American Furniture and Decorative Arts

On View: West Building, Ground Floor

24 artworks on view.

Shown from the hips up, a young woman with pale skin, pink cheeks, and copper-red hair sits gazing at us in this vertical portrait painting. She has wide-set, brown eyes, a pointed chin, and her pink lips are closed with a mere hint of a smile. Curls frame her forehead and face, and the rest of her hair is pulled up at the back of her head. She sits on a chair upholstered dusky rose-pink chair with her body angled to our right. Her left arm, on our right, rests on the curved back of the chair, and her fingers are interlaced. Her white gown has a low, scooped neckline trimmed with ruffles and is tightly cinched under her bosom. A dove-gray shawl with gleaming straw-yellow accents wraps around her back and drapes loosely over her shoulders and upper arms. A rust-red cloth hangs in folds from the top edge of the painting to fill the right three-quarters of the background. It is pulled aside to the left to reveal a glimpse of a landscape with a green lawn and trees under an azure-blue streaked with white and gray clouds.

Ann Barry

Gilbert Stuart

1803/1805

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1954.9.3

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

Commodore Thomas Macdonough

Gilbert Stuart

c. 1815/1818

Oil on wood Accession ID 1942.8.17

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

The painting is a portrait of a man from the waist up. He is slightly turned to the left. He has pale skin, a long nose, deep-set eyes, and thin lips set in a neutral expression. He has pale gray hair styled back from his face. He is wearing a military uniform with a dark blue coat, yellow lapels, gold buttons, and gold epaulettes. A white cravat is tied around his neck. The background is a gradient of brown and gray, darker near the edges of the painting and lighter around the man.

George Washington

Rembrandt Peale

1859

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1947.17.16

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

This painting depicts a woman seated with a small white dog in her lap, her head turned slightly to the left. She has pale skin, rosy cheeks, faint eyebrows, light-colored eyes, and small pink lips slightly curved up at the edges. Her curly, dark-brown hair is styled up, and she is wearing a short-sleeved white dress with lace details around the neck. The background shows brown trees with dark green leaves against a blue sky with gray clouds.

Mary Barry

Gilbert Stuart

1803/1805

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1954.9.4

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

William Vans Murray

Mather Brown

1787

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1940.1.1

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G43

Martha Tennent Rogers (Mrs. David Rogers) and Her Son, probably Samuel Henry Rogers

Ralph Earl

1788

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1965.15.9

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

The image shows an upper-body portrait of a seated man. He is positioned in an angled chair, facing slightly to his right. His facial features include a composed expression, a narrow nose, and focused eyes, with a prominent forehead framed by his powdered, shoulder-length hair. The man is dressed in a brown coat with large buttons over a pale waistcoat and a white, ruffled shirt. He holds a book in his left hand, resting it on the arm of the chair. The chair is upholstered in red fabric with a gold-studded trim. In the background, there is a bookcase filled with books, partially visible. The dark drapery provides contrast and depth to the setting.

Dr. David Rogers

Ralph Earl

1788

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1965.15.8

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

Sarah Shippen Lea (Mrs. Thomas Lea)

Gilbert Stuart

c. 1798

Oil on canvas Accession ID 2014.136.137

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

The image shows a portrait of a man's upper body, focusing on his head and shoulders. The man is facing slightly to the viewer's right, with his head turned toward the viewer. He has fair skin, flushed cheeks, prominent cheekbones, and a calm expression. His white hair is styled in 18th-century curls. The man is wearing a dark formal coat with a high collar and a white cravat around his neck. The background is a blend of rich red tones with hints of blue and brown, adding depth to the composition. No jewelry or objects are visible.

Edward Shippen

Gilbert Stuart

1796

Oil on canvas Accession ID 2014.136.115

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

Shown from the waist up, a pale-skinned woman wearing a ruby-red dress and voluminous, pleated white headdress sits against a dark background in this vertical portrait painting. The woman’s body is angled to our right, but she looks at us from the corners of her dark gray eyes. She has thin eyebrows, lightly flushed cheeks, faintly smiling lips, and a wide, cleft chin over a slight double chin. A flesh-colored mole is just above the left corner of her mouth. Gray hair is swept up under the upside-down U-shaped headdress, which is pleated with translucent white fabric along the front and up and over the back. Another ribbon is solid white with a blue, red, and yellow floral pattern, and another is dotted with solid white against transparent fabric. The earring we see is a silver, ornate cross shape, and four strands of tiny pearls are tight to her neck like a choker. More translucent white cloth, now edged in ruffles, wraps around her neck and shoulders and is gathered under a bow tied with more of the floral-patterned ribbon. The vivid red dress has elbow-length sleeves with a looping gold design near the cuffs. White ruffles peek beyond the edges of the cuffs, and she wears a ring on the pinky finger of her left hand. The bodice is tightly fitting, and the skirt bunches up behind the woman in the wood chair, the back of which curves just beyond her right shoulder, to our left. She unfurls a scroll of music with one hand and holds the sheet with the other. Her left elbow, to our right, rests on the top of a narrow, black keyboard. The background is nearly black.

Lady Wearing a Large White Cap

American 18th Century

c. 1780

Oil on canvas Accession ID 1980.62.45

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

Teapot

Paul Revere

1782

Silver, wood, and metal Accession ID 2014.136.365

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42

This is a round wooden table with its top flipped up towards us. The table has a rich mahogany finish with a polished surface showing an intricate pattern originating from the center of the tabletop, highlighting the wood grain. The tabletop has a thin decorative band around the edge. Below the tabletop, a carved pedestal supports the table, ending in three curved legs with decorative feet on small casters.

Center Table

Duncan Phyfe

1825 - 1830

Mahogany Accession ID 2021.110.1

On View: West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G42