American Furniture, Folk & Decorative Arts

At age 17, DuPonceau arrived in America as secretary to Baron Von Steuben and served in the Revolutionary War effort. With an understanding of eight languages, he later assisted the U.S. Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Robert Livingston. While active as lawyer, he studied and published on the grammatical system of American Indian languages. He served as the President of the American Philosophical Society, Athenaeum and the Pennsylvania Historical Society. His papers are in the Collection of the American Philosophical Society.