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The Dining Room |
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| Step on in, thank you. This is the Dining Room. It’s done in the Corinthian order, with a frieze of alternating ox skulls and swags copied from the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli. I suppose they thought it looked right, but I have to say that I don’t much fancy eating my dinner with a bunch of dead cows looking over my shoulder. Miss Ellen Hall added the Bow window on the east side before she died; said it gave the room some life. The mantel is made of Carrera marble, imported from Italy in the late 18th century. Above the fireplace is a portrait of Fanny Rawlins Blake painted by John Williams in 1782. Ann Simmons recently bought it at auction, for quite a good price I think. (If you click on it, you can learn more.) Across from her is George Rawlins, of Hundley Hall, Thaxted, painted in 1766 by Samuel Coleburne. (If you click on it, you can learn more.) Ann found that painting in the attic just after she moved in. Actually, I think she caught Jerry Anderson knicking it, only she didn’t know it at the time. The table and chairs are English and were made sometime in the 1840s, as were most of the other furnishings in the room. The carpet is Turkish--late 18th century--and is still quite nice. Try not to spill anything please! |
