New China Trade Exhibit Comes to Chatham
Published on Wednesday, June 30, 2010
June 23, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Tracy K. Anderson
(508) 364-0850
Fax (508)437-1281
tracy@capecodpr.com
Opening July 6th, Chatham to China: Acculturation, Encounter and Trade is the highly anticipated presentation at the Atwood House Museum, home to the Chatham Historical Society. This experiential exhibit will explore the travel and trading activities of Chatham sea captains during the 1800’s, chronicling in lively detail the landscape of the period, the affect Eastern ideologies had on Puritan descendants, and the direct impact their involvement had on Chatham and the region.
Participation is encouraged as you walk through each vignette, with the opportunity to belay a line, trade for Ginseng root, silk, tea and more at a Cantonese market stall, and then market those commodities back home at a replica of Boston’s India Wharf. Perhaps the most striking piece of the exhibit is the scale bow of one of Chatham’s most celebrated clippers, the Wild Rover, soaring over the space in dramatic and 3-D fashion.
“We hope museum patrons will take in the exhibit as a “voyager” rather than a detached viewer. There’s something for every age and interest level…and even more, it will be fun! ”
– Mark Wilkins, Executive Director/Curator
Visitors are also invited to view the other galleries, which include an impressive collection of approximately 3,000 paintings, photographs, costumes, china and glass, textiles, tools and other period artifacts. The building is also home to a comprehensive archives and research facility on the lower level, and the striking Stallknecht Mural Barn, lined with colorful portraits of Chatham townspeople from the 30's and 40's.
The Atwood House itself – the oldest house in Chatham built circa 1752 – sits at the front of the property and provides visitors with a contrasting view from the newly constructed China Trade exhibit. While exploring all the museum has to offer, guests might also get to see real-time restoration activity at the old Atwood House, part of a preservation effort that commenced this Spring.
Outside the building, explore the herb and flower gardens, the mid-20th century Nickerson North Beach Camp, the Chatham School Bells, a Wampanoag mishoon (dugout canoe), and the Chatham Light Display, featuring the lantern house from Chatham’s twin light with its original Fresnel lens, flashing its beam whenever the museum is open.
If you go:
• Atwood House Museum, 347 Stage Harbor Road, Chatham
• China Trade Exhibit open July 6th. Hours are Tuesday though Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for students, and free to members and children under 12.
For more information, call (508) 945-2493 or contact Mark Wilkins at mwilkins@chathamhistorical.org
