In a new video made for the Delaware Antiques Show, renowned interior designer Thomas Jayne shares his insights on the 25th anniversary of Jayne Design Studio. The show took place on November 6 at the Chase Center on the Riverfront, in Wilmington, Delaware. Jayne kicked off the event with a lecture and a book signing. In the video, he discusses Henry Francis du Pont, founder of Winterthur, the top museum of American decorative arts. Jayne shares Du Pont’s view that “The ideal curator would be part librarian and part decorator.”
“Thomas Jayne is truly one of Winterthur’s own, having graduated from the master’s program established by Henry Francis du Pont in partnership with the University of Delaware. In its 63 years, the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture has produced many of America’s leading curators, academics and museum directors. To that distinguished list may now be added one of America’s top scholar decorators. More than any student before or since, Thomas Jayne absorbed far more than the academic curriculum. During his two years at Winterthur, he seems to have channeled H.F. du Pont and absorbed his approach to color, decoration and room arrangement. To put it simply, Thomas Jayne was learning everything we were not teaching! If H.F. du Pont were with us today, he would be in the front row for Thomas Jayne’s lecture and nodding approvingly,” said J. Thomas Savage, Winterthur’s director of museum affairs.
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