Decorative Arts and Design

From ornate parlors to copper cufflinks, from 1850s Gothic Revival to cutting-edge contemporary design, from Burkina Faso to Turin to Saratoga Springs: The Decorative Arts and Design galleries reveal the breadth of this remarkable collection. These works are connected by their role as functional items, yet they range dramatically in style, material, origin, and time. Featuring more than 150 objects, this installation investigates key questions that surround design and decorative arts: Are there differences between works that are handmade or industrially produced? What is considered “craft” or “design”? While probing such definitions, the galleries celebrate the dazzling array of objects that “decorative arts and design” encompasses. Wander from Period Rooms outfitted with lavish furnishings to nearly a dozen thematic vignettes, spotlighting luxurious Art Deco cabinets, rippling Italian plywood, lustrous midcentury jewelry, or even Machine Age appliances. Follow the shifting tides of en vogue styles as the Aesthetic movement advocated beauty in the home, the Arts and Crafts movement countered industrialization, and the advent of plywood spurred a boom in affordable designs. Together these explorations offer a rich history of decorative arts and design, journeying through centuries of global innovation to honor the objects of our every day.