Washstand with painted decoration and a marble top from the James Sharp bedroom Suite, 1841. Washstand is highly finished in grey with a trompe-l'oeil painted floral design. An example of 19th century painted cottage furniture. Painting and ornamentation by Boston manufacturer, James Sharp, (1790-1873).
washstands
maple (wood)
beech (wood)
birch (wood)
marble by composition or origin
trompe-l'oeil
Stand, Floor
Washstand
Washstand
Two pieces from this set are labeled "Miss K. B. Upham / Ogunquit, Maine," suggesting that they may have been used in a summer cottage there. Ornamented with summer flowers - trumpet vines and daisies, among others - the set would have been particularly suitable for summertime use. In The Architecture of Country Houses (1850), Andrew Jackson Downing discussed the appropriateness of cottage-style bedroom suites and pointed to Boston as the source of the finest examples. This set is notable both for the quality of the painting and for its extensive documentation for not only do we know where it was used, but the decorator and probable maker James Sharp signed and dated the base of the headboard.
1907.1
Sharp, James, 1790-1873 (Maker)
29 11/16 x 31 x 15 13/16 (HxWxD) (inches)
Gift of the Wunsch Americana Foundation
2018.22.1
Historic New England is committed to implementing reparative language description for existing collections and creating respectful and inclusive language description for new collections. If you encounter language in Historic England's Collections Access Portal that is harmful or offensive, or you find materials that would benefit from a content warning, please contact [email protected].
Sign up to our newsletter for our latest news and events
Loading...
