Botetourt Decorative Arts Exhibit Catalog Coming

“Botetourt County: 250 +1 Years of Delight,” an exhibit tracing the history of Botetourt through its decorative arts, featured more than 300 items on loan from museums and private collectors spanning the United States. Bank of Botetourt and Virginia Mountain Mortgage were the major sponsors.  A catalog of items will be available in coming weeks; watch this site for an update.

A dozen long rifles representing Botetourt’s major gunsmiths, as well as architectural elements from an 1802 log cabin were on exhibit. An 1809-1817 gown Ann Cary Selden Breckinridge of Botetourt County wore to a Congressional Ball in Washington, D. C., is on loan from Colonial Williamsburg. An 1840 sampler stitched by Eliza Pitzer. traveled from the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Other notable items included the marriage certificate of William Clark, explorer of the Louisiana Purchase, and Julia Hancock Clark, a Fincastle native.  Julia Clark’s portrait (1820) and necklace (ca. 1808) have been reproduced from the originals in the collection of the Missouri Historical Society. Botetourt’s contemporary artists, including Jake Cress with his whimsical furniture, are featured as well.

At the time Botetourt was formed from Augusta County, its territory continued west to the Mississippi River and northward into the Ohio River Valley Territory. This area covered the present state of Kentucky and much of what is now West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.

Although its sprawling territory was short-lived, Botetourt’s county seat of Fincastle quickly became a commercial outpost. Its proximity to turnpike roads and the James River and Kanawha Canal allowed manufactured goods to be transported east to Richmond, north to Staunton, and finally to the port of Baltimore.

In the early 19th century, Fincastle attracted gunsmiths, potters, clockmakers, cabinet makers, silversmiths, and many others lived, worked and apprenticed in Botetourt. With collections coming from more than 50 lenders across the country, both from museums and private collectors, the exhibit captures Botetourt’s vibrant artistic community throughout the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.