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.

Place: France

Paris Porcelain milk or cream pitcher (part of a service)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 18
early nineteenth century
maker
unknown
ID Number
CE.P-100
catalog number
P-100
accession number
225282

Tray

Large, repousse chased oval tray with oval profile portraits of Queen Marie-Antoinette and King Louis XVI of France suspended from laurel swags connected to ram's heads and fasces in the well, their coats-of-arms joined by an imperial crown above at center of the wide, everted, p
Description
Large, repousse chased oval tray with oval profile portraits of Queen Marie-Antoinette and King Louis XVI of France suspended from laurel swags connected to ram's heads and fasces in the well, their coats-of-arms joined by an imperial crown above at center of the wide, everted, plain-edged rim; four panels of floral bouquets and a trophy of crossed quivers and bow complete the rim decoration. No foot ring. Obverse right edge of rim struck with a horizontal diamond or lozenge containing the raised serif letters "ED" flanking a perched bird with imperial crown, and the profile head of Minerva, facing right, with small "1" at top right in clipped-corner square.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1838
ID Number
DL.007046
catalog number
7046
accession number
162081

Sevres porcelain cup

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840
ID Number
CE.P-766D
catalog number
P-766D
accession number
225282

St. Louis Paperweight Wafer Dish

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.
Glass production at Saint Louis was authorized by Louis XV in 1767. By 1782 the firm was creating high quality glass crystal, progressing into pressed glass in the 1800s. St. Louis produced paperweights from 1845 to about 1867.
This St. Louis glass wafer dish features a paperweight base consisting of scrambled millefiori and a blue and white torsade (twisted ribbon) around the upper rim. Wafer dishes such as this would have been used to hold wax letter seals, and often had paperweight bases. Millefiore paperweights, first manufactured in Venice, consist of sections from rods of colored glass encased in a clear, colorless sphere. By the mid-nineteenth century, glass factories elsewhere in Europe were emulating the millefiore style.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1845-1850
maker
St. Louis
ID Number
CE.67.220
catalog number
67.220
accession number
213138

Sèvres porcelain plate

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1831
maker
Sevres
ID Number
CE.P-1059
catalog number
P-1059
accession number
225282

Paris porcelain coffee pot (part of a service)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca. 1820
ID Number
CE.P-576Aab
catalog number
P-576Aab
accession number
225282

Sèvres porcelain cup and saucer

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1822, decorated 1830
ID Number
CE.P-1068ab
catalog number
P-1068ab
accession number
225282

Flagon

Small pot-bellied flagon or pichet with a horizontal or handlebar thumb piece and wedge extension burnt to the overhanging, heart-shaped, pouted lid. Plain, slightly flared rim; two pairs of incised lines around body and one around flared base.
Description
Small pot-bellied flagon or pichet with a horizontal or handlebar thumb piece and wedge extension burnt to the overhanging, heart-shaped, pouted lid. Plain, slightly flared rim; two pairs of incised lines around body and one around flared base. Tapered, S-scroll handle with stepped thumbrest and scroll terminal; diamond- or lozenge-shaped attachment. No marks.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 18th century
ID Number
DL.67.0262
catalog number
67.0262
accession number
250853

Sèvres cup and saucer (part of a service)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1835 -1838
ID Number
CE.P-128ab
catalog number
P-128ab
accession number
225282

Flagon

Plain Paris type shouldered flagon or pichet with ball-and-disk tab thumb piece and stepped extension burnt to the heart-shaped, slightly pouted lid, which is stamped incuse "D F". Strap handle with square thumbrest and short square terminal; five-knuckled hinge. No other marks.
Description
Plain Paris type shouldered flagon or pichet with ball-and-disk tab thumb piece and stepped extension burnt to the heart-shaped, slightly pouted lid, which is stamped incuse "D F". Strap handle with square thumbrest and short square terminal; five-knuckled hinge. No other marks. Inside of lid has a small, circular, white paper dealer's label adhered at center, printed in bright pink and inscribed in ink; "HT '59" inscribed above that in blue crayon.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
DL.67.0269
catalog number
67.0269
accession number
250853

