The 19th Century
DINING ROOM
COMPILED AND EDITED BY REBECCA HAUG
The nineteenth century dining room was used to stage all
formal and informal social functions in the home. The
family circle gathered together in this room two or three
times a day, therefore, great importance was placed on its
decoration. This room typically consumed about one-fourth of
the entire first floor plan. Some women's magazines implied
that the "food will taste better from table appointments
carefully chosen" and proceeded to lecture about the
carvings of table legs and the effect of one's choice of
silver, glass and china on the evening's conversation. "The
Standard Designer," a women's periodical, discussed
the available styles of furniture in 1897.
From The Standard Designer, 1897
DINING-ROOM furniture,
to be in the fashion of the late 1890s, must be massive and
made in imitation of old English, Dutch or Colonial models.
The
Dutch designs are especially popular, and frequently
those who are fortunate enough to possess some of the quaint
chests or dressers of the seventeenth century have them
transformed into sideboards, settles or seats for bay
windows. At one time the chests could be purchased quite
reasonably from Holland immigrants who brought them over
packed with their various household treasures. Hence it has
been to the interest of the cabinet maker to devote his
attention to reproducing the curious and in many cases
artistic carving on sideboards, buffets, chairs and tables.
One of the
handsomest woods that is used for this purpose is black or
antique oak, also known as bog oak. It is nearly ebony in
hue, but is without the shine of that wood, and it appears
to the greatest advantage when carved in bold bas-relief. The
older it grows the darker the wood becomes, and the more
valuable the article is considered that is made from it. For
this reason many makers stain the wood after it is carved,
thus accomplishing in a day what would require years to
bring about if left to the influence of time.
The above illustration
shows a dining-room furnished according to the latest
English fashion. The Englishman as a rule takes a greater
interest in furnishing the room in which he eats than the
American, for the reason that he considers it more of a
ceremonious apartment than does the latter, who in many
cases makes it do double service as a sitting-room.
Accordingly even in middle-class English families, much
elegance and good taste is shown in the selection of the
furniture for this particular place, and whatever is rare or
handsome is quite as likely to be found there as in the
 drawing-room
or the library. The floor of the dining-room illustrated is
of black oak, polished to the highest degree with wax, and
covered partially with a deep green and crimson Turkish rug
with a woven border. The walls are wainscoted with oak, and
covered the rest of the way with cream colored
Lincrusta Walton, touched on the most prominent parts
with gold, and in the shadows with ruddy brown. The ceiling
is dark oak, with dividing bands of lighter oak. The
lighting is accomplished in the daytime by the bay window
shown, and another on the opposite side of the room, and in
the evening by a wrought-iron chandelier, which is here
omitted, as it could not be introduced without hiding some
of the interior furnishing. Banquet and standard lamps of
wrought-iron also assist in illuminating on state occasions.
The two bay windows have their upper parts made of ruby and
amber stained glass, and are hung with green velour
curtains, lined with light brown silk. In each is arranged a
box seat covered with brown leather and stacked with
pillows. The sideboard is of black oak elaborately carved,
and the mantel is of the same wood, with cream-colored tiles
let in around the fireplace. The chairs are of oak with
brown leather seats, and the screen is of brown leather with
scroll designs of red, green and gold in relief. The dining
table is of oak and has a highly polished top, which is
sufficiently ornamental to be left without a cover when not
in use. As this particular dining-room faced east and west,
or rather its two windows looked in these directions, after
the morning sun left it was somewhat shady until the
afternoon brought him round again for a brief space of time
in the western window. Therefore the light wall covering was
necessary to detract from the somberness of the furniture.
Sheraton and
Chippendale have both tried their hands at sideboard
designing, and excellent examples of their individual work
are shown. Above is a
Chippendale, and is made of mahogany inlaid with white wood
and ebony. The rails at the top are of brass, and the
different sections are ornamented with brass dragons' heads,
holding rings in their mouths. This sideboard is in strong
contrast to the massive old English one that is below.
This is made
of bog oak, and has no gilding whatever about it. The four
shelves are open, more like a cupboard than a sideboard, for
the doors at the ends do not slide in front of the shelves,
but belong to two small closets for silver. The table
portion has three drawers lined with velvet and divided into
various compartments of different sizes for spoons, knives
and forks. This style of sideboard, minus the carving, was
evolved by a clever little woman for her home dining-room
from a kitchen table, a dry goods box divided into shelves,
some furniture stain, moulding and brass-headed nails.
Pieces of moulding nailed between the legs of the table took
away from their bare awkwardness and strips of moulding
applied along the edges of the box somewhat made up for the
absence of carving. The interior of the box and the shelves
were covered with dark green velveteen, and the general
effect was far from poor.
The upper
sideboard (also the long, low one below) are both Sheratons.
The upper one is a quaint little affair of cherry, with a
beveled mirror set in the back, and a tiny cupboard with
diamond panes set in the door. The lower part is quite
commodious and has quite a spacious closet for wines or
other delicacies, a drawer for silver and another for linen,
also an open shelf for cracker jars, condiments, etc. A good
carpenter could copy this design without any trouble, and
for an apartment the wine closet could be changed into a
refrigerator. There is no inlaid work about this particular
example of Sheraton, the main attraction lying in the oddity
of the shape and the beautiful polish of the wood.
The other
Sheraton above is only suitable for a very large room, where
the rest of the furniture would be equally massive. It is
made of black oak inlaid with light oak and ebony, and, like
the Chippendale, has handles of brass dragons' heads.
Properly speaking it is more a buffet or side table than a
sideboard, and is quite commodious, having two closets and
five drawers, the fifth one coming in the centre, but so
arranged as to be invisible, and opens only for the one
who knows the secret.
A
dining-room chair to be comfortable should have a seat that
is not too soft, and should be of the right height to permit
the sitter to use his knife and fork with ease. The carver's
and the tea or coffee pourer's chair should be more elevated
than the rest, and they generally have arms, also higher
backs than the others. All those shown with arms are
carving or tea chairs. The top one of all is a plain little
affair with a green leather seat and an oak frame. The next
in order is on the same style. The chair with a striped
covering is for the lady who attends to the tea thing. The
carved chair below the one just mentioned is a very handsome
article. Next is one of the new style green oak. At the top
of the page is a chair of rosewood, with a seat of flowered
velvet. The last chair of all is a carver's chair of
polished oak, with a seat of brown leather.
Antique Bronze Aquarium:
Rare antique Austrian
bronze aquarium, designed to be a centerpiece for a formal
antique dining table.
Furniture
& Draperies from Ackermann's, 1809-1812
Pictures of Regency era furniture from Ackermann's Repository
Antique
Furniture for the Bedroom:
The Victorians designed creative and space saving antique
furniture storage solutions, such as this multipurpose piece
of antique furniture.
Victorian Library:
The suddenly rich and uncultivated man
declares he will have all that dollars can pay for, and, of
course, his new house "must not be without a butler's pantry
and a library. Early
19th Century Antique Bed:
An 1803 hand-colored print from a French woman's magazine.
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