Wallace B. Gusler Mr. Gusler lectures and teaches on firearms, furniture, carving, historic technologies, the Virginia frontier, and ethnographic and Native American objects. He continues to make custom long rifles and frontier tomahawks. He is a dealer in all the areas of his research specialties. He is a native Virginian who grew up in the Salem area. An early interest in the history of his state sparked a study of the Virginia Indian and the 18th-century frontier. These interests led him to make a percussion pistol at the age of 14. In his small shop, Gusler made and repaired flintlock rifles for seven years as a business and a hobby. In 1962 he went to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, where he established the gunsmith shop, and became the first person in modern times to recreate all the traditional processes of making long rifles by hand, including forging the barrel. These processes are recorded in the 1968 documentary film Gunsmith of Williamsburg. He was Master Gunsmith for 18 years. He pioneered research on Virginia-made long rifles and taught and supervised a team of skilled artisans who researched and made 18th-century- style firearms and interpreted the historic trade. Gusler spent more than a decade in the curatorial department of Colonial Williamsburg, first as Curator of Mechanical Objects, then as Curator of Furniture and Arms. During his tenure he added major components to Colonial Williamsburg's collection of English and American furniture-particularly pieces made in eastern Virginia-and strengthened the collections of European and American arms. He co-authored Decorated Firearms, 1540-1870, from the Collection of Clay P. Bedford, and wrote Furniture of Williamsburg and Eastern Virginia: 1710-1790. As Curator of Furniture and Arms, he directed the reinterpretation and re-furnishing of these elements in the Governor's Palace, a seven-year project completed in 1981. This involved document research, locating and acquiring objects, and directing conservation and reproduction of furnishings, including the reproduction of two elaborate cast iron stoves based on a 1770s original. He also helped design the opening exhibitions at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum. In 1985, Gusler transferred to the Department of Conservation; in 1987 he assumed the position of Director of Conservation. He developed approaches to the treatments of furniture and upholstery and trained staff to form one of the strongest furniture conservation programs in the country. He developed and hired a staff of 15 conservators, technicians, and administrative assistants. With this staff, he led the design team in the development a new Colonial Williamsburg conservation facility. Gusler is an active contributor to scholarly publications, including The Magazine Antiques, The Chipstone Foundation's American Furniture Journal, Muzzle Blast, and others. He co-wrote Three Centuries of Tradition: the Renaissance of Custom Sporting Arms in America to accompany an exhibit sponsored by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Gusler now runs a consulting business, Wallace Gusler Arts. He lectures and teaches on firearms, furniture, carving, historic technologies, the Virginia frontier, and ethnographic and Native American objects. He continues to make custom long rifles and frontier tomahawks. He is a dealer in all the areas of his research specialties. EXPERIENCE 2003 to Present - Independent Scholar, Consultant, and Maker of Traditional Arms Writes articles on decorative arts and frontier history and culture, and consults on decorative arts. Catalogs collections and consults on purchases of furniture, frontier items, and African and Native American ethnographic materials. Teaches a variety of classes on the Virginia frontier at historical sites and teaches 18th-century gunsmithing techniques in formal classes. Makes custom long rifles and hand-forged tomahawks. 1994 - 2003 Master Gunsmith, Department of Historic Trades, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Supervised five journeymen and apprentices in the research and production of handmade 18th-century style firearms and accouterments and the interpretation of the historic trade to many of the million visitors per year who tour Colonial Williamsburg, the largest living history museum in the United States. Researched and wrote a book on long rifles of Virginia and other articles in magazines and journals. June 1987-1994 Director of Conservation, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Directed Conservation Department (staff of 16) which conserved the Foundation's 17th- through 20th -century material culture, including furniture, ceramics, textiles, firearms and metals in the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, in several hundred rooms in period house museums and craft shops, and in multiple storage areas. Supervised contract conservation of paintings and works on paper, historic negatives, etc. Helped design new state-of-the-art conservation laboratory for CWF. Wrote numerous federal grants for conservation of Foundation collections, wrote small private grants for partial funding of rifle research, etc. January 1985 - June 1987 Director of Furniture and Decorative Arts Conservation, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Set up documentary systems for department. Recruited and hired furniture, objects, textile, and musical instrument conservators. Developed plan for conservation technicians to care for Historic Area exhibitions and interviewed and hired four technicians. 