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

"Demi Decilitre" Measure

Lidless, bracket-handled, cylindrical metric measure with a spouted, sloped collar and molded base; incised around collar and above base.
Description
Lidless, bracket-handled, cylindrical metric measure with a spouted, sloped collar and molded base; incised around collar and above base. Stamped on front of body "DEMI / DEC[ILITRE]" in incuse serif letters; on front of neck with a small imperial crown and four small letters; on face of handle with another small imperial crown above "199" sideways; to right of handle with three raised letters in circles; and along top of inside rim and top of handle with an indiscernible number of small letters. Flat bottom struck once with touchmark "GV" in a lozenge or diamond shape. One of an assembled set of eight metric measures, DL*67.0326-.0333.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1861
ID Number
DL.67.0331
catalog number
67.0331
accession number
250853

Dish

Small, single-reeded circular dish with flat well; no foot ring. Center of well face struck with a small circle containing "B.CLO. / CIE (underlined)" in incuse serif letters. One of six dishes, DL*348136A-F.Currently not on view
Description
Small, single-reeded circular dish with flat well; no foot ring. Center of well face struck with a small circle containing "B.CLO. / CIE (underlined)" in incuse serif letters. One of six dishes, DL*348136A-F.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875-1900
ID Number
DL.348136B
catalog number
348136B
accession number
109879

Sèvres porcelain teapot and cover

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1830
ID Number
CE.P-380ab
catalog number
P-380ab
accession number
225282

Figurine

Polychrome- and gilt-painted, Dresden lace figurine of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, fair-skinned woman in dark blue or black hat and matching dress adorned in layers upon layers of pink lace; undecorated oval base.
Description
Polychrome- and gilt-painted, Dresden lace figurine of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, fair-skinned woman in dark blue or black hat and matching dress adorned in layers upon layers of pink lace; undecorated oval base. She carries a basket of pink roses in her right arm and lifts up her skirt with her left as she steps forward. Bottom underside is faintly stamped or inscribed "CHANTILLY" and "424".
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1950 - 1960
date used
1970s
ID Number
1996.0201.08
catalog number
1996.0201.08
accession number
1996.0201

Flagon

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
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; conical strut. Three stamps on outside of lid, two illegible next to a touchmark dated 1754 with crown above, interlocking "C"s at center and "R" below, all in a conforming surround.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1754
ID Number
DL.67.0261
catalog number
67.0261
accession number
250853

Tray

Silver-gilt or vermeil, flat oval tray with piercework gallery having a die-rolled band of pointed leaves and single buds at rim and beading below; four cast tab feet each have an anthemion outlined by split scrolls with rosettes.
Description
Silver-gilt or vermeil, flat oval tray with piercework gallery having a die-rolled band of pointed leaves and single buds at rim and beading below; four cast tab feet each have an anthemion outlined by split scrolls with rosettes. Oval brass tag stamped "3325" is wired to gallery. Underside struck with three hallmarks; and one mark on gallery exterior at center of long side. Part of a five-piece service, DL*59.2346A-E.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1819 - 1838
maker
Cahier, Jean-Charles
ID Number
DL.59.2346E
catalog number
59.2346E
accession number
226997
collector/donor number
72

Liter Measure

Bracket-handled, lidded and spouted, cylindrical metric measure with hooked tab thumb piece and wedge extension burnt to the rounded inset lid; bands of four incised grooves on body near molded lower rim and base.
Description
Bracket-handled, lidded and spouted, cylindrical metric measure with hooked tab thumb piece and wedge extension burnt to the rounded inset lid; bands of four incised grooves on body near molded lower rim and base. Inset, U-shaped, faceted spout with two graduated beads below; no cover. Seven-knuckle hinge. Lid stamped incuse "6" or "9" between concentric circles. Underside of flat bottom struck twice with a milled oval touchmark of a female figure, standing right with a palm branch in her right hand and a sword at her feet, as sun rays shine down from the upper right.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
19th century
ID Number
DL.67.0353
catalog number
67.0353
accession number
250853

Paris porcelain teapot (part of a service)