Sèvres pitcher (part of a service)

The pitcher has elaborate decoration in gold and platinum on a deep blue-black ground.
Description
The pitcher has elaborate decoration in gold and platinum on a deep blue-black ground. The body of the vessel has a stylized floral diaper pattern covering the surface with one gold framed miniature portrait of French writer, humanist, physician, and priest, François Rabelais (1494-1553). Gold bands circle the shoulder, rim, and foot ring of the pitcher, with the handle and interior heavily gilded.
All the five parts of this tea service have portraits in miniature of significant French Renaissance writers, poets, theologians, and historians. The portrait of Rabelais was probably painted in onglaze enamels at Sèvres after an engraving by Parisian artist Nicolas Habert (b. ca.1650), who worked for booksellers in the production of frontispieces to the works of literary figures and other celebrated persons.
This pitcher belongs to the Alfred Duane Pell collection in the National Museum of American History. Before Pell (1864-1924) became an Episcopalian clergyman quite late in life, he and his wife Cornelia Livingstone Crosby Pell (1861-1938) travelled widely, and as they travelled they collected European porcelains, silver, and furniture. Pell came from a wealthy family and he purchased the large William Pickhardt Mansion on 5th Avenue and East 74th Street in which to display his vast collection. The Smithsonian was one of several institutions to receive substantial bequests from the Reverend Pell which laid the foundation for their collections of European applied arts.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1811-1812
ID Number
CE.P-1061C
catalog number
P-1061C
accession number
225282

Double Decilitre Measure

Bracket-handled, cylindrical metric measure with high collar pinched into spout at front and sloped at back for the rounded inset lid; molded lower rim and base. Hooked tab thumb piece with wedge extension; five-knuckle hinge; stepped thumbrest.
Description
Bracket-handled, cylindrical metric measure with high collar pinched into spout at front and sloped at back for the rounded inset lid; molded lower rim and base. Hooked tab thumb piece with wedge extension; five-knuckle hinge; stepped thumbrest. Stamped on front of body "DOU[B]LE / [D]ECIL[ITRE]" in incuse serif letters; on front of lower rim with "** / 3" next to clasped hands in an oval; on face of handle and top front of lid with clasped hands mark; and on extension and top of rim with an indecipherible number of letter verification marks. Underside of flat bottom struck once with arched touchmark "ALBERT" in incuse serif letters. One of an assembled set of six metric measures, DL*67.0334-.0339.
Maker is Albert of Lille, France.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1885
ID Number
DL.67.0337
catalog number
67.0337
accession number
250853

"Double Decilitre" Measure

Handleless, lidless cylindrical metric measure with heavy molded rim and base. Stamped on front of body "DOUBLE / DECILITRE" in incuse serif letters below a small fleur-de-lis in a circle on the outside and inside.
Description
Handleless, lidless cylindrical metric measure with heavy molded rim and base. Stamped on front of body "DOUBLE / DECILITRE" in incuse serif letters below a small fleur-de-lis in a circle on the outside and inside. Flat bottom struck once with small circular touchmark of a wheat sheaf surrounded by the raised serif letters "J N" and "A B". One of an assembled set of seven metric measures, DL*67.0303-.0309.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
DL.67.0306
catalog number
67.0306
accession number
250853

Ladle

Ladle having a raised, fluted, horizontal oval bowl with two pouring spouts and small boss bottom attached to a twisted baleen or whalebone handle.
Description
Ladle having a raised, fluted, horizontal oval bowl with two pouring spouts and small boss bottom attached to a twisted baleen or whalebone handle. Silver portion of handle consists of a long, tightly twisted shaft, square in section, and a conical socket for the baleen, which is secured with a silver pin. Shaft is struck with three marks, one on front is part of an insect countermark while two on back are the profile head of Minerva, facing right, with small "1" at top right in a clipped-corner surround and the maker's diamond-shaped mark. Two stamps on one spout include a partial grasshopper countermark on top and another Minerva head on underside.
Minerva guarantee mark for .950 silver, used from 1838 to present; complex bigornes (or countermarks depicting insects, always stamped on opposite side from guarantee) also adopted in 1838.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
post-1838
ID Number
DL.62.0254
catalog number
62.0254
accession number
240072

