The Magazine Antiques - July 1992 - Strawberry Banke Museum Issue

Overview

The July 1992 issue of The Magazine Antiques is a focused museum issue devoted to Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, one of the most significant historic preservation and living-history museums in New England. Rather than concentrating on a single object category, this issue explores an entire historic environment, examining the buildings, interiors, furnishings, decorative arts, textiles, metals, ceramics, glass, and landscapes that collectively tell the story of more than three centuries of life along the Piscataqua River.

Beautifully illustrated and researched, the issue functions as both a collectible periodical and a compact reference work on New England material culture. For collectors of Americana, decorative arts, architecture, furniture, and historic houses, it provides a broad survey of objects and environments that shaped daily life in coastal New Hampshire from the colonial era through the nineteenth century.

The cover features the entrance facade of the Chase House at Strawbery Banke Museum. The image reflects the architectural character and preservation ethos that define the institution and immediately signals the issue's emphasis on historic interiors, furnishings, and domestic life.

Dating / Background

Founded in 1922, The Magazine Antiques became the leading English-language publication devoted to antiques, decorative arts, collecting, and museum scholarship. For decades it served as a bridge between collectors, museums, dealers, historians, and researchers. Back issues remain useful because they preserve period scholarship and object photography that often remain difficult to access elsewhere.

This July 1992 issue presents Strawbery Banke Museum through a series of scholarly articles. Gerald W. R. Ward contributes a historical overview titled Three Centuries of Life Along the Piscataqua River, placing the museum and region within a broader historical framework. Additional essays examine the museum's buildings, furnished houses, metalwork collections, furniture collections, ceramics and glass holdings, textiles and clothing, and historic landscape design.

Contributors include Gerald W. R. Ward, John P. Schnitzler, Rodney D. Rowland, Karin E. Cullity, Carolyn Parsons Roy, and Anne Mankin Masury. Collectively, these authors present a remarkably comprehensive portrait of a museum whose collections encompass architecture, decorative arts, domestic furnishings, and regional history.

The issue is particularly valuable because it treats objects within their original architectural and cultural settings. Rather than examining furniture, ceramics, or textiles in isolation, it demonstrates how these objects functioned within historic interiors and daily life. This broader context remains useful to collectors, decorators, preservationists, and historians alike.

Why Collect

Museum-focused issues of The Magazine Antiques are often among the most rewarding because they unite architecture, furnishings, decorative arts, and social history within a single publication. This issue appeals to collectors of Americana, New England antiques, historic house museums, colonial and Federal furniture, ceramics, glass, textiles, and decorative arts scholarship.

Beyond its utility as a reference source, the issue preserves an important snapshot of museum interpretation and collecting scholarship from the early 1990s. For anyone building a serious decorative arts or Americana library, it represents a valuable and highly readable addition.

Dimensions (inches)

• Height: 11 7/8
• Width: 9 1/8
• Depth: 3/8
• Weight: 1.4 lbs

Condition

Good to very good condition with minor cover wear and light evidence of handling. Interior pages are clean and well preserved. The lower corners of roughly the first third of the issue display light dog-earing from reading. Overall presentation remains attractive and entirely suitable for research, collection, or display within a decorative arts reference library.

Collector's Resource

Particularly useful for collectors interested in New England architecture, historic house museums, Americana, furniture, decorative arts, ceramics, glass, textiles, and preservation history. Issues of The Magazine Antiques continue to serve as valuable references for collectors and researchers.