Patricia E. Kane, Friends of American Art Curator of American Decorative Arts, provides an introduction to the 27 pieces of Texas silver lent by the Houston-based businessman and philanthropist William J. Hill, which are on view in the museum’s gallery devoted to the arts of New France, New Spain, and Texas. In the colonial period, the territory that became the state of Texas was claimed by both Spain and France. After Texas became a republic in 1836, its rich land—suitable for cotton culture and ranching—attracted immigrants drawn overwhelmingly from southern slaveholding states and Germany, whose heritage is reflected in the Hill Collection objects. Among the immigrant silversmiths to be discussed is Samuel Bell, who came to San Antonio in 1851, and F. S. Adolph Bahn, a German immigrant who established a shop in Austin in 1853.



Space is limited. Please meet in the Gallery lobby.