To Have and To Hold: Treasures from the Christopher Collection is now on exhibit at the Ohio Historical Center. The display of both common and extraordinary objects from the Tom and Agnes Christopher Collection is at the center through April 30, 2010.

The exhibition showcases 65 pieces of 19th-century American and English furniture, ceramics, decorative arts, woodenware and metalware. Each piece was designed to hold something else.

The collection has been carefully gathered and arranged over many years, and is also one that is beautiful enough to make any antiques enthusiast fall in love. The many porcelain teapots are both extraordinary and uniquely crafted, while the intricately designed furniture pieces harken back to a time when furnishings were crafted through hours of precision work.

Tom and Agnes Christopher lived in Greenville, Ohio, and throughout the course of several decades amassed an extraordinary collection of antiques numbering approximately 1,800 pieces. The furniture was used in the house and their walls were covered with framed Currier & Ives prints. They purchased many of the pieces with the assistance of antique dealers in New York and elsewhere on the East Coast. Mr. Christopher was especially fond of Sheraton worktables, clocks and pieces with American patriotic symbols, while Mrs. Christopher typically chose primitive furniture and china.

For more information about this exhibit, visit www.ohiohistory.org.