Domestic Furnishings

Tiffany Floor Lamp

Washboards, armchairs, lamps, and pots and pans may not seem to be museum pieces. But they are invaluable evidence of how most people lived day to day, last week or three centuries ago. The Museum's collections of domestic furnishings comprise more than 40,000 artifacts from American households. Large and small, they include four houses, roughly 800 pieces of furniture, fireplace equipment, spinning wheels, ceramics and glass, family portraits, and much more.

The Arthur and Edna Greenwood Collection contains more than 2,000 objects from New England households from colonial times to mid-1800s. From kitchens of the past, the collections hold some 3,300 artifacts, ranging from refrigerators to spatulas. The lighting devices alone number roughly 3,000 lamps, candleholders, and lanterns.

Date: 1880s

knife, dessert

Dessert knife. Straight steel blade with rounded tip and “yankee” style bolster. Blade and bolster are one piece of steel fitted into an ivory handle with straight sides, rounded edges and butt. Tang is held in place with a single steel pin through the side.
Description
Dessert knife. Straight steel blade with rounded tip and “yankee” style bolster. Blade and bolster are one piece of steel fitted into an ivory handle with straight sides, rounded edges and butt. Tang is held in place with a single steel pin through the side. Blade is discolored and has minor losses from cutting edge. Minor rust spots. Ivory is crazed and has crack down one side near pin.
Blade is stamped: “LAMSON GOODNOW & Co/S. FALLS WORKS”
Maker is Lamson & Goodnow Company, a manufacturer and wholesaler active in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts 1844-present.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1860- 1880
maker
Lamson & Goodnow
ID Number
1986.0531.156
accession number
1986.0531
catalog number
1986.531.156

knife, dinner

Dinner knife. Straight steel blade with rounded tip. Blade and tang are one piece of steel, pewter bolster is soldered in place. Wooden scales are riveted to tang with pewter pins to form a block handle with rounded edges fitted with a rounded pewter pommel cap at butt.
Description
Dinner knife. Straight steel blade with rounded tip. Blade and tang are one piece of steel, pewter bolster is soldered in place. Wooden scales are riveted to tang with pewter pins to form a block handle with rounded edges fitted with a rounded pewter pommel cap at butt. Blade is scratched and discolored with some spots of rust. Bolster, handle, and butt show some scratches and wear. (see 1986.0531.107)
Blade is stamped: “BEAVER FALLS/CUTLERY COMPANY.PA”
Maker is the Beaver Falls Cutlery Company, active 1868-1886 in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1868- 1886
ID Number
1986.0531.106
accession number
1986.0531
catalog number
1986.531.106

Juvet Time Globe

In 1880, Scientific American enthusiastically recommended Louis P. Juvet's time globe to its readers.
Description
In 1880, Scientific American enthusiastically recommended Louis P. Juvet's time globe to its readers. It was, the magazine found, "a fit ornament for any library, a valuable adjunct in every business office, and a necessity in every institution of learning." The clockwork-driven globe was undeniably useful for studying geography, determining world time, and illustrating the rotation of the earth. The basis of its appeal, however, was even broader. Prominently displayed in the parlors and drawing rooms of Gilded Age America, the elegant time globe clearly demonstrated the wealth and culture of its owner.
Available in a range of sizes and versions simple and ornate, the time globe consisted of three basic elements: a globe, a mechanism for rotating it, and a base. The globe most often featured a terrestrial map, but celestial globes were also offered. An equatorial ring indicated worldwide time and zones of daylight and darkness. A meridian ring supported a clock dial over the north pole.
Concealed within the globe was a four-day, spring-driven brass movement that drove the clock dial and rotated the globe once every twenty-four hours. Manufactured for Juvet by Rood and Horton of Bristol, Connecticut, the movements featured a lever escapement and a balance wheel. Turning the feather end of the arrow-shaped axis wound the movement.
Precisely when production of the globes began is uncertain. Juvet, a Swiss immigrant and a resident of Glens Falls, New York, first patented a mechanical globe in January 1867, and exhibited one at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876. Probably sometime in 1879, Juvet formed a partnership with James Arkell. By the early 1880s, Juvet and Company of Canajoharie, New York, was making more than sixty varieties of globes. In October 1886, fire consumed the factory where the globes were assembled, ending their manufacture there forever.
Pictured on the left. Overall measurements are 55 1/2 x 17 x 17 inches.
Location
Currently not on view (stand)
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1885
manufacturer
Juvet & Co.
ID Number
ME.308472
catalog number
308472
accession number
93248

