Spectacular Style: The Firestone Collection 18th Century French Silver, Boston MFA w Courtney Harris
The Elizabeth Parke Firestone and Harvey S. Firestone, Jr. Memorial Room (Gallery 141A) at the MFA Boston is a tribute to the extraordinary collection of French silver assembled by Elizabeth Parke Firestone and Harvey S. Firestone, Jr. After marrying in 1921, the couple split their time between residences in Akron, Ohio and Newport, Rhode Island. Harvey was the son of the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company and later the chief executive officer. After his death in 1973, Elizabeth made Newport her permanent home, living there until her death in 1990. Her Newport residence, Ocean Lawn, reflected Elizabeth’s passion for all things French, including 18th-century paintings, furniture, porcelain, and silver. While she admired a broad range of materials, her collection of nearly 700 silver objects is unparalleled. She began purchasing pieces in the 1940s, working with renowned dealers in New York and Paris. Following her death, the trustees of her estate found a home for the silver at the Museum of Fine Arts, where the first installation opened in 1996 and recently reopened in 2022.
The silver in the collection spans more than 300 years, from the 16th through early 19th century. While much of the silver was made in Paris, many examples come from other regional cities with strong silversmithing traditions, such as Bordeaux, Dunkirk, and Strasbourg. Many of these pieces were created for use in the home. Some have royal or aristocratic provenances tracing back to famous French figures of their day. Highlights of the collection include François-Thomas Germain’s Sauceboat from 1756-59, Pierre Massé’s early Candlesticks of 1675-76, and a rare traveling tea service from 1728-29.
Courtney Harris is Associate Curator of Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Art of Europe at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where she has worked for 11 years. Most recently, she co-curated the Framing Nature: Gardens and Imagination exhibition at the MFA this spring. She has a broad range of interests in the decorative arts. Recent projects include a monograph on early English pewter (2025) and exhibitions Georgia O’Keeffe and Henry Moore (2024) and Tiny Treasures: The Magic of Miniatures (2023). She has also led a number of gallery renovation projects over the past decade at the MFA, including the French Salon period room reinstallation of the Elizabeth Parke Firestone and Harvey S. Firestone Jr. Collection of French silver (2022) and a new suite of galleries dedicated to Dutch and Flemish art (2021). She is on the Board of Governors and Collections Committee at the Nichols House Museum in Boston and on the Collections Committee of the Natick Historical Society.
Reception and Lecture – 6:00 pm
$20
To Purchase Tickets: https://redwoodlibrary.org/events/
Event Links
Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/3698811-0