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

Flagon

Chartres type bulbous or bellied flagon or pichet with a high collar cut away at back for the flat inset lid; pinched spout. Double-bud thumb piece and wedge extension. Molded bands around top of neck, shoulder, and lower body above flared base.
Description
Chartres type bulbous or bellied flagon or pichet with a high collar cut away at back for the flat inset lid; pinched spout. Double-bud thumb piece and wedge extension. Molded bands around top of neck, shoulder, and lower body above flared base. Few incised lines remain around body. Strap handle with stepped thumbrest and short round terminal. Bottom underside is struck with two marks, one almost entirely effaced while the other has a star over interlocking "C"s, that are surrounded by scratched graffiti, most illegible but includes "Puolä(?) land", "1776", "(???) nasse / 1774".
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 18th century
ID Number
DL.67.0263
catalog number
67.0263
accession number
250853

"Decilitre" Measure

Bracket-handled, cylindrical metric measure with molded rim and base, hooked rectangular thumb piece, and flat extension burnt to the rimless domed lid. Both ends of hinge pin flattened. Lid inside with two pairs of raised concentric circles.
Description
Bracket-handled, cylindrical metric measure with molded rim and base, hooked rectangular thumb piece, and flat extension burnt to the rimless domed lid. Both ends of hinge pin flattened. Lid inside with two pairs of raised concentric circles. Stamped on front of body "DECILITRE" in incuse serif letters flanked by illegible shapes; and on front outside of rim, face of handle and top of lid with clasped hands in an oval. Touchmark erased from underside of flat bottom. One of an assembled set of five metric measures, DL*67.0321-.0325.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
19th century
ID Number
DL.67.0324
catalog number
67.0324
accession number
250853

Flagon

Normandy type, mallet-shaped flagon or pichet with double-acorn thumb piece and square wedge extension; heavily worn, engraved letters "H(A?)I(?)" partially visible on the heart-shaped lid.
Description
Normandy type, mallet-shaped flagon or pichet with double-acorn thumb piece and square wedge extension; heavily worn, engraved letters "H(A?)I(?)" partially visible on the heart-shaped lid. Slightly flared, galleried rim, shouldered body and flared base; three incised lines around rim, two around neck and above base, and one at base. S-scroll handle stepped thumbrest and short terminal; oval attachment. No other marks.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 18th century
ID Number
DL.67.0257
catalog number
67.0257
accession number
250853

Paris porcelain pitcher

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c.1810
ID Number
CE.P-102
catalog number
P-102
accession number
225282

Sèvres porcelain teapot (part of a service)

The teapot has elaborate decoration in gold and platinum on a deep blue-black ground.
Description
The teapot has elaborate decoration in gold and platinum on a deep blue-black ground. The body of the teapot has a stylized floral diaper pattern covering the surface with two gold-framed portraits of French writer and philosopher Michel de Montaigne and the poet Francois de Malherbe. 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 writer and highly original thinker Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), the poet and literary critic Francois Malherbe (1555-1628) have their portraits on this teapot. The most likely source for the portrait of Montaigne is a print (1774) by Augustin de Saint-Aubin (1736-1807) after an earlier painting of the French School. The portrait of Malherbe was copied by Sèvres artists, possibly from a print by Lucas Vorsterman after the painter Daniel Dumonstier (1574-1646), and this likeness was also a probable source for a painting of Malherbe by the French artist Robert Lefévre (1755-1830). Daniel Dumonstier was a court artist and a friend of Malherbe.
This teapot 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-1061Aab
catalog number
P-1061Aab
accession number
225282

Paris porcelain cup and saucer

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 1810
ID Number
CE.P-591ab
catalog number
P-591ab
accession number
225282

Paris porcelain boat-shaped vessel

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early nineteenth century
ID Number
CE.P-103
catalog number
P-103
accession number
225282

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.
This rare, unrecorded Clichy glass paperweight has a five-petal white flower with a yellow center suspended in a clear ball.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1845-1850
maker
Clichy
ID Number
CE.65.463
catalog number
65.463
accession number
264964
collector/donor number
80

Sèvres pitcher (part of a service)