Sterno Double-Service Kitchenette #46

"Sterno Double-Service KITCHENETTE #46 for use with Sterno Canned Heat" in a cardboard box printed red. A compact double-burner folding cooking stove made with five sheet iron panels; rectangular box shape with two 6-petaled flower shape openings at op.
Description
"Sterno Double-Service KITCHENETTE #46 for use with Sterno Canned Heat" in a cardboard box printed red. A compact double-burner folding cooking stove made with five sheet iron panels; rectangular box shape with two 6-petaled flower shape openings at op. A sheet aluminum paddle for use as a "Sterno can opener and extinguisher"; with information sheet and ad sheet.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1887
ID Number
1985.0460.160
accession number
1985.0460
catalog number
1985.0460.160

fork, dessert; cutlery, set, part of

Dessert fork, with matching knife (see 1986.0531.125). Three-tined with chamfered baluster stem and rectangular bolster. Tines, stem, and bolster are one piece of steel with tang inserted into tapered ivory block handle with straight sides and rounded butt.
Description
Dessert fork, with matching knife (see 1986.0531.125). Three-tined with chamfered baluster stem and rectangular bolster. Tines, stem, and bolster are one piece of steel with tang inserted into tapered ivory block handle with straight sides and rounded butt. Metal is stained and scratched with minor rust spots. Ivory is yellowed and crazed, with large crack down one side. No mark.
Blade of matching knife is stamped: “J. RUSSELL & CO/GREEN RIVER WORKS”; partially worn.
Maker is John Russell & Company, Turner Falls, Massachusetts, 1834-present.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1860- 1880
ID Number
1986.0531.126
accession number
1986.0531
catalog number
1986.531.126

fork; cutlery, set, part of

Fork, part of a three-piece cutlery set with a matching fork and knife (1986.0531.157-159). Three-tined with chamfered stem and small “yankee” style bolster. Blade, stem, and bolster are one piece of steel with tang fitted into a tapered horn handle with rounded sides and butt.
Description
Fork, part of a three-piece cutlery set with a matching fork and knife (1986.0531.157-159). Three-tined with chamfered stem and small “yankee” style bolster. Blade, stem, and bolster are one piece of steel with tang fitted into a tapered horn handle with rounded sides and butt. Tang is held in place with brass pin through side. Metal is corroded, darkened, and scratched with minor rust spots. Horn is scratched, with small crack in center and weevil damage near bolster. No mark.
Blade of matching knife is stamped: “LAMSON GOODNOW & Co/S. FALLS WORKS”
Maker is Lamson & Goodnow Company, a manufacturer and wholesaler active in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts 1844-present.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1860- 1880
maker
Lamson & Goodnow
ID Number
1986.0531.158
accession number
1986.0531
catalog number
1986.531.158

Cover

Circular, ogee-stepped domed cover topped by a ball-in-ribbed-cup finial. No marks. Covers jar from pickle caster, 1979.0800.01-.04.Currently not on view
Description
Circular, ogee-stepped domed cover topped by a ball-in-ribbed-cup finial. No marks. Covers jar from pickle caster, 1979.0800.01-.04.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880s
ca 1880
ID Number
1979.0800.02
catalog number
1979.0800.02
accession number
1979.0800

