Washington Winter Show 2012

33 This page is sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Edward Symes, III Figure 6 President James Monroe’s side chair, 1817 Pierre-Antoine Bellangé, France The National Trust for Historic Preservation at the Woodrow Wilson House Following its sale in 1860 under the Buchanan administration, this chair was purchased by the Galt family, who were well-known jew- elers in the Washington, DC area. The chair passed through the family and was eventually given to Matthew Galt’s widow, Edith Galt Wilson, who married President Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921), and so the Bellangé chair was once again used by a first family. Photo by Todd A. Smith The Madison administration acquired more elegant fur- nishings and exquisite choices in fine art than previous White House occupants. President James Madison and First Lady Dolley Madison continually entertained in the state rooms and, as Thomas Jefferson had earlier, contributed their own personal taste to the interiors [Figure 3]. They commissioned custom furnishings designed by architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe and made by cabinetmakers John and Hugh Findlay of Baltimore, Maryland. 7 Unfortunately, this furniture does not survive today. The War of 1812 and America’s renewed conflict with Great Britain was most violently manifested on August 24, 1814 with the burning of Washington, DC. As Dolley Madison fled with a few treasured objects to a safe ha- ven nearby, Charles Carroll’s Dumbarton House in George- town, all but the exterior shell of the President’s House burned to the ground with its remaining contents. This tragedy and all that was lost in the great fire has in- trigued Americans for nearly two hundred years. Of the ob- jects destroyed in the great fire, the Latrobe chairs have drawn much interest. Latrobe’s designs can be found with his personal papers at the Maryland Historical Society. With the financial support of a generous contributor, the Baltimore Museum of Art commissioned a replica of a side chair designed by Latrobe and made by a Baltimore cabinetmaker David Weisand in 2000 [Figure 4]. Reconstruction began under James Madison, but he and Mrs. Madison did not take up residence again in the Presi- dent’s House for the remainder of his administration; he