Mantelpiece (cheminée), possibly c. 1750

[1] Mrs. Rice was born Eleanor Elkins in Philadelphia; her first husband was George Dunton Widener, who perished with their elder son, Harry, in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. She married Dr. Alexander Hamilton Rice in 1915; her two other children with Widener inherited the New York residence after Dr. Rice's death.

Records of the Carlhian firm, a decorating company in Paris, are in the Special Collections of the Research Library at The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, California, accession number 930092. Copies of documents referring to the decoration of the Rice's 5th Avenue mansion are in NGA curatorial files; see in particular the itemized lists for the work to be done on the dining room that mention "a carved chimneypiece in Rouge Royal marble" and "supply old mantel piece with modern iron interior" (Carlhian Records, Box 628, Folder: Rice, NY, contract, estimates, specifications). Duveen Brothers, Inc., dealers with branches in London, New York, and Paris, were also involved with the building and furnishing of the Rice mansion, and there are documents on the project yet to be obtained in the Duveen Brothers Records, also at The Getty Research Institute.