Historic New England is the oldest, largest, and most comprehensive regional heritage organization in the nation. It was founded in 1910 to preserve and present the cultural and architectural heritage of New England, from historic properties to humble necessities, from art and artifacts to gardens and furniture. With more than 110,000 objects, Historic New England has the most comprehensive and best documented collection of New England decorative arts and household furnishings in the country, dating from the mid-seventeenth to the twenty-first centuries. In addition to paintings, furniture, and decorative items, Historic New England’s collections include the more ephemeral types of objects rarely found in museum displays: smoking and writing paraphernalia, artist supplies, servants furnishings and clothing, and a whole range of kitchen equipment from eighteenth-century iron kettles to 1970s microwaves.