Photograph of John and Anne’s chairs (July 2016)
Title
Photograph of John and Anne’s chairs (July 2016)
Description
Instead of cozy armchairs, a traditional parlor would have been filled with the kinds of uncomfortable looking wooden chairs that encircle this room. These straight-back chairs offered little in the way of comfort or padding. They communicate much about the kinds of refined, ritualized behaviors expected in the formal setting of the Victorian-era parlor.
With the invention of spring-seated furniture in the 1830s and the decline in popularity of formal parlors, rooms like this that once acted as public spaces for formal visiting would have become more comfortable, family-oriented places. The Brown’s “den” or “study” became a space for John and Anne to have a moment of peace together after dinner.
The two would have cozied up in front of the fire in the two armchairs—John in the red velvet upholstered lounge and Anne in the pink-and-white seat—with a book and a cocktail, the room filled with smoke from Anne’s cigarettes.
With the invention of spring-seated furniture in the 1830s and the decline in popularity of formal parlors, rooms like this that once acted as public spaces for formal visiting would have become more comfortable, family-oriented places. The Brown’s “den” or “study” became a space for John and Anne to have a moment of peace together after dinner.
The two would have cozied up in front of the fire in the two armchairs—John in the red velvet upholstered lounge and Anne in the pink-and-white seat—with a book and a cocktail, the room filled with smoke from Anne’s cigarettes.
Creator
Banks III, Jesse
Source
Digital copy created by the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage
Date
2016-07-28
Contributor
Jennifer Shook
Rights
Rights Status Not Evaluated
Citation
Banks III, Jesse, “Photograph of John and Anne’s chairs (July 2016),” Digital Tours of The Nightingale-Brown House , accessed November 2, 2025, https://cds.library.brown.edu/NBHouse/items/show/71.