by Carlene Phillips ·
Friday, April 24, 2026
A ceramic cat is part of the Sears collection. Ko-tyit (Cochiti Pueblo), “Cat Effigy,” 1880-1930, clay and slip. Collection of Fruitlands Museum, The Trustees. (Courtesy photo)
Imagine walking into a large storage facility and being faced with hundreds of objects—paintings, pieces of furniture, sculptures, personal and everyday items—mostly from the 19th century. Now imagine having to choose which 40 or 50 objects are worthy of being in an exhibition. This was the challenge facing Tess Lukey, associate curator of Native American art at Fruitlands Museum. She was tasked with curating an exhibit of items from the unconventional collection of Clara Endicott Sears. Called “Eye of the Beholder,” it opens in the Four Seasons Gallery on April 30 and runs until Nov. 7, 2027. Some of the items have never been on display before.
Based on her extensive knowledge of Sears, gained through writings about her and various records she left, Lukey chose objects that she said reflect “both the breadth of Sears’ collecting interests and the personal histories embedded in the objects she preserved.” Lukey said Sears collected with a “deeply personal sense of curiosity.” The exhibit is “a glimpse into the material culture and personal stories that fascinated Clara Endicott Sears.” All curators also choose items that speak to them, and so this exhibit also reflects items in which Lukey sees her own connections. “There’s a lot of me in the collection,” she said.
Lukey explained that the idiom “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” first appears in print in an 1878 romance novel, “Molly Bawn,” though the concept dates back well before then. Lukey said it offers a frame of reference, a wider lens through which to view the collection. “The exhibit brings together objects that might not always align with today’s definitions of beauty but each one reflects a story—about the people who owned or made it, the time it came from, and why Sears believed it was worth preserving.”
The exhibit itself is aesthetically pleasing while also thought-provoking. Items are hung gallery style in the smaller space of the Four Seasons Gallery. The background walls are painted pink; “She loved pink,” said Lukey of Sears. On the wall opposite the collection is a large painting of Sears, dressed in a soft pink dress, with pink in the background. Lukey said the portrait of Sears, done probably when she was in her 30s, has not been on display for many years. The pink colors show Sears’ personal taste, underscoring that the items in the collection reflect her values and her vision of beauty. Two sets of buttons belonging to her father, who died when Sears was in her late 20s, show the importance of family to her, and utilitarian objects like a spatula show her desire to capture the material culture of the 19th century.
A wreath of hair reveals the Victorian custom to use the hair of a deceased person to make a memento of them and also to tell the story of the person who died. Texts of the time taught women how to make these keepsakes. An example of another folk art tradition is a mourning portrait, using a willow tree, an urn, and an inscription to emulate the actual tombstone. Lukey’s curiosity led her on a search for the location of the burial spot, and the “Find a Grave” app gave her a photo of the actual tombstone depicted in the painting. These two items suggest Sears’ interest in 19th-century ways of grieving and remembrance and her interest in people’s stories.
Some items connect to the cultures of the communities preserved in Sears’s museums. A pine cone sculpture is a connection to the land and to the Shakers, whose culture Sears preserved by moving the Shakers’ first office building to Fruitlands. A large wood panel serves as the canvas on which May Alcott painted her own face in the clothing of a saint. May was the youngest of the Alcott girls who came with their parents to the 1826 Fruitlands farmhouse for an experiment in communal living.
Some of the objects reflect Sears’ love of the land and the importance of a sense of place. Three paintings from her extensive collection of Hudson River School landscapes are here, and a Native American ceramic bowl is formed of the clay where it was made. Two Sailors’ Valentines, shallow wooden boxes decorated with intricate mosaics of painted shells, show the men’s connection to the sea and also to the island women who made the Valentines. A bleached bison skull doesn’t seem like something the elegant Sears would be drawn to, but she was fascinated with the West and wanted to capture the story of an American animal that was threatened with extinction.
A portrait of a respectable-looking older woman is titled “The Diamond Smuggler.” The juxtaposition must have aroused Sears’ curiosity and a desire to preserve the story behind the woman in the painting. Later research identified the woman, supposedly a diamond smuggler who hid diamonds in her glass eye.
A tall case clock caught Lukey’s attention, not only to show the variety of Sears’ collection but also for a personal connection. Her grandfather was a carpenter who made 19th- and 20th-century reproductions. A clock-historian friend of Lukey’s identified the clock as a Leavenworth by its wooden hands and gears. Lukey said she was “fascinated by the inner workings.” A basket hat, or 19th-century sun hat, appealed to her because she herself weaves, and her Native American heritage gives her a connection to a painting of Sitting Bull, whose signature may or may not be authentic.
A booklet of labels and stories for the objects will be available for visitors to use in the gallery. “It’s a joy to share the stories,” said Lukey. And to have visitors think creatively about them, she added. “The value of art isn’t in pleasing the eye; it’s in stirring thought, provoking emotion, and challenging assumptions.”
Lukey will give a preview of the exhibition in a “Tea and Talk” on April 25 from 2 to 3 p.m.