Merchant's House Museum Presents 'Memento Mori' Exhibition, 9/9 - 11/29

The Merchant's House Museum (29 East Fourth Street, between Lafayette and Bowery) presents "Memento Mori: The Birth & Resurrection of Postmortem Photography" exhibition from Thursday, September 9th through Monday, November 29th. The exhibition is open Thursdays through Mondays, from noon to 5 PM, and is included with regular admission, which is $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors.

With the "Memento Mori" exhibition, visitors can trace the evolution of postmortem photography in America through 19th-century daguerreotypes and prints from the Burns Archive collection as well as modern art inspired by the iconography of these historic images. They can also stage their own "postmortem" photograph in the museum's reproduction coffin.

The exhibition is made in collaboration with the Burns Archive & featuring artists Joel-Peter Witkin, Sally Mann, Hal Hirshorn, Marian St. Laurent, and Sarah Lohman. The museum gives thanks to Frank E. Campbell, the Funeral Chapel, for their generous support.

Other events at the museum include Gertrude Tredwll's 170th Birthday Party on Friday, September 17th, from 3 to 5 PM. There will be a special tour and a taste of birthday cake from a 19th-century "receipt" as we celebrate the woman who lived her entire life (1840-1933) in this House. The event is included with regular admission.

On Saturday, September 25th, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM, the museum will present "A Mid-19th Century Dinner - to Die For" as part of the Historic House Trust Festival's "A Moveable Feast." Visitors start with a tour of the Museum's exhibition "Memento Mori: The Birth & Resurrection of Postmortem Photography," then sit down to a Tredwell family-style meal served by their ‘Irish servants' in the ground floor historic dining room. The three-course menu will include oyster soup, savory meat pie with vegetable sides dishes, and dessert - all prepared from authentic period "receipts." Wines and 19th-century style coffee and tea will be served. 19th-century attire is welcome; admission is $10 and reservations are essential since space is very limited.

The Merchant's House Museum is New York City's only family home preserved intact - inside and out - from the mid-19th century. Home to a prosperous merchant-class family for almost 100 years, it is complete with the family's original furnishings and personal possessions, offering a rare and intimate glimpse of domestic life from 1835-1865. More information may be found at www.merchantshouse.org.

Photo Credit: Diana Hubert