The Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) will welcome visitors back to their stunning property on upper Main Street: the Hadwen House. This historic property features several exhibitions, including one focused on Nantucket lightship baskets for the second year since the NHA’s formal affiliation with the Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum.
On the second floor of the Hadwen House, Weaving Nantucket’s Past into Its Future: The Craft Continues showcases more than 100 different Nantucket lightship baskets of many sizes, exploring artistry and innovation from land-based origins to nineteenth-century lightships into the twenty-first century. Kathleen Myers will curate the exhibition. And buy your tickets now to the Baskets & Bubbly Garden Party on July 24, the fun summer fundraiser for the Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum which will have an online auction component this year.
The first floor of Hadwen House allows guests to explore the Decorative Arts Collection of the NHA, including fine art and furniture, tall clocks, and ceramics as well as an eclectic display of curiously carved artifacts. Highlights include Nantucket-made furniture, such as an exquisite wooden center table with more than 1300 pieces of veneer and Guardian lion candlesticks brought to Nantucket from Canton, China, upon a trading voyage by Captain James Cary (1777-1812) as a gift to his wife.
In addition to the lightship baskets, the second floor of Hadwen House also presents an exhibit of historic maps and nautical charts, appropriately titled Mapping Nantucket. Within this exhibit, the selection of maps on display will help visitors understand what mapmakers, both on- and off-island, have chosen to highlight over time.
The Hadwen House, 96 Main Street, is open daily from 11 am to 4 pm, through October 10. Learn more, buy tickets, and plan your visit today at NHA.org.
The NHA’s mission is to preserve and interpret the history of Nantucket through its programs, collections, and properties, in order to promote the island’s significance and foster an appreciation of it among all audiences.