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Lincoln Home
Historic Furnishings Report |
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THE PLAN
SECTION E: RECOMMENDED FURNISHINGS (continued)
REAR PARLOR: ROOM B
See p. 308 for Summary of Furnishings and Cost Estimates.
| REAR PARLOR: ROOM B | |
| Object: | B.1-2 — Side Tables |
| Date: | ca. 1850-1860 |
| Brief Description: | Elizabethan style, pair of side tables with spool turned supports and lower shelf. |
| Location: | East corners of rear parlor. |
| Documentation: | Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper March 9, 1861. |
| Source: | LIHO 3 and 4 (reproductions). |
| Object: | B.3-4 — Pair of Globes |
| Date: | ca. 1850-1860 |
| Brief Description: | Celestial and terrestrial globes resting in short turned stands (for use on a table top). |
| Location: | One on each Elizabethan style side table. |
| Documentation: | Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, March 9, 1861. A contemporary account from the Boston Journal, May 1860, described "two globes, celestial and terrestrial, in the corners of the room." (See p. 34.) |
| Source: | LIHO 1 and 2. |
| Object: | B.5-6 — Side Chairs, two (of a set of six) |
| Date: | 1850-1860 |
| Brief Description: | Identical to those in the front parlor (see pp. 53-55), horsehair upholstery. |
| Location: | One in front of secretary and one in front of west window. (Five of the six chairs appear in the Leslie's drawings of the front and back parlors. In the back parlor, a side chair is on the west wall, south of the door, and in front of the window near the opening to the front parlor. In the case of the back parlor, however, the visitor traffic flow necessitates a slight rearrangement of the furniture and placement of the chairs in front of the window; the secretary, west of the fireplace, is appropriate.) These chairs, from the Lincoln Memorial Collection, have a well-documented Lincoln history of ownership (see pp. 53-55). |
| Source: | LIHO 1120 and 1121. |
| Object: | B.7 — Sofa |
| Date: | 1850-1860 |
| Brief Description: | Transitional style between late Empire and Rococo, serpentine back, outward framing arms and legs, upholstered with tufted back, in black horsehair. |
| Location: | East wall, between side tables. |
| Documentation: | Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper March 9, 1861. Several sofas have a Lincoln history of ownership (see pp. 68-72 and pp. 92-93 for a discussion of their provenance.) LIHO 1059, a sofa from the Oldroyd Collection, now in the Lincoln Home, would be most appropriate in this location. |
| Source: | LIHO 1059. |
| Object: | B.8 — Secretary-Desk |
| Date: | 1840-1860 |
| Brief Description: | Large secretary-desk and bookcase with glass fronted doors, six shelves, fold-out desk top, and paneled doors enclosing shelves beneath desk, turned front legs and bracket rear legs. |
| Location: | Original location, according to March 9, 1861, Leslie's Illustrated drawing, was against the south wall now opening to front parlor. Visitor traffic prevents this placement; therefore, it should be placed against the south wall, on the other side of the door to the dining room. |
| Documentation: | Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper March 9, 1861. Several contemporary accounts mention that Lincoln's books were in this room, and two refer to his "bookcase." (See pp. 35, 38.) |
| Source: | LIHO 6. |
| Object: | B.9 — Table |
| Date: | ca. 1840-1860 |
| Brief Description: | Round, mahogany veneered or walnut center table with pedestal base. |
| Location: | In front of fireplace. |
| Documentation: | A contemporary account written by a correspondent of the Boston
Journal (May 1860) recorded that there was "a plain table with writing
materials upon it, a pitcher of cold water, and glasses..." (see p. 34
for full account) in this room.
No table of this description appears in the Leslie's drawing. In fact, there is no center table in the drawing of any of the downstairs rooms, which is unusual because the center table was a very common form at mid-century. For example, Andrew Jackson Downing, in his popular book on the Architecture of Country Houses published in 1850, described the center table as "the emblem of the family circle." [5] It is logical to suppose that either the artist eliminated all furniture from the center of the rooms or the Lincolns removed furniture to accommodate the large numbers of visitors they began to receive after Mr. Lincoln's election. |
| Source: | To be acquired (antique). |
| Object: | B.10 — Girandole |
| Date: | 1850-1860 |
| Brief Description: | Two single-arm candlesticks and one three-branch candlestick, with hanging prisms. |
| Location: | On the mantel. |
| Documentation: | Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper March 9, 1861. The girandoles shown in the drawings of the front and back parlor have the same general appearance and were probably similar, if not identical. There are two documented sets of candelabra with histories of having come from the Lincoln home (see pp. 64-65), although only one of these sets is now in the Lincoln Home Collection. |
| Source: | LIHO 378, 379, and 380. |
| Object: | B.11-12 — Pair of Pitchers |
| Date: | ca. 1850-1860 |
| Brief Description: | Porcelain, French (or English) with painted decoration. |
| Location: | On the mantel. |
| Documentation: | Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper March 9, 1861. See also discussion under mantel garniture for the front parlor. |
| Source: | To be acquired (antique). |
| REAR PARLOR: ROOM B | |
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liho/hfr/sectione-b.htm
Last Updated: 08-Feb-2004