Accession Number

997.012.001.003a-e

Description

A circa 1875 American black walnut renaissance-revival styled dressing table, part of a four-piece suite forming this accession, the dresser with three visible drawers and one hidden drawer, There is a large curved pediment-style top. Inside its frame is a curved-top adjustable mirror. Atop the outer frame is an applied carved wooden cluster of scrolling acanthus leaves with a ball in the centre. On the face of the outer frame are two raised panels covered in burled walnut veneer with raised concentric circles in their middle section. On the outer frame holding the mirror on each side is a rounded shelf intended for candles or small lamps. The top is of white marble with grey mottling with rounded corners. On top of the marble attached to the back frame are two small rectangular wooden compartments with hinged lids and wood moulding around the lid and base, one on each side. Below the top, the three visible drawers each has a round wooden disc with a hole in for a key and two handles in the form of a clump of figs with two leaves. The kick plate around the base has brown castors attached on the rounded corners. There is a recessed panel on each side trimmed in moulding.

Narrative

This bedroom suite was collected for display in room 302, also known as the sixth bedroom or Effie's bedroom, at Craigdarroch Castle. It is the only period room in the Castle that was restored by The Castle Society from scratch, with pieces deliberately acquired for display in it.

The 1909 Craigdarroch auction catalogue description guided the selection of this walnut bedroom suite. The rationale for its choice included the hypothesis that Mr. and Mrs. Dunsmuir acquired much of their furniture in the United States and that they tended to keep their furniture and merely added to their collection as the sizes of their domiciles increased. It is a pattern seen in the choice made by their son James in his history of use of an American bedroom suite (see: 997.009 https://collection.thecastle.ca/Detail/objects/7590)

History of Use

This bedroom suite was probably made in Grand Rapids, Michigan in about 1875. It purchased by The Castle Society from J. Hill Antiques of San Francisco in 1997. The dealer had acquired it from a gentleman who stated that he had acquired it from the owner of an old house in the Los Angeles, California area. 

Date

circa 1875

Dimensions

239.5 x 57.7 x 108.5 cm

Material

Wood, walnut; Stone, marble; Metal

Technique

Sawn; Milled; Carved; Varnished

School/Style

Renaissance Revival

Country of Origin

United States of America