1974-1984 Curator of Furniture and Arms, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Helped plan and design exhibits of furniture and firearms in the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum. Also designed loading dock and assisted with multi-media exhibits such as "Patron and Tradesman: Forces that Fashioned Objects, 1600-1800." Designed and mounted "Expansion and Conquest" exhibition. Assisted in design of environmental and security systems. Supervised conservation of all furniture and firearms in collection. Trained and supervised six conservators of furniture and firearms. Responsible for acquisition and research of furniture and firearms. Added significant accessions to Foundation collections: Masonic Master's Chair, c. 1770, made in Williamsburg, Virginia by Benjamin Bucktrout; Philadelphia side chair made for Cadwalader family; firearms with provenance of Lord Dunmore, last royal governor of Virginia. Located and added significantly to the collection of Virginia-made (especially Williamsburg-made) examples. Added important signed, labeled, or otherwise documented American and English furniture to the collection. Added to the chronology of English firearms, especially those applicable to early Virginia use. Researched Botetourt for 1981 refurnishing of Governor's Palace. Antique furnishings, especially those with provenance of Virginia governors, were used whenever possible. Supervised the production of accurate handmade reproductions - sets of chairs, elaborate iron stoves, 600 arms, etc., where necessary. Researched and designed ornamental installation of over 500 arms for hall and stair of the Palace. Helped with field work, research and installation of an exhibition of paint-decorated Virginia furniture at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center in 1974. Researched furniture made in 18th-century eastern Virginia, resulting in 1978 exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, "Products of Mind and Hand, Furniture of Eastern Virginia: 1710-1790", a gallery guide, and in 1979 publication of Furniture of Williamsburg and Eastern Virginia, 1710-1790. Launched field research for Virginia furniture, including locating, documenting and photographing examples, researched in primary documents - wills and writings, court orders, tax records, etc. Developed furniture and arms conservation policy. Expanded program from one "cabinetmaker" to two furniture conservators and one arms conservator. Researched 18th-century upholstery and developed modern conservation techniques to simulate period chair upholstery and bed and window hangings. Designed, mounted and installed an exhibition of 94 decorated firearms from the collection of Clay P. Bedford. Organized security for transportation of $2.5 million collection to and from Dulles International Airport to Colonial Williamsburg. Designed individual case humidity system for the exhibition and wrote label copy and designed graphics. Co-authored book, Decorated Firearms (with Dr. James Lavin) in which the re-evaluation of the development of the French flintlock mechanism is established. 1972-1974 Curator of Mechanical Objects, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Responsible for the collection of firearms, clocks, scientific instruments, etc. 1962-1972 Master Gunsmith, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Founded Gunsmith Shop and researched and recreated techniques for making long rifles completely by hand. Was first in 20th century to recreate practice of hand forging and finishing of rifle barrels. Technology recorded in 1968 documentary film Gunsmith of Williamsburg. Interpreted to public, lectured, and trained approximately one dozen apprentices. Executed extensive arms conservation on wood, brass, iron, steel, silver and gold. Started field research on long rifles made in Virginia and document research, i.e., census records, court records, government papers, etc. 1954-1962 Gunsmith and Sawyer, Salem, Virginia Apprenticed at family sawmill, learning timber business - felling and harvesting trees, firing a 1909 steam engine, off bearing, tail-sawing, and sawyer. Learned farming, i.e., plowing with mule, raising and tending stock. Operated gun shop, conserved, repaired and produced flintlock and percussion rifles and pistols. SPECIAL PROJECTS Exhibition: Guest Curator, "Into the Wilderness: The Settlement of Virginia's Frontier" - The William King Regional Arts Center, Abingdon, Virginia. July 28, 2007 - January 6, 2008. Exhibition of Gusler Collection: Guest Curator, "Africa Crossing the Continent" - The William King Regional Arts Center, Abingdon, Virginia. September 21, 2001-May 12, 2002. Exhibition: Guest Curator, "Animals in African Art from the Collection of Wallace Gusler," Muscarelle Museum, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. April 2 - May 29, 2005. Exhibition: Guest Curator, "Three Centuries of Tradition - The Renaissance of Custom Sporting Arms in America." The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, and Connor Prairie Museum in Indiana. 