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: 1870s

dish

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
about 1879
ID Number
CE.75.124B
catalog number
75.124B
accession number
317832

Fluting Iron

Two-piece hand fluter consisting of a wire handled, convex rocker or presser with arrow design cast in the top side of its corrugated plate, and a matching, flat, rectangular, corrugated bed with product name, patent information and maker cast in its underside; a hooked tab for l
Description
Two-piece hand fluter consisting of a wire handled, convex rocker or presser with arrow design cast in the top side of its corrugated plate, and a matching, flat, rectangular, corrugated bed with product name, patent information and maker cast in its underside; a hooked tab for lifting is at one end of rocker and slotted tab at one end of bed. Rocker handle has a horizontally seamed, crosshatched block grip and S-curve or gooseneck sides individually attached to bases or sockets in the plate. Both pieces marked "4" in yellow and white chalk or crayon.
Maker is C. W. Whitfield of Watkins (now Watkins Glen), NY.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1875
ID Number
DL.307541.0005
catalog number
307541.0005
accession number
307541

Salt Dish

Open salt shaped as a hemispherical water lily with horizontal, S-scroll stem attached to flat lily pad. Gilt-washed interior. Underside of pad struck with incuse circular mark containing a pointed shield with balanced scales bordered by "x MERIDEN x / B.
Description
Open salt shaped as a hemispherical water lily with horizontal, S-scroll stem attached to flat lily pad. Gilt-washed interior. Underside of pad struck with incuse circular mark containing a pointed shield with balanced scales bordered by "x MERIDEN x / B. COMPANY." in sans serif letters above "31". Black plastic label embossed "459" adhered on bottom underside. One of four, 1984.0424.04-.07.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1873
maker
Meriden Britannia Company
ID Number
1984.0424.04
accession number
1984.0424
catalog number
1984.0424.04

Bread Basket

Japanned oval basket or pan with tall, tapered sides cut with two semicircular or lunette handles at its higher ends and painted along its lower sides with wide white bands containing a repeating pattern, from right to left, of a red tulip with blue-dotted center next to an orang
Description
Japanned oval basket or pan with tall, tapered sides cut with two semicircular or lunette handles at its higher ends and painted along its lower sides with wide white bands containing a repeating pattern, from right to left, of a red tulip with blue-dotted center next to an orange, red and blue flower, a green and orange leaf, and a shaded or fingered red-to-yellow pomegranate at far left; yellow and alizarin overstrokes with black veins and a few curlicues or squiggles in the open spaces. Yellow brushwork under the handles. Crystallized well with yellow border overpainted with thin black lattice fence strokes. Made in three pieces with a molded, wire-rolled rim, folded seams, and a flat bottom. No marks.
Attributed to either the Harvey Filley Tinshop, circa 1818-1853, or Frederick Zeitz Tinshop, both in Philadelphia, PA.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1830 - 1870
ID Number
1978.0119.31
accession number
1978.0119
catalog number
1978.0119.31

dish

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
about 1879
ID Number
CE.75.125G
catalog number
75.125G
accession number
317832

fork, dinner; cutlery, set, part of

Two-tined dinner fork with baluster stem. Tines, stem, and tang are one piece. Bone scales are riveted to the top and bottom of the tang with brass pins to form a tapered handle with chamfered edges and rounded butt. Scratched and discolored overall, yellowed ivory.
Description
Two-tined dinner fork with baluster stem. Tines, stem, and tang are one piece. Bone scales are riveted to the top and bottom of the tang with brass pins to form a tapered handle with chamfered edges and rounded butt. Scratched and discolored overall, yellowed ivory. See accompanying dinner knife (1986.0531.037)
Stem of fork is stamped: "STEEL"
Blade of accompanying knife is stamped: “B.J. EYRE & Co/LATE W. GREAVES & SON/SHEFFIELD”
Maker is B.J. Eyre & Company, active ca 1850-1876 in Sheffield, England.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850- 1876
maker
B. J. Eyre and Company
ID Number
1986.0531.038
accession number
1986.0531
catalog number
1986.0531.038

Fruit Dish Centerpiece

Figural fruit dish with a tapered rectangular base on four bracket feet that is ornamented with a scallop-edged, shell-shape barge or boat on scrolling flowered supports being paddled by a female deity or fairy with star diadem standing atop a flower on the prow.
Description
Figural fruit dish with a tapered rectangular base on four bracket feet that is ornamented with a scallop-edged, shell-shape barge or boat on scrolling flowered supports being paddled by a female deity or fairy with star diadem standing atop a flower on the prow. Festoons of laurel leaves and berries hang from the boat's sides. Stamped and chased aesthetic-style designs fill the boat's interior and border the base. A die-rolled band of floral medallions covers the base's sides and additional flowers and large beads adorn its feet. Elements are individually cast and screwed into the base. Underside of base is struck incuse near center with two circular rampant lion marks for "MERIDEN SILVER PLATE CO.", one covered by the X support for the feet and the other deliberately engraved over. The number "4521" is stamped below these marks while a circular plate for "GEO. EAKINS. / PHILADLEPHIA" is affixed above and "41" is engraved to the left.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1877
ID Number
1978.0340.01
accession number
1978.0340
catalog number
1978.0340.01