The pitcher comes from a service that Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) gave to his sister Pauline (1780-1825) when she established a home in Paris at the hôtel de Charost.
Description
The pitcher comes from a service that Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) gave to his sister Pauline (1780-1825) when she established a home in Paris at the hôtel de Charost. The light lilac ground was a fashionable color in post-revolutionary France, a time when interior designers experimented with new and unusual colors and color combinations, and one of the boudoirs in the hôtel de Charost was painted in a similar color. The figure subject is painted in brown and highlighted in gold on a ground painted to imitate marble. Under the spout the subject is a centaur rearing on his hind legs with a shield in his left hand and an arrow in his right. Two portrait medallions in profile on a white marble ground are framed by a circle of gold stars, purple beads and foliate ornament.
The pitcher's pale lilac ground has dark purple ornament painted in overglaze enamel. A Greek key pattern is painted below the shoulder of the vessel, and at the base of the pitcher there is a foliate frieze above a band of gold. A delicate leaf pattern circles the neck of the pitcher. The handle is heavily gilded and the interior is white with no decoration apart from a band of gold on the rim.
See Liana Paredes, 2009, exhibition catalog “Sèvres Then and Now: Tradition and Innovation in Porcelain, 1750-2000”, p.73, p.148.
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
1805
ID Number
CE.P-778E
catalog number
P-778E
accession number
225282

Sèvres porcelain sauceboat and stand

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1846
1864
ID Number
CE.P-117ab
catalog number
P-117ab
accession number
225282

Sevres porcelain cup

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1839
ID Number
CE.P-142
catalog number
P-142
accession number
225282

Beaker

Handleless cylindrical cup with straight tapered sides, an everted rim incised with two pairs of lines, and a flat bottom. Engraved on exterior with monogram "BWB" in conjoined script crowned by a leafy wreath or coronet and framed by two crossed branches below.
Description
Handleless cylindrical cup with straight tapered sides, an everted rim incised with two pairs of lines, and a flat bottom. Engraved on exterior with monogram "BWB" in conjoined script crowned by a leafy wreath or coronet and framed by two crossed branches below. Bottom underside is struck once with the maker's mark "CM / G" in a diamond and with a right-facing, standing spreadwing rooster next to "1", all inside a clipped-corner rectangle (standard or title mark). Exterior below rim is stamped with the profile of a classical head, facing right, inside a small oval (guaranty mark for medium-size objects).
Maker is C. M. Granger of Paris, France; working, 1809-1819.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1809-1819
ID Number
DL.59.2280
catalog number
59.2280
accession number
113420

Paris porcelain candlestick

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 1810
ID Number
CE.P-1123
catalog number
P-1123
accession number
225282

Salt Dish

Closed, oval cylindrical piercework salt on four cast claw-and-ball feet with a low bell-domed hinged lid topped by a leafy pinecone or berry finial; clear, cobalt blue glass liner. Plain or empty rectangular reserve on front of body. Flat frame on bottom.
Description
Closed, oval cylindrical piercework salt on four cast claw-and-ball feet with a low bell-domed hinged lid topped by a leafy pinecone or berry finial; clear, cobalt blue glass liner. Plain or empty rectangular reserve on front of body. Flat frame on bottom. Inside of lid and bottom underside are struck with three hallmarks (those on bottom partial), two interlaced L's, a maker's mark including the initials "NN", and an imperial crown marked "86" above the script letter "P"; a small pitcher or ewer is stamped on the front edge of the lid exterior and overstruck on the interlaced L's on bottom underside.
Maker is Noel Nousecourt of Paris, France; working c. 1783-1793.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1786
ID Number
DL.60.2216
catalog number
60.2216
accession number
131186

Paris porcelain cup and saucer

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1799-1816
ID Number
CE.P-101ab
catalog number
P-101ab
accession number
225282

billet bar

Right-angled, stepped billet bar on three legs with cast vase-and-flame log stop bolted through the side corner; extends to the viewer's right. Slot at front receives bracket of andiron DL*329490A or B. No marks.
Description
Right-angled, stepped billet bar on three legs with cast vase-and-flame log stop bolted through the side corner; extends to the viewer's right. Slot at front receives bracket of andiron DL*329490A or B. No marks. One of a pair of billet bars with andirons, DL*329490A-D.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
ID Number
DL.329490D
catalog number
329490D
accession number
87896

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