Day 367 - The Marmon Room




 July 12, 2024

Gallery 720 is another period room, known as the Marmion Room.  Unlike the other period rooms I've seen so far, this one strikes me as thoroughly luxurious, intended to show off the good fortune and good taste of its owners. I immediately, and correctly, deduce that it came from a Southern plantation, I suppose  because , rightly or wrongly, I associate  "the Southern way of life" with the conspicuous display of wealth, bought at the expense of enslaved labor.  (Truth be told, though, I may have spotted the signage first and held the room's provenance, the Tidewater area of Virginia, in the back of my mind.)

The sign says that the rbe beautifully paneled room, a parlor that I estimate to be about 30 feet long and 18 feet wide, has seven sides, although I count only six. I note at once that the marble-lined fireplace is set into an angled wall. I've read so much about the importance of Neoclassical design elements in the new American republic that, when I see the fluted pilasters with Doric capitals lining the walls, I immediately assume that the plantation was built after the Revolution, but I learn that it dates from 1756.  I also notice the painted wall panels and learn from the electronic display (this one works!) that the paintings are considered the room's most distinctive feature. The images include flowers set into a cornucopia and bowls on pedestals, with garlands topping many of the panels. I associate these features with classical art as well, although the sign describes the bowls as "Rococo." A little knowledge can lead to error, clearly, although maybe I'm half-right: the Met description characterizes the design scheme as containing "rococo ornament within a classical framework."  Oh well.... Other panels contain landscapes. 

The home's owners may have been rich, but they were also cost-conscious. I learn that painted walls were a popular choice because they were less expensive than tapestries, wallpaper, plaster molding, and other decor options.  And the owners had the pilasters and wainscoting painted to resemble marble rather than using the real thing.

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