The Hermitage Foundation Museum is truly a celebration of the arts. Some of the works that William and Florence Sloane collected include Native American woven baskets, Indian Chola bronze statues, Spanish religous icons and furniture, European ceramics and paintings, American Impressionist paintings and sculptures, hand painted glass windows from Germany, ivory carvings, Persian rugs, and ritual bronzes and ceramic tomb figures from China.

Japanese Inro Boxes
These lacquered wooden boxes appear to be burnished gold, and were worn depending from the Kimono belt, designed to hold medicinal herbs. Strung on the cord through holes on each side is the Netsuke. Netsukes began as utilitarian toggles, not art, but evolved to harmonize with the kimono and the object to which it is attached. Our 18th and 19th century inro boxes depict images of cherry blossoms, landscapes with birds, fish, a young boy and a house with removable window.

Russian Art Collection
Among our collection of Russian items are a jeweled and silver gilt Repousse bowl with images of monsters, griffins and owls by Carl Faberge; painted wooden 18th century icons of the Russian Orthodox Church; a Plique a jour cup and saucer originally owned by Duchess Olga, the sister in law of the last czarina of Russia; several objects which were previously owned by Czar Nicholai II; and two mid-19th century icons with original silver gilt rizas studded with seed pearls, rubies, and emeralds in glorious scenes from the bible and lives of saints.

Roman and Phoenician Glass
Our collection of ancient glass discovered in Rome, the Eternal City, showcases the blue, green, amber and iridescent tones of the Mediterranean world as much as 2,350 years ago. The collection of unguent bottles also includes several lacrimosae, used thousands of years ago in Roman funeral rights to collect tears.

German Stained Glass
Many of the mullioned windows throughout the house are decorated with German glass shields, mainly of the 16th and 17th centuries. Also in the collection of stained glass is a memento of Norfolk’s history, a window restored from fragments of the magnificent windows of Christchurch, an Episcopal church that was destroyed by lightning.

Spanish Antiques
A varied collection of antiques includes a set of Vargueños, portable desks richly decorated with gold leaf, velvet, and carved bone and ivory which are rarely seen in the New World, and a collection of Spanish Catholic art and artifacts, many of which were carried in processions during the Renaissance.

Hand Carved With Tudor Flair: Master Woodcrafters
The Sloanes employed master craftsmen from Europe during the entire building process of their mock Tudor manor. Most deeply involved was the English woodcarver Charles Woodsend, who lived on the premises for twenty years while he hand-carved and installed the intricate interior oak and teak paneling. Karl von Rydingsvard, a Swedish carpenter, collaborated with Mr. Woodsend on a variety of projects, including an entire dining room suite. A third artisan, Mr. M. F. McCarthy, inscribed several quotations into the lintels of the central house, including St. Thomas Aquinas’ famous definition of Art:
“Art is simply the Right Method of doing Things… The Test of an Artist does not lie in the Will with which he goes to Work, but in the Excellence of the work which he Produces.”

Impressionist Painters and Sculptors
Florence and William Sloane entertained many noted artists at "Hermitage" and avidly collected their work. Their home is filled with work by many of their friends including: Douglas Volk, Helen M. Turner, Hariett W. Frishmuth, Anna Hyatt Huntington, Charles Hawthorne, Adolph Weinman, Hovsep Pushman, George Wharton Edwards, George de Forest Brush, Edwin McCarten, Stephen Reid, Frederick Waugh, Nicholas Fechin, Eugene Fichel, Edwin Howland Blaschfield, Minna Citron, Sir Edwin James Poynter, George Gardner Symons, Peggy Summerville, and James Jacques Tissot.




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