Ladle

Ladle with deep circular bowl and upturned rounded handle with crease running length of front. Oval strapwork reserve on back of terminal and a trefoil with fleur-de-lis design on back of bowl.
Description
Ladle with deep circular bowl and upturned rounded handle with crease running length of front. Oval strapwork reserve on back of terminal and a trefoil with fleur-de-lis design on back of bowl. Back of shaft struck incuse with maker's and patent mark.
"Breveté Sans Garantie Du Gouvernement" is type of French patent that frees the government from liability. One of three ladles, DL*126963-DL*126965, made in England and collected by the State Department at the 1884 World's Fair (or World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition) in New Orleans. All recorded as English, but this one was made in France.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1884
ID Number
DL.126965
catalog number
126965
accession number
17041

Cheese knife

Cheese knife. Upturned silver-plated steel blade with blunt clip point. Straight brass handle with blunt butt has mottled surface overall; low-relief decoration of a hen and a rooster walking among a flower garden (on each side). Silver is tarnished and worn.
Description
Cheese knife. Upturned silver-plated steel blade with blunt clip point. Straight brass handle with blunt butt has mottled surface overall; low-relief decoration of a hen and a rooster walking among a flower garden (on each side). Silver is tarnished and worn. Crack in handle near butt.
Blade is stamped: “1834/J. RUSSELL & CO/12”
Maker is John Russell & Company, Turner Falls, Massachusetts, 1834-present.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1870- 1880
ID Number
1988.0763.01
accession number
1988.0763
catalog number
1988.0763.01

knife, dinner

Dinner knife. Straight, silver-plated steel blade with rounded tip and pewter bolster soldered in place. Blade and tang are one piece of steel fitted into wooden handle with rounded sides and rounded pewter pommel cap at butt.
Description
Dinner knife. Straight, silver-plated steel blade with rounded tip and pewter bolster soldered in place. Blade and tang are one piece of steel fitted into wooden handle with rounded sides and rounded pewter pommel cap at butt. Bolster and pommel cap have clover shapes inlaid into wood on front and back of handle (now missing from bolster). Blade is heavily discolored, and much of the silver plate is scraped off. Wood is cracked near areas of missing inlay.
Blade is stamped: “FRARY CUTLERY CO/PAT JULY 18,1876”
Patent:
US179927 A, July 18, 1876, John B. H. Leonard, assignor to the Frary Cutlery Company, Bridgeport, Connecticut, for “Improvement in table-cutlery”
Maker is the Frary Cutlery Company, Bridgeport, Connecticut, established in 1876 by James D. Frary, one of the founders of Landers, Frary & Clark. Frary sold the company in 1881 to Trunk, Bliss, and Healy and formed James D. Frary & Son Company.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1876- 1881
ID Number
1986.0531.109
accession number
1986.0531
catalog number
1986.531.109

Saucepan Cover

Low-domed cover with bracket strap handle riveted in place; made of one piece with pinched flange and edge rolled inside collar. Clipped-corner, stamped brass tag attached to handle is marked "T.HOLCROFT&SONS / WOLVERHAMPTON" in raised serif letters.
Description
Low-domed cover with bracket strap handle riveted in place; made of one piece with pinched flange and edge rolled inside collar. Clipped-corner, stamped brass tag attached to handle is marked "T.HOLCROFT&SONS / WOLVERHAMPTON" in raised serif letters. With saucepan, 1979.0727.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1882
ID Number
1979.0727.02
accession number
1979.0727
catalog number
1979.0727.02

