The Tennessee Association of Craft Artists (TACA) "Best of Tennessee Craft" biennial juried exhibition returned to the State Museum this summer for the first time since 2004. Juror Martha Connell selected 100 works ranging from exact reproductions of antique furniture to a carved and inlaid gourd to photographs and "paintings" created from colored paper pulp. The museum was proud to purchase 16 pieces representing a wide-ranging variety of Tennessee craft art today, including the "Best of Show" work: Chattanoogan Kem Alexander’s Saving the Best-for-Last Winged Nut Lady Boots.

Another recent addition to the museum’s Civil War holdings is a small testament that once belonged to Confederate soldier J.H. Martin. He served in the 7th Tennessee, part of Archer’s Brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia. The Bible was originally published in 1863. There are several entries on the margins of the Bible including: "Old Bob and Jeb Stuart are looking fine today. I hope we will do great as we did Hooker and company. The firing is getting worse; May 6, 1864 after fighting yesterday and two hours this morning we have moved to the right ….. Gave three cheers for Archer Brigade yesterday … Ray Rogers. Hearn and McClendon wounded. None of Co. killed. 7 conscripts captured. Very easily captured.; Bob Isby was badly wounded today Nov 27th ‘63."

The museum recently acquired an unusually large and elaborate 1834 sampler (detail of the center illustrated here) by Emily May, who was probably a teacher at Mr. and Mrs. Hunt’s Female Academy in Gallatin at the time. Acquired a New York auction, the work is the collection’s first example of a teacher’s sampler, which would have been used to show parents of prospective students the type of work their daughters would learn at the school. In 1836, Emily married Rev. P. Rowles, a Methodist minister who became principal of the Gallatin Female Academy (the successor institution to the Hunts’) that same year.

A hand-drawn map, ink on paper map has been added to the museum’s collection. The map shows the state lines, roads, and waterways around Chattanooga during the Civil War. It is centered on Chattanooga, but extends into Alabama and Georgia, showing the Tennessee River and islands, as well as the Hiwassee and Sequatchie rivers. The map was probably drawn during the campaigns around Chattanooga, including the Battle of Chickamauga (September 1863) and the Chattanooga battles (Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain, etc., November 1863). Based on documentation, the cartographer was most likely wounded in the third Battle of Murfreesboro (December 5-7, 1864).

An engraving based upon a Ralph E. W. Earl portrait of Andrew Jackson, which was created by John Francis Eugene Prud-homme has been added to the collection. The Hermitage is visible to the left background, prior to the fire. The old Hermitage log cabin is seen in the right background.

This year’s event saluted the four 2013 Costume & Textile Institute inductees, including style trendsetter and entertainer Big Kenny Alphin, fiber artist Arlyn Ende of Sewanee, costumer Katy Kattelman of Katy K’s Ranch Dressing in Nashville, and Phillip Nappi, founder of Nashville’s celebrated artisan shoemaker, Peter Nappi. Each inductee now has work represented in the museum’s collection.

This year’s event saluted the four 2013 Costume & Textile Institute inductees, including style trendsetter and entertainer Big Kenny Alphin, fiber artist Arlyn Ende of Sewanee, costumer Katy Kattelman of Katy K’s Ranch Dressing in Nashville, and Phillip Nappi, founder of Nashville’s celebrated artisan shoemaker, Peter Nappi. Each inductee now has work represented in the museum’s collection

This year’s event saluted the four 2013 Costume & Textile Institute inductees, including style trendsetter and entertainer Big Kenny Alphin, fiber artist Arlyn Ende of Sewanee, costumer Katy Kattelman of Katy K’s Ranch Dressing in Nashville, and Phillip Nappi, founder of Nashville’s celebrated artisan shoemaker, Peter Nappi. Each inductee now has work represented in the museum’s collection

This year’s event saluted the four 2013 Costume & Textile Institute inductees, including style trendsetter and entertainer Big Kenny Alphin, fiber artist Arlyn Ende of Sewanee, costumer Katy Kattelman of Katy K’s Ranch Dressing in Nashville, and Phillip Nappi, founder of Nashville’s celebrated artisan shoemaker, Peter Nappi. Each inductee now has work represented in the museum’s collection

Cherry wood Jackson Press made about 1835 in Smith County. This piece descended in the family of Miles West, who settled in Smith County in 1804 after receiving a Revolutionary War land grant. The fact that the press stayed in the family until 2012, in addition to its pleasing proportions and diamond lightwood inlay, make it an important addition to the museum collection. In Tennessee around 1825, the press form became associated with Andrew Jackson after his unsuccessful bid for the presidency.

The museum recently acquired a rare photograph of Alexander Peter Stewart. Nathan Bedford Forrest and Stewart were the only two Tennessee generals to attain the rank of Lieutenant-General in the Confederate Army. Stewart was born in Rogersville, Tennessee, in 1821. He attended the United States Military Academy graduating in the class of 1842. He resigned in 1845 and taught at Cumberland University in Lebanon and later at the University of Nashville. Although a Whig and against secession, he cast his lot with the Confederacy upon Tennessee’s secession. After the war he resumed teaching at Cumberland University. In 1874, he was named the Chancellor of the University of Mississippi, a position he held until his resignation in 1886. Stewart was an active member of the Tennessee Historical Society as well as a commissioner of the Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park.