Collection Connection: Dining Designs
Just in time for the weekend, we bring you a colorful Collection Connection from the Miller House and Garden collections of both the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the IMA Archives.
The Items: In the 1970s, Alexander Girard created custom monogrammed dining chair cushion patterns for each member of the Miller Family, as well as a simpler pattern for guests. Instead of having the cushions manufactured for the Millers, Xenia S. Miller (XSM) requested the patterns and color samples so that she and her friends could make the cushions themselves!
The Collection: When the Miller House and Garden was given to the IMA, the the property and many interior design elements became part of the museum collection, while the extensive archives documenting the design, construction, decoration, and maintenance of the home went to the IMA Archives. Though separated into two collections, the cushion patterns and the actual dining chairs and cushions can now be brought back together online!
Alexander Hayden Girard, Designer (American, 1907-1993), JIM cushion and XSM cushion, ca. 1974, cloth. Copyright Alexander Hayden Girard, Gift of Margaret, Catherine, Elizabeth and Will Miller, MH2010.53.4B and MH2010.53.1B.
Alexander Hayden Girard cushion patterns and material samples, ca. 1974, FF061, Miller House and Garden Collection (M003), IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art.