From the Collections

Senior Curator of Library and Archives Lorna Condon and Curator Erica Lome share updates about recent acquisitions to Historic New England’s collections.

Sheepscott Community Church, Samuel M. Green (1910-1995), Newcastle, Maine, 1974. Oil on board, 4’ x 5’. Gift of David Haake, 2023

Samuel M. Green (1910-1995) was an accomplished painter who attended Harvard University and taught art at Wesleyan University starting in 1948. While primarily known for his fine arts instruction, Green had a lifelong fascination with New England’s built environment and especially the architecture of Maine. During his youth, he made etchings of Maine homes and townscapes for the Works Progress Administration. He continued to document historic structures in his time as a professor using watercolor and oil paint. When he retired in 1974, Green made this painting of the Sheepscott Community Church (ca. 1868) in Newcastle, Maine. In Green’s simple yet arresting composition, the church appears frozen in time and larger than life. Devoid of human subjects, the eye is drawn instead to the stark beauty of the building itself, from the unique tripartite windows to the tall spire of the steeple that crests the tree line.

Historic New England has long collected paintings, photography, and other visual art documenting New England’s built environment. This painting particularly compliments our important acquisition of architectural photographer Steve Rosenthal's images of New England meetinghouses and churches.

Collection of Designs for Jewelry from the Frank N. Nathan Company and Church Company. Boston, 1920s-60s. Purchase 2022.

The Frank N. Nathan Company and Church Company were part of Boston’s thriving jewelry industry in the late nineteenth and early to mid-twentieth centuries. Founded in 1891, the Nathan Company specialized in antique and modern jewelry and silverware. It was located at 480 Washington Street not far from the heart of Boston’s jewelry center—the Jewelers Building at 371 to 379 Washington Street. The Church Company, jewelers and silversmiths, had offices at various locations in the city. This collection of eighty-five pencil and watercolor drawings includes designs for rings, brooches, and pendants.

Historic New England has always collected jewelry. Its 2,500 necklaces, bracelets, brooches, earrings, rings, cufflinks, and other items record more than three centuries of adornment. Its archival collections, including designs from a Rhode Island jewelry manufacturer and items from Boston jeweler Jorge Epstein, inform us about the flourishing jewelry industry in the region. The Nathan Company and Church Company drawings complement our existing jewelry holdings and expand our knowledge about consumer taste, the design process, and the materials used in jewelry making.