The Georgia Dining Room revisited - Winterthur - Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

Magazine Antiques, Jan, 2002 by Tara L. Gleason

Winterthur's conservators and scientists once again scrutinized the woodwork from the room already at Winterthur and visited the Rockwell mansion for further investigation. Using both physical paint scrapings in Georgia and sophisticated analytical techniques in the laboratories at Winterthur, they determined that the original color of the woodwork had been a stone-buff color not gray-green. (9) This stone-buff color was consistent with information from advice books of the period, which recommended that "Generally.. .the safest colour to set off the furniture is one of the various tints of gray including light stone-colour and dove-colour." (10) The wallpaper fragments that had been discovered underneath the woodwork of the rear parlor of the Rockwell mansion in 1970 were also reanalyzed, and it was determined that they were of a later date than had previously been thought. (11) Based on this information, samples of the original plaster walls in Georgia were analyzed, revealing three layers of twentieth-centu ry paint (see pl. VIII). The only surviving evidence of nineteenth-century paint or wallpaper was the existence of sizing in the plaster and random particles on top of the plaster. This evidence could not be clearly connected with a specific paint medium or color scheme. However, since it was consistent with the use of whitewash, calcimine paint, or wallpaper, (12) and since white was a common color for walls and ceilings during the early to the mid-nineteenth century (13) the staff decided to create the appearance of whitewash on the Georgia Dining Room plaster walls, cornice, and ceiling. (14)

Textiles are a major component of a room's color scheme, and nineteenth-century advice books clearly state that the color of the textiles in a room should harmonize with each other but contrast with the color of the walls. (15) One writer warned, "if the colours do not harmonize or contrast agreeably and according to the dictates of good taste, the effect will be bad, no matter how rich or expensive the materials." (16)

In order to follow the dictates of 1830s good taste, Winterthur's curators chose a scarlet wool harrateen with gold silk tape and bullion fringe for the Georgia Dining Room curtains. Paintings and period sources reveal that scarlet was often used for dining room curtains during the early nineteenth century. (17) Because of the fragility of textiles and the dearth of early nineteenth-century window curtains in their original configuration, reproduction textiles were used, but the fabrics and designs, as well as the color, were based on period sources (see Pl. VI and Fig. 1). (18)

Period advice books instructed housewives to hang venetian blinds and muslin panels behind their wool curtains to protect both the curtains and the inhabitants of the dining room from dust, flies, and sun. During the summer months, the wool curtains were removed and stored to protect them from dust and fading and to allow for greater air circulation. (19) In 1834 Oliver Prince placed an order for venetian blinds, most likely for his new Milledgeville house. (20) Based on this evidence, reproduction green venetian blinds were installed with the scarlet wool curtains in the Georgia Dining Room.