PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson County Historical Society will celebrate what would have been James Swan’s 200th birthday with the opening of a new Swan exhibit and the and the publication of “Recipes and Recollections of James G. Swan” by Steve and Gloria Ricketts, an assortment of recipes which Swan collected, some from well-known early Port Townsend matrons.
Swan, who moved to Port Townsend in 1859, was — among many other vocations — a collector of Native American art. He lived from Jan. 11, 1818, to May 18, 1900.
Some of his personal belongings will be on display along with native pieces such as Makah baskets, a Haida argillite carving and the Edenshaw cane. Port Townsend artist Harriet Foster Beecher’s portrait of Swan (circa late 1800s) will be on view along with reproductions of Swan’s own watercolors of Northwest botanical specimens.
Opens Saturday
The show will open Saturday in the Women’s Jail Cell Gallery at the Jefferson Museum of Art & History, 540 Water St., Port Townsend.
Swan collected more than recipes. One of his many jobs and interests was compiling the ethnology and collecting artifacts of the Northwest natives for the Smithsonian Institution.
In the process, he acquired his own collection of native art. Some of this collection, as well as other possessions of Swan’s, are now housed with the Jefferson County Historical Society and are part of the new Swan exhibit.
Works many jobs
Swan held a variety of positions throughout his life. He worked as an oysterman, a customs inspector, secretary to a congressional delegate, judge, natural historian and ethnographer, to name just a few of his occupations.
He was an extremely prolific writer and left valuable historical records in the form of books, newspaper articles, two monographs for the Smithsonian and more than 60 volumes of diaries.
Swan arrived in Port Townsend not long after its founding in 1851.
Port Townsend was the base from which he traveled west to Neah Bay, where he was a school teacher, and north to learn about the Haida Indians of the Queen Charlotte Islands in Canada.
Swan was particularly appreciative of the Haida art. One of the most outstanding pieces in Swan’s collection was a walking stick created by master carver Charles Edenshaw.
The Edenshaw cane was donated to the historical society in 1978 — along with several other pieces — by Swan’s grandson, Charles P. Swan. Charles Swan donated many of his grandfather’s items to the historical society throughout the years. His donations make up a large portion of the museum’s Swan collection.
Many years ago, the historical society had a special case in the museum featuring Swan items, including the Edenshaw cane.
“They had put a lot of his most beautiful, precious things in this case and it was on display for years and years and years,” said conservator Laura Reutter.
“This was back before the museum had ultra-violet filtering film on its windows, so there was direct sunshine coming in and hitting these objects. They’re very light sensitive and became badly faded.”
In Ivan Doig’s book, “Winter Brothers,” published in 1980, he writes about seeing the Edenshaw cane at the Jefferson Museum.
“Ideally, our things that are most precious should be on very limited exhibit time, say six months, and have very low light levels and be kept out of the sun,” Reutter said.
“Those pieces given to us more recently are in beautiful condition. They still have their bright, shiny, fresh colors. It is like they were just made a few days ago. Obviously, someone kept them carefully stored away in a box for years and never had them out in the light of day.”
The preserved, bright colors on baskets were produced with natural dyes and are extremely light sensitive. It was decided to display the vulnerable pieces that remain in pristine condition in a way that would both protect them from light exposure and provide an educational opportunity about conservation of museum pieces.
“We decided that for this exhibit we would put some of the things in a case with a cloth cover on it to protect things from the light. Visitors can lift the cover to look and then put the cover back down. That would protect the items,” Reutter said.
To complement the exhibit, Burke Museum curator Robin Wright, an expert on James Swan and Haida art, will present the Jefferson County Historical Society First Friday Lecture at 7 p.m. Feb. 2 in Port Townsend’s historic City Council chamber.
Museum hours during the winter are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends and holidays.
Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and $1 for children. Admission is free for historical society members, free for Jefferson County residents on the first Saturday of each month through a grant from the Port Townsend Arts Commission and free on First Saturday Art Walk.
For more information, call 360-385-1003.
A portrait of James Swan, painted by Harriet Foster Beecher, will be on display as part of the Jefferson County Historical Society’s Swan exhibit.
