Robert Preece
08-05-2016, 06:37 AM
I haven't seen it mentioned, so thought I'd add, as some may not know and a lot is online. A "parlor room" of the Wilcox-Parker mansion, formerly on Broad Street, Meriden (demolished c. 1970) was exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for many years until at least last year (gallery 737). (The Met keeps changing their website and no direct link is currently available but below you'll see a photo - Renaissance Revival.)
https://www.google.ca/search?q=metropolitan+museum+of+art+american+galle ry+737&biw=1206&bih=639&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiv4N6Qg6rOAhWGfxoKHRKUAE4Q_AUICCgB#imgr c=AT2X7XiPPCzTcM%3A
In short, it's often called "the Wilcox mansion" and sometimes the Parker mansion because Jedediah Wilcox built it, but then he very quickly faced severe financial troubles, and then Parker bought it. (It caused a controversy at the time as the two were political rivals.) Rumor has it that the original staircase is up in Hartford, and that the Met originally acquired 3 rooms from the mansion, but 2 got deaccessioned and their current location is unknown. The fence is on a property in Virginia (link below) and other interior elements were saved, but wherabouts unknown. For Parker collectors, with some research, I'd think some of these things could be acquired.
Here's an hour-long video presentation with a wrap-around summary and a bunch of links about the mansion, including a long list of newspaper articles talking about attempts to save the mansion from demolition at the CT state capitol and a lobby went to Washington, DC.
http://www.artdesigncafe.com/wilcox-mansion-parker-mansion-meriden-ct
http://danvilleexperience.blogspot.nl/2012/02/wilcox-parker-janecek-fence.html
Lastly, for Meriden history- and business-centered information about Parker and related companies, 19 books are online, compiled here. (You can search "Parker" in the books on archive.org and the pages will be shown.) The Atwater "Memoirs" is particularly critical:
http://www.artdesigncafe.com/meriden-connecticut-history-books-information
https://www.google.ca/search?q=metropolitan+museum+of+art+american+galle ry+737&biw=1206&bih=639&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiv4N6Qg6rOAhWGfxoKHRKUAE4Q_AUICCgB#imgr c=AT2X7XiPPCzTcM%3A
In short, it's often called "the Wilcox mansion" and sometimes the Parker mansion because Jedediah Wilcox built it, but then he very quickly faced severe financial troubles, and then Parker bought it. (It caused a controversy at the time as the two were political rivals.) Rumor has it that the original staircase is up in Hartford, and that the Met originally acquired 3 rooms from the mansion, but 2 got deaccessioned and their current location is unknown. The fence is on a property in Virginia (link below) and other interior elements were saved, but wherabouts unknown. For Parker collectors, with some research, I'd think some of these things could be acquired.
Here's an hour-long video presentation with a wrap-around summary and a bunch of links about the mansion, including a long list of newspaper articles talking about attempts to save the mansion from demolition at the CT state capitol and a lobby went to Washington, DC.
http://www.artdesigncafe.com/wilcox-mansion-parker-mansion-meriden-ct
http://danvilleexperience.blogspot.nl/2012/02/wilcox-parker-janecek-fence.html
Lastly, for Meriden history- and business-centered information about Parker and related companies, 19 books are online, compiled here. (You can search "Parker" in the books on archive.org and the pages will be shown.) The Atwater "Memoirs" is particularly critical:
http://www.artdesigncafe.com/meriden-connecticut-history-books-information