News Release

The Johns Hopkins University's Homewood House Museum presents Repast as Ritual: The Objects of Entertaining at Homewood House Museum, a series of six lectures relating to the art of 18th-century dining to be held each Wednesday in October, and Nov.1 and 8.

Lectures begin at 2 p.m. and last approximately 90 minutes. The cost of the six-lecture series is $146 ($124 for museum members; $75 for students and museum volunteers). Because seating is limited, advance pre-paid registration is required. For more information, the public may call 410- 515-05589, email homewoodhouse@jhu.edu, or visit www.jhu.edu/historichouses.

What unusual entertaining customs were practiced in the fledgling American republic? What types of objects did Baltimore's prominent Carroll family use on their dining table? Where did they come from? How were they purchased? At Homewood House Museum's Repast as Ritual lecture series, distinguished experts examine the spectacle of 18th-century dining, with particular focus on the social meanings and fashionable forms of the silver, ceramic, and glass objects in Homewood's collections.

Speaker Schedule

Oct. 4: Barbara Carson explores the art of dining and socializing customs in the new republic in her talk, "Strange Customs Prevail: Entertaining at Home in the Early National Period." Carson is the author of Ambitious Appetites: Dining, Behavior, and Patterns of Consumption in Federal Washington, and former professor of material culture at the College of William and Mary.

Oct. 11: Catherine Rogers Arthur, curator of Homewood House Museum, discusses Homewood's ceramics collections — English, French, and Chinese — some of which are known to have a Carroll family provenance and others that were owned by related and contemporary families.

Oct. 18: Edward Papenfuse, Maryland state archivist, offers a fascinating account of how objects for food and dining were ordered from agents in London. The author of In Pursuit of Profit: The Annapolis Merchants in the Era of the American Revolution, 1763-1805, Papenfuse teaches courses at the University of Maryland Law School and Johns Hopkins University.

Oct. 25: Mark Letzer, regional silver scholar and curator of the Maryland Historical Society's exhibition on Annapolis silversmith William Faris, considers the relationship of Homewood's silver collection to pieces known to have been used by the Carrolls.

Nov. 1: Amanda Lange, curator of historic interiors at Historic Deerfield, discusses the tableware and specialty glass in Homewood's collections. Lange formerly was the assistant curator of ceramics and glass at the Winterthur Museum, and is the curator of the special exhibition, The Canton Connection: Art and Commerce of the China Trade 1784-1860.

Nov. 8: Robin Emmerson, author of British Teapots and Tea Drinking 1700-1850, provides insights into the art of tea and tea drinking rituals. Emmerson is head of decorative arts at the Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool (UK).

Visitor Information

Homewood House Museum, a National Historic Landmark on Johns Hopkins University's Homewood Campus, is open 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, and noon-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tours of Homewood are offered every half-hour with the last tour beginning at 3:30 p.m. Museum admission is free throughout October and November. Call 410-516-5589 or visit www.jhu.edu/historichouses for additional information.