Day266 - Haverhill Room


September 20, 2021

Gallery 729  was taken from a house in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It measures roughly 20' by 20', dimensions that seem appropriate for a parlor, and that was the room's original use. At the Met, however,  it's been furnished as a bedroom that showcases Federal period furnishings, especially a grand four-poster bed with a canopy. I'm pleased to see that most of the pieces were actually made in New England. The cream-colored walls above olive paneling harmonize nicely with the dark and lighter rose tones of the canopy, window sashes, bed bolster, and easy chair. It's a room that invites repose. 

One item that attracts me is what I take to be a small writing desk, topped by a two-drawer box and a mirror. It's pretty, but the mirror, I think, must distract the sitter from writing. It makes more sense when I learn that the piece is actually a dressing table.

The object that really arouses my curiosity, though, is an oval panel of inlaid wood above a semicircular panel, all mounted on legs and standing about four feet off the ground. It turns out to be a fire screen, a device to shield a lady's face from the heat of the fire. (The semicircular piece is a fold-down shelf that served as a candle holder, apparently not a common feature of these screens.)  Given its intended use by  members of the "fairer sex," it seems appropriate - if a gender stereotype - that the easy chair is upholstered in a rich shade of pink.   


 

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