2003 was a landmark year for the collections staff. In addition to reinstalling the historic Rosenbach house for the grand reopening in April 2003, and the on-site and traveling exhibitions, there were important loans of objects to and from the collection, notable acquisitions, and extensive conservation measures. Following is a selection of highlights:

An astonishing 81 drawings by Maurice Sendak were featured as loans to two major exhibitions at the Brandywine River Museum (Monsters, Mickey and Mozart: The Art of Maurice Sendak) in Chadds Ford, PA, and the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (The Art of Maurice Sendak: Inside and Out) in Amherst, MA. The Rosenbach also lent a selection of books, manuscripts, and portrait miniatures to the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles for its installation of the acclaimed Rosenbach exhibition, Drifting: Nakahama Manjiro’s Tale of Discovery.

The Gratz family is at the center of the reinstalled parlor in the historic Rosenbach house, thanks to loans from two private collections. An 1815 secretary bookcase belonging to Rebecca Gratz Moses, filled with books from the family’s library, is now on view just steps away from an 1808 portrait of Michael Gratz painted by Thomas Sully and two portraits of Solomon Moses and Rachel Gratz Moses, both painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1806.

The generosity of the Yellin family allowed the Rosenbach to count 13 historic drawings from Samuel Yellin Metalworker as new acquisitions. Several of them are on display in the vicinity of a pair of wrought iron gates crafted by Samuel Yellin about 1915. The gates, which have graced the Rosenbach house for 50 years, are gleaming again after a grant from The William Penn Foundation funded their conservation by Samuel Yellin Metalworkers.

53 historic light fixtures in the Rosenbach house, including five chandeliers, were restored and rewired over the better part of a year. The enormous conservation project, which was funded by the William B. Dietrich Foundation, makes the historic house shine with appropriate—and safe—light.

Collections staff continued work on the museum’s large-scale cataloguing project, funded by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and Dolfinger McMahon Foundation. Segments of the collection catalogued include textiles, silver, vertu, jewelry, glass, ceramics, and portions of the furniture, paintings, and sculpture collections.