State Dining Room of the White House
First Lady Dolley Madison worked with Jefferson's architect, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, to make some structural changes to the State Dining Room, which primarily meant closing off two windows in the west wall.
Seventeen bacchantes (personifications of the female servants of Bacchus, the ancient Roman god of wine) standing on orbs, their outstretched arms holding candleholders, could be inserted into small rectangular pedestals at equidistant points around the centerpiece.
[24] Other ormolu items included three pedestals for crystal vases (one large, two small), consisting of the Three Graces holding up a basket; three porcelain vases in the Etruscan style and ornamented with festoons of flowers; and a pair of pedestal stands, or trepieds, consisting of sphinxes sitting on slender legs, their upraised wings supporting a shallow bowl.
President Martin Van Buren purchased a new, 30-foot (9.1 m) table for the State Dining Room, and reupholstered the chairs in blue satin fabric.
[30] Although little upkeep was made to the White House during the administrations of William Henry Harrison and John Tyler due to a national depression, President James K. Polk redecorated the State Dining Room in the summer of 1845.
[33] New purple and gold drapes were hung in the room, and 42 rosewood balloon-back[d] side chairs with cabriole legs and a heart-shaped crest were purchased.
The chandeliers were converted to natural gas, the wood moldings and dado rails replaced, the room replastered and repainted, and new carpets and drapes provided.
[36] It is likely that Anthony and Henry Jenkins, furniture makers from Baltimore, crafted four walnut side tables for Pierce, and that these were later used in the State Dining Room.
However, the room was used by Francis Bicknell Carpenter as an artist's workshop as he painted First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln from February to July 1864.
The three-tiered items, featuring floral garlands and the heads of satyrs and reclining children at the base, were probably made in Europe (their manufacturer is not known) and have remained in the room ever since.
[47][e] The White House was extensively renovated in 1902 after the West Wing was completed, which allowed a number of government offices to vacate the Executive Residence.
[50] President Theodore Roosevelt selected the New York City architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White to oversee the renovations and redecoration.
[64] Dark English oak panelling carved in a Renaissance Revival style,[58] with Corinthian pilasters,[59] was also crafted and installed by Herter Brothers.
[56] The furnishing of the White House (including the State Dining Room) was overseen by First Lady Edith Roosevelt, and carried out by Charles Follen McKim.
[8] To furnish the room, Stanford White designed William and Mary oak armchairs with caned backs and Queen Anne style mahogany side chairs.
[66] Based on furniture in his own home, he also designed two small and one large mahogany side tables with marble tops and carved wooden eagle pedestals.
The 1869 oil-on-canvas painting by George Peter Alexander Healy depicts a seated, thoughtful Abraham Lincoln, and has remained over the State Dining Room fireplace ever since.
[citation needed] The upscale New York City department store, B. Altman and Company, was selected as the chief interior design consultant and supplier for decor and furnishings.
)[81] King George VI of the United Kingdom donated a late 17th-century carved and gilded overmantel mirror and painting frame, and a pair of 1770 bronze and blue candelabra designed and manufactured by the renowned metalsmith, Matthew Boulton.
[82] First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy worked with American antiques expert Henry Francis du Pont and French interior designer Stéphane Boudin on the restoration of the State Dining Room.
[85] On Boudin's recommendation,[83] the panelling was repainted bone white[86][87][k] and the silver plated chandelier and wall sconces were regilded[87] to match the Monroe-era surtout du table.
[90] The pilaster-mounted sconces were reinstalled on the side panels at the suggestion of Henry Francis du Pont, who chaired the Fine Arts Committee for the White House.
[92][l] At Boudin's suggestion, McKim's mahogany side and console tables were painted to mimick white marble with gold veining,[95][96] and the eagle supports and bowknots were gilded.
[102][p] In 1967, Lady Bird Johnson oversaw the installation of new draperies, based on a design created by Stephane Boudin shortly before President Kennedy's assassination,[85] as well as reupholstery of the 1902 chairs.
[citation needed] In 1973, a man and woman broke away from the public tour of the White House and splashed six vials of blood on the walls and some of the furniture in the State Dining Room.
[108] The pedestal console tables were stripped of paint which mimicked white marble with gold veining, and their original mahogany finish was restored.
[105] New ivory silk draperies, manufactured by F. Schumacher & Co.,[95] with printed full-color baskets, flowers, and ribbons replicating a 1901 damask design used by the firm, replaced the solid gold fabric drapes of the 1980s.
White House Curator William G. Allman noted that at night, the lack of backlighting from outside tended to make the drapes fade into the walls.
The Clintons also used marquees, set up on the South Lawn of the White House, for state dinners, which allowed seating to run as high as 700 individuals.
[69] The wool rug,[r] woven by Scott Group Custom Carpets, features a border of wreaths surrounding a field of mottled light blue accented by clusters of oak leaves.