2003. Exhibition: Guest Curator, "12,000 Years Before the White Man," at the William King Regional Arts Center, Abingdon, Virginia. Wrote the Gallery Guide, wrote labels, helped with installation and gave opening night Gallery lecture. November 16, 1996 - June 1997. Exhibition: Guest Curator, "Product of Mind and Hand", Virginia furniture exhibition (a joint effort between the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts) at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA. 1978. Member of the Vetting Committee of the Winter Antiques Show, New York, NY, 1990s to 2005. PUBLICATIONS Books: Three Centuries of Tradition - The Renaissance of Custom Sporting Arms in America. Co-authored with Mark Silver. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Scala Publications, Ltd., 2003. Decorated Firearms, 1540-1870, from the Collection of Clay P. Bedford. Co-authored with James D. Lavin. Published by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1977. Furniture of Williamsburg and Eastern Virginia, 1710-1790. Published by Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, 1979. Catalogues: Furniture of Eastern Virginia: The Product of Mind and Hand. Exhibition catalogue, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, 1978. Articles: Author of ongoing articles in Muzzle Blasts magazine (publication of the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association, Friendship, IN.) since 2003. "Africa Crossing the Continent," Gallery guide published by William King Regional Arts Center 2001. "The Furniture of Winchester, Virginia," American Furniture, published by the Chipstone Foundation, 1997, pp. 228-265. "Early Virginia Rifles," American Society of Arms Collectors Bulletin #74, April 17-21, 1996, pp. 74/22. "Anthony Hay, A Williamsburg Tradesman," Common People and Their Material World: Free Men and Women in the Chesapeake, 1700-1830, edited by David Harvey and Gregory Brown, Colonial Williamsburg Research Publication, 1995, pp. 23-32. "Riflemaking Workmanship: A Rifle by John Sheets," Co-authored with David Harvey. Journal of Historical Armsmaking Technology, June 1993, Vol. V, pp.1-52. "A Longrifle by John Sheets," Co-authored with David Harvey. Muzzle Blasts, publication of the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association, June 1993. "The Anthony Hay Shop and the English Tradition," The American Craftsman and the European Tradition. Catalogue published by the Minneapolis Institute of Art, 1989, pp. 42-65. "The Tea Tables of Eastern Virginia," The Magazine Antiques, May 1989, pp. 1238-1257. "Eighteenth-Century Case Furniture: Analysis and Treatments," American Institute of Conservation Postprints, June 1-5, 1988, New Orleans, LA. "The Technique of 18th-Century Over-the-Rail Upholstery," Upholstery in America and Europe from the Seventeenth Century to World War I. A Barra Foundation Book. W.W. Norton & Co., New York-London, 1987, pp. 90-96. "Two Virginia Longrifles as Documents of Traditions, Tools, Processes and Technology," Journal of Historic Arms Making Technology, Vol. II, June 1987. "Chippendale-Hay Style Furniture Produced in Williamsburg," Tenth Anniversary Catalogue of Western Reserve Antiques Show, Cleveland, OH, 1985, pp. 18-22. "Variations in Eighteenth-Century Casework," Fine Woodworking on Making Period Furniture. The Taunton Press, 1985, pp. 16-19. "Furniture of Williamsburg and Eastern Virginia," The Magazine Antiques. August 1978, pp. 282-293. "The Arts of Shenandoah County Virginia 1790-1825," Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts. November 1978, pp. 6-35. "Queen Anne Style Desks from the Virginia Piedmont," The Magazine Antiques. October 1973, pp. 665-673. "Some Virginia Chairs: A Preliminary Study," The Magazine Antiques. April 1972, pp. 716-721. SKILLS Carving - Carved a reproduction of the Bucktrout Masonic Chair for the Edenton, North Carolina, Masonic Lodge as part of acquisition agreement with The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1984-86. Researched and devised process of reproducing cast iron stoves for Governor's Palace. Carved mahogany patterns for casting stoves. Other Palace carving projects included designing and carving bed cornices, and carving center medallion for arms installation in entrance hall, 1980-81. Researched, designed, carved, and installed a variation of the staircases found in several eastern Virginia plantation houses, including Carter's Grove. Wood Technology - Analysis of case and chair structures, 1700-1800. Researched, studied, and