Domestic Furnishings - Overview
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.
"Domestic Furnishings - Overview" showing 3 items.
1878 Kate P. McHenry's "Basket" Pieced Quilt Top
- Description
- Pieced in the “Basket” pattern, this quilt was made in the fourth quarter of the nineteenth century. “Kate P. McHenry 1878” is written in ink on one corner. Catherine (Kate) Price McHenry was the daughter of Jane Price Winter, whose “Carpenter’s Wheel” quilt is also in the collection, and Josiah W. McHenry. Kate was born in 1850 and lived in La Pile, Union County, Arkansas.
- The quilt top consists of forty-two 9¼-inch blocks made of a variety of roller-printed cottons. The blocks are set in a triple sashing of green print and plain white cottons. A miniature “Nine-patch” design is set in the intersections of the sashing. Stripes, checks, small geometrics, plaids, and scallop-shell motifs are represented in the fabrics. This quilt top is among several items that G. Ruth McHenry (Kate’s niece) donated to the Smithsonian.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1878
- maker
- McHenry, Kate P.
- ID Number
- TE*T12698
- accession number
- 238478
- catalog number
- T12698
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Centennial Coverlet
- Description
- This Jacquard double-woven coverlet was made in the late 19th century around the time of the nation’s centennial (1876). It features an image of the U.S. Capitol framed by rings of flowers. Beyond the ring of flowers is a diamond design broken by a ring of 18 small flower medallions. The coverlet is made of cotton and wool yarns. It is hemmed at the top, while weft yarns form the side fringes. An applied fringe has been sewn to the lower edge. The maker is unknown. Throughout the 19th century, textiles were woven or printed with special designs celebrating historic events or people, including the 50th anniversary of American independence in 1826, the death of Lincoln, and the 100th birthday of Samuel Slater, the father of the American cotton industry.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1875-1900
- late 19th century
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- TE*T014561
- catalog number
- T14561.000
- accession number
- 277986
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Edison "New Year's Eve" Lamp
- Description
- Thomas Edison used this carbon-filament bulb in the first public demonstration of his most famous invention, the first practical electric incandescent lamp, which took place at his Menlo Park, New Jersey, laboratory on New Year's Eve, 1879.
- As the quintessential American inventor-hero, Edison personified the ideal of the hardworking self-made man. He received a record 1,093 patents and became a skilled entrepreneur. Though occasionally unsuccessful, Edison and his team developed many practical devices in his "invention factory," and fostered faith in technological progress.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1879
- used date
- 1879-12-31
- user
- Edison, Thomas Alva
- maker
- Edison, Thomas Alva
- ID Number
- EM*181797
- catalog number
- 181797
- accession number
- 33407
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center