Object of the Month July 2020

A close up view of Hampton Hall depicted on the back of a painted chair.

NPS

A painted chair, an example of one of the many painted furniture pieces found in Hampton NHS's collection.

NPS

Painted Furniture

Painted furniture was popular in Maryland at the time Governor Charles Carnan Ridgely (1760-1829) owned Hampton. In the 1790s, he acquired a set of painted armchairs of English manufacture, two of which survive at Hampton. Governor Ridgely had the chairs repainted in Baltimore around 1805, probably by the firm of John and Hugh Finlay, who became long-term suppliers of “fancy” furniture to the Ridgely family. Notably, one of the chairs has a view of Hampton painted on its crest rail, the earliest known color depiction of the mansion. In the 1870s, Margaretta Howard Ridgely (1824-1904) had the chair’s legs cut down and the frame upholstered and slip covered. In this state, the chair was used in both the Great Hall and the Music Room, as shown by historic photographs.