Treasures, Curiosities, and Secrets: The Crockers and the Gilded Age

NOVEMBER 6, 2009 - MAY 9, 2010

Pay tribute to the Crocker family in the final exhibition before the new Crocker opens. From Margaret’s Floral Festival, to Jennie Crocker Fassett’s Korean gold mines, to Aimée Crocker’s marriage to Russian nobility, the major events of Crocker family history are seen in the exquisite objects assembled in Treasures, Curiosities, and Secrets: The Crockers and the Gilded Age.

California's premier early art patrons, Edwin Bryant and Margaret Crocker were deeply concerned with bringing culture to the new state. But their story began in South Bend, Indiana, where E. B. Crocker built an impressive law practice. After the death of his first wife, he met his match in Margaret Rhodes and married her in 1852. The ceremony took place only a few days before the newlyweds booked passage to California.

They settled in Sacramento and worked as merchants until 1863, when Judge Crocker was appointed to the California Supreme Court. Ultimately, the Crockers achieved glittering success as railroad tycoons. In this exhibition, breathtaking jewelry, dramatic gowns, family china, furniture and other treasures of the era join personal family letters, paintings, and photographs to tell another side of the Crocker family’s story.