Part of what has made Rockwood Park & Museum such a unique historic site in America is the art collection it has housed for 170 years. This American treasure house was a repository for the art, antiques, and household decorations of the Shipley/Bringhurst/Hargraves family since 1851. Rockwood still holds many collection strengths including the family fashions they wore, the photos they took, the paintings they hung, the trees they planted, the antiques they inherited, the souvenirs they found, the books they read, and the ceramics from which they ate.

After the mansion and heritage gardens were gifted to New Castle County from the estate of Nancy Sellers Hargraves (d. 1971), Rockwood Museum opened in 1976 in partnership with the Friends of Rockwood. Around 1998 the bulk of the collection was transferred to the museum and makes up the permanent collection today. Since then, Rockwood’s descendants have provided additional items for loan and through gifts that once lived in the house or were cherished by their ancestors.

Rockwood is very excited to announce that recently two branches of Rockwood’s extended family have placed many new objects on long-term loan to the museum. Our staff has begun the installation of many of these objects throughout the museum to enrich our tour experience with a more complex and in-depth examination of the family’s material heritage.

Highlights of these fantastic “returns” include:          

An amazingly rare Chinese Export Porcelain coffee and tea service made in 1803 for Eliza Jeffries, sister-in-law to Rockwood’s founder Joseph Shipley, in the so-called Quaker Farmer pattern. According to family tradition, this service was lost in a shipwreck on the Delaware River, was salvaged years later, and returned to its rightful owner.

An exceptional ca. 1800 mahogany (or valuables) chest with an upper compartment for bottles that was once owned by Joseph Bringhurst, the Wilmington apothecary and colonial-era ancestor of the Bringhursts.     

A hand-written essay entitled a Brief Memoir of the Life of Cpt. Paul Cuffee of Westport Massachusetts 1806. This memoir is among the earliest known biographies of this Black maritime captain who fought for voting rights, opened an early integrated school, met with President Madison, and explored a Black-led emigration program for emancipated enslaved people who desired to become trading partners in Africa. Captain Cuffee befriended Wilmington Quakers, including Joseph Bringhurst, over their shared abolitionist views. Bringhurst then penned Cuffee’s memoir and this copy has stayed with his descendants for over 200 years.

This exhibition shares much more than what has been revealed here – we look forward to seeing you there soon! Objects are available for viewing during any of the museum’s self-guided and guided tours starting Friday, February 24.