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Mary Ann Ogden Avery (1825 – 1911) was an art collector and museum benefactor active in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. She left works to the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
and
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. Ogden was born in New York and married the engraver-art dealer
Samuel Putnam Avery Samuel Putnam Avery (1822–1904) was an American connoisseur and dealer in art. Biography Samuel Putnam Avery was born in New York City on March 17, 1822. where he studied wood and copper engraving and was extensively employed by leading publish ...
in 1844. Together they had six children. In 1857 the couple lost their four-year-old daughter Emma and soon after Mary began to accompany her husband on yearly trips to purchase art on speculation for resale on the New York market. The couple commissioned works by living artists and corresponded with various artists in their acquaintance. Mary was herself a watercolorist and collected spoons as a hobby, which she later donated to the Metropolitan. The catalog, dated 1898, mentions the places she collected spoons: universal exhibitions of Paris 1867, 1878, 1889, and of Vienna 1873. Bric-à-brac shops in London, Chester, Liverpool, Paris, Lille, Rouen, Blois, Brussels, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Hague, Haarlem, Berlin, Frankfort, Nuremberg, Düsseldorf, and Prague. In 1886 the couple lost another daughter, Fanny, and began to make charitable donations. Their Avery Hospital in Hartford was probably the result of Fanny's death there. Their son
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had studied art and later became an architect. Upon his early death in 1890, the couple commissioned the Avery memorial library in his name for
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. Their daughter Ellen died in 1893 and their eldest child Henrietta died in 1900. The couple continued living with their only surviving child Samuel Jr. in their New York City gallery, who took over the family business. When Mary's husband died in 1904 she oversaw the donation of their collection to the Metropolitan and later moved with her son to Hartford, where she died. File:Mary Ogden Avery Convalescent Hospital, a branch of Hartford Hospital (85297).jpg, Postcard of the "Mary Ogden Avery Convalescent Hospital" in Hartfordthe hospital was built in 1831
located on "Wildwood Farm" which had been deeded over to Hartford Hospital in 1887, a year after Fanny died File:Ignacio León y Escosura - Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Putnam Avery in their gallery (NYPL Hades-1919886-psnypl prn 907).jpg, Mr. & Mrs. S.P. Avery in their gallery, by Ignacio León y Escosura File:Head of man turned left MET DP876053.jpg, Litho of a watercolor by Mary Ann Ogden Avery


Spoon collection

A few notable spoons from her collection: File:Spoon and fork combination MET SF97 2 120ab img1.jpg, 1624 spoon and fork combination, Dutch File:Spoon MET 17831.jpg, Silver and coral spoon 17th-18th century, probably Dutch or German File:Apostle spoon MET 17668.jpg, 1629 Dutch (
Enkhuizen Enkhuizen () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. History Enkhuizen, like Hoorn and Amsterdam, was one of the harbor-towns of the VOC, from where overseas trade wi ...
) apostle spoon


References


Avery Library history
on website of Columbia University. *
The Collection of spoons made by Mrs. S.P. Avery, 1867-1890 : presented by her to the Metropolitan Museum of Art 1897
', on
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogden, Mary Ann 1825 births 1911 deaths People from New York City American art collectors