Rookwood vase

Before becoming an international phenomenon, the Arts and Crafts movement began with the ideas of British artisan William Morris (1834-1896) and writer John Ruskin (1819-1900).
Description
Before becoming an international phenomenon, the Arts and Crafts movement began with the ideas of British artisan William Morris (1834-1896) and writer John Ruskin (1819-1900). Morris and Ruskin believed that the growth of cities isolated urban workers and that mass production negatively affected artisan crafts. They proposed to solve these issues by returning to a medieval-inspired village model where everybody participated in a community lifestyle. In the United States, artisans adapted these ideas into the studio art pottery movement. Unlike their British counterparts, who often focused predominantly on social issues and therefore made objects that incorporated Gothic and Renaissance motifs, American craftsmen developed a cohesive and novel aesthetic.
This small Rookwood vase showcases the company’s “Mahogany Standard Glaze.” Although it had been producing objects with the distinctive gradient coloration since 1885, Rookwood only began referring to the glaze as their “Standard Glaze” in 1900. This process was comparatively expensive; it was technically challenging to achieve and many of the pieces taken out of the kiln were defective. In the “Mahogany” version, the decorator airbrushed the slip yellow-tinted background onto a red clay body. Unlike traditional glaze decoration, which is actually a kind of glass, slip decoration is made from colored clay and adheres tightly to the clay surface onto which it is applied.
Like many of its counterparts, this vase features a floral motif. The trumpet flower on this vase was a popular flower in Victorian gardens and would have been easily recognized by its intended consumers: the rapidly growing American middle class.
This small Rookwood vase showcases the company’s “Mahogany Standard Glaze.” Although it had been producing objects with the distinctive gradient coloration since 1885, Rookwood only began referring to the glaze as their “Standard Glaze” in 1900. This process was comparatively expensive; it was technically challenging to achieve and many of the pieces taken out of the kiln were defective. In the “Mahogany” version, the decorator airbrushed the slip yellow-tinted background onto a red clay body. Unlike traditional glaze decoration, which is actually a kind of glass, slip decoration is made from colored clay and adheres tightly to the clay surface onto which it is applied.
Like many of its counterparts, this vase features a floral motif. The trumpet flower on this vase was a popular flower in Victorian gardens and would have been easily recognized by its intended consumers: the rapidly growing American middle class.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1885
maker
Rookwood Pottery
ID Number
CE.393577
catalog number
393577
accession number
208838

knife, dinner

Dinner knife. Straight silver-plated steel blade with rounded tip. Blade and “yankee” style bolster are one piece of steel fitted into a tapered ivory handle with rounded sides and butt. Tang is held in place with steel pin through side of handle.
Description
Dinner knife. Straight silver-plated steel blade with rounded tip. Blade and “yankee” style bolster are one piece of steel fitted into a tapered ivory handle with rounded sides and butt. Tang is held in place with steel pin through side of handle. Plate is heavily worn around edges of blade, scratched. Bolster is rusted. Ivory is yellowed.
Blade is stamped: “LAMSON & GOODNOW MFG CO/S. FALLS WORKS”
Maker is Lamson & Goodnow Company, a manufacturer and wholesaler active in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts 1844-present.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1860- 1880
maker
Lamson & Goodnow
ID Number
1986.0531.170
accession number
1986.0531
catalog number
1986.0531.170

Teaspoon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
ID Number
1989.0184.07
catalog number
1989.0184.07
accession number
1989.0184

New England Glass Company Paperweight

In the 1700s, paperweights made from textured stone or bronze were part of the writer’s tool kit, which also included a quill pen and stand, inkpot, and blotter.
Description (Brief)
In the 1700s, paperweights made from textured stone or bronze were part of the writer’s tool kit, which also included a quill pen and stand, inkpot, and blotter. By the mid-1800s, decorative paperweights produced by glassmakers in Europe and the United States became highly desired collectibles.
Decorative glass paperweights reflected the 19th-century taste for intricate, over-the-top designs. Until the spread of textiles colorized with synthetic dyes, ceramics and glass were among the few objects that added brilliant color to a 19th-century Victorian interior. The popularity of these paperweights in the 1800s testifies to the sustained cultural interest in hand craftsmanship during an age of rapid industrialization.
The New England Glass Company in Cambridge, Massachusetts was founded about 1818 by Deming Jarves along with three wealthy businessmen, and probably began producing paperweights by the mid 1850s. In 1888 the business moved to Ohio, under the name Libbey Glass Company.
A collection of four yellow and salmon colored pears and five cherries rests on a latticinio (latticework) background in this New England Glass Company paperweight.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1852-1880
maker
New England Glass Company
ID Number
CE.65.485
catalog number
65.485
accession number
264964
collector/donor number
148

chair, side

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
ID Number
DL.300420.0001
catalog number
300420.0001
accession number
300420

