Description:
The practice of placing actual vases of flowers and potted plants in empty summer fireplaces had its origins in Dutch and English interiors of the late 17th century. In 1736, John Custis IV (1678-1749) of Williamsburg, Virginia, ordered from London “6 flower pots painted green to stand in a chimney for flowers in the summer time.” After 1790, painted fireboards (also known as chimney boards) became a decorative way to cover an unused fireplace in the summer, preventing dirt and birds from entering the room. Common subjects for fireboards included animals, historical events, land and seascapes, and pots of flowers. This fireboard is painted to represent the interior of a fireplace with the suggestion of the sides of the fireplace as well as the brick floor, also around the border is a painted set of tin-glazed earthenware tiles and a vase of flower set in the fireplace below, there are two cut outs at the base of the fireboard for insertion of the legs of the andirons. A related fireboard is in the collection of Old Sturbridge Village (20.2.13) and is marked on the reverse "L.H.M."
Label Text:
The fireplace, center of family life in early New England, served as a source of inspiration for both professional decorative painters and amateur artists. In the 1700s, paneled fireplace walls often featured a painted landscape above the mantel. After 1790, painted fireboards (also called chimney boards) became popular for covering the unused fireplace in summer, preventing soot from entering the room. Common subjects for fireboard paintings included potted flowers, animals, historical events, and land- and seascapes, often copied from a print or book illustration. While some of the landscapes were imaginary, others were based on direct observation and rank among America's earliest town views.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+58.008 |