Sèvres sugar pot and cover (part of a service)

The sugar pot has elaborate decoration in gold and platinum on a deep blue-black ground.
Description
The sugar pot has elaborate decoration in gold and platinum on a deep blue-black ground. The body of the pot has a stylized floral diaper pattern covering the surface with two gold-framed portraits of the French classical scholar and bishop of Auxerre, Jacques Amyot (1513-1593), and the statesman, historiographer, and director of the royal library, Jacques-Auguste de Thou (1553-1617). The same diaper pattern is on the cover. A gold foliate border circles the shoulder of the teapot with platinum dots above and below; above the foot ring there is a fret pattern in gold and platinum. Gold bands finish the rims and foot ring on the pot and cover, with the handle and spout also heavily gilded.
All the five parts of this tea service have portraits in miniature of significant French Renaissance writers, poets, theologians, and historians. The miniature portrait of Jacques Amyot was copied after an engraving by Léonard Gaultier (1561-1635), and the miniature of Jacques-Auguste de Thou from an engraving by Jean Morin (ca. 1605-1650) after a painting by Louis Elle I (1612-1689).
This sugar pot belongs to the Alfred Duane Pell collection in the National Museum of American History. Before Pell (1864-1924) became an Episcopalian clergyman quite late in life, he and his wife Cornelia Livingstone Crosby Pell (1861-1938) travelled widely, and as they travelled they collected European porcelains, silver, and furniture. Pell came from a wealthy family and he purchased the large William Pickhardt Mansion on 5th Avenue and East 74th Street in which to display his vast collection. The Smithsonian was one of several institutions to receive substantial bequests from the Reverend Pell which laid the foundation for their collections of European applied arts.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1811-1812
ID Number
CE.P-1061Bab
accession number
225282
catalog number
P-1061Bab

Clichy 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 French firm, Verrerie de Clichy, began operation after merging with another local glassworks in 1837. The height of paperweight production at the firm was 1846 to 1857.
Interlacing garlands surround a central pink and green Rose cane in this Clichy paperweight.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1845-1850
maker
Clichy
ID Number
CE.66.29
catalog number
66.29
collector/donor number
141
accession number
268356

Sèvres porcelain teapot (part of a service)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1803
ID Number
CE.P-774Aab
catalog number
P-774Aab
accession number
225282

Sèvres porcelain cup and saucer (part of a service)

The cup and saucer has elaborate decoration in gold and platinum on a deep blue-black ground. The exterior of the cup and interior flange of the saucer has a stylized floral diaper pattern covering the surface.
Description
The cup and saucer has elaborate decoration in gold and platinum on a deep blue-black ground. The exterior of the cup and interior flange of the saucer has a stylized floral diaper pattern covering the surface. A gold-framed portrait of the theologian and philosopher Pierre Charron(1541-1603) is painted in onglaze enamels on the exterior of the cup. The center of the saucer has a stylized floral medallion. The interior of the cup and exterior of the saucer are heavily gilded. The handle is made of silver.
All the five parts of this tea service have portraits in miniature of significant French Renaissance writers, poets, theologians, and historians. This enamel painted portrait by a Sèvres artist was most likely based on an engraving by Léonard Gaultier (1561?-1635?) produced shortly after Charron's death in 1603.
This cup and saucer belongs to the Alfred Duane Pell collection in the National Museum of American History. Before Pell (1864-1924) became an Episcopalian clergyman quite late in life, he and his wife Cornelia Livingstone Crosby Pell (1861-1938) travelled widely, and as they travelled they collected European porcelains, silver, and furniture. Pell came from a wealthy family and he purchased the large William Pickhardt Mansion on 5th Avenue and East 74th Street in which to display his vast collection. The Smithsonian was one of several institutions to receive substantial bequests from the Reverend Pell which laid the foundation for their collections of European applied arts.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1811-1812
ID Number
CE.P-1061Eab
catalog number
P-1061Eab
accession number
225282

