Washington Winter Show 2012

34 Figures 7A and 7B Ideas and Suggestions of Mrs. Harrison for the Extension of the Executive Mansion, 1890 Drawn by Fred D. Owen [photographs of the original sketches] The Kiplinger Washington Collection By 1890 many believed the White House was being overshadowed by the grand estates of America’s industrial magnates and railroad tycoons. First Lady Caroline Harrison proposed an expansion of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to include an art gallery, offices, and badly needed private space. However, Congress did not appropriate funds to support the project. continued to preside over the Government from a temporary location, the Octagon House, where he performed his official duties and, with Mrs. Madison, entertained guests, from both near and far [Figure 5]. 8 The reconstruction of the White House was completed un- der Madison’s successor, James Monroe (1817–1821). Monroe put much effort into redecorating the interior spaces and made recommendations on how the cavernous spaces should be filled. He filled the elliptical room (now known as the Blue Room) with a glistening suite of gilt French empire furniture uphol- stered in red silk made by Pierre-Antoine Bellangé in Paris. Ex- tremely controversial due to its cost and lavish appearance, the modish suite triggered a crisis between democratic values and fashion sensibility. The 53-piece set of side chairs, armchairs, settees, footstools, tabourets, fire screens, and one pier table, remained in the elliptical room for more than forty years [Figure 6]. Enduring through several presidencies, this French furniture exited the White House to be auctioned in 1860, during the James Buchanan administration (1857–1864). The success of this auction demonstrated the public’s interest in acquiring presidential furnishings. Not only have individuals collected objects coming directly from the White House, but they also have purchased furnish- ings identical to those a president used while in office. During Abraham Lincoln’s term (1861–1865), the White House was filled with an assortment of revival styles purchased both by his predecessor James Buchanan and by First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. Baltimore furniture-maker Joseph Meeks produced a series of gothic revival side chairs for the Lincolns, which were illustrated in the famous painting by Francis Bicknel Carpen- ter, “ First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln.” 9 These chairs were reproduced in large quantities in mahogany, oak, and walnut and distributed widely. In the early nineteenth century, the president was free to outfit the state rooms of the White House according to his taste as long as Government funding was available for his proposed project; he could also sell off existing furnishings to raise additional funds. As the United States’ premier nation- al residence, it was important that the White House’s struc- ture and its interior spaces showcase refinement and fashion sensibility. Inevitably, fashion in décor changed, and the spaces where the presidents lived, worked, and entertained evolved, although not always smoothly. The ambitious plans of First Lady Caroline Harrison, wife of President Benjamin Harrison (1889–1893), to expand the White House met with defeat in Congress; the grandiose architectural scheme provoked the same distaste as the Bellangé furniture had decades earlier [Figures 7A and 7B]. 10 This page is sponsored by Sheila Proby Gross