for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. A career educator and ceramic specialist, she provides consultation services to museums and historic sites; lectures, writes and enthusiastically shares her passion for British ceramics.