Hot Water Urn

Two-part, hot water or coffee urn with two pairs of angled, open paired-scroll handles. Ovoid upper section has a domed cover topped by a cast pheasant finial and spigot with fleur-de-lis handle.
Description
Two-part, hot water or coffee urn with two pairs of angled, open paired-scroll handles. Ovoid upper section has a domed cover topped by a cast pheasant finial and spigot with fleur-de-lis handle. Oval piercework-decorated base on four cast tab feet contains a removable, single-wick spirit burner holder. Folded seams; riveted construction. No marks. Finial replaced. Tinning gone.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1850 - 1875
ID Number
DL.130314
catalog number
130314
accession number
21132

vase

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
about 1876
maker
Union Porcelain Works
ID Number
CE.75.113
accession number
317832
catalog number
75.113

Teapot

Scalloped or ribbed pear-shaped teapot on four cast scroll feet with domed, hinged lid topped by button knop. Fluted S-scroll spout with split lip. Fluted cylindrical sockets for spurred C-shaped handle, which is broken off and stored inside teapot. Body perforated at spout.
Description
Scalloped or ribbed pear-shaped teapot on four cast scroll feet with domed, hinged lid topped by button knop. Fluted S-scroll spout with split lip. Fluted cylindrical sockets for spurred C-shaped handle, which is broken off and stored inside teapot. Body perforated at spout. Underside of body struck with maker's mark and four sets of numbers.
Maker is Shaw & Fisher of Sheffield, England; 1830-1894. The firm specialized in Britannia and, later, electroplated wares.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1835-1865
ID Number
DL.366312
catalog number
366312
accession number
124063

Butter Dish

Two-handled circular butter dish with tall, straight-sided, round-top cover topped by a cast standing horned cow on four splayed legs with masks of a helmeted, bearded man above scroll feet; a removable pierced liner fits inside dishl.
Description
Two-handled circular butter dish with tall, straight-sided, round-top cover topped by a cast standing horned cow on four splayed legs with masks of a helmeted, bearded man above scroll feet; a removable pierced liner fits inside dishl. Top of cover has stamped and chased mimosa foliage forming an empty reserve at front. Two animal- or grotesque-mask handles and V-ended butter knife holder are attached at patterned band on dish. Dish is struck incuse on the underside of its flat bottom with a circular mark containing a pointed shield bordered by "MERIDEN / B. COMPANY" in sans serif letters above "4911". Cover and liner not marked. No butter knife.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1871
maker
Meriden Britannia Company
ID Number
1984.0424.02
accession number
1984.0424
catalog number
1984.0424.02

Creamer

Spherical creamer on circular foot ring; upper half of body has a flat-chased scrollwork band with two circular reserves, one engraved with the monogram "CEE", and is joined to the plain lower half by a denticulate-patterned midband.
Description
Spherical creamer on circular foot ring; upper half of body has a flat-chased scrollwork band with two circular reserves, one engraved with the monogram "CEE", and is joined to the plain lower half by a denticulate-patterned midband. Short, incuved neck rises to cusped rim with wide pouring lip. Hollow, C-curve handle has stylized palmate or anthemion terminals. Underside of slightly convex bottom struck around centerpoint, "TIFFANY & CO." and "550 BROADWAY" encircling "1516", "QUALITY / 925-1000" flanked on both sides by a gothic or Old English "M", and "2749".
Made by John C. Moore & Son for Tiffany & Co., both of New York, NY; the above mark used, 1865-1870. Moore & Son (John Chandler Moore and Edward Chandler Moore) was in operation, 1849-1868; they produced exclusively for Tiffany, which purchased the company in 1868 (Edward C. Moore then became head of Tiffany's silver department, a position he held until his death in 1891).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1865-1870
retailer
Tiffany & Co.
ID Number
DL.300564
catalog number
300564

Fork

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1850
1851 - 1874
patent date
1846-07-10
retailer
Ball, Black and Company
ID Number
DL.60.1110
catalog number
60.1110
accession number
70138

Folding Chair

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870s
patent date
1868-03-10
1868-11-16
patentee
Collignon, Claudius O.
Collignon, Nicholas
ID Number
DL.307707.0004
catalog number
307707.0004
accession number
307707

dish

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
about 1879
ID Number
CE.75.125E
catalog number
75.125E
accession number
317832

Sèvres porcelain presentation vase and cover

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
c. 1873
ID Number
CE.P-238a
catalog number
P-238ab
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.
The design on this marbrie-type paperweight centers around a millefiori cane with typical St. Louis blue and white sections in a quartered marble pattern of outward extending red and green spaced loops. 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
1845-1870
maker
St. Louis
ID Number
CE.60.36
catalog number
60.36
accession number
211475

dish

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
about 1879
ID Number
CE.75.125K
catalog number
75.125K
accession number
317832

