EVENT ACTUALLY BEGINS AT 1:00pm (HAPPENING NOW)
The Jeremiah Lee Mansion in Marblehead is one of the most opulent high-style Georgian Palladian residences from its era. Built in 1766–68 for a prosperous ship owner and future covert operative on behalf of independence, Colonel Jeremiah Lee, it survives remarkably intact, with many of its original decorative embellishments from just prior to the American Revolution. Magnificent original scenic wall papers, hand painted in London in the 1760s, still grandly ornament several principal rooms of the house. One of only two sets in the world known today, they are the only such mural papers to survive in their original home. In addition, seven different patterns of block-printed wallpapers in various colors and patterns, including delightful rococo floral and ‘Chinoiserie’ patterns, apparently from the house, comprise an unusually large collection of rare wallpapers from that time. They would have created a dynamic interior appearance within the Mansion, and are discussed and illustrated in the book.
Judy Anderson, former Lee Mansion curator, will discuss her new book about those English mural papers and the printed papers, placing them within the context of the house as well as in their time. The talk will also reference the social history and architecture of Marblehead at the time these masterworks of craftsmanship were created, just prior to the American Revolution. That momentous event cost Col. Jeremiah Lee his life, due to his covert acts on behalf of independence, just as the war began — and caused him to slip unheralded into the shrouded mists of time.