Talitha Alvis Stallings overshot coverlet; Tennessee; ca. 1875-80

Overshot, red, indigo & white coverlet woven in the Rose and table design. The coverlet is made up of three widths of fabric stitched together. The coverlet is said to have been made by Talitha Alvis Stallings, near Humboldt Tennesse.
Description
Overshot, red, indigo & white coverlet woven in the Rose and table design. The coverlet is made up of three widths of fabric stitched together. The coverlet is said to have been made by Talitha Alvis Stallings, near Humboldt Tennesse. Her husband Bryant Stallings is said to have sheared the sheep, while she spun the yarn and wove it into fabric.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
19th century
1875-1880
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T16949
catalog number
T16949.00S
accession number
310789

Egg Cup

Plain, double-ended egg cup or holder comprised of two, circular, bell-shaped cups of slightly different size connected by a spool at center. Circular opening through center.Currently not on view
Description
Plain, double-ended egg cup or holder comprised of two, circular, bell-shaped cups of slightly different size connected by a spool at center. Circular opening through center.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1884
ID Number
DL.126972
catalog number
126972
accession number
17041

Paper Knife

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1885
maker
Magee Furnace Company
ID Number
DL.093512
catalog number
093512
accession number
16161

Fish Server (Fish Slice)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
ID Number
DL.59.0026
catalog number
59.0026
accession number
220288

Plate

Small circular plate with narrow molded rim and flat well; circular foot ring is pierced with two small holes opposite each other. No marks. One of three butter plates, DL*126970A-C.Currently not on view
Description
Small circular plate with narrow molded rim and flat well; circular foot ring is pierced with two small holes opposite each other. No marks. One of three butter plates, DL*126970A-C.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1884
ID Number
DL.126970C
catalog number
126970C
accession number
17041

knife, dinner; cutlery, set, part of

Set of six dinner knives (1986.531.162-.167) in light brown flannel carrying pouch with individual pockets for each knife (1986.531.247). Straight silver-plated steel blade with rounded tip and “yankee” style bolster fitted into tapered ivory handle with rounded sides and butt.
Description
Set of six dinner knives (1986.531.162-.167) in light brown flannel carrying pouch with individual pockets for each knife (1986.531.247). Straight silver-plated steel blade with rounded tip and “yankee” style bolster fitted into tapered ivory handle with rounded sides and butt. Tang is held in place with single steel pin through side of handle. Blade is scratched, plate is worn, tarnished. Ivory is yellowed, cracked, and crazed.
Blade is stamped: “LAMSON & GOODNOW MFG Co/S. FALLS WORKS"
Maker is Lamson & Goodnow Company, a manufacturer and wholesaler active in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts 1844-present.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1860- 1880
maker
Lamson & Goodnow
ID Number
1986.0531.164
accession number
1986.0531
catalog number
1986.0531.164

Dessert knife

Dessert knife, one of a set of six (1988.763.4-9). Straight steel blade with rounded tip and “yankee” style bolster fitted into tapered ivory handle with rounded sides and butt. Tang is held in place with steel pin through side of handle.
Description
Dessert knife, one of a set of six (1988.763.4-9). Straight steel blade with rounded tip and “yankee” style bolster fitted into tapered ivory handle with rounded sides and butt. Tang is held in place with steel pin through side of handle. Blade is scratched and abraded, with minor corrosion and rust. Ivory is yellowed and crazed, crack near bolster. Steel pin is rusted.
Blade is stamped: “CLEMENT HAWKES /& MAYNARD”
Maker is the Clement Hawkes & Maynard Manufacturing Company, founded in 1866 in Northampton, Massachusetts. The company was reorganized circa 1882 as the Clement Cutlery Company.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1866- 1882
ID Number
1988.0763.07
accession number
1988.0763
catalog number
1988.0763.07

Plate

Small circular plate with narrow molded rim and flat well; circular foot ring is pierced with two small holes opposite each other. No marks. One of three butter plates, DL*126970A-C.Currently not on view
Description
Small circular plate with narrow molded rim and flat well; circular foot ring is pierced with two small holes opposite each other. No marks. One of three butter plates, DL*126970A-C.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1884
ID Number
DL.126970A
catalog number
126970A
accession number
17041

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.