Demi Decilitre Measure

Bracket-handled, cylindrical metric measure with a sloped collar pinched into spout at front and an overhanging pouted lid; molded lower rim and base. Curved-back thumb piece with flat extension; five-knuckle hinge has domed-end hinge pin.
Description
Bracket-handled, cylindrical metric measure with a sloped collar pinched into spout at front and an overhanging pouted lid; molded lower rim and base. Curved-back thumb piece with flat extension; five-knuckle hinge has domed-end hinge pin. Stamped on front of body "DEMI / DECILITRE" in incuse serif letters below clasped hands in an oval above "** / 52"; on tip of lid and face of handle with clasped hands mark; and on extension and face of handle with an indecipherible number of letter verification marks. Underside of flat bottom struck once with incuse oval touchmark of "MAISON LESEIGNEUR (arched) / DEVERRE Suc.\r / CAEN (curved)".
Maker is Deverre, successor of Maison Leseigneur of Caen, France.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875
ID Number
DL.67.0348
catalog number
67.0348
accession number
250853

Trunk

Japanned, dome-top box with scrolled hasp lock on front, circular wire ring handle on top, and two hinges at back.
Description
Japanned, dome-top box with scrolled hasp lock on front, circular wire ring handle on top, and two hinges at back. Box front is painted with a right-leaning sprig of two red tuliplike flowers with yellow-dotted centers surrounded by four stems of red and blue buds, two long and two short, all with alizarin and white overtones; and by white-veined, smooth- and serrated-edge green leaves and green, yellow, and translucent white leaflets. Box sides each have a four-arm, red-and-green pinwheel; thin yellow and thick red bands border lid top. Three-piece lid has a wire-rolled rim. Three-piece box has a top edge folded with wire bead below and a flat bottom. Tinned interior. No marks.
Attributed to the New York Filley Tinshop, started by Augustus Filley (1789-1845), of Lansingburgh, NY, circa 1814-1870.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1814 - 1870
ID Number
1978.0119.20
accession number
1978.0119
catalog number
1978.0119.20

Half Pint Measure

Lidless bulbous or bellied measure with a beaded, galleried rim and cast circular flared foot; half pint size. Three, thick incised lines at shoulder; faint line at seam.
Description
Lidless bulbous or bellied measure with a beaded, galleried rim and cast circular flared foot; half pint size. Three, thick incised lines at shoulder; faint line at seam. Tapered, S-scroll handle with arched and stepped thumbrest and lower short terminal with oval attachment above seam. Rim exterior stamped to right of handle "1/2 PINT" in raised serif letters inside a cyma-bordered surround, and to left of handle with a quatrefoil crowned "VR" verification mark with the circular arms of the City of London.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1820-1870
ID Number
DL.67.0135
catalog number
67.0135
accession number
250853

dish

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
about 1877
ID Number
CE.75.129ab
catalog number
75.129ab
accession number
317832

One-Sixteenth Pint Measure

Small, lidless, bulbous or bellied spirit measure with a beaded, galleried rim and cast circular flared foot; 1/16 pint. Three incised lines at shoulder and single bead at seam. Tapered, S-scroll handle with incurved thumbrest and lower pointed terminal attached at seam.
Description
Small, lidless, bulbous or bellied spirit measure with a beaded, galleried rim and cast circular flared foot; 1/16 pint. Three incised lines at shoulder and single bead at seam. Tapered, S-scroll handle with incurved thumbrest and lower pointed terminal attached at seam. Rim exterior stamped to right of handle with two different 1/16 capacity marks and a "VR" mark with the shield of the City of London; to left of handle are two additional verification marks, one a crowned "VR" mark for Leamington (Spa, "530"). Touch on bottom interior of a crowned "X" and "4", both incuse.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1820-1870
ID Number
DL.67.0142
catalog number
67.0142
accession number
250853

Half Gill Measure

Lidless bulbous or bellied measure with a beaded, galleried rim and cast circular flared foot; approximately half gill size. Four incised lines at shoulder. Tapered, S-scroll handle with arched and stepped thumbrest and lower short terminal with oval attachment at seam.
Description
Lidless bulbous or bellied measure with a beaded, galleried rim and cast circular flared foot; approximately half gill size. Four incised lines at shoulder. Tapered, S-scroll handle with arched and stepped thumbrest and lower short terminal with oval attachment at seam. Bottom exterior has an oval stamp of a spreadwing eagle, body facing right and head turned left, with an arched surround above (text illegible) and curved surround below containing "REED & BARTON" in rased sans serif letters; and the pattern number "R13".
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1870
pre-1937
ID Number
DL.67.0137
catalog number
67.0137
accession number
250853

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.