practiced joinery methods and their evolution. Studied English joinery practice and evolution from London to provinces, including many dated and labeled benchmark examples. Studied wood screw and nail technologies and developments of the 18th century. Studied from dated benchmark examples (i.e., wood screws from English hallmarked silver mounted pistols). Metal Arts - Engraving, chiseling of steel, and traditional forging and welding of iron and steel, hardening and tempering, sand casting of brass and silver, engraving and chasing, and repousse work of brass and silver. Inlaying of silver and gold in steel and brass and damascening of gold. Life Sculpture - Bisque fired clay, wood, and bronze. Produced two life size human heads (bisque fired clay); two female busts (bisque fired clay); One bronze life size female torso; One bronze life size female sculpture. ORGANIZATIONS AND SERVICE American Society of Arms Collectors - Honorary life member American Furniture Journal - Published by the Chipstone Foundation. Member of the first editorial committee Blue Ridge Institute - Ferrum College, Ferrum, VA. Former member of the Advisory Board Campbell Center for Historic Conservation - Mt. Carroll, IL. Member of Founding Curriculum Committee Contemporary Longrifle Association - Founding member, First President, 1999-2000. Recipient of Distinguished Service Award and Pioneer Award Foxfire - Rabun Gap, GA. National Advisory Board Emeritus George Washington's Fredericksburg Foundation - Former member of the Restoration Advisory Committee for Kenmore, 1990s-2003 Journal of Arms Technology - Founding member and a member of the editorial board Journal of Historic Trades, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation - Founder and former member of editorial board Kentucky Rifle Association - 1968 - Present, Distinguished Service Award, 1986 and Life Membership Virginia Arms Collectors - Honorary Life Member Virginia Conservation Association - Founding member and first president, April 1989 Washington (State) Gun Makers Guild - Honorary Life member - 2010 PHOTOGRAPHY - Use of 35mm and 4"x5" view cameras TEACHING EXPERIENCE Campbell Center for Historic Conservation Fundamental Concepts of Furniture Conservation. One-week course for four years in 1980s Beginning and Advanced Wood Carving. One-week course for two years in 1980s Arms Conservation. Three-day course for one year in 1980s The College of William and Mary - Adjunct Lecturer, Fine Arts Department, 1974 to 1993 Taught segments of "Decorative Arts in Virginia" (senior and graduate level course) The College of William and Mary Special Programs "Life Modeling". Teaching clay sculpture with live model. 1980s Conservation Analytical Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution Taught Advanced Carving in 1980s and 1990s English and American Furniture Style and Structure - one-week course taught intermittently in 1980s and 1990s Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts Lecturer at various programs 1980s to present Northern Kentucky University and National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association One-week course in advanced carving of Kentucky rifles. 1990, 1992, and 1993 One-week course in engraving of Kentucky rifles. 1990, 1992, 1993 Northern Kentucky University, sponsored by National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association Advanced Carving of Long Rifles. 1994, 1996 Advanced Engraving. 1995 Stock Inlaying. 1998 Western Kentucky University Kentucky Rifle Making. One-week course for one year in 1980s Arms Conservation. Three-day course for two years in 1990s Carving long rifles, engraving long rifles, design & drawing, learning to look, evolution of American long rifle, inlaying silver wire & sheet in long rifle stocks - numerous classes from 1995 - present, teaching two courses each year on these topics American Pioneer Video Productions: Featured in training video, "Relief Carving a Kentucky Rifle (ca. 1775)" Featured in training video, "Engraving a Kentucky Rifle (ca. 1775)" Segment in video - "The Origin of the Segment in Frontiersman's Hunting Shirt" Featured in "Making a Hand-Forged Pipe Tomahawk" (2016) Featured in "Decorating a Presentation Pipe Tomahawk" (2017) LECTURES AND PRESENTATIONS (partial listing) Colonial Williamsburg Antiques Forum and Williamsburg Institute programs - lectures and demonstrations, 1960s to 2000 H.F. DuPont Winterthur Museum - lectures and demonstrations on furniture and long rifles Minneapolis Institute of Arts Houston Museum of Fine Arts Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Old Salem, North Carolina The Woodwright's Shop, Public Television - demonstrations of carving. Two (2) shows HOBBIES Landscaping and gardening Collecting long rifles, European arms, African and other ethnographic art, Native American artifacts, English and American furniture, 18th-century English pottery, Appalachian musical instruments, Chinese furniture and decorative arts Technical & free rock climbing 1978- 1998, hiking, hunting with flintlock rifles