Maryland made its first Irish connection when settlers arrived in 1634, the first group of immigrants organized by Cecil Calvert, holder of the Irish baronetcy of Baltimore, and led by his brother Leonard. It was a union of people and purpose that in later years provided power, fame and wealth to the emerging state and the burgeoning city of Baltimore.
The names, if not the connection, are familiar to anyone with a smattering of Maryland history: Charles Carroll, William Patterson, Alexander Brown, Robert Gilmor, brothers John and Robert Oliver, Hugh Thompson.
All of these men were "well-educated business people who came to establish major business houses -- and they did so successfully," says Maryland Historical Society chief curator Jennifer Goldsborough.
The 16th annual Maryland Antiques Show this coming weekend is accompanied by an exhibit on "Maryland's Irish Connections" that focuses on furniture, art, silver, ceramics and glassware owned by Maryland's "Irish merchant princes" from the founding through the Federal era.
"The Irish as a group were the single most important socioeconomic group" during that time, says curator Gregory Weidman. The exhibit focuses on "what they owned and what their tastes were -- the sort of things, made wherever, that the Irish merchant princes chose to live with."
Baltimore became the fastest-growing city in the country after the Revolutionary War ended, and its booming economy made such fortunes that Patterson, Gilmor and Brown were able to buy pretty much whatever they wanted in terms of furnishings for the mansions, town houses and country homes they were building. Furniture and table accessories came from the most sophisticated workshops in London, Dublin, and the new United States.
"In furniture we're going to be showing contrasting tastes," Ms. Weidman says. Objects include one of a pair of Federal card tables belonging to William Patterson, whom she describes as "a good example of conservative taste." The table is among the simplest such items in the society's collections, she says.
"Good functional furniture," Ms. Goldsborough calls it.
In contrast, there will be two elaborate painted pieces, one a black and gold card table attributed to the Baltimore workshops of John and Hugh Finlay, made around 1800 for Robert Gilmor, and a black, gold and red painted pier table made about 15 years later for Alexander Brown.