St. Louis 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.
Glass production at Saint Louis was authorized by Louis XV in 1767. By 1782 the firm was creating high quality glass crystal, progressing into pressed glass in the 1800s. St. Louis produced paperweights from 1845 to about 1867.
This paperweight made at St. Louis features a central posy surrounded by cane garland, an amber flash ground, and honeycomb faceting.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1845-1850
maker
St. Louis
ID Number
CE.66.45
catalog number
66.45
collector/donor number
175
accession number
268356

"Litre" Measure

Lidless, bracket-handled cylindrical metric measure with heavy molded rim and base.
Description
Lidless, bracket-handled cylindrical metric measure with heavy molded rim and base. Stamped on front of body "LITRE" in incuse serif letters; on outside of rim and face of handle with "1" next to clasped hands in an elongated hexagon; and along top and outside front of rim with 19 raised serif letters. Flat bottom struck once with a shaped touchmark of a sun over an undecipherable motif between the raised serif letters "AP" and "AP". One of an assembled set of eight metric measures, DL*67.0310-.0317.
Maker is probably Auguste Anthoine of Paris, France, 1883-1917.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1883-1917
ID Number
DL.67.0311
catalog number
67.0311
accession number
250853

Sèvres porcelain cup and saucer

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1805
ID Number
CE.P-240ab
catalog number
P-240ab
accession number
225282

Sugar Bowl

Silver-gilt or vermeil, handleless ovoid bowl on a short, flared, circular pedestal base with a slightly rounded cover having a pointed-leaf-and-scroll medallion topped by a cast ribbed oval knop.
Description
Silver-gilt or vermeil, handleless ovoid bowl on a short, flared, circular pedestal base with a slightly rounded cover having a pointed-leaf-and-scroll medallion topped by a cast ribbed oval knop. Applied decoration includes four cast circular floral wreaths on body, a die-rolled band of scroll-outlined waterleaves at flared neck below a finely ribbed rim and of pointed leaves and single buds at base, and applied beading around pedestal. Brass tag stamped "3329" is wired to cover. Inside lid, neck and exterior of foot are struck with a total of seven hallmarks. Part of a five-piece service, DL*59.2346A-E.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1809 - 1819
maker
Cahier, Jean-Charles
ID Number
DL.59.2346C
catalog number
59.2346C
accession number
226997
collector/donor number
72

"Demi Litre" Measure

Bracket-handled, cylindrical metric measure with molded rim and base, pair of incised lines around midbody, and hooked rectangular thumb piece with flat extension burnt to the rimless domed lid; both ends of hinge pin impressed with grid pattern.
Description
Bracket-handled, cylindrical metric measure with molded rim and base, pair of incised lines around midbody, and hooked rectangular thumb piece with flat extension burnt to the rimless domed lid; both ends of hinge pin impressed with grid pattern. Stamped on face of handle "DEMI / LITRE" sideways in two sizes of incuse serif letters; and around neck, "O", "K", and a decorative "O". Flat bottom with two concentric circles is struck once with touchmark "BONSAN AINE PLACE D. / POISSON SALLE N\o9 / A BORDEAUX". One of an assembled set of five metric measures, DL*67.0321-.0325.
Maker is Bonson or Bouson of Bordeaux, France.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1807-1837
ID Number
DL.67.0322
catalog number
67.0322
accession number
250853

Teakettle

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1910
ID Number
DL.67.0368
catalog number
67.0368
accession number
263810

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