Chipstone Foundation
Chipstone Foundation emerged from the passions of Stanely and Polly Stone of Wisconsin, who, in 1946, developed an enthusiasm for collecting decorative arts, with a particular interest in early American furniture, and seventeenth and eighteenth century British Pottery. After amassing an impressive collection of decorative arts, in 1983 the Stone’s were encouraged to establish the Chipstone Foundation with the purpose of ‘preserving and interpreting their collection, and stimulating research and education in the decorative arts,’ which was properly activated the year of Stanely Stone’s death, in 1987. As well as sustaining a wonderful collection of arts which delight and impress art enthusiasts world-wide, one of the major ventures of the Chipstone Foundation comes from the expanded program of Chipstone Publications, which publish important annual journals in the field of furniture and ceramic studies, as well as a small number of major theoretical and collective monographs, which the foundation view as an essential part of their pursuit to enrich and stimulate the level of scholarly discourse in the decorative arts world. 1999 saw Chipstone publish their first catalogue of American decorative arts spanning from 1630-1820, all of which feature in the famous Chipstone collection.