Anatomy of a room

Magazine Antiques, July, 2003 by Allison Eckardt Ledes

The methods used to uncover physical evidence of what might have been used to embellish rooms in earlier times now include scientific analyses by a number of specialists who do much to eliminate or substantially reduce the role of guesswork An example of this cooperation is the refurbishing of what is now known as George Washington's bedchamber and study in the Morris-Jumel Mansion, which was his headquarters for about five weeks during the autumn of 1776. The architecturally distinguished mansion was built in northern Manhattan as a country retreat in 1765 by Colonel Roger Morris and his wife Mary Philipse. In the 1990s the board of trustees of the mansion allocated funds for research to more accurately interpret this second-floor room. William Henry Shelton, the first curator of the mansion, from 1908 to 1925, had come to the conclusion that it was Washington's bedchamber rather than his office, and more recently Elizabeth Bidwell Bates, a consultant, found documentation to buttress this assertion. Washingt on's enslaved manservant William Lee shared the room with him.

The first step in the long process of reinterpretation was to engage the well-known paint detective Frank S. Welsh of Welsh Color and Conservation in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania (telephone: 610-525-3564; www.welshcolor.com). Through scientific analysis he was able to determine a great deal, including that the room was originally wallpapered and the woodwork was painted a warm gray.

For the wallpaper, the staff contacted Joanne Kosuda-Wamer then the curator of wallcoverings at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York City She contacted Treve Rosoman, curator of Eltham Palace in Greenwich, England, which is owned by English Heritage. He found a sample of mid-eighteenth-century wallpaper that had come from a town house in London. This paper was re-created by hand-joining rag paper that was subsequently painted Greek, or verdigris green, by WRN Associates of Lee, Massachusetts (telephone: 413-243-3489; www.paper-hangings.com) under the supervision of Robert M. Kelly The sheets were then trimmed by band, and during the installation the edges of each sheet were made to overlap as they would have in the eighteenth century The borders were painted by Audrey Zeidman.

Research into the type of bed that would have been in the room was conducted at the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Virginia. A reproduction based on a mid- to late eighteenth-century bed made in New York and now in the American Wing was created by Harrison Higgins of Richmond, Virginia (telephone: 804-355-5501; www.harrisonhigginsinc.com).

Other pieces of furniture in the room are antiques and were purchased through the generosity of private donors, who also underwrote much of the research for the textiles in the room. A mid-Atlantic windsor chair in the room is on loan from the Metropolitan Museum.

Under the supervision of Nancy Britton of the Metropolitan Museum and Natalie F. Larson of Historic Textile Reproductions in Williamsburg, Virginia (telephone: 757-220-4902), three textile specialists were engaged to carry out the research and fabrication of the appropriate bed hangings, upholstery and window curtains. The mattress for the bed was fashioned by Ms. Larson's firm, according to documentation at Colonial Williamsburg, as was a blanket and pallet of a type that would have been used by William Lee at night and rolled up during the day (visible in the corner of the photograph at right, top). The dimity was supplied by Brunschwig et Fils of North White Plains, New York (telephone: 800538-1880; www.bnmschwig.com) as was the copperplate-printed fabric (called Bromley Hall) used to fashion the curtain swags. The fringe for the curtains was handmade by Context Weavers of Lancashire, England (telephone: 44-1706-220-917). The Scottish single-ply yam for the chair seat fabric was dyed and then woven on a ni neteenth-century loom by Kate Smith of Eaton Hill Textile Works in Marshfield, Vermont (telephone: 802-426-3733; www.eatonhilltextiles.com) to match fibers found on the frame of the chair The upholstery work was accomplished by Ms. Britton.

Science, historical research, close scrutiny of objects made in the eighteenth century, and the advice of colleagues here and abroad have coalesced to produce an interior that more closely resembles what Washington might have seen when he occupied the house in the autumn of 1776.

RELATED ARTICLE: General Washington's study in the Monis-Jumel Mansion in New York City as ft looked in a photograph (top) taken a 1974 by U H. Frohman, and as ft appeared in a photograph (bottom) taken in the 1980s. Photographs by courtesy of the Morris-Jumel Mansion, New York City.

Two views of George Washington's bedchamber and study as recently reinterpreted. Photographs by Madeleine Isom.