Ralph Carpenter, a collector of American decorative arts and an architectural preservationist, died on February 2, 2009. A dedicated champion of historic Newport, Rhode Island, he was a descendant of William Carpenter, a founder of Providence with Roger Williams and others in 1636. He graduated from Cornell University in 1931. He retired from Reynolds & Company in 1978 and for the next thirty years, he was a senior American arts consultant at Christie’s. He was actively involved in the restoration of many Newport structures including the White Horse Tavern (1673), Trinity Church (1726), the Redwood Library and Athenaeum (1748-50) and the Brick Market (1762). He oversaw the restoration of Hunter House (1748), a Georgian colonial home owned by the Preservation Society of Newport County. He brought attention to pre-Revolutionary era American furnishings with his book, The Arts and Crafts of Newport, Rhode Island, 1640-1820. His writing on the Townsend and Goddard families, Newport cabinetmakers, elevated their standing among collectors. one of his lasting legacies was founding the Newport Symposium.
Newport